Tag Archive for 'Tracking the Tempest'

Vlogs, Brainz, and MORE!

So I promised you vlogs, bitches. And vlogs I have provided.

But first, can I just show you something? It’s something that made me so happy I almost wet myself. Almost. Al-most. It’s me . . . as a zombie. A zombie! A ZOMBIE! (kay, I might be a little slaphappy at this moment, thanks)

Here it is! AWESOME!

I think people might be this happy when their children are born. Maybe. I’m a ZOMBIE! And a COMIC ZOMBIE! I’ve linked the pic to the awesome team that zombied me up: my friend Wendell and his brother, the brainz behind Three Quarter Comics. I would be happy to eviscerate either of them with my sharp little canines, I love them so much for making me a ZOMBIE.

I actually squealed, then did a (zombie) Snoopy dance, then shouted, then giggled for four minutes, straight. Which is a really long time to giggle maniacally in front of friends without explaining yourself, believe me.

And speaking of friends, I’ve enlisted the help of my mates Ruth, Erik, and Linda to vlog another reading of Tracking the Tempest. I’m sure you’re sick of hearing my awful, awful voice and, quite frankly, it’s not the same vlogging without being able to bounce on my enormous ball.

So here are two videos, both of which are from a relatively central section of the book. There ARE some spoilers in this section, as this wasn’t the scene I’d originally intended to vlog. But it’s too perfect for three people, and I had three willing victims . . . er . . . volunteers!

Watch out for these highlights:

- Me sniggering at my own jokes! Obnoxious!

- Linda enjoying her garlic bread. It was delicious!

- Confusion over the term “ejaculation.”

- My reaching for my wine during filming. You can hear the “plonk” as I set it back down.

- My directorial debut, in which you’re reminded why I shouldn’t talk in public. Oh, that accent! Ouch!

So here’s the final reading from Tracking the Tempest, part one:

And here’s part two:

I hope you guys enjoyed the reading! And thanks so much to Rootie, Linda, and Erik for doing it for me. Linda and Ruth I know from Edinburgh, and Erik I went to high school together. Thanks soooo much for humoring me, guys. You’re the best!

In real life news, I return to Chicago tomorrow. I’ll blog my final adventures in Britain in a few days, although pictures were thin on the ground with Ruth being out of commission with her appendectomy. Yes, for those of you not following me on Facebook or Twitter, Ruth had to have an emergency appendectomy after she left Brighton. So it was all a bit crazy, but still super fun and amazing.

In other exciting news, when I get back from England, I turn around and leave for . . . Maine! I’m visiting Eastport and the Old Sow, and will blog with tons of pics from Jane’s world. So stay tuned!

Finally, please give Ruth, Linda, and Erik a round of applause. They were convinced no one would be interested, but I thought they did an absolutely stellar job of reading from Tracking. And I, for one, appreciate it greatly. Bravo, ladies and gentleman. :-)

Published on June 8, 2010 in Pimpage!, Tracking the Tempest and Vlogs. 11 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

RT Review of Tracking the Tempest!

Yay! They like it! They really like it!

Romantic Times has given Jane & Co’s sequel 4.5 stars, saying, “The trajectory of Jane’s first-person adventures means that this increasingly hazardous ride is fast and furious, but the author still takes time to develop character and relationships. Peeler deftly proves she knows how to tell  an irresistible story!”

In the immortal words of Team America . . . “FUCK YEAH!”

Published on May 26, 2010 in Reviews and Tracking the Tempest. 5 Comments Tags: , , .

Travels and Pimpage

All rightie folks, it’s that time of year: Dr. Peeler is on the move. When summer hits I’m like Flash Gordon . . . only chubbier. And a girl.

I am writing this post from Elburn, Illinois, at my parent’s house. But tomorrow I am flying to London. I’m super excited to be back in the UK; I’ve missed it terribly. I will also be reunited with Dr. Ruth, with whom I travelled around the US last summer. There will, undoubtedly, be many a blog post highlighting food; spa treatments; and prisoney, tattoed men. The three things I like best in life.

