Tag Archive for 'Diana Rowland'

Updates! Reviews! Pimpage! LONDON!

Hello my lovelies!

Sorry I’ve been MIA. I had our June residency for our MFA, and that’s always a ton of work (albeit very fun work). Our MFA in Writing Popular Fiction is what they call a “low-residency” degree, meaning that most of the coursework is done long-distance, through on-line classes and through an individual relationship with a mentor. But twice a year, every January and every June, all of our students converge, en masse, to Seton Hill, where we have an intensive five day Residency, full of critique groups, workshops, and tons of other things.

I had a great time at this residency. As usual, I taught our “2s” (second term students) in a module on close reading. I led three critique groups, all of which had some absolutely fabulous stories. Finally, I taught a workshop on Trends in Mystery. Half of the workshop was on trends, the idea of trends, and specific trends in mystery. But it was the very last day of the residency when I led the workshop, and my goal was to leave everyone inspired. So the second half of the workshop was loads of group and individual work, scoping out the scene in mystery (or whatever other genre the attendee writes) and coming up with some ideas for other, future projects. I think it went well, and I know I was inspired at the end of it!

We also had great speakers visiting! The lovely Heather Osborn, editorial director of Samhain, and equally lovely Lucienne Diver, author and agent with the Knight Agency, came in to speak. They were fabulous: super enthusiastic, excited about the business, and really knowledgeable. I also got to spend some bonding time with both ladies, which was great as they’re awesome.

The day after Residency, I packed up and headed to Chicago. I solved my laundry issue (there was not time to do it during Res) by taping shut my hamper and sticking the whole thing in the car. So I basically turned up at my parents like a college freshmen, laundry in tow. It was like an episode of the Cosbys! I’d like to say I was playing the part of Denise, but realistically I’ve always been a Vanessa.

But in the meantime, much has been happening with my upcoming release, Eye of the Tempest! Publisher’s Weekly says that the fourth book “brings even more sass, snark, and supernatural action.” Meanwhile, Romantic Times gave the book 4 1/2 stars, saying that I “keep the action brisk and the emotions sharp.” Don’t cut yourself! ;-)

I’m betting there’ll be Eye spottings in the wild as soon as the middle of this month, but if you need something to read in the meantime, have no fear! First off, Sophie Littlefield’s Bad Day For Scandal came out a few weeks ago. I love this series, and can’t wait to dig into this book!

If you want something in the Urban Fantasy realm, have no fear. K.A. Stewart’s Shot in the Dark is coming July 5th. It looks great! I love these covers:

And speaking of cover love, my critique partner, Diana Rowland, has her ABSOLUTELY AWESOME book My Life as a White Trash Zombie also coming July 5th, although I just saw it yesterday on the shelves of Barnes and Noble:

This cover by Dan Dos Santos absolutely rocks my world, and the book is great. Even if you don’t like zombies I think you’ll like this one, as Diana’s taken the zombie to a whole ‘nother level of trashy-cool.

Kevin Hearne’s Hammered also has a July 5th release. I blurbed the first book of this series and can’t wait to catch up with the rest. These also have great covers, as I greatly enjoy Atticus and his mighty sword.

Releasing from my own publisher, my friend Philip Palmer’s Hell Ship comes out this month, and it looks awesome. I’ll be hanging with Philip in London, and will definitely be digging into this bad boy before I see him. It’s got a skull! And a pirate ship! And I heart it hard:

Last but certainly not least, my other fellow-Orbiter, Gail Carriger, is releasing Heartless today. Happy Book Birthday, Gail! Can’t wait to read it, as I’m a big fan of the series:

So there’s a roundup of some recent/new releases! As for me, I will also be released into the wilds of London tomorrow. I am stupidly excited to get back, as you can imagine. I’ll be there for a whole month, and it’ll be great to see all of my friends, and to finish my fifth book in the country where I wrote my first. It’s all circular, and shit. ;-) I can’t wait to see everyone, and to be back in a real city. I’m at a really good place in my life, and it’ll be nice to be in that great place while also being in an actual great place–London’s a fabulous city and it’ll be nice to give it real twirl rather than just being a regular, week-long tourist.

But don’t worry–I’m sure I’ll be blogging, Facebooking, and Tweeting from London, have no fear! In the meantime, feel free to read some good books. There’s a ton coming out over the summer!

 

Published on June 30, 2011 in Eye of the Tempest, Pimpage! and Reviews. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

RT in Review

I have one thing to say about Romantic Times: I loved it.

