Archive for the 'Contests' Category

Updates, Updates, and More Updates

Well hello, everybody! Life here at Casa Peeler has been all about ORIENTATION. I had new faculty orientation last week, and this week we had regular orientation. As with all orientations, I’m feeling very disoriented at the moment. Lots of new people, new procedures, new ideas…but it’s all good! Everything will settle in soon.

And speaking of settling, my new apartment is getting there. I’ve got lots of new furniture. Here’s some random pics:

Yay! Eventually, when I can afford them, I’ll buy dining room chairs. Then I’ll be domestic as a plate!

In book news, Eye is coming along nicely. There’s something about me and work: the more I have to do, the more I do do. I’m so anxious about the deadline for Eye that I’m sort of obsessive about working on it. I’m also having a huge amount of fun writing it, and I find that it becomes its own stress relief. I get anxious, I write, and then I feel 100% better about myself and the world. Funny, that!

TR and Tracking have also both come out in the UK, and I’ve got some extra copies of the British TR. I’ll definitely be doing a contest in a few weeks, once things settle down, to give some away. They look stunning! Slightly larger than the ones in the US, with covers that are Sharon’s original art with a sort of Frank Milleresque wash to the color scheme. Love them!

And speaking of contests, for those people to whom I owe prize packs, THEY HAVE BEEN UNEARTHED! Now I just have to make time to go to the post office. ;-) That WILL happen in the next week, come hell or high water. If it doesn’t you can send your people after me. I’ll deserve it.

In very, very exciting news, the lovely Psynde has created a line of jewelry inspired by Jane! I absolutely adore this stuff, and I get to vet all the pieces, so you guys have to check it out! Jane doesn’t wear a lot of jewelry in the books, but if she did, this would be it, for sure. I love this stuff!

Finally, for the next two weeks, things will be pretty quiet over at Dr. Peeler’s Emporium, because I’m squaring off with Jaye Wells at BABEL CLASH. Hopefully no chairs will be involved, although I’m perfectly willing to cut a bitch if that Wells woman gets out of hand.

So see you over at Babel Clash! Until then, I’ll keep the Emporium warm for our return.

Published on August 17, 2010 in Contests, Day Job!, Eye of the Tempest and Guest Blogs. 12 Comments Tags: .

“All Ratted Up Like a Teenage Jezebel….”

I love me some big hair . . .

So I jumped at Matt and Mariah’s wedding as a chance to get me an enormous beehive. I have what I like to refer to as a Secret Shit-Ton of Hair, which can get a little scary when it’s under construction…

But in no time, the amazing Emily of Emerson Salon had me looking fierce. And I mean FIERCE:

I’m like Wilma! Minus the pterodactyls! A shit ton of eye makeup and our fabulous dresses from Vivian’s of  Holloway’s completed our look:

The wedding itself was fabulous, and it was so nice seeing all of our friends all dolled up:

The wedding itself was lovely, despite the inclement weather. The ceremony involved many umbrellas and a trumpet surprise:

It’s not easy to smuggle in a baby AND a trumpet, as Mrs. Whisky can tell you from experience!

The most amazing part of the wedding (besides seeing my friends get hitched, of course) was the dessert. Instead of getting a weary old wedding cake that goes dry and nobody eats, Matt and Mariah had Top Pot donuts for their cake. I nearly passed out when I saw them. And I’m not the only one, as everyone started swiping donuts WAY before dessert was supposed to be served. In our defense (as my table may have swiped a few), it was the old ladies who started it! Greedy old ladies! Here’s some XXX-donut action . . .

They were soooooooooooooooo good. I am drooling just writing this, like one of Pavlov’s dogs. If you’re in Seattle anytime soon, get thyself to Top Pot!

All in all it was an absolutely stunning wedding, and remarkable in how many people came from all over the world to see each other. Here’s a final group pic of all of our Edinburgh Crew: These are all people who met at the University of Edinburgh and came together that night for Matt and Mariah’s wedding. May they all know great joy, for I sure do get great joy out of knowing each of them:

Bright and early the next morning, the Whisky family picked me up and we all trudged off to the airport. It was a long day of travel (Seattle is so far away!), but considering I had to fly through O’Hare it went pretty smoothly.

Monday, however, came all too soon, and I went off to my first day of orientation. It was really good. Seton Hill is very different from my former university, and I think it’s going to be a great fit.

In other news, I only just built my last 3 bookcases, so I’ve yet to do any book unpacking. Which means that for the two of you who are waiting for your prize packs, they’ve not been unearthed, yet. That said, I should tackle the final few boxes soon, and as soon as I have the prizes un-boxed I will re-box them and send them out to you.

On that note, I’m going to bed! It was a crazily long day at orientation today and I am BEAT. But I’ll see you soon . . .

And one more Huzzah for Matt and Mariah! HUZZAH! ;-)

Published on August 10, 2010 in Contests, Food!, My Travels and Nicole Peeler. 4 Comments Tags: , , .

We Have a Wiener!

The Contest Can has spoken! Well, that’s actually a lie. The Contest Can WOULD have spoken, but I have no idea which box it’s packed in. So, instead, the internet randomizer has spoken, and I have a wiener for my Tracking the Tempest contest!

The wiener of all this good stuff:

Is Elie N! Yay for Elie! I’m very happy she won, as she’s been a huge supporter of Jane from the beginning. So, thanks for playing to ALL of you, and huge congrats to Elie.

That said, Elie, you won’t be getting your prize for a few weeks . . . it’s probably in the same box as the Contest Can. ;-) But I’ll send it as soon as I’ve unearthed it, I promise. Just email me your address to iheartselkies(at)gmail(dot)com.

And I’ll blog soon with some more moving updates, as well as my upcoming trip to Seattle. If you’re in that area, don’t forget Mark Henry and I will be doing a signing. There’s more info under  Upcoming Appearances, at the top of the page.

Published on July 26, 2010 in Appearances, Contests and Tracking the Tempest. 6 Comments

Pennsylvania or Bust!

So this has been a dramatic few days. I’m gonna go ahead and bullet point this week’s events:

  • Movers came and packed up my house. I am now living with a card table, one chair, my pilates ball, and a blow up mattress.
  • While I was running, someone broke into the Hippie Spaceship, smashing my rear passenger’s window.
  • I received my publication money for Tracking the Tempest. Of which, I still haven’t actually SAT DOWN AND LOOKED AT A COPY because I’ve been so flat out crazy busy.
  • I received, signed, and sent back my contracts for books #4, 5, & 6.
  • I received, edited, and sent back my final pass manuscript for book #3, Tempest’s Legacy.
  • Had about a million lunches/dinners/farewell gatherings. I HATE MOVING AND I HATE SAYING GOODBYE. So I don’t! I say, “See y’all later,” because I will. ;-)

There was some other shit, but that’s the big stuff. I’ve managed not to have a nervous breakdown, although when I waddled up to find my window broken I nearly succumbed. But the good thing about always living on my own and traveling around on my own so much is that it has made me pretty resilient. . . mostly because if I do curl up in a ball, there’s no one there to poke me with a stick until I get back up. ;-)

(For those of you who know how commitment phobic I am, that’s actually the only reason I think I might one day settle down . . . so there’s someone around to poke me with a stick if I collapse. It’s on the same imagery-continuum as Bridget Jones’s “Eaten by Alsatians.” And, yes, my friends get mad at me when I say things like this.)

All in all and despite the car drama, I’m very well and very much looking forward to getting to my new apartment. That said, I’ll basically have enough time to unpack and maybe have a meal before I’m off to Seattle to do some book stuff (including a book signing with Mark Henry that y’all should come to) and attend my friends’ wedding.

But then I’ll go back to PA, and my new life! I’ll be really busy with orientation at my new college, as well as prepping my new courses. I’m going to have to do a lot of Computer Things for them, which makes me a bit nervous. But I think it’ll actually be straightforward once I sit down to figure it out. That said, I know there will be Much Swearing and probably a few Threatening Fist Shakes. Definitely some Moments of Panic.

So that’s me for the next few weeks: move, Seattle, prep for teaching. I’ll also be fitting in some Jane time. I’ve put Eye of the Tempest on hold, for a bit, mostly because I had abso-fucking-lutely NO idea what the middle bit was going to contain. I have the beginning  fifty pages (which I think is the strongest opener I’ve ever written. Although that doesn’t say much, as my openings have always sucked and gotten cut, entirely). I also know what a couple of scenes in the middle will be, and I know my AWESOME ending. But, yeah, that was it.

Luckily, I sent forth a plea to my AMAZING Ideas Factory, Christie Ko, who is beautiful and wonderful and BRILLIANT. She gave me some great ideas that have been percolating away in the dreaded brain pan . . . and I think everything is coming together. So I’ll work on my outline on the road, and then git to writin’ again soon.

In the meantime, there’s still people sending me adorable pics of Jane in the Wild. Here’s Angie’s pic of both books being guarded over by Tofu, the Vegetarian Zombie:

Is it a zombie meerkat, or am I seeing things?

As if to combat the last post’s iPad pics, Kristy sent in Kindle pics of Jane. She looks stunning even in black and white, if I do say so myself:

I think the most dramatic story about purchasing Tracking (besides the broken-car-cord-thingie) comes from Suzanne, who actually left the dentist’s office, after having something painful done to her teeth, and walked across the parking lot to the bookstore to buy Tracking. That’s real commitment, people! Here she is, nursing her sore tooth as she holds Jane, and with it a less-sore picture of Suzanne with TR. Glad you’re feeling better, Suzanne, and I hope the book didn’t make it hurt any worse!

Finally, we have pictures from Raelena and Katia, of Jane lounging about like the strumpet she is. But she’s our strumpet, and we like her that way!

Thanks to everyone who has sent in pics, sent in kind words about the book, and sent me message about my move. I appreciate it so much . . . you guys make everything worth it!

See y’all in Pennsylvania! ROAD TRIP! ;-)

Published on July 18, 2010 in Appearances, Contests, Eye of the Tempest, My Travels, Nicole Peeler, Tempest Rising and Tracking the Tempest. 6 Comments

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRACKING THE TEMPEST!

I am more than happy to announce the official launch of Jane True Book 2: Tracking the Tempest! YAY!

I still can’t believe I have one book out on shelves; the idea of having two just makes me giggle. And I couldn’t have done any of this without all the amazing fans who’ve made writing Jane so satisfying.

So I’m holding a contest. This time, it’s all organized around Things Jane Likes. Here’s a picture of the prize pack:

As I said, it contains Things Jane Likes, which can be broken down (in no particular order) into: Swimming, home, food, sex, and reading.

Swimming: You get a postcard of the Old Sow, direct from Eastport.

Home: A pirate-themed T-shirt in Large from Eastport.

Food: A cookbook from my favorite celebrity chef, Ina Garten

Sex: Saucy post-it notes, From Him and From Her

Reading: A 25$ gift card to Barnes and Noble

There’s also a little map of Boston, so you can follow Jane’s adventures in Tracking the Tempest.

All very fun, and all very Jane.

You can enter the contest in the following ways:

(x1 entry) Comment on this post to be entered automatically

(x5 entries each for each copy) Show me proof you’ve bought Tempest OR Tracking (email to iheartselkiesATgmailDOTcom a photo or screenshot of a receipt or a picture of the book at home–let me know whether or not I can post it on the blog if it’s a picture of the book at home)

(x3 entries each) Provide in comments links to reviews of Tracking the Tempest OR Tempest Rising you’ve done on your blog, Amazon, Goodreads, etc.

(x2 entries each) Follow me on Twitter or Facebook (if you already follow me, just let me know)

(x1 entry each medium) for pimping this post (Facebook, Twitter, blog post, etc)

I will choose a winner at random on Monday, July 26th at 12:00 AM Eastern time. Contest is international, cuz I love my non-American fans just as much.

To my established fans (all 13 of you :-) : thank you SO MUCH for your support and kind words. You guys make this writing gig worth it!

And to people new to my site: Thanks for coming by and I hope you like it here. Jane’s got lots of adventures to come, and I hope you’ll come along for the ride!

HAPPY RELEASE DAY JANE AND COMPANY! *pops the bubbly*

Published on July 1, 2010 in Contests and Tracking the Tempest. 76 Comments

The Day Before The Day!

Today’s June 30th, which is the day before the OFFICIAL LAUNCH of Tracking the Tempest!

I know there’s been loads of congrats and interviews posted and stuff like that, which I totally appreciate and adore, but my technical, Orbit-declared release date is July 1st, so that’s what I’m going with, people!

And no, it’s not so I get basically a three day release party. It’s really not! I promise. ;-) Okay, I wouldn’t believe me, either.

There is SO MUCH going on to celebrate my release I don’t know where to start, so I’ll start with the biggies:

Kat Richardson, one of my favorite people and writers, made me cry talking about Jane. Kat’s a writer I always use as an example of why I love writing UF. Our books are SO different, yet we can appreciate each other’s writing and we publish under the same genre. I love that! You can see a blurb for TR from Kat on Tracking, and if you haven’t read her books, do so immediately. Her series is awesome–one of the smartest, most well-developed UF series out there.

Today, I’m also over at Bitten By Books, chatting with folks and giving a way a new Kindle. Come by to chat and see how to enter, here!

Carolyn Crane, one of the sweetest Leaguers out there, is giving away a copy of Tracking. I’ll be with Carolyn at both RomCon and our Denver signing. She’s a GREAT addition to the UF community: generous, fabulous, and hilarious!

I’ve also got an interview and a giveaway for Tempest Rising up at Literary Escapism.

Tomorrow, on the official launch, I’ll also be revealing the prizes for two big contest I’ll be doing: one at the League of Reluctant Adults, and one here on my site. So come back tomorrow, y’all!

Right now I’ve gotta go do some stuff to get ready for my signing with Jaye Wells here in Shreveport. If you’re in the area, come on down! We’ll be chatting, snarking, and maybe kicking the crap out of each other. Check my appearances page for more details. ;-)

Published on June 30, 2010 in Appearances, Coming Soon!, Contests, Nicole Peeler, Pimpage!, Tempest Rising and Tracking the Tempest. 9 Comments

Contests and Reviews and Launches, Oh My!

Hellooooo my friends! I’m writing this from a Pittsburgh airport hotel. I’m supposed to be in Chicago as of yesterday, but my flight was cancelled due to weather. Here’s hoping I make it back to IL today, so I can fly back to Shreveport tomorrow.

My stay in Greensburg has been awesome. The residency was fantastic, and I really, really like my new colleagues as well as the students in the MFA. I think this program will be really challenging and beneficial for me, both as an author and as a teacher. It’s going to be a sharp learning curve that first semester, but then I think it’ll be a great job.

As for finding an apartment, in the end and despite all my protestations about wanting to live in Pittsburgh, I went with an apartment near the school. I drove the commute a few times, and it’s one of those routes that could take 30 minutes OR it could take two and a half hours. Plus I couldn’t find an apartment I really liked that wasn’t ridiculously expensive. But I found something in Greensburg that is absolutely gorgeous and HUGE (I’m going to have to buy some more furniture). It’s an old building, right down town, with tons of character and gorgeous original features. I’ll be living in the Penthouse, which is French for “pray the ancient elevator doesn’t break down.”

But now I’m going home and my thoughts are firmly on launching Tracking the Tempest. Sightings have been thick and fast: Borders definitely has it on shelves, and I think that Amazon has shipped. So those of you who pre-ordered should be getting it right on time.

My big launch party is over at Bitten by Books, where I’m doing a contest to win a Kindle. RSVP here for the event to earn extra chances to win, and stay tuned to BbB for more info on the actual event. They’ve also posted their review, here.

I’ve also got an interview mit contest up at Tynga’s Reviews.

Melissa, from My World in Books and Pages, reviews Tracking, here, and I’ll have an interview and contest up at her site on July 1st, so stay tuned!

Finally, here’s a review of Tracking that absolutely made my day. It’s spoiler free, and she really gets what I’m doing. Thanks, lady! :-)

Don’t forget about the upcoming signings talked about on my appearances page, and I’ll have some very fun contests to announce on my site and over at the League when I get home. So see ya round, and go forth to buy Tracking over the weekend! YAY!