So look forward to that! When I return, I’ll be going to Maine with my mom; my former high school English teacher, Mrs. Bunch; and my very good friend, Loren, on what I like to think of as a cross-generational Girls Gone Wild trip. We’ll be staying in Bar Harbor and Eastport, the latter of which is one of the settings for Tempest Rising. I’ll be sure to visit the Old Sow and take lots of pictures.

When I come back from Maine,  I do laundry then turn around a day later to fly to Pittsburgh. There, I will look for a place to live, after which I will drive out to Greensburg for Seton Hill’s June MFA residency. I won’t be teaching any modules, yet, but I’ll be introduced and I’ll also get to meet the people I’ll be mentoring, which I’m very excited about.

I will also get Bessie, my new iPad. So. Excited.

So that’s my June! I will eventually return to Shreveport, where I will definitely Do Some Stuff for Tracking. A signing. Or something. I’m working on it, now.

In the meantime, however, you’ve got some sweet stuff to distract you. Not least of all . . . some new League releases!

First off is Michelle Rowen’s Demon Princess: Reign Check. How cute is this cover?

Love the shiny!

Second up is a book I am VERY excited about. I am a total fangirl of Stacia’s, which means I love it when she publishes new books. I also love it when she grabs my boobs, something she does quite often. But that’s classified as an Official League Secret, so I will say no more. The book Stacia’s got out today is the first book in what looks to be an AMAZING, challenging series that will expand the boundaries of UF as a genre. It’s Unholy Ghosts, people, and you need to go buy it:

That’s your pimpage for the day, peeps. I’ll be seeing you soon . . . and soon I’ll have another extract from Tracking the Tempest! Because my own release date is coming up shortly. Agh! That’s all I have to say on the matter. :-)

Published on May 25, 2010 in My Travels, Pimpage! and Tracking the Tempest. 14 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

Tracking the Tempest: Two Months and Counting

I know you think I’d forgotten, but I was just making all y’all writhe in an . . . tici . . . pation . . .

Here’s a second reading from Tracking The Tempest:

Published on May 9, 2010 in Tracking the Tempest and Vlogs. 20 Comments Tags: , , .

TRACKING THE TEMPEST: Three Months and Counting.

Yes, my friends. Tracking the Tempest releases THREE MONTHS FROM NOW. Can you believe it? July 1, 2010, you can clutch Jane, once again, in your sweaty paws. Don’t worry. She likes it.

Are you excited? I’m excited. SO excited, in fact, that I had to VLOG FOR YOU. Yes, Vlog. I’m trotting out my beautiful fatch and dulcet voice just for you, people. Enjoy it.

Actually, the vlogs might drive you a bit bonkers, because my bangs (AKA my fringe, for you British readers) are taking over. Notice how they’re nicely swept to one side for the first vlog, and then commence to creep until they’re hanging directly in front of my face, making me look cross-eyed.

I have hair with a mind of its own. I’ve learned long ago not to fight it, for it always wins.

So I apologize for the fringe/bangs. I can’t do a thing with them! There’s a cowlick involved. But here you go…here are your Tracking Related Treats for April 1, 2010. There will be more treats, the first of every month, until release day! Yay!

The first vlog is a warm up to the reading, in which I attempt to introduce myself and the books but mostly just babble:

And here’s the actual reading, the second part of the first chapter of Tracking the Tempest:

And, finally, one last Tracking inspired treat: my own, personal soundtrack to Tracking the Tempest. These are the songs that inspired me, while I wrote. There’s a lot of songs about the illusions we weave regarding love and relationships. Not to give away any spoilers, or anything. ;-) Here’s your soundtrack! Fun!

Thanks for coming over, ladies and gentlemen! Hope you enjoyed the readings and don’t forget to enter the contest, from the post below, to win Richelle Mead and Jaye Wells newest releases. And see you back here next month: same selkie time, same selkie channel, for more Tracking the Tempest!

Published on April 1, 2010 in Coming Soon!, Cover Love, Nicole Peeler, Pimpage!, Tracking the Tempest and Vlogs. 21 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Another Weiner! And I Can’t Stop GIVING SHIT AWAY!

So many exciting things here at the Emporium!

First of all, can I just say HOW AWESOME were your comments for Werewolf Smackdown. Seriously? SO COOL.

You all made me SO HUNGRY with the food ideas/recipes (Thom, you’re amazing), but then you’d put the smackdown on my appetite by adding the blood. It was like Pavlovian training . . . I drooled at the food, and then “Blood!” and the drool would be cut off. Highly hi-larious.

I don’t like to interact too much with the comments for contests, because it sort of skews the numbers I’m working with, but I really, really adore all of them. And I’ve gotten lots of feedback from people (other authors, mainly) who think that the way you engage with my questions is super cool and really fun, so well done, all of you!

I’ll now announce the weiner of Mario’s Werewolf Smackdown. The Contest Can is warming up its vocal chords!

The weiner is . . . . KAYLA B!

CONGRATULATIONS! Email me your address at iheartselkies (at) gmail (daht) com and I’ll get a copy shipped to you forthwith!

And, for all of you who DIDN’T win . . . feeling disappointed? Sharpening your shank of anger? Considering drowning a few kittens? Well, there’s no need for all of that! Because . . .

THERE’S ANOTHER CONTEST! Seriously, the authors at the League have to stop publishing before I go broke. They’re killing me. ;-)

Up in the hot seat today are two of my favorite redheads, Jaye Wells and Richelle Mead.

I’m a huge fan of both of these ladies. Jaye is a fellow Orbit writer, and she invited me into the League. For that I will forever be grateful and have her back in snark. Richelle, meanwhile, could not have impressed me more when I met her at Dragon*Con. She’s so famous! So fabulous! So FAMOUS! And yet, she couldn’t be nicer or more down to earth. I mean, don’t get me wrong, if I ever get famous I will expect to be carried around on a divan by swarthy, well-oiled and muscular minions, who will take by the throats and shake anyone who approaches me without first genuflecting and praising my Infinite Beauty, Wisdom, and Snark, BUT while I’m doing all those things, I’ll think, “Ya know, that Richelle was so humble and fabulous. Maybe there’s a lesson to be learned, in all of that? Like . . . where is my Massager of My Left Pinkie Toe? It’s cramping! It’s CRAMPING!”

So it’s with great excitement that I roll out to the Emporium the newest books by Richelle Mead:

And Jaye Wells!

So exciting! And yes, I will give away these two books to a lucky winner! Just comment on the following, below, to enter to win both Jaye and Richelle’s newest books:

Carolyn Crane just posted this FABULOUS round up of UF and ParaRom Heroine’s hair colors. Jaye and Richelle both are fabulous redheads, and I, as you probably know, dye my hair ridiculous shades of red and pink and magenta and whatever the hell the salon comes up with that week.

So my question is: who’s your favorite redhead? You can name a real person, or a character from books and film. And what does red hair say to you?

To help you on your way, here’s Catherine Tate’s hilarious take on what it’s like to be a redhead:

If I loved Catherine Tate any more, I might explode with love for her. Explode. Not metaphorically, but actually combust. With love. For her.

So comment below and enter to win! I’ll pick a winner on SUNDAY from the Contest Can.

And stay tuned for tomorrow, as I’ll be officially launching the Countdown to Tracking the Tempest! April First means it’s THREE months till Jane’s second book comes out. Can you believe it? I can’t. And to celebrate the official launching of the launching of the launch, I’ll have some Tracking related treats for you.

I’m so excited I could spit.

Classy!

Published on March 31, 2010 in Coming Soon!, Contests, Pimpage! and Tracking the Tempest. 62 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Playing Catsup

Hello my friends! Here at Casa Peeler everything is focused on gearing up for the coming semester! Over Spring 2010, I’ll be teaching two sections of ENG 115, which is a rhetoric/composition course. Unlike the ENG 105 I have taught up until now, however, this course is based in English Literature. This means that I get to teach the art of writing as part of the discipline of English Lit and, more specifically, means that I get to teach MORE LITERATURE! Yay!

