State of the TAM - 19th Jul

What’s Up

That’s the motto of my people. If you think it doesn’t make sense, you’ve not watched me work!

I’m trying to get all my GRL ducks in a row this week. So far I keep adding things TO my to-do list and not ticking anything off. But I’ll get there. Not like I have a choice. Things must be done, then I can use my sexy new Irish passport for the first time.

First thing on my list for when I GET to GRL is to taunt C.S. Poe with said passport.

So I should be getting a pre-order up this month and another one next month! I haven’t decided whether to do the cover reveal on TikTok (the algorithms confuse me!) or on here. My Tiktok audience is mostly people that like my doggos, so it’s just for the fancy video element.

Must Read of the Week

Jason Richards is ridiculously in love with his friend and coworker, Ahmed Kazimi. Unfortunately, Ahmed is a package deal—he has a boyfriend who, as far as Jason is concerned, needs to be launched into the sun.

Then a mysterious carnival rolls into town, and Jason and Ahmed can’t resist going. Not even if Ahmed’s boyfriend can be depended on to make everybody miserable.

When Ahmed wins a strange prize from an even stranger carnival game, weird things start happening. First, a mishap with a friend’s newly purchased love potion. Then a cascade of steadily worsening bad luck starts to rain down on every corner of Ahmed’s life. Though he doesn’t believe in the paranormal, he can’t help but wonder if his prize is cursed. Just to be safe, he throws it away.

But it comes back. And it keeps coming back.

Upon learning about the prize that won’t go away, Jason suggests the only solution he can think of: return it to the place it came from.

Now Ahmed and Jason are on a mission to get rid of the cursed prize… assuming they can find that game again.

Step Right Up is part of the multi-author Carnival of Mysteries Series. Each book stands alone, but each one includes at least one visit to Errante Ame’s Carnival of Mysteries, a magical, multiverse traveling show full of unusual acts, games, and rides. The Carnival changes to suit the world it’s on, so each visit is unique and special. This book contains some long overdue friends to lovers, a strangely insightful caricaturist, and a little magical realism.

Buy Now

Pupdate of the Week @tamoorewritesOut for the evening meander. Jax isnt allowed off lead for his legs, so he mooched and ate grass. Izzy got to chase the pink thing and be very good at recall. Then they came home to be VERY ADORABLE. #dogsoftiktok #staffordshirebullterrier #staffie [image error]Tiktok failed to load.

Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser @tamoorewritesMorning! #staffy #staffysoftiktok #dogsoftiktok [image error]Tiktok failed to load.

Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browserFree listen of the Week

‘In the Name’ by TA Moore is prequel to Elf Shot. The peace that Conri and Bell try to protect in Elf Shot was hard won. Check out the first five chapters already online and we’ll be back next week with Chapter Six!

@tamoorewrites"You'd think the werewolves would be the worst thing about the Night Shift; you'd be wrong.' Night Shift by TA Moore #tamoorewrites #paranormalromance #mmromance #booktok #werewolves #shifters https://books2read.com/TAMoorewrites[image error]Tiktok failed to load.

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You gotta ignore my hair! I got wet. It’s the summer in NI. We got a lot of damp.

@tamoorewrites#stitch with @logically.me [image error]Tiktok failed to load.

Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browserMust Read of the Week

I am always fascinated by articles like these. The thing is that smart (and greedy, greedy is always a cruising for a bruising) people are ACTUALLY more likely to fall for scams like these than other people. Same like cults. They want to believe they’re too smart to fall for something like this, and disregard entirely that it all emotionally based.

Oh, like, did you know that there is a VERY EASY way to stop children and dogs being accidentally left in cars to die from heatstroke? But the people who make cars don’t want to institute it because until it happens to you, most people are offended by the suggestion they would be evil or careless. DISREGARDING completely the fact it’s nothing to do with that most of the time, it’s just how are brains are wired.

That said I’ve always thought I’d be a poor target for a cult, because people being too nice to me makes me suspicious, I cut my teeth on ‘no one gives you anything in this world!’, and I’m cheap and lazy. Also don’t insult my grandmother, because fuck you scientology! (Also that man wrote some bad books that were NOT healthy).

How scammers use psychology to create some of the most convincing internet cons – and what to watch out for

Published: June 21, 2023 4.19pm BST

Scammers are blending different types of fraud to persuade people to hand over their cash. Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock

Online fraud is today’s most common crime. Victims are often told they are foolish for falling for it, but fraudsters use psychological mechanisms to infiltrate the defences of their targets, regardless of how intelligent they are.

So it’s important to keep up with the latest scams and understand how they work.

Recently, consumer protection magazine Which? identified some of the most convincing scams of 2023. These scams all have one thing in common – they insidiously take advantage of people’s cognitive biases and psychological blind spots.

Read More

I’m gonna admit, this is always who I fancast as Nicholas Blake from the Wolf Winter books. :D Speaking of which…had I mentioned that Stone the Crows is being recorded right about now? :D

@comicreliefHappy July to all the David Tennant fans out there. #davidtennant #davidtennantedit [image error]Tiktok failed to load.

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This can only be described as: The Life.

Gunther Gunther on Instagram: “The dog days of summer are best spent in the pool, wouldn’t you say?”July 16, 2023