Are you also thinking you’d like to do something for Japan and the Red Cross?

Well, now you can DO BOTH!

We at the League are offering our services for charity! In two different auctions, you can bid to have a portion of your MS critiqued by either TEAM CLAW (Sonya Bateman, Michele Bardsley, Carolyn Crane, Kevin Hearne, Jackie Kessler, Diana Rowland, Jeanne Stein) or by TEAM FANG (Mario Acevedo, Dakota Cassidy, Stacia Kane, JF Lewis, Nicole Peeler, KA Stewart, Anton Strout).

We promise NOT to be gentle and to give you our all, just like you’re giving to Japan!

Here’s the exact details:

Get a helpful critique of your first pages and synopsis from a group of authors from the League of Reluctant Adults! (Team Fang)

Highest bidder (100% of proceeds go to the Red Cross to help Japan) gets to submit a synopsis and first batch of pages (up to 6000 words between the two – you decide how that works) of any fiction project for “expert analysis” by Team Fang, a group of authors from the League of Reluctant Adults! (We’re a group of published authors of urban fantasy, young adult, and paranormal romance; see our blog at http://reluctantadults.blogspot.com/)

What you get: We’ll each commit to taking at least an hour to read your stuff and let you know what we think is working great, and what we think isn’t working, and give ideas for improvement. Some members may concentrate more on the synopsis, some on the pages, but we’ll all be giving our best constructive advice. Be ready to get a spectrum of opinions, and possibly disagreement between league members, either noted on the document itself or on separate documents. It’ll be like we’re all sitting in a room, discussing your story and early pages. You will have six months to submit your document (Microsoft Word ideal), we’ll have a month to look it over and comment. (note, this is for craft/story feedback only, and not in any way a guarantee of representation or publication). At the end, we’ll email your word doc back, full of all of our comments, either on the document, or on separate documents.

That’s a lot of League snark-power, for a good cause. So come on, bid, and let’s all help rebuild lives in Japan!

Again, the auction for TEAM CLAW is located here.

And the auction for TEAM FANG (that’s my team!) is located here.

First of all, I have a very exiting announcement. After a year or so of sitting with our thumbs up our asses, we at the League of Reluctant Adults are BACK IN BUSINESS.

Go ahead and click on the above banner, and you can see the beautiful Kevin Hearne’s announcement, plus BOTH of Mark Henry’s pseudonyms dancing in leotards. RAWR. We’ll be bringing such crazy shenanigans to you every month, and we’ve welcomed new member Allison Pang:

Her book apparently involves a horny unicorn, for which I will be buying it forthwith. I can’t get enough horny unicorn jokes, people. I really can’t.

In other news, I’ve been watching Denise Townsend finish her smut. I gotta say, I dig it. She’ll also have her own website soon, where you can keep updated on her selkie shenanigans. I’ll tell you as soon as she sets it up.

Besides these announcements, I thought I’d tell you what I’ve been listening to…somewhat obsessively in the case of the first band. I’ve known about The National forever, but I never really got into them. I think I liked a harder sound, and I’m all about the lyrics but the lead singer is totally a Molly Mumbler. But how things have changed, ever since I heard this song on Sirius:

When I heard “Bloodbuzz Ohio” from their new album High Velvet suddenly all reservations were gone and I wanted to lather myself in this man’s voice. From there, it spiraled into an all-out love affair, with me downloading all the older albums and just reveling. Here’s “Slow Show” from Boxer:

I think that part of my new obsession is the fact that I can write while they’re on. They’re not super intrusive, and the have such gorgeous beats. It’s like a steady thrumming of sound that I can tune into and out of as I write.

The other new album I’ve just downloaded is White Lies, Ritual. I haven’t had a chance to really listen to it, yet, but here’s a taster:

And here are my favorite songs from their last album, To Lose My Life… First we have the optimistically named “Unfinished Business”:

And here’s my ultimate fave from that album, “To Lose My Life”:

So that’s what I have been/will be listening to. Anything fun you’ve found recently?

It’s a total winter wonderland here in Illinois, and the snow is still coming down. Here’s the view from my mom’s home office…

It’s like I’m in a snow globe! Awesome!

Lemme just say, I have loved being at home. This pre-Xmas part of the trip has been mostly family and rest and work time. I’ve been sleeping like a cat, and when I’m not sleeping I’m revising Eye and going out with the fam.

Eye of the Tempest is shaping up a treat. and I’m really digging the direction it’s going. I had a Major Treadmill Epiphany (the other thing I’ve been doing, while home, is working out like a crazy woman) in which I realized what was at the heart of my revisions issues. Basically, I’d missed the mark on who Jane is, in this book, after her adventures in Legacy.

So the work is going great, and I hope to have Jane shipped back to the Editrix before New Year’s.  As for the fam, they’re fabulous. And I’ve made tons of ridiculous plans with my Chicago friends for after the holidays, and I’m so looking forward to letting the hair down. And speaking of hair…

Here’s a Before Korean Ladies shot and an After Korean Ladies shot:

I love them so much. Why can’t I take them to Pittsburgh? That said, I love my PA stylist, too, and I’ve taken a picture of the dye Chloe uses on me, so that hopefully we can source it back in PA. Then I can be RED all the time! Yay!

As for the Post Holiday Shenanigans, I can’t WAIT.  My friends in Chicago are some of the smartest, funniest, most loyal people I know, and I can’t wait to soak up their vibe. I feel like I’ve gone a bit dull, and they all agree (that’s the beauty of real friends–they tell you when you’re being stupid). But they’re also on hand for an intervention, and they’ll have me whetted to a razor’s edge in no time.  That said, it can’t be all play, as I still have a lot of stuff to do before our January MFA residency. But I’ll get it all done, and enjoy some playtime as well.

And speaking of playtime, nearly all my plans are made for my Cheeky European Trip 2011. I’ve got all my train tix booked, and rental flat, etc. I cannot WAIT to go. We’re hitting Paris for an International Ladies Night. Dr. Ruth is going, of course, as well as my friends from Ireland, Denmark, Holland, and Norway. It’s going to be a blast. Then it’s back to England and a bit more travel on my own, this time to visit another friend, whom I’m stupidly excited to see. We’re planning some outrageously naughty shenanigans, and that’s exactly what I need right now. My life has been naughty-free for a while, so no wonder I feel like a pair of kindergarten shears.

I will also be doing some business in London, of course. I’ll be visiting the Orbit UK offices. They’ve got loads afoot there, and we’ll be going over their ideas. I’m also very much hoping to get together with the delightful Philip Palmer, and maybe do some fun promo with him. I also want to convince him that we should write a BBC radio play together, because that would make me the happiest bunny that ever bunnied. Did ya hear that, Philip?

PS: I’ll be sending you a “Rabbit Heart” blog post shortly, just to sweeten the pot.

So that’s what I’m doing! OH, and Legacy is being spotted ALL over the wild. Because of the holidays, I’m not going to do loads of pre-release stuff. BUT I will be back home in January, doing oodles of contests and stuff, and hoping to take advantage of all the giftcards you’ve received from Santa.

But I’m not the only one who’s been busy this January, and the ever lovely and fabulous Jackie Kessler has done a fantastic League roundup, of all the stuff we Leaguers have coming out now or very soon.

Another busy person has been Laurel Dinnage, who made these very sweet pictures of Jane! Thanks, Laurel!

I’ve also got an interview up at Savvy Authors, and more to come, shortly. You can also see Jane’s Holiday Wishlist, here, at the Vampire Book Club.

In the meantime, enjoy your holidays, everyone! Y’all have been such a treat for me to get to know, and your support and your love of Jane has meant the world to me. With the class I’m teaching at my new job, I thought a lot about the author/reader relationship this semester, and I’ve realized just how lucky I am to have you. I love knowing you’re out there, and hearing what you have to say about Jane and her adventures. So thank you all, a million times over! I’d send you each and everyone a t-shirt from London, but I’m broke. So go buy Legacy! 

Merry merry, and all that jazz. *huge hugs*

My interview with Victoria Schwab, debut YA novelist, is here. I swear a blue streak. Maybe an indigo streak. Enjoy.

Be back at the League Friday, with another YA debuter’s interview. This one might be worse. It is one in which I am Full of Ideas (never a good sign!).

Check yourself before you wreck yourself, Loretta!

And because this is such a big event, and because I’m running ANOTHER BIG EVENT over at the League of Reluctant Adults, YA Week!, I thought I’d run a contest THIS week, here.

First of all, let me show you what’s up for grabs . . .

The lucky winner of this contest receives NOT ONE . . .NOT TWO . . . NOT THREE! . . . BUT FOUR BOOKS!

Yes, FOUR BOOKS!

In no particular order, here is the prize…

First off, we have Mark Henry’s new release, Battle of the Network Zombies!

Next, we have my AMAZING critique partner, Diana Rowland’s, Blood of the Demon! I’ve read this one, it’s HAWT!

Third up is Stacia Kane’s Demon Possessed!

And, finally, last but not least, Anton Strout’s Dead Matter!

All of these novels launch tomorrow, February 23rd. And I’ll send all four books directly to the winner of this contest.

To enter yourself into the running, just answer the following question in comments: “Which would you rather be, a hot, fashionable, zombie socialite; a demon summoner who gets hawt sex with her side of Demon Lord; the actual head of a demon family, who gets to fraternize with other heads of demon families (Greyson! Greyson!); or a super secret, super agent for the Department of Extraordinary Affairs?”

In other words, I think I’m asking would you rather BE the supernatural? Or the human who gets to fraternize with supernaturals?

Answer that question in comments in as much depth as you would like, and that’ll put you in the running to win these four books. I’ll choose a winner FRIDAY February 26th at noon, randomly, and announce the winner here.

In the meantime, you can see me get up to all sorts of shenanigans over at the League. Because it’s YA week! And I have some REALLY GOOD ideas on how I, Nicole Peeler, can enter into the YA world with a bang. Literally.

You know you want to see this in action . . .

Looks adorable, Molly! Can’t wait to read it!

And secondly, over at the League I’ve gone ahead and done a naughty review of Avatar, as promised. My brain functions on so many planes . . . okay, just two:  psuedo-serious and snarky. You get BOTH brain planes for Avatar! Aren’t you lucky, people??