The fans were awesome, I had SO MUCH FUN with the League and the other authors, and the con, itself, couldn’t have been more well organized. I also adored Columbus and the actual location of the convention. There’s nothing worse, to me, than being trapped in the middle of nowhere in a hotel, but the Hyatt Columbus is in a great area, close to bars, restaurants, and even a farmer’s market where you could buy fresh produce and deliciously evil ice cream.

I arrived a day late, unfortunately, to find that things were already in full swing. And by full swing I mean most of the League already looked decidedly hung over. The rest of the con was a bit of a blur, but a blur of hilarity; loads of fantastic friends, both old and new; and, admittedly, a lot of food and booze. Here’s a wee RT in Pictures (some of which I’ve stolen from other people’s websites–with permission–as I’m rubbish at taking photos):

The Hyatt Columbus did some really smart customer outreach by having a Twitter Fairy: Basically, people were hashtagging #RT10 on Twitter, and if anyone said anything about needing hangers, for example, hangers would magically appear in their room, that night. Pretty soon people caught on, and I asked for dancing girls and champagne. I got the champagne, which was lovely. And the hotel, in general, was wonderful: clean, great service, and an absolutely marvelous location. The nearby North Market was my heaven.

I’m sure y’all have seen other pics of Diana Rowland’s Creepy Doll, but here are two from my own phone. In the first, Kat Richardson reacts with appropriate horror. In the second, Dakota’s maternal instincts extend even to Creepy Doll, whom Dakota teaches to play drums. Creepy Doll only tried to stab Dakota twice with the drum sticks. I love the look on Jeanne Stein’s face almost as much as I love Jeanne, herself. Classic! And you can just see Carolyn Crane peeping out behind Jeanne. She’s adorable! Carolyn, Jeanne Stein and I will be rocking Rom Com this summer, so look out for us, if you’re there.

Meanwhile, Diana took that damned doll everywhere. Here she is out with us for food (fried cheese curds!). That’s me, Jaye Wells, Tor’s Heather Osborne, and Zombie Joe (who made us lovely cupcakes). Meanwhile, I stole this picture directly from Lucienne Diver’s blog. Lucienne is an agent and writer and absolute bombshell who I really enjoyed hanging out with. Check out the rest of her RT pics at her site!

Here’s another couple of pics from Lucienne’s site:

Me with John Scalzi and my gorgeous critique partner, Diana Rowland.

I was rocking out my vampire heart fake tattoos, and for the final big night I went for something super subtle and classy. It’s about time the girls earned their keep!

Probably the coolest thing at RT was the League and our Passports to Snark. Mario Acevedo and Mark Henry cooked up the plan, and it worked a treat. And by treat, I mean I have never seen such foulness spewed onto a page as was spewed onto those passports. And everything said about me (especially by Mario!) is a foul lie. A lie, I tell you! A lie.

Here’s my little set up for the GINORMOUS signing on Saturday. I was sitting on the very end of a slightly extended row. So I watched as the doors to the signing opened, and hundreds of people came running towards me . . . and then past me, and on to J. R. Ward’s ticketed line. I had a good giggle, at that, once I came out from underneath my chair.

Dinner with @jayewells and @NicolePeeler whoa!! on Twitpic

Another highlight of RT was the fact my wondrous editor, the Eye of Sauron herself, Devi Pillai, came to RT! She took Jaye Wells and me to  a lovely dinner, and here’s a picture Devi took of the two of us. I think I should get the tattoos for real. My mother would be thrilled.

My final night at RT (Saturday) meant only one thing: Suite party (hosted by the effervescent Michele Bardsley), featuring Erotic Readings by the League. Apparently it’s an old tradition, one that I was thrilled to enjoy. But before the readings, there were all sorts of shenanigans. Including the gifting of these Fetish Feet to Mark Henry, although the model in question is the absolutely fabulous Sophie Littlefield. I hung out quite a bit with her, Julie Goodson Lawe, and Rachael Herron. I am slightly obsessed with all three of them, as they are rockin’ ladies.

Here are some live action shots of Mark Henry and Stacia Kane reading their amazing, amazing smut. The word “glutinous” was used at some point, and not to describe Elmer’s Glue. I was transfixed and inspired. Look for “glutionous” in my next work . . . it will be hot. And sticky.

To round out my pictures, I’ll leave you with my favorite of the lot. The moment Stacia broke Mark. It was beautiful.

Enjoy! And I will definitely be seeing you at RT, next year, in LA. If I were any more excited, I could spit. Glutinously!

Published on May 6, 2010 in Conventions, My Travels and Nicole Peeler. 10 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .