Orbit is thrilled to announce that we have pre-empted an urban fantasy series by debut author Nicole Peeler in a three-book deal with agent Rebecca Strauss of McIntosh and Otis Inc. The first volume TEMPEST RISING will be published in Fall/Winter 2009.

Senior Editor Devi Pillai says, “Nicole’s writing jumped out at me from the very beginning. She has a great voice, quirky characters, and a fabulous heroine — in short, a perfect package. With the setting being a sleepy town in Maine with even odder happenings, this was just too unique an opportunity for us to pass up.”

Nicole Peeler says: “I am both honored and excited to work with Devi and with Orbit. My characters are very dear to me, and I could not ask for a better home for them.”

Jane True is 20-something secret night-swimmer and unintentional social pariah. Living in small town Rockabill, Maine, Jane has always known she didn’t quite fit in with ‘normal’ society. She just didn’t know that her absent mother’s legacy would give her entry into a world that included vampires, goblins and succubae.

Nicole Peeler does not have any cats, kids, or husbands. Instead, she vexes literature in her new role as an assistant professor of English Literature at Louisiana State University in Shreveport. Although she’s excited to call Louisiana “home,” she has previously set up shop in her native Illinois, Boston, Spain and Scotland. Nicole is currently working on her next novel.