In this class, I’ll be teaching a lot of my canonical favorites. For example, I love me some “baby, we’re gonna die so we should go ahead and DOOOO EEEEET” poetry by Marvell and Donne. I allude to one of these poems in Tempest Rising. Anybody know which one and where? We’ll also be reading Oedipus Rex (poor Jocasta!) and my favorite Shakespeare play, Othello (“Put out the light and then put out the light…”). We’ve also go some Hemingway and Chopin on offer, amongst many others. I’m really psyched to get away from ENG 105 and to teach some of my favorite non-Modernist lit to eager (to sleep) Freshman. They’re not gonna know what hit ‘em. ;-)

I’m also teaching a night class of my ENG 215, which is an Intro to Fiction course for non-majors. I LOVE teaching this class, it’s my favorite, and it’s so fun to teach it at night. I love my “traditional” (meaning young) students, but teaching this class to a room full of more mature students, who’ve had some real life experience, is very rewarding in a very different way. With a room of nineteen year olds, it’s introducing them to ideas they haven’t necessarily lived through (fear of mortality, the decay of love or marriage or both, the passing of youth, etc.). This is very fun, and presents its own rewards and challenges, but teaching a night class (where the students are usually older) means the class is more of a conversation than a lecture.

Finally, I’m teaching Modern Poetry. All I have to say is AAAAAAAAGH. While my background is Modernism, and I have read the hell out of Pound and Eliot, a lot of this material is going to be as new to me as it is to the students. This situation is always challenging, obviously, but it’s also so rewarding. I like learning as much as I do teaching, and these sorts of classes are a great opportunity for me to branch out a bit.

So that’s my life for the next few months, in a nutshell.

Writing wise, I just mailed off the final pass edits for Tracking the Tempest to Orbit! Yay! She’s going to look GORGEOUS. Here’s some piccys:

IMG_0363 IMG_0364 IMG_0362

The last picture is of the wee teaser of Tempest’s Legacy! Exciting!

So that’s me done with book two. A fact that boggles my mind, on a number of levels, but that’s okay. I’m used to feeling a bit boggled. ;-)

Published on January 18, 2010 in Nicole Peeler and Tracking the Tempest. 9 Comments Tags: , .

Un Pocito de Nada

This is sort of a Status Update.

So I’m about halfway done with my outline, and I’ve done lots of brainstorming over the weekend.  I discovered with my second book that I had to outline less pedantically than I did with my third.  I am getting better at this whole writing thing, it appears.  Either that or I am simply getting lazier.  

I also discovered with Tracking that I do less erasing if I have a more skeletal outline that I continue filling in as I write.  One of the things that people keep saying when I talk about my obsessive outlining (I’ll outline you if you sit still long enough) is that things end up changing, anyway, so why outline?

Which is very true, but also, for me and my intentions for my series, all the more reason to outline.  I have a big series planned – six books in total – and I know where I want each of them to end up.  There’s LOTS of small to medium-sized spaces for wiggle room, but the big stuff is sewn up already.  And I don’t want to lose that.  So I find that having the big stuff already in place (there’s four or five things that HAVE to happen in this book; doesn’t matter where, too much, and I’m only now figuring out how; but they HAVE to happen) helps me keep The Big Stuff in mind as I flesh out the rest.

And that’s the “rest” that is more malleable; that I’m able to play with.  Which is where the “Socratic” dialogue comes in.  It’s also where you start playing with the genre.  After all, my UF is loosely based (right now) on the crime or mystery genre.  This is the book where it shifts into something a bit different.  But the first two books, and this one, are sort of “who/whydunnits.”  So a lot of my questions to myself are about genre.  ”What would happen in a ‘normal’ crime drama to resolve this situation?  How can I UF that?  Would it work better if I didn’t?  What might a reader expect?  Should I give it to him or her, or should I upset their expectations?”

Another big change in this book is that Jane has very much been the Watson in the first two novels.  She’s not the initiator, not the aggressor.  She’s new to this world, and relatively weak in the first two books.  We’re seeing a very different Jane in the third book.  She’s been training and she’s feeling her magical oats.  I need to make this transformation believable so I really need to get in Jane’s head.  But it’s such a pleasure to do so.  The coolest/weirdest (and possibly more than a little crazy) thing that I’ve discovered about the writing process is how much I love my characters.  Seriously, starting this new book feels like my good friends are suddenly back in town and we get to play.  I enjoy spending time with them.  I want to know what they’ve been up to since I last talked to them (It’s been a whole year in their world!).  I want to find out how they’re doing; how they’ve changed.  I can’t wait to see what they do over the course of this next adventure.   Because they do always surprise me.  The ending of Tracking?  NEVER saw it coming.  And it rocks, btw.  Even my editor was like, “OMG, I had no idea that was going to happen.”  

