Archive for the 'My Travels' Category

Update: Busy Bee!

Hello folks! It’s all been a bit mad here, perhaps even madder than normal. As my friend put it in a text, “You look like you’ve been even busier than usual.” And that’s because I have. It all started when I got back from the holidays, and we plunged into residency. We had a bumper crop this year, with over 20 new students added to our fold. The library at Seton Hill was packed:

I, of course, kept forgetting the name tag that I’d been convinced I’d lost, but then found, and then very carefully squirreled away so I wouldn’t lose it again. I was very proud of myself for finally remembering to dig it up.

The residency, itself, was a blast, as they always are. I love the students and the teaching, and the chance to see people discuss their work. This one was extra special, though, as our guest speakers were my good friends Juliet Blackwell, Sophie Littlefield, and Rachael Herron. They came in a day early and we did some damage to the booze and cheese…

 And then they were brilliant guest speakers, as well as brilliant guests. We had an amazing time, and they stayed a few extra nights so we could bond, and plot both books and conventions, and basically break down the world into more manageable chunks. I really love these ladies, and it was so great to spend time with them.

 The day after graduation, the ladies left and I flew to Boston for an SF/F convention named Arisia. It was great fun, and I had the pleasure of meeting Toni L.P. Kelner, who edits some of my favorite anthologies with Charlaine Harris. I also spoke on a few panels, and did a reading and a signing, so all in all it was a great con.

But, even more fun for me was the fact the con was in Boston, my old stomping grounds. I had a great time hanging with my old friends from BU, Whitney, Chris, and Anthony, and stopping by to see the daughter of my good friend and mentor, although the lady in question was traveling. But the highlight of the social occasions, just because it was so fancy, was the Ancient Universities Alumni Robbie Burns Nicht at the Harvard Boat Club, for which I got to wear a fascinator:

The event was unbelievably good fun and very posh. I attended with my fellow University of Edinburgh alumni, and good friends, Christie and Zack. For those of you who pay attention to these things, Christie is not only my friend but my beta reader and ideas factory for Jane, and she has been with the books from the start. She’s been a huge help to me, a wonderful friend, and a fabulous inspiration.

It was also wonderful to honor the place from which I received my graduate degree in the city that I received my undergraduate degree. It sounds cheesy, but my education was obviously very important to me, not only for the degrees but for the experiences. I loved both places very much, and I loved living in both times very much, and it felt really special to me to be able to bring the two together in this wonderful way.

 The pours were also quite heavy, and no one was lacking for whisky…

And they’d really done a fab job on the boat house. Isn’t it gorgeous?

For dinner, I was one of the only ones brave enough for the Boston haggis, and I was both faintly alarmed and slightly aroused (don’t ask) by the fact the haggis so closely resembled the sticky toffee pudding. For the record, neither was quite right, but still lovely.

 I was also alarmed by seeing that even Harvard keeps it classy in their ladies bathroom stalls:

And here we all are, all dressed up, right before dancing like dance fiends. I must say, Christie and I stripped that willow. We stripped it good.

 The day after the ceilidh, I had a lot of  con duties, but then I had an entirely free day to explore the city. Christie met me at my favorite Thai restaurant, Brown Sugar Cafe near Packard’s Corner. We had a wonderful lunch, and then went to my friend’s house to see her daughter. Then we just walked all over campus. The great joy of it all was that now, alongside the nostalgia I have for BU as a student, I also got to write about BU in my books. Tracking the Tempest takes place in all my old haunts, so I was seeing it in two ways this trip. For example, does this luncheon destination look familiar?

I also had the chance to sign some of my books at the BU bookstore. I can remember so vividly going there for the first time, as a freshmen, and being completely overwhelmed. I never dreamed I’d have books on those shelves one day, especially not novels.

And then, I returned home to find a package from the ladies who’d been visiting. They sent me a lovely hostess gift, to replace our downed soldiers. I couldn’t have been happier to come to home to such a reminder of friendship. I’ll also be bringing one of those bottles when I join Julie and Sophie for Malice Domestic. ;-)

I had a day to furiously prep last minute things to teach the next day, on Thursday, which I did. My classes are going great already, and I cannot believe I get paid to teach urban fantasy. Do they know they’re paying me to geek out, every day, about a subject I love?

This is the life.

And then I dyed my hair black, because I live for change. Whadoyathink?

I’m afraid I’ll probably be a bit rushed off my feet for at least one more week as I put the kibosh on organizing these courses. I’ve also got book six to write, and I’m nearly 20,000 words in and already in love.

2012 is looking good, folks. I’m anticipating a lot of changes in my life, but they’re things about which I’m very excited. I hope to take you all along for the ride.

And if you’re fixing for some Jane True to tide you over till July, I’m afraid I don’t have anything pure Jane. But I do have something Trueniverse. You can read about the ladies of Triptych–Capitola, Moo, and Shar–in this short story, available from Orbit Digital Short Stories.  For my UK readers, it’ll be available in the UK soon, hopefully. But it will definitely be available at some time.

I’ll see y’all back here shortly, once the waters are a little more calm. ;-)

Published on January 24, 2012 in Appearances, My Travels, Nicole Peeler and Something Wikkid This Way Comes. 4 Comments Tags: , , , .

Debauchercon! I Mean, Bouchercon!

Hi folks! I’m happy to announce that I survived Bouchercon! It was so much fun, I don’t know where to begin. Okay, that’s a lie, as I know exactly where to begin: with Friday.

Friday I got in that evening, around 4:30. I went up to our room and let Sophie and Julie know I’d arrived. I then hopped in the shower, as I’d been up super early that morning to get some stuff done and was already feeling grotty. Sophie and Julie took coming home to a nekkid little wet girl very well, and there was much hugging and rejoicing. There was also some imbibing of “drawer whiskey,” the best whiskey ever invented.

After we had a thorough catch up, we did some turns around the bar. I then met my absolutely lovely friends Ervin and Gary, and we had dinner. It was so great to see them, although poor Gary’s car had its radiator blow up, so that meant they didn’t have a car to hang out Saturday. Which was a total bummer, although we definitely got in some good bonding time.

After dinner, I met up with the ladies at the hotel, where there were more turns around the bar. Julie and Sophie know everyone, and I mean everyone, so it was a blur of awesome new people. Everyone was really interesting, and I was loving meeting so many people with whom I had so much to talk about. It was also nice to be at a convention where men outnumbered women, and none of them were Cavemen in loin cloths. At least not that we could see.

To cap the night off, we ended up in our rooms with a bunch of people, a bottle of vodka and one of Laphroig, and there was much frivolity. I, however, am used to a 10:00 pm bedtime, so by midnight (central time), I was done. I went ahead and curled up on my cot and had a grand old time listening to everyone talk while I wrestled with sleep.

The next day was more of the same, but it was such great same. We talked, we worked, we networked, we bonded. I may have bought $20 worth of “gooey butter cake,” but can you blame me? I met the beautiful and graceful Victoria Laurie, who I really liked, along with the very wonderful Maddee, who designs our Pens Fatales blog as well as Sophie and Julie’s websites. They were both such great ladies and I had so much fun getting to know them better. I also did much bonding with the Charlatan’s Debi Murray and Murder by the Book’s Johnnie Cakes, whom I couldn’t love more if he were a saltine cracker.

OH, and this was the coolest thing ever. I MET THE REAL GOAT. Yes, Sophie’s gorgeous Sheriff Goat is based on a REAL MAN, a thriller writer, who came to our room party. He was adorable (and by adorable I mean haaaaht), and he really WAS Goat! *fans herself*

Saturday night after dinner, and another bar turn, we discovered there was a free photo booth! Many shenanigans ensued, a few of which I’ve included in this blog. Eventually, we ended up back in the room, where we had another  party. I curled up like a dead thing at midnight again, but everyone was very sweet about tucking me in and giving me cuddles. I think I brought out everyone’s parental instincts with my propensity to swaddle myself like a cocooning caterpillar, and it was lovely to be on the receiving end of a little TLC.

And that’s exactly what this weekend was. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely met some great people with whom I discussed our MFA and our visiting writer opportunities, and I did loads of great networking. But it’s hard to call that work when it’s so enjoyable to see lovely people like Charlaine Harris and her BFF Paula, whom I adore. So, basically I spent a weekend with kind, interesting, caring people, all the while meeting new people who turned out to be just as wonderful.

It was a great way to put everything into perspective, and realize how lucky, and loved, I really am. When I came home I ordered tickets to San Francisco so I can go to Julie’s halloween party. Viva la ladies!

I was my typical rubbish self at taking pictures, but I still got some fun ones. Mostly due to the photo booth, of course. First off, here’s me with Gary and Ervin. Could they be any hotter? Feel that sizzle.

Next, here’s me trying out a new look:

It made everyone want to pet my kitty. Next we have our first round of photo booth shenanigans. How many writers can you fit into one photo booth? It was like a clown car when we poured out.

And here we are abusing John. Poor muffin.

There are more, but they get increasingly more inappropriate.

Sunday morning, I shared a taxi to the airport with Sophie’s brother, Mike Cooper, whose debut is coming out very soon. He was so nice, and it was very cute seeing Sophie with her bro.

I got home nice and early Sunday, but I was wiped out. I watched much Doctor Who and basked in the glow of the weekend. It was lovely, and much needed, and will remain a great memory.

That was my Bouchercon weekend! How was yours? ;-)

OH, I almost forgot. Vote for me in the Bookies for AAD 2012!

 

Published on September 19, 2011 in Appearances, Conventions and My Travels. 2 Comments Tags: , , , .

RomCon Rumbled…

Hi folks! I’m back from RomCon in Denver. I went last year, and although the con was significantly smaller than it was, it was still fun. Not least because we were hosted by the fierce creatures otherwise known of as Mario Acevedo and Jeanne C. Stein. Here they are, looking like they might shiv me:

Just as fun as seeing old friends is meeting new friends, and I shared a room with an author I’ve “known” through email, etc., for a long time, but had never actually met. Her name is Kimberly Frost, and we’re both with McIntosh and Otis, although with different agents. Kimberly was a great roommate and an awesome human being. She’s an ER doctor for her day job, and she regaled us with harrowing stories, assuring us that we’d “love how lungs felt, they’re like souffles!” So basically we were all obsessed, and made her tell us everything while we made ick faces. Well, while I made ick faces. Then Kimberly would say, “Oh, I’m grossing Nicole out, I’ll stop,” and I’d shake my head furiously and say, “No! I want more! Keep talking!” It was awesome. And a bit icky. Let’s just say I never knew there were so many ways to “crack a chest.” *shudders*

The first night we were in Denver, we did an event for the Public Library, called Mucho Mojo. It was super fun, and we got to hang out with Mario’s awesome friend Jennifer Mosquera, an incredible artist who runs one of the coolest galleries I’ve ever been in, The Art Salon in Denver. She wants it to be a real Salon, so there are tons of really interactive, awesome events, and also classes. If you live in Denver or the surrounding area you MUST check it out! Check out her website and the Salon’s for upcoming events.

The next day was full RomCon action! There were some peeps from last year, whom I was happy to see again, such as the lovely Monica Kaye:

There were swag bags full of mysterious, vaguely alarming items, such as this one. It’s called, quite ominously, “The Buzz Brush.” What do you think it’s for?

Finally, there was both cardboard and in-the-flesh man meat, as any good Romance Con must have. here’s me with the cardboard version:

We tried to get Mario to play with the fleshly version of the one on the right. He was there wearing leather pants and had a plethora of props, such as a dagger and a whip, to help him take pictures with the ladies. The model was also on hand to take pictures….

HAHAHAHA. See what I did there? I made it seem like Mario was walking around in leather pants with a whip hoping to get pictures with ladies.

Which he was.

No, seriously, Mario was his using charming self, and he even entertained us with this adorable fork dance:

I cackle like a hyena, which is my superpower. It can be ear shattering, depending on how much whisky has been consumed.

The final day we were in Denver, we did a signing at the Broadway Book Mall, my favorite coop bookstore ever. It was really cool, but when I did the same signing last year, I just had the one book out and I think everyone who came out was really there for the store and had no idea who I was. This year, there were tons of people there and all of them were there to see me or one of the other authors, so it felt like we had real fans. It was awesome! I saw the difference a year makes in publishing, in terms of building a readership, etc. There was even one of our SHU students there, Lesley, who blogged about her insights into author signings.

All in all it was an absolutely fabulous time, and I even managed to get a lot of school work done. I also signed up for an intensive Spanish class on Saturdays this semester, to brush up on my Espagnol. I used to chatter away quite rapidly, but now I sound like a three-year-old who may or may not have been drinking. So I’m very excited about that!

Tomorrow, meanwhile, will find me flying out to AAD in Philly. If you’re in the area but aren’t doing the con, there’s a FREE public booksigning Saturday, August 13th, from 2-5 in the Ormandy ballroom of the Doubletree Hotel, Center City Philadelphia. Come see me, Carolyn Crane, Dakota Cassidy, Anton Strout, Allison Pang, and tons more!

So hope to see you in Philly! Ciao for now!

Published on August 9, 2011 in Appearances, Conventions, My Travels, Nicole Peeler and Signings. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Release Part 1, Updates, and Obscure Fury Spoilers!

Hello mah beauties,

Today is July 26th, which means it’s the day that Amazon ships book four, Eye of the Tempest! It’s already been out all over the place in bookstores, and it’s not quite out in e-reader (that will be August 1, the “official” release date). But if you pre-ordered a hard copy, it should be winging its way to you as of now.

So yay! Release Part 1 is in full effect. Sorry those of you with e-readers have to wait till August 1, but it’ll come shortly, I promise. ;-)

As for me, I’ve had the loveliest week! On Wednesday of last week, I had an absolutely hilarious dinner with UK writers Karen Mahoney and Suzanne McLeod, and with American expat writer Stacia Kane. Here are some photos of the evening. First up are Suzanne and Karen, looking gorgeous:

And next we have Stacia and me, looking like fierce (if giggling) creatures:

As for the giggling, Stacia might have been grabbing my boob. Again. ;-)

Thursday night I had dinner and watched a movie with Dr. Ruth. We watched Black Swan, which was very creepy. It made me frightened of ballet and also made me want to eat cake.

Friday I headed north to meet my friend and travel up to Whitby on the Northeast coast of England. I’d been pretty sure I wanted to set the final battle of the fifth book in Whitby, and was convinced it was perfect pretty much as soon as I saw the place. Whitby is absolutely gorgeous, with a seaside charm all of its own. In fact, it reminded me much more of Eastport, ME, than it did other British seaside cities, such as Brighton. This makes sense, as it’s really a working fishing village with a side in tourism, rather than having an economy based on tourism. But it was an entirely stunning place, made even funnier by the Dracula connection (Bram Stoker has quite a few scenes set in or based on Whitby) which brings loads of goths to the area. So one minute you’d be walking past a knot of bearded old fishermen smoking pipes, then there’d be a chubby goth couple in full regalia eating fish and chips.

But the book’s ending is really coming together in my mind. I kept playing through different scenes as we were in Whitby, and the place was so powerful an inspiration I couldn’t shut off my brain, even when we were in Scarborough for a day trip. Luckily I didn’t need much mental power, however, as I was being well taken care of.  It was my ideal trip, really, as I was with someone who was originally from that area, and he was the perfect tour guide. All I had to do was wander along behind him and ooh and aah at the sights, a role I rarely get to indulge in, but which I love.

As usual, I took almost no photos, but here are a few that were too weird or funny not to take, plus I did remember to take a few photos for use in the writing. So they’ll be your obscure Fury spoilers for the day!

This picture was from the Whitby museum, full of all sorts of insane shit, like sea bishops. It also has an actual HAND OF GLORY, probably the creepiest thing I’ve ever clapped eyes upon. It was also great timing, as I’d just read Juliet Blackwell’s fabulous Hexes and Hemlines, which utlilizes a Hand of Glory. Here’s a very bad picture of the hand, in all its horrific splendor:

It really was repulsive. Equally cool, if slightly less repulsive, was a weird Victorian Steampunky device made to foretell weather. It looked cool, yes, but it did involve tons of leeches, which lent the device its own slightly repulsive nature. Anyway, its name gave me inspiration for book six, just in case I’m not allowed to use Tempestt Bledsoe:

TEMPEST PROGNOSTICATOR! It’ll be a steampunk Jane, naturally.

Finally, here are some pictures of the abbey, as a bit of cryptic Fury spoiler. Enjoy and see you soon. Londoners, don’t forget my Forbidden Planet signing this Saturday!

Your moment of cryptic Fury spoiler begins now:

Published on July 26, 2011 in Eye of the Tempest and My Travels. 7 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Denver May Never Be The Same

Hello mah sweets,

I’m writing to you from the comfort of my flat in London, where I’m curled up on my couch, watching the rain and very much enjoying a quiet night in. I had a fabulous week last week–a friend was visiting, and we did loads of stuff, including a trip to Brighton to visit my awesome US cover artist, Sharon Tancredi. My dear friend, Jana, was also in town and we got to see her. And we had a great night out with one of my favorite Orbit pals, Philip Palmer, and a group he put together, including Mike Carey and other SF/F and comic writers. All together, it was a fabulous night and an equally fabulous very long weekend!

But today was back to the grindstone! Luckily, my visitor came just when I got officially stuck in my manuscript. I’m in the final few chapters, and I have vague notes in my outline, such as “Big Battle Scene,” which are outrageously unhelpful. But I had a nice distraction for five whole days, and when I sat down to write today everything made so much more sense. So another chapter is written and the final chapters are much more thoroughly outlined.

This week, then, will be mucho writing-o, but it’s not all sweat and tears. Last night I saw my friend from high school, Erik Tomlin, who is hilarious. Today I had a lovely long lunch with my editor here in the UK, Anna Gregson, and tomorrow I’m getting together with a bunch of writers, including Karen Mahoney, Stacia Kane, and Suzanne McLeod. Stacia’s spending the night so I’m sure there will be shenanigans involving vodka, fire, maybe one of Stacia’s switchblades, and definitely a certain self-pubbed erotic hot mess that makes us pee ourselves laughing. Ohhh yeah, I’m looking at you, PE!

Thursday I’m having a dinner and movies date with Dr. Ruth, then bright and early the next day I head up north to meet my friend for a final bout of research for the book. And by “research” I mean wandering around, eating pub food, and being generally debauched. In all seriousness, however, I will also be scouting out sites for the final two locales of book five. I’ll not tell you where they are, however, to keep you guessing, but mayhaps I’ll post a pic or two on twitter to give you evil, vaguely spoilery hints.

So that’s my life, here. It’s going stupidly fast, and I’m already dreading leaving. I love it here, I have so many friends, and London’s just a great place to be. But the good news is that when I DO return to the States, it’s to two very fun conventions, the first of which is in Denver.

Now, Denver is also host to the beauteous and wonderful Mario Acevedo and Jeanne Stein, and Mario was his typically generous self in organizing us a bunch of non-convention shindigs, to make the visit to Colorado even more fun. He’s organized a Mucho Mojo tour for us, and here’s the flier he made. I’m stupidly excited to be a part of all of this:

The first event is Thursday, August 4th, from 7-9 pm at Madwine Bar and Novo Coffee. I’m apparently contributing talismans and bringing my mojo, but considering how jetlagged I’m gonna be you might all have to buy me some drinks to get me going. Like nine. Nine drinks should do it. ;-)

The next event is another signing with a load of other local authors and authors in for RomCon, and that’s Sunday, August 7, 4 pm at Broadway Book Mall.

So print off the flier and come see us!

Published on July 19, 2011 in Appearances, My Travels and Signings. 0 Comments Tags: , .

A London Signing! Huzzah!

Hello folks! It’s with huge excitement that I announce I’ll be taking part in Orbit UK’s London Summer Signing!

It’s at Forbidden Planet, London on Saturday 30th July, 3-4pm, and I’ll be with Tim Lebbon, Philip Palmer, and Simon Morden.

More details are on the Forbidden Planet events page, here, and on my own appearances page, here.

                   

                  

I’m so happy I get to do this, and I hope to see some of my UK fans there. Forbidden Planet is the ultimate Nerd Mecca, so I’m having a bit of a nerdgasm that I get to sign there. It’s truly an honor, and I’m looking forward to meeting everyone involved.

This week will be Officially Crazy, with some guests and fun and maybe a naughty field trip at a very swank hotel. Or, it’s what I like to call VACATION, bitches. ;-) I wish y’all could join me.

 

Published on July 11, 2011 in Appearances, My Travels and Signings. 4 Comments Tags: .

Back to Blighty!

Hello my friends! It’s now Sunday evening of my first weekend back in London, and I’m happy as a pig in shit. Which I’m told makes for a very happy pig, although I really don’t know if that’s true. But I do know I’m one happy Nikki.

The flight over was fine, although I did arrive to a bit of a debacle with the keys to my holiday flat, as I blogged about over at the Pens. But it was sorted out by early evening, and within a few hours I was unpacked and ready to start cooking for my friends.

I have a secret, paradoxical domestic streak. I don’t think I want children, and I’m ambivalent about marriage as an institution, but I love nothing more than making people food and serving them and pouring them drinks and making sure they’re comfortable. It’s odd, and I have no idea where it comes from, but I’ve learned to embrace my strange drive to nestle people into my domestic bosom. So within hours of unpacking I had my lovely friends Ruth and Linda over, as well as Linda’s brother who was visiting from Dublin. All I did was make salad and heat up pizza, but it was so nice to catch up and know I didn’t have to run around that night. Then we had delicious cherries and pots of delicious chocolate ganache, which was heavenly.

The next day I had a proper day out with Ruth, and our friends visiting from Edinburgh, Sarah and Robin. We went to Hampton Palace, which was Henry VIII’s stomping grounds. Indeed, Dr. Ruth has become rather obsessed with the Tudors, the TV series, and she especially enjoyed all the large-booted stomping performed by the actor playing Henry.

It was a gorgeous day out, and a great day for a picnic on the front lawn:

After which, we did the whole palace and gardens. I really enjoyed it, although there were a few rooms in which they piped in “authentic” sounds and smells. I was fine with the sounds, but the faux-beef stew smell in the first rooms of the kitchens nearly made me hurl. Any nausea, however, was quickly eradicated by the rest of the kitchens, which had live cooking demos with recipes from the time. Not only were the demos interesting, but all of the cooks were sporting proper period costumes, including these padded cod pieces that looked incredibly, hilariously vulgar underneath their aprons. It was a definite moment of “Is that a rolling pin under your apron or are you just happy to see me?”

As usual, we were definitely the least mature people in the room, and couldn’t stop giggling. But all in all the palace was gorgeous, and very inspiring. I especially liked the maze:

And here’s a picture from the gardens that is actually a cryptic spoiler from book 5, Tempest’s Fury:

After leaving Hampton Palace, we headed back to Islington and one of my favorite restaurants here, the Afghan Kitchen. It’s tiny and super cheap and I adore it. We ate ridiculous amounts of food, then headed down the street for one last drink at the pub:

It was a place I’ve been to often with Dr. Ruth, and it was nice to be back with her:

We went our separate ways after that, but Ruth and I were back at Waterloo Station the next day to head out to Whitton for a BBQ at the house of Dr. and Mrs. Whisky, and the Wee Dram. It was a lovely long day spent with good friends, and I had such a great time. The Whiskys are great, and Dr. Whisky has been very busy with his new job as Global Ambassador of Balvenie. Not too shabby, right? Meanwhile, Mrs. Whisky is expecting ANOTHER Wee Dram, so she’s not been slacking off, either.

Another uni friend, Steve, was also in attendance, and he’s been doing awesome work studying glaciars in Greenland. It was great to catch up with everyone and find out what everyone’s up to. I’m lucky to have such fascinating friends, and the conversation ranged from places to visit in Austin, TX, to the drinking culture in Korea.

Tomorrow I’ve got to get some writing done, but in the evening my friend Jo is coming round to stay for a few days. I can’t wait to catch up, again. Then I should have a fairly quiet (and hopefully productive) week till the weekend, when we’re throwing Mrs. Whisky a baby shower.

So all is going very well here, and I’m so happy I’ve come over. I’m sure I’ll have some more updates for you shortly, including some very exciting things that are happening over in the UK with Jane and her series. I’ll let you know as soon as I can!

Now, however, it’s time for some sleep. Book five calls, and I might be writing a very sexy scene with Jane and a certain someone . . . who do you hope that someone might be?

OH, and Happy Fourth of July!!! Watch some fireworks for me!

Published on July 4, 2011 in My Travels and Over at Pens . . .. 3 Comments Tags: , , , .

The Tour: Snarking LA-TEX

Hello mah beauties!

I’m writing to you from Shreveport, where I am recovering from our Snark-La-Tex tour with the gracious care of my good friend Mary Lois and her husband, Doug. They keep feeding me and carting me places, bless them.

The tour, itself, was fabulous. Here’s a rundown from me, but you can also get more narrative over at Jaye’s site. I arrived the day of our first signing, last Sunday, in Dallas. Jaye picked Mary Lois and me up at the aiport, as ML tagged along as our driver/bodyguard/handler. It was so much fun to have her, and she totally saved our asses in Baton Rouge, but more on that later.

We started out our roadtrip by Jaye taking us to a place called Fuzzy Tacos. I love good food with stupid names, so I was in heaven. We then cleaned up and went to our signing at the Borders in Allen, TX, right outside of Dallas. The store was gorgeous, and we had a great turnout. You may recognize Dakota Cassidy, Renee George, and Michele Bardsley sitting front and center, in all of their splendor.

The staff at Borders were awesome, as was the audience. I met loads of people I’ve been tweeting or Facebooking with for a while, which is always fun. There was also a great turn out of book bloggers and reviewers. So fun!

After the signing, we headed out with Jaye’s husband and son, Michele, Dakota, and Renee to another Mexican restaurant (I’m making up for the horrible Mexican around where I live). This one, however, is famous for margaritas so potent you’re only allowed two or you’re taking a taxi. The conversation was about as raunchy as you might imagine, and it was great to catch up with Dakota, Michele, and Renee, three of my favorite people.

The next morning found us, rather unsurprisingly, EATING AGAIN. This time we went to Cafe Brazil, which has the most amazing chorizo empanadas. After fattening up, we drove to Austin. I’d never been, and it was such a cool city. First we met up with an Austin librarian, David, and his wife, Marlena, both avid readers. They were unbelievably generous and took us to a gorgeous restaurant named Bess’s Bistro. It’s owned by Sandra Bullock, so we were certainly not the biggest celebrities they’d every seen, but we were still treated royally. The food was delicious and the aesthetic of the place really great, so I highly recommend it.

After dinner, we headed to one of the coolest indie bookstores evah, BookPeople. We were definitely small fry for a bookstore that hosts such celebrities as Simon Pegg, but you wouldn’t know it from the way we were treated: like gold. They were so nice and so very, very welcoming. There was even a marquee!

And tons of other pimpage, including very cool posters they’d whipped up:

The space in which they do their signings is lovely, and we felt very professional. Or at least as professional as Jaye and I can feel, which is not all that professional, really.

We did readings, and then some Q&A:

And thanks to Pam (SpazP on twitter) for the gorgeous photos. She’s not so shabby herself (hubba hubba!).

After our signing, Jaye and I bought a metric fuck-ton of mustaches. Why? You’ll see! We also found this AMAZING MASK:

We realized later we missed a golden opportunity to stage a cock fight, which MUST HAPPEN the next time we hit BookPeople. I’m sure they’re thrilled at that idea. ;-)

The day after our Austin signing, we headed to Houston and one of our all-time favorite indies, Murder by the Book. John from the bookstore was sweet (or perhaps crazy) enough to let us stay at his house, and he and his partner Matt were the perfect hosts. Their house is gorgeous and cozy, and they could not have been sweeter.

Mary Lois did nearly steal their cats, but that’s another story.

The signing, itself, was a hoot. As I said, we bought lots of mustaches in Austin, and we put them to good use in Houston . . . by making everyone in the store wear one. The view from the front was awesomely mustache-tastic:

But I’m fairly certain the view from the audience was equally (if not more) ridiculous:

Just putting them on was a challenge, as we were giggling so hard:

But the effect was awesome, and it was great that the Murder by the Book people also played along. Here’s John looking verreh handsome in his ‘tache:

And here’s ML, Jaye and I posing in all our hirsute glory:

Mary Lois, for one, looked rather nice in her hipster ‘tache. Meanwhile, the signing itself was great. The audience was SO good-natured about being asked to wear things on their face, and they were so funny and fun about it. I also met some people I’ve been tweeting with for awhile, although one girl stayed incognito by not reminding me of her Twitter handle! (glares at @lobsterbandita)

She was already wearing a mustache, would I really have embarrassed her further??

After dinner, we went out to the amazing restaurant, Mockingbird Bistro, where ML and I had gone the last time I had a signing at Murder by the Book. I loved it then, and loved it just as much this time. Besides Matt and John, my very talented mentee from SHU’s MFA, Elle Stone, came with us to dinner. Her awesome first book, a YA fantasy, is currently on submission to editors, so I’m keeping all my body parts crossed for her. Not that I think she’ll need it: the book is phenomenal.

We had a great deal of food, but also a few cocktails . . . which were very, very strong cocktails. I’d become rather obsessed with the tattoo of one of the ladies at the Borders in Allen, TX, which was of a mustache on her finger, so she could be in disguise whenever she felt like it. I’d seen them before, but something about this ‘tache just really resonated with me. And after a few cocktails, somehow there were all sorts of jokes about finger ‘taches, and poon (I have no idea how that happened), which morphed into the idea of “poonstache,” and then we decided our next tour would be called Poonstache 2012, and then it went downhill from there. We closed out the restaurant after nearly howling down its walls with laughter, and with my being firmly committed to getting my own mustache tattoo.

Which brings us to New Orleans.

Obviously, much debauchery happened in New Orleans, right? Including that tattoo, right? We did hit Decataur, and Coop’s, hard, having a few drinks and feeling our oats. Unfortunately, we made the wrong decision after that and ended up at my favorite NOLA eatery, Muriel’s. Now, don’t get me wrong, Muriel’s was as delicious as ever. But we ate ourselves into a COMA and it was all we could do to drag our sorry behinds back to our hotel and go to bed. At 11:00 pm. In New Orleans, city of sin. It was pathetic!

But dinner was delicious, and we were up nice and early to work out and then undo the workout by eating beignets. Then we spent a delicious afternoon in the quarter, buying chicken feet from voodoo shops and clothing from Trashy Diva. As one does.

Then we went to Baton Rouge. Or we tried to. The drive was easy, up until we hit the city that, historically, I’ve always breezed through driving to and from NOLA. But not this time! A combination of crazy construction and some flooding in other parts of the city meant that everyone, their mama, and their voodoo priestess were on the highway. Jaye did a great job blogging the gritty details, but suffice it to say that Mary Lois totally saved our butts by taking us a ninja back route and getting us to the store only one minute late.

But it was worth it! The Baton Rouge Books-A-Million was very fun, and its employees Randolph and Pepper were super. Randolph also told us about a great place to go for dinner, Red Zeppelin Pizza, which was delish. Handily, right across the street from the pizza join was a tattoo parlor! And what more does a mustache-themed book tour need than a mustache tattoo???

Atomic Tatto was a great studio, much to Jaye’s relief. I loved the guy who did  my tat: he was all squirrely, offbeat, and wry (also probably very high). And he did a beautiful job! Here’s the finished ‘tach:

I didn’t think the tattoo hurt, but then I’m a bit of a piercing champ. So those needles compared to tattoo needles is nothing. It’s healing up well and I still am endlessly amused by it, so I’m happy.

The next morning we headed out for our last stop, Shreveport. It was so nice to be back! We had a lovely crowd full of old friends and familiar faces from other signings. That said, I think both Jaye and me were just about running on fumes.

Not that we didn’t get a kick out of reading some raunchy self-help guides:

After the signing, we went to the Noble Savage, where Chef and Lee knew just what I needed:

The lovely dram on the right is Adelphi’s Breath of Islay (pronounced EYE-LA, btw), and the golden beauty on the left is a Laphroig (pronnounced LA-FROY) 18-year-old that Chef brought out specially for me. I love the Savage.

We ate meat pies, drank Scotch, and listened to Chef’s partner, Angela, regale us with hilarious stories. It was lovely seeing my friends from Shreveport, whom I’ve missed very much.

Tomorrow, however, I’m returning home to Pittsburgh. My friend, Wendell, is my knight in shining armor and driving me all the way to Dallas for my flight. Thanks, Wendell!

Once home, I plan on embarking on a strict regime of exercising and writing book five. I’ll let you know how that goes. ;-)

Finally, don’t forget there’s still time to enter my contest to win one of Kat Richardson’s Greywalker books. Details are here.

Talk to y’all when I get back! In the meantime, be good. Unless you want to be naughty. Then feel free.

Published on May 24, 2011 in Appearances, My Travels, Signings and SNARK-LA-TEX. 5 Comments Tags: , , .

Update and Guest Blog from KAT RICHARDSON!

Hello lovelies!

I’m updating you from a hotel room in Baton Rouge. Snark-La-Tex has been a BLAST. Seriously, it could not have gone better. We had fun turnouts in awesome bookstores, and we’ve had so much fun together. Everyone’s asked, “Have you killed each other yet?”, which couldn’t be further from the truth. We’ve had an awesome time, laughing our way through everything.

There has been a lot of eating, a lot of snarking, a ridiculous amount of swearing, and a tattoo. Whose? Where? You’ll just have to wait if you don’t follow me on Facebook or Twitter. ;-)

I’ll blog the whole tour soon enough, when it’s over. Tonight we have our last signing in Shreveport, at the Barnes &  Noble on Youree, at 7pm. Be there or be square.

But now I’ve got a special treat for you, a guest post from Kat Richardson who has done a very cool walking audio tour for her books. Kat’s books are set in Seattle, so if you’re a visiting fan these tours have to be a must-do on your list!

Here’s Kat!

Playing Tourist in Harper Blaine’s Neighborhood

Nikki, being the fab human that she is, asked if I’d say something about the walking tour I put together recently for YodioTours.com. Well, OK, because I’m always one to toot my own horn if someone is fool enough to ask.