Published on June 28, 2010 in Appearances, Coming Soon!, Contests, My Travels, Nicole Peeler, Pimpage!, Reviews, Signings and Tracking the Tempest. 8 Comments

Tracking Developments and Visiting Jane!

Hi all!

First of all, I wanted to let you know that Tracking the Tempest has already been spotted in the wild, in a Borders in North Carolina! So at least one person has read it out there. ;-)

In the meantime, for those waiting, I’ve done an interview with Tynga’s Reviews, replete with a giveaway for a copy of Tempest Rising. And don’t forget you can always email me at iheartselkies(at)gmail(dot)com for signed bookplates for either or both books.

I’m writing this from O’Hare, again. I’m flying out to Pittsburgh to look for a place to live as well as take part in my first MFA residency at Seton Hill. It feels as if we just left O’Hare as we just returned from Maine, and what an amazing trip! I went with my mom, Rella; my former English teacher, Mrs. Bunch; and a very good friend, Loren. I liked to think of it as an intergenerational girls gone wild trip. Here are the ladies, all lined up!

Our first port of call was Eastport, which you may remember from the books. It’s right on the Old Sow, and it’s absolutely gorgeous.

We stayed at a lovely little Bed and Breakfast, called Chadbourne House. The owners were lovely, the house was lovely, and the breakfasts were to die for:

It was super fun being in Eastport, not least because the Old Sow is a huge presence–at least in the town, itself.

Both of the above pictures were taken at a fantastic restaurant, right on the water in Eastport, that sports its own Old Sow pub. We at there the first night, and the first of many, many lobsters was consumed:

Although this lobster, in St. Andrew, nearly ate us . . .

While in Eastport, we wandered around, taking pictures. The town itself is very small, but gorgeous:

And I found the perfect representative of the sort of building that might house Iris’s shop:

And here’s a picture of the Sow! Unfortunately, you can’t see diddly. The Sow is only visible for moments, when the tide is just right. And even then, you’re probably only seeing her piglets. But underneath that apparently placid water, she’s raging away, waiting to tear up any passing boats.

As stated earlier, we were also wicked international on this trip. One day, we drove up to St. Andrew, a Canadian vacation spot. It was absolutely adorable:

After which we visited two of my favorite friends in the whole world: The Honorable Dr. Reverend Andrew O’Neill and his gorgeous wife, Jenny. They made us dinner and made us welcome, and I can’t tell you how much I love these two. They’re some of the most intelligent, generous, open-minded, and hilarious people I know.

They also have a baby who is such a nugget even I had to give a wee coo. Here he is practicing his bounce:

From St. Andrew, we brought him a stuffed toy of a beaver or, as I introduced it, “Baby’s First Beaver.”

We all had an inappropriate giggle, and then had a gorgeous dinner.

We were only in Eastport for two days, then we went to Bar Harbor, which I’ll blog separately.

But I would highly, highly recommend a trip to Eastport if you’re in Maine. The people are awesome–we may have gotten a little drunk with the locals one night–and the scenery is just to die for. I always have insane fantasies of summer homes. Pretty much every time I visit somewhere I’m like, “OMG I’m gonna buy a summer home here.” It’s usually completely inappropriate (if gorgeous) places like Istanbul or Barcelona. But I’m serious about the summer home in Maine thing. The temperature and the weather were just so beautiful after growing up in the torturous heat of the Midwestern summer, on top of everything else that made the place lovely.

So who knows, Maine might get another writer, one of these days. At least for the summers. ;-)

All rightie, I gotta go find something to gnaw on during my flight to Pittsburgh. Wish me luck finding a place to live! In a city again, finally! SO EXCITING!

Published on June 19, 2010 in Contests, My Travels and Tracking the Tempest. 11 Comments Tags: , , .

Bite Me, You Weiner!

First of all, sorry for the relative radio silence. We have four weeks of teaching left, and I’m traveling for the NEXT THREE WEEKENDS. To say I’m spazzing out is a bit of an understatement. On Monday night I had an anxiety dream in which I was trapped in Keynote, battling my way from slide to slide. Hi! I’m psycho! Great!

