Tempest Rising author Nicole Peeler wants to know: Should she get this fabulous vampire heart from her first book tattooed on her? I am sure the illustrator Sharon Tancredi agrees with me: ABSOLUTELY!
But leave room, Nicole! Sharon is designing a special heart for each book. Next you’ll have to get the fire-and-dagger heart from Tracking the Tempest! (more…)
Another great urban fantasy debut!
TEMPEST RISING is the story of Jane True, outcast, night swimmer, and half-selkie. It’s a fabulous world full of characters straight out of myth, from rock gnomes that bag groceries to a sea pony named Trill. What made this one really stand out for me was the fact that Jane True didn’t live in big urban city, but in a small town off the coast of Maine. The big attraction there? The Old Sow, a whirlpool that once in a while throws out something interesting. Like a dead body. Which is how Jane True discovers — and is dragged into—a world of supernaturals that she didn’t even know existed in her small and sleepy town.
Coincidentally, the author, Nicole Peeler, works in Shreveport – and her writing did remind me of a certain waitress from that part of the county.
Nicole has a bunch of links on her website, including a post she did for John Scalzi’s The Big Idea Blog, excerpts from the book, and, of course, the obligatory photos of cats enjoying the book.
Check it out this week in bookstores everywhere. Oh, and I should also tell you that #2, Tracking the Tempest, will be out next July for your reading pleasure.
And the first new cover for the Spring/Summer 2010 season is the next book in the Jane True series: Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler. (Just because I will be seeing her in the Orbit HQ this week and I don’t want her to kick my butt for not posting it yet)
Of course I went back to the fabulous (and award-winning) illustrator Sharon Tancredi for our next look at Jane True. Tracking the Tempest finds Jane learning how to cope with her new view of the world, and the powers that come with it, in the midst of a very action-packed story. Where in the first book, Tempest Rising, we had more of a portrait of Jane on the cover, this time we wanted an action shot. Jane is learning how to control her powers, and growing as a character, and I think Sharon did a fabulous job of picking this scene out of the story to illustrate that.
I love how Sharon kept the theme going from the first book with the illustrated frame, and a new take on the heart icon that is very apt to the story.
Nicole Peeler’s debut novel TEMPEST RISING is out next month – but you can read chapter one on her website now.
Rockabill, Maine, is a small town with a rapidly growing supernatural population. Like her fellow citizens, Jane True, a 26-year old bookstore clerk, loves the ocean, but even her hardiest fellow Downeasters hesitate to go for a plunge in the surf every night, be it winter or summer. The few who know of her solitary swims are OK with it, of course; it is part of her heritage, and the supernatural is as traditional in New England as lobster rolls. But after she discovers a murder, she realizes she’s being drawn further into a world populated by creatures of myths and legends, sometimes lovely, often terribly dangerous. Creatures such as Ryu, the young (and, need we add, handsome) vampire sent to investigate the murder, and who’d very much like to be her new friend.
TEMPEST RISING is fast, fantastic seaside fun. Look for the book in November, and keep up with Nicole’s adventures on her blog.
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.