So that’s where I’m at.  I am outlining; but more comfortable with a more bare bones approach.  I am SO EXCITED about this book, and the plot (at the moment) is coming along very easily.  I’m also introducing some VERY exciting new ladyfriends in this book, who I hope you’ll see a LOT more of.  A LOT more.  They rock.  

I also came up with a new goodie, who’s AWESOME and inspired by a “new” myth no less, as well as a new baddie, who is super creepie.  Super.  Creepie.  

I think that’s about all that’s exciting.  But I’ll keep ya’ll posted.  Any questions?  Just ask!  Any comments?  Fire away!

Thanks!

Published on March 9, 2009 in Tempest's Legacy and Writing Process. 2 Comments Tags: , , .

The (purely symbolic) Awakening

So it’s March 1, which means I’ve officially started Tempest’s Legacy, the third book in the Jane True series.

I say, “officially,” because I don’t have time at the moment to do more than start a folder, called Tempest’s Legacy, and start two files, one called “Tempest’s Legacy Brainstorm,” and one called “Tempest’s Legacy Outline.”

This is how I work.  First I sit down and I brainstorm.  I outline where the characters are “at” in their lives.  This book is going to start one year after the close of Tracking the Tempest, which ends with many Big Bangs.  And I don’t mean Big Bangs as a euphemism for sex.  Or a sudden, and alarming, penchant for large ’80′s hair.  I mean bangs, although some are, indeed, metaphorical.  Sorry, I’m getting distracted.

Anyway, Tracking the Tempest ends with a series of big bangs, and a lot of things up in the air.  So I could take the third book in a lot of different directions . . . If I hadn’t had the whole series nailed down to start with.  That said, there’s still a lot of room to play with Jane and Co., and this book is going to be a bit different than the first two.  The subject matter is darker, and Jane is, paradoxically, both more powerful – magically – than she’s been in the first two books, and more vulnerable – emotionally – than we’ve seen her before.  I’m really putting Jane up against it, in this book.  Which almost makes me feel bad.  Almost.  Until I remember how much I enjoyed beating her up in book two, and I acknowledge that little streak of sadism every writer must, inevitably, have.  

Therefore, I will first do a big brainstorm, in which I define where the old characters are “at.”  Then I devise some new characters, to mix things up.  This is fun, and I’m going to try to integrate some new mythological creatures into every book.  Then I start brainstorming the plot in two ways.  First I outline the Big Plot Points.  What is the BIG arc of this book?  Then I start asking myself the questions I need to fill in that arc.  For example, if I have Jane end up in Toronto, how does she get there?  I’ll literally engage in a Socratic (if Socrates urban fantasized, which I bet he would have if he could have) dialogue with myself, on the page.  Yes, I am apparently schizophrenic as well as sadistic.  Why I live alone?  Most probably.

So in the coming weeks I am going to be going through my process of writing, and I hope to take the readers of this blog (Hi, Mom!) with me.  My process is certainly not everyone’s process, and it is, realistically, a very “academic” process.  Although my process, as an academic, is not every academic’s process, either.  But it is very organized, very outline-driven, and very OCD.  

So drop me any questions you’d like answered about “my” process, or about the books, or about anything you’d like me to discuss in a comment.  

Thanks!

Published on March 1, 2009 in Tempest's Legacy and Writing Process. 10 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Thanks, ya'll!

I just sent off my dedication, acknowledgements, and my short interview to Orbit.

Thanks to EVERYONE who contributed questions!  I could only answer eight, so it was tough to choose which ones.  But with the help of Jennifer Flax, from Orbit, we narrowed them down.

We tried to address a range of topics, from Tempest Rising, to me as a writer, and to the next book, Tracking the Tempest.  So not everything would fit, but they were all fabulous questions.

That said, I will be answering ALL of the questions in a FAQ that I will eventually attach to this site.  Eventually should be closer than not, as a lot of the questions come from an interview that I’m doing very soon.  

So keep your eyes peeled for the FAQ, and for the interview in the back of the book!  And thanks again, to all of you.  I’m so chuffed, as a debut writer, to have so much support from both friends and future readers!

Published on February 27, 2009 in Nicole Peeler. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , .