Posts Tagged ‘Nicole Peeler’

I Dream of JINN AND JUICE – available now in e-book!

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What’s your dearest wish? In celebration of the recent e-book release of JINN  AND JUICE (US | UK | AUS) , we’re granting wishes! Step right up and rub the magic lamp, but be careful what you wish for….

Jinn and Juice is a brand new urban fantasy novel by Nicole Peeler, author of the wickedly awesome Jane True series. For a limited time, you can pick up the e-book for only $2.99 in the US and £1.99 in the UK

Here’s a bit more about the story:

Cursed to be a jinni for a thousand years, Lyla nears the end of her servitude — only to be bound once again against her will. Will she risk all to be human?

Born in ancient Persia, Lyla turned to her house Jinni, Kouros, for help escaping an arranged marriage. Kouros did make it impossible for her to marry — by cursing Lyla to live a thousand years as a Jinni herself.

If she can remain unBound, Lyla’s curse will soon be over.

Unfortunately, becoming Bound may risk more than just her chance to be human once more — it could risk her very soul…

Praise for Jinn & Juice:

“Peeler is perfect. Jinn and Juice is her best urban fantasy yet with vibrant characters that leap off the page fully formed from the first line. Fast-paced, rowdy, smart, irresistible, and tender, there’s just no one who hits the urban fantasy marks as well as Peeler. Buy this book! Read it! Love it!”—Kat Richardson

“Peeler has done it again! Jinn and Juice is a delightful read filled with action, humor, heart, and a heroine to cheer for. And it doesn’t hurt that there are also sirens, trolls, bugbears, and plenty of Pittsburgh steel.”—Kevin Hearne

“Jinn and Juice is a raucous, raunchy tale well told. One thing’s certain: you’ll never look at Pittsburgh the same way after you’ve taken Nicole Peeler’s mythic joyride up, down, and sideways in pursuit of an abducted teenage girl and freedom from a thousand-year curse. Legend and history, betrayal and love intertwine as the story moves from lascivious sex clubs to the unraveling of a mystery to a magical jinni throw-down which will leave you panting for more. Jinn and Juice is Urban Fantasy at its smartest, naughtiest, funniest best.”—Juliet Blackwell

“Snarky, sexy! Beautifully descriptive and painstakingly plotted. Lyla is a smart, sly and just this side of scary. Peeler’s world-building is clever and complete with every possible fairy folk character! The other-worldly seems familiar and glamorous all at the same time. And I learned how to curse in a few new languages, so it was educational!”—Molly Harper on Jinn and Juice

*The print edition of Jinn and Juice will be available for purchase in April 2015.

Urban Fantasy Interview Swap: Amanda Carlson Interviews Nicole Peeler

Today Amanda Carlson, the author of HOT BLOODED (US | UK | AUS), interviews Nicole Peeler about TEMPEST REBORN (US | UK | AUS) and the last Jane True novel.

amanda-nicole-interview

Amanda Carlson: I love Jane True and your writing voice. She’s witty, quirky and lovable. How did you come up with the idea to write a half selkie heroine?

Nicole Peeler: Thanks, Amanda! I’d fallen in love with the mythology as a teenager, and I’d always wondered about what happened to the half-human, half-selkie children that often feature in these myths. So when I realized I wanted to write a character that wasn’t naturally “kick-ass,” the answer was pretty obvious. Seal shapeshifters are definitely not naturally kick-ass!

AC: In the TEMPEST REBORN, without giving too much away, does Jane get snuggle time with Anyan?

NP: Absolutely. I knew I’d be beaten to death by Jane’s fans if that didn’t happen.

AC: You have a PhD in English Literature and teach Popular Fiction at Seton Hill University, which sounds like an amazing job! What’s the most fun assignment you’ve given your students?

NP: The most fun was working with undergraduates, creating World Building Books for an Urban Fantasy course I taught. They had such amazing ideas! And it was fun to watch them realize they could do just that—create a whole world.

AC:  You just bought a house! That’s a big, exciting step.  Tell us about it.

NP: It’s soooooo nice! I keep having to rein myself in from having my every Facebook post be “OMG I LOVE MY HOUSE.” I’m also really loving Pittsburgh. It’s super up-and-coming, so you can really get involved with things. I’m going to help plant a tree irrigation system for Tree Pittsburgh this weekend and I’m stupidly excited about it.

AC: The TEMPEST REBORN is Jane’s last adventure. What’s up next for you? (We hope more fantasy!)

NP: I’m not sure yet, honestly, but yes. All my ideas are inevitably fantasy. It’s funny that I read so much literature but I think in dragons. I’m not sure why! But I do love the genre.

AC:  Here are some fun quick bullet questions to end.

Ice cream or sorbet: Both!

Breakfast or dinner: Both!

London or Paris: OMG both.

Beer or margarita: YEAH, both. I don’t really limit myself too much, in case you couldn’t tell.

Cats or dogs: Neither. I travel too much.

Spring or fall: Either, as long as it’s not winter or summer.

The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones: MAD MEN. (I’m not very good at this game, am I? But I loved playing!)

Urban Fantasy Interview Swap: Nicole Peeler Interviews Amanda Carlson

Both Jessica McClain and Jane True are back this season with new books from Amanda Carlson and Nicole Peeler. In the first of a two part series, Nicole is here to interview Amanda about what’s in store for Jessica in HOT BLOODED (US | UK | AUS).  Join us later in the week to get the full scoop from Nicole on the final Jane True novel, TEMPEST REBORN  (US | UK | AUS). 

amanda-nicole-interview

Nicole Peeler: Hi Amanda! Love the series, and super psyched you’re doing so well. But how on earth did a nice girl from Minnesota come to write about werewolves?? ;)

Amanda Carlson: We love wolves here, but alas, they are of the timber wolf variety. There are so many forests up in northern Minnesota I always pictured it as a perfect setting for werewolves to lurk undercover. But this MN girl ultimately chose werewolves purely because of their hot blooded feistiness. Nothing like a hot blooded man to warm your bed. Something about them has always been primal to me.

NP:  Obviously, werewolves are a much loved and much used mythology. So what did you think you could bring to werewolves that other people couldn’t? Or was that even an issue for you?

AC: I really feel like I’ve brought something new to the genre with Jessica, but when I started writing the first book years ago the market wasn’t saturated. I had no issues. I wrote the kind of story I wanted to read and nothing more. My biggest mistake was letting it sit for over a year. I suffered from the most common writer anxiety—is it good enough? Will people like it? So when I finally polished it and decided to query, there was a fear I may have missed the “werewolf” window, LOL!  Being new to the game, I had no idea it took a year and a half to two years to get a book on the shelf.  But my agent assured me there was always a market for a good story and I believe in that wholeheartedly. I’ve found that readers don’t really care who the protagonist is, or what their power is, most of them are just looking for a great read.

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RT Book Review’s 2012 Reviewer’s Choice Awards

RT Book Reviews has revealed the full set of nominees for the 2012 Reviewer’s Choice Awards, and a number of Orbit books are among them. Congratulations to all the nominees!

Science Fiction Novel

  • THE HYDROGEN SONATA by Iain. M. Banks (US | UK | ANZ)
  • BLACKOUT by Mira Grant (US | UK | ANZ)

THE HYDROGEN SONATA US cover BLACKOUT cover

Fantasy Novel

  • THE SHADOWED SUN by N.K. Jemisin (US | UK | ANZ)

THE SHADOWED SUN cover

Epic Fantasy Novel

  • SEVEN PRINCES by John R. Fultz (US | UK | ANZ)
  • SHARPS by K.J. Parker (US | UK | ANZ)

SEVEN PRINCES cover SHARPS cover

Urban Fantasy Novel

  • 13 by Kelley Armstrong (UK | ANZ)
  • BLUE-BLOODED VAMP by Jaye Wells (US | UK | ANZ)

THIRTEEN cover BLUE-BLOODED VAMP cover

Urban Fantasy Protagonist

  • TEMPEST’S FURY by Nicole Peeler (US | UK | ANZ)

TEMPEST'S FURY cover TEMPEST'S FURY UK cover

Urban Fantasy Worldbuilding

  • COLD DAYS by Jim Butcher (UK | ANZ)

COLD DAYS cover

Orbit @ New York Comic Con

Orbit is going to New York Comic Con! We’ll be in the Hachette booth, #1027, with giveaways, raffles, and several author events, so be sure to stop by if you’re in town. Here’s the schedule of events:

 Friday, October 12

1 PM: Kate Locke signing GOD SAVE THE QUEEN @ booth 1027
4 PM: Nicole Peeler signing TEMPEST’S FURY and TEMPEST RISING @ booth 1027
4 PM: Senior editor Devi Pillai will be on the panel “Publisher’s Paradise: Adult Publisher Spotlight” in Rm. 1A06

Saturday, October 13

12:15 PM: Nicole Peeler will be on the panel “Myth Mixology: How Urban Fantasists Create the Perfect Cocktail” in Rm. 1A08
1:30 PM: Creative director Lauren Panepinto will be on the panel “Ladies Who Steam: The Publishing Industry on Women in Steampunk” in Rm. 1A01

Sunday, October 14

11 AM: Michael J. Sullivan will be signing THEFT OF SWORDS @ booth 1027
4 PM: Michael J. Sullivan will be on the panel “The Brave New World of E-Book Publishing” in Rm. 1A07

We’ll also be running raffles every day of the convention, with prizes including books by Gail Carriger, Joe Abercrombie, Iain M. Banks, and Rachel Aaron. See you there!

August Events

Sunday, August 5
T.C. McCarthy and Michael J. Sullivan at Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill, NC, 2 PM

August 8 – 12
Nicole Peeler, Kristen Painter, Jaye Wells, and Amanda Carlson at Authors After Dark, New Orleans, LA

August 17
The Orbit team will be attending Blackwells’ High Fantasy Night, and, because he’s in London on a rare visit from Australia, Ian Irvine will be signing books at the event!

August 24 – 27
Simon Morden at the Greenbelt Festival, Gloucestershire, UK

August 31 – September 2
A number of Orbit authors will be attending either Chicon and DragonCon over Labor Day weekend!

Selkies, and the Authors Who Love Them

Tempest's Fury, the fifth book in Nicole Peeler's sexy, sassy and sizzlingly funny urban fantasy series, the Jane True novels
UK & ANZ cover

Nicole Peeler‘s Tempest Fury (UK | US | ANZ) is out now. It’s book five in her Jane True series (which starts with Tempest Rising – UK | US | ANZ) and to celebrate, here’s a guest post from Nicole on the inspiration for the series . . .

For me, it was a no brainer to make my protagonist, Jane, a selkie. Although it’s a relatively obscure mythology to some, and I only learned of it as a teenager, it’s the perfect inspiration for fiction.

For those of you who don’t know the selkie mythos, I blogged about it ages ago, with the help of a story from the Heritage of Orkney site. Basically, all the stories of selkie maidens are similar: man finds (or steals) a random seal skin left on the beach, woman shows up that night and they marry, many babies are born. Years pass, until the day one of the children finds the skin, and gives it to mom. Despite her love for her human family, the lure of the sea and her sea husband are stronger, and off she goes.

The US cover for Tempest's Fury, the fifth book in Nicole Peeler's sexy, sassy and sizzlingly funny urban fantasy series, the Jane True novels
US cover

Sometimes she takes her children with her, and sometimes she doesn’t.

As a teenager, so many aspects of this myth affected me: the idea of a woman who could be trapped so easily; the idea of a person torn between two worlds; the idea of having something so important that other loves are swept aside for that one thing. But it was the children that really struck my fancy. What about the ones taken to sea? Did they miss their human life? Even more intriguing, however, were the ones left behind. What happened to them, cut off as they were from the magic that was half their heritage?

The resonance of the selkie mythology stuck with me. So when it came to write my own story, and my first thought was to write an anti-heroine, my next thought was almost instantaneous – “and she can be half-selkie.” It was like my intellectual curiosity had come full circle – I’d always wondered what happened to those children, and now I got to explore the possibilities in my own writing. And that opportunity for exploration is what I try to bring to my fiction – I’m curious about the world I’ve created, and I try to convey that curiosity to my readers.

So if you’re an aspiring writer, try to do something similar. Write what you love, what you’re interested in, what’s always made you think. You’ll find so much passion for your subject, at the same time you get to scratch an intellectual itch. And everyone enjoys a good scratch.

July Events

Orbit will be at San Diego Comic-Con this year! Watch this space for details.

July 7
Rachel Aaron at Barnes & Noble, Forest Drive, Columbia, SC, 7:00 PM

July 12-15
James S.A. Corey (Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck) at ReaderCon, Burlington, MA

July 13
Kate Locke (with Eli August) at the Way Station, Brooklyn, NY

July 25-28
Nicole Peeler at RWA Annual Conference, Anaheim, CA

July 27-29
Mira Grant (Seanan McGuire) will be Guest of Honor at Confluence, Pittsburgh, PA
Robert Jackson Bennett at ArmadilloCon, Austin, TX

July 28
Kate Elliott (with Lynn Flewelling) at Mysterious Galaxy, Redondo Beach, CA, 2:30 PM

Tempests have never been hotter!

TEMPEST’S FURY (US | UK | AUS) is the perfect name for this awesome new novel by Nicole Peeler. Jane True comes into her own as the champion and it has the trademark quirkiness, humor and the zaniness that only Nicole can bring to urban fantasy. People have been comparing her for years to Charlaine Harris and with her newest covers, I think she’s too fabulous to miss.

Jane’s not happy. She’s been packed off to England to fight in a war when she’d much rather be snogging Anyan. Unfortunately, Jane’s enemies have been busy stirring up some major trouble — the kind that attracts a lot of attention. In other words, they’re not making it easy for Jane to get any alone time with the barghest, or to indulge in her penchant for stinky cheese.

Praying she can pull off a Joan of Arc without the whole martyrdom thing, Jane must lead Alfar and halflings alike in a desperate battle to combat an ancient evil. Catapulted into the role of Most Unlikely Hero Ever, Jane also has to fight her own insecurities as well as the doubts of those who don’t think she can live up to her new role as Champion.

Along the way, Jane learns that some heroes are born. Some are made. And some are bribed with promises of food and sex.