But if I’m honest, I’m awesome. Things are chugging away and there’s all sort of big beautiful things afoot. Hopefully I’ll have lots of stuff to share with you soon, but for right now I’m GRADING. I’ve already gone through two pens. That’s a lot of red ink, when you think about it.

So stay tuned, I’ll be back and I’ll be bold and I’ll be beautiful. And young and restless. And for whom the world is turning . . . or was that one canceled? I donnae ken, for my telly is nonexistent.

Not like any of you give a toss! Yer all like, “Dude, who are the two winners of these bitchin’ books by Christopher Moore!”

With no further adieu, I turn to the Contest Can . . . and I reach . . . (and I SWOOP! for those of you also doing Pilates with Dinah :-)

The weiners of a copy of BITE ME: A LOVE STORY! are:

JESSICA KENNEDY and AMBER YATES!

Congratulations, ladies! Send me your addresses to iheartselkies(aht)gmail(doody)com  and I’ll forward them to The Powers That Be!

In the meantime, I JUST received my copy of Bite Me! I’m reading the whole series (I’ve not actually read any of this trilogy, somehow, something I didn’t actually realize till being told it WAS, indeed, a trilogy), so I’ll let you know what I think when I’m done. I don’t review, per se, but I do GUSH when I love something.  Please no “she’s a gusher” jokes, you filthy, filthy buggers. Anyway, I’m already well enthralled with the first book.

On that pleasant thought, I will leave you be. For I have to go to bed and fight my way out of keynote. Seriously? Can somebody install an off switch in this brain o’ mine? Cuz it drives me crazy!

You all are the best. Smooches.

Published on April 13, 2010 in Contests and Pimpage!. 4 Comments

Christopher Moore! Christopher Moore! Christophe…*faints*

I’m a little bit in adoration of Christopher Moore, I gotta tell you. We even have a six degrees of separation thing. My beautiful friend Jana, who lives in San Francisco, lived in an apartment underneath him. When I wrote and published TR, she was like, “I think the guy who used to live above me writes those kinda books. He’s nice. Name is Christopher Moore.” Needless to say I nearly had a heart attack, and had I not been living overseas I would have been ringing her doorbell a few hours later.

So I was very excited when a member of his marketing team got in touch with me the other day. Undoubtedly drawn to my site by my repeated use of “heinous fuckery” and “fuckstockings” in my blog post praising The Fool, she offered me not only a copy of Moore’s newest book, Bite Me: A Love Story, for review, but also TWO COPIES TO GIVE AWAY.

To you, my lovely friends and fans.

Here’s the 411 on the book and on Christopher:

BITE ME: A Love Story is an inventive, hysterically funny, sophisticated comic horror novel with flamboyantly original (and endearing) characters, pitch-perfect postmodern dialogue, break-neck pacing, and utterly entertaining vignettes.  BITE ME readers have a lot to sink their teeth into.

###

Follow Christopher Moore on Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheAuthorGuy

For more information about the book, please visit: http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780061779725/Bite_Me/index.aspx

Browse Inside: http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780061779725

About Christopher Moore

Christopher Moore is the author of eleven previous novels: Practical Demonkeeping, Coyote Blue, Bloodsucking Fiends, Island of the Sequined Love Nun, The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, Lamb, Fluke, The Stupidest Angel, A Dirty Job, You Suck, and Fool. He lives in San Francisco.

Could I be more excited to read this book? Not if it promised to make out with me. Okay, then I might be a little more excited. I do enjoy a good make out.

I’m afraid that, because they’re shipping the books directly, they have limited the contest to US residents only. So if you live in the US and want to enter, comment below on the following issue:

Who would you most like to see do a guest post or blog at my site, and what would you want them to talk about? And don’t limit yourself to what you think could possibly happen . . . The Emporium is for fantasy, after all. ;-)

The Contest Can will randomly pick two winners next TUESDAY. YAY!

Published on April 8, 2010 in Contests, Pimpage! and Things I Like. 33 Comments Tags: , , .