Which is kind of how the whole thing started—Clay Loges asked me if I’d like to make a tour based on my Greywalker books for his new service and since it was a chance to get some more exposure in a new way, I said “sure!” Clay had been referred to me by the staff at Seattle Mystery Bookshop who are the best book-pimps money can’t buy. I just love those guys.

So I walked around, took photos, wrote the script, edited the script with Clay’s help and then recorded the audio once we’d got all the photos and the script set to our satisfaction. It was fun to take a look around the neighborhood again since it had been a while since I’d spent much time in Pioneer Square. The books had started out there, but the later ones had often gone out on vacation to other parts of town or even other towns and I’d almost forgotten some of the things that had made me love the historic district to begin with. So I guess I’m back in love with my character’s old stomping grounds. It’s nice when a new project reminds you how much you loved the old ones.

If you want to take a look, the tour is up at YodioTours.com (http://www.yodiotours.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=35&Itemid=164) and you can view it online or download it to your phone and follow along, when you visit Seattle.

Thanks to Nikki for letting my squat in her blog like this—she’s the best!

I AM the best, Kat. ;-) But seriously, thanks for posting and this walking tour is such a great idea. In fact, I’m so psyched about this idea that if you comment about which other series of books you’d think would make a great walking tour, and why, I’ll enter you into a contest to win the book of your choice from Kat’s Greywalker series. Sound good? So comment on this blog post, and if you win then you can pick any of Kat’s Greywalker books and I’ll have it Amazoned to you. ;-) If you’ve never tried this series, I think you’ll love it. I’ll draw the winner next Friday, May 27th.

So comment away and thanks for blogging, Kat! I’ll blog myself soon about the tour (the tats and the plans for Poonstache 2012). But if you miss me that much, you can finally see my debut post at Pens Fatales, on carpeing your diems. ;-)

See all you Shreveporters shortly!

Published on May 20, 2011 in Appearances, Contests, Guest Blogs, My Travels, Over at Pens . . . and Signings. 9 Comments Tags: , .

Pop the Champagne!

And feel free to call it “champag-nah!”

For I finished grading today! I also knocked out a massive chunk of my to-do list, including deciding what texts to use for my literature course (writing about literature) next semester. It’s a writing intensive course, so there’s not too much we can do, but here’s what I chose:

Don Delillo’s White Noise

Angela Cater The Bloody Chamber and Other  Stories

Henry James The Turn of the Screw

Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author

And an antho of poetry, plus the readings from the textbook.

So I’m very excited! White Noise is one of my all time favorite books, and it’s great to study with English majors, not least as it makes so much fun of academia. I also have a near obsessive love of The Turn of the Screw, but I’m sure there’s a pill for that on the market by now. I’m really excited to teach Carter, as I’ve not taught her before, but I think she’ll BLOW SOME MINDS. ;-) And who doesn’t love Pirandello? I mean, really?

And meanwhile, what finishing all of this means is that I get to be an AUTHOR again. The deadline for Tempest’s Fury is alarmingly close (like nibbling on the nape of my neck close), but I’ll be jumping back into Full Author Mode with a book tour. So by the time that’s done I should be totally recharged and ready to write! After a nap. For those of you who are like, “Book tour? What book tour?”, Jaye Wells and I are going to be all over Texas and Louisiana, swarming like ants on the ass of a dead armadillah. Here’s the roster if you’re interested:

Sunday, May 15th — DALLAS, TX

4:00 pm, Borders (965 West Bethany Dr., Allen, TX 75013)

Monday, May 16th –  AUSTIN, TX

7:00 pm, BookPeople (603 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin, TX 78703)

Tuesday, May 17th — HOUSTON, TX

6:30 pm, Murder By The Book (2342 Bissonnet St., Houston TX, 77005)

Thursday, May, 19th — BATON ROUGE, LA

6:30 pm, Books-A-Million (2380 Towne Center Blvd, Baton Rouge, LA, 70806)

Friday, May 20th –  SHREVEPORT, LA

7:00 PM, Barnes & Noble (Bayou Walk, 6646 Youree Drive, Shreveport, LA, 71105)

Jaye and I will be doing all sorts of stupid shit with each other’s books, because we get bored doing regular readings. You can also meet the infamous Mary Lois, from Shreveport, who is serving as our Turtle.

You have to get through her, people.

So that’s what I’ll be doing Sunday! Friday and Saturday will be taken up with last minute crazy prep for the tour, plus graduation and the two solid days of activities that it entails.

But then I’ll be FREEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

Man I love being a teacher. :-D

In the meantime, let me know if there’s something you think would be really funny if Jaye & I do on the tour, or what you’d like to know about touring. I’m gonna try to take lots of pictures (read, make ML take lots of pictures), so that we can do some major Bloggage. ;-)

See y’all on the flipside!

Published on May 13, 2011 in Appearances, Day Job!, My Travels, Signings and SNARK-LA-TEX. 4 Comments Tags: .