the league of reluctant adults

Jaye's not lying. There's somethin' over there. There's also something coming to this spot. Something big. Something different. Something smelly? Could be. But I bet it's a new site with new members and something else. Hmm.

If you'd like a clue about the changes, you might want to check out Facebook. Rumor has it the League might have a presence there now. But you'll have to check back Monday to find out the identities of all the new members. I'm just sayin'.

Are you excited? You should be. In t-minus ten days, the new League will be unleashed upon teh interwebz. It will be just like a zombie apocalypse except with more looting and poop jokes.

This is not a political post. It really isn't. It's no secret that I love musicals. Anything from The King and I (total Yule Brenner man-crush territory there) to Annie and more recently the film version of Sweeney Todd . My iPod is filled with the likes of Wicked , Phantom of the Opera , and Chess (the British version with original ending not the American rewrite). I like 'em anyway they come: happy, sad, sappy, dark, brooding... of the music is good, then I'm there. Even so, when I saw this synposis... I was skeptical. "Barackula is a short political horror rock musical about young Barack Obama having to stave off a secret society of vampires at Harvard when he was inducted into presidency at the Harvard Law Review in 1990. Obama (Justin Sherman) finds that he must convince the vampire society that opposing political philosophies can coexist or else the society may transform Obama to the dark side. Reminiscent to Michael Jackson's Thriller and a slight inf...

No matter what your politics, today is a day that will go down in history. Might as well start getting ready to answer the question: Where were you when Barack Obama was inaugurated? So...what's your answer gonna be?

When we last left the League clubhouse , Nicole Peeler had been cast down in the pit of Stumpy, the terrible were-chupacabra, as punishment for her chronic diarrhea of the mouth. While we were away, Nicole managed to subdue Stumpy by talking his ears off--literally. Now she has the earless were-chupacabra, as well as the other members of the League, tied up in the center of the League interrogation room. This is where we join the action: Nicole: Ask it! Jaye (cringes and shakes her head): Never! Nicole: Ask it or I'll tell the story about when I got The Call again. Mark (gasping): For God's sake, woman, ask her the question! Jaye : Fine! Why did you chose Maine as the setting for Tempest Rising? (she dissolves into pitiful tears) Nicole: What a great question, Jaye! How creative of you to ask! Setting the book in Maine came from having Jane be half-Selkie. She had to know she's not quite normal, but not because she glows in the dark or starts fires or something sh...

The League swept up a buttload of nominations at the first ever Urban Fantasy Awards and we couldn't be more psyched! Jackie's up for best anthology for Eternal Lover. Jeremy got a nod for Staked, up for Best Vampire Novel. Night Life was nominated for Best Shapeshifter. We're so proud of Kit Kittredge. In the category of Best Demons and Zombies, Stace's Personal Demons, Jackie's Hotter than Hell and my very own Happy Hour of the Damned are duking it out. Anton's on his own though in Best in Ghost's, Witches and Magic. Why don't you be a loyal Leaguer and head on over to Urban Fantasy Land ? While you're there, make sure to do the write in votes for a chance at a $25 gift card. What could it hurt. Also, "debut" author means that the author's first book hit stores in 2008, I think there might be some confusion from the comments I saw. Off you go...

Ah, the life of a successful, fat, rich author! Well, I've got the fat part down anyway... So I've been thinking about how to best advertise the upcoming release of Deader Still on 2/24 since my publisher has yet to deem me worthy of being plastered on the sides of buses or billed on boards across the country. Apparently, advertising consists of at least three things: creativity, money and time. Two of those I don't have. I'll leave it up to you which two they are. BUT what I do have, my gentle undead approved readers, is you . And because of that… it's contest time! I've been watching a lot of Mad Men lately on the iPod, that series about ad men in the 60's who chain smoke and drink like it's, well, the 60's. So with that in mind... Make an ad for me! It can be anything: a mock-up ad, a YouTube video, cartoon style, comic bookish, anything that I can use for promotional purposes to help make people chomp at the bit for the next book in the ...

I did my year end recap on my regular blog but didn't actually list out my favorite things that I either read, listened to, watched or attended, so I thought I'd mosey on back to those wondrous days of yore, that ended last week. Take your gingko and follow along. Last year was ginormous for book readings, not my own. I wouldn't be so egotistical to say that I give good reading, though, frankly, they're dirtier than most I've attended. If that's your thing then check your local reading/signing announcements, cuz you never know when I'll come wafting into your secluded enclave of elitist readers to shake things up with potty humor and dick jokes. What I'm talking about is readings I attended as a fan. Take Chuck Palahniuk. Synde and I did. Twice...and hard. Once with Caitlin and the other with Caroline. It was nasty and hilarious as usual. I may not get to read everything he writes, but damn it, I'll be at the readings to hear the stuff that...

Happy New Year, Leaguers! Today we have a special treat. Nicole Peeler, who recently sold her debut novel to Orbit , sat down with me at the League clubhouse for an interview. Nicole’s TEMPEST RISING is set for release in November of this year. Jaye: Hi, Nicole. Welcome to the League! Why don’t you start out by telling us a little about TEMPEST RISING. NP: Sure! No problem, Jaye. Are you comfortable? (Takes a deep, deep breath) Tempest Rising is set in Rockabill, Maine, a fictional town outside of Eastport. The protagonist is Jane True, who works in a book store and is, in many ways, utterly normal. Except she's got a few odd secrets, the most obvious being her need to swim. Which doesn’t sound all that strange, except that Jane swims in the freezing cold winter ocean, naked. And in the Old Sow, which is the fifth biggest whirlpool on earth, and has all this bizarre tidal phenomena. She should be dead of hypothermia or drowning after her little ocean jaunts. Instead, she em...

So we needed to buy a new calendar. Because of it being a new year and all, y'see. Our '08 calendar was Elvgren pinup girls, and we both really liked it, except for the way the actual dates were set up. For some reason it started the weeks on Monday so I was constantly getting the date wrong or forgetting which day was what. Very irritating. But the pinup girls are of course adorable--this was our second Elvgren calendar--so we figured we'd see if we could grab another one. And they had one. But half the pictures were the same as last year. Over half, in fact, which is just ridiculous. It's not like there are thousands of Elvgren images to choose from, you know? Sigh. Anyway. So no Elvgren calendar this year. And the selection we found sucked. Really bad. All landscapes. Which are fine but I like something a little more fun, personally. (When I worked at a credit card bank I used to have a lot of fun with oddball calendars, since there were such strict rules about what ...

If you've spent any time online--or anywhere else--reading advice for writers, or tips for writers, or anything else, you've probably at some point or another come across the "Keep a journal" tip. It's pretty common, actually. I see the reasoning behind the advice, I do. Keeping a journal gets you into the habit of daily writing, which is terrifically important. It can expand your vocabulary; it can make you familiar with the process of writing itself. It can help you find a voice. But here's my problem with it. Writing a journal is not at all like writing fiction. Not remotely like it, actually. Trust me on this; I blog, and I write fiction. The processes are completely different; the feel of it is different. Even the voice is largely different. Now, I don't claim in any way to have mastered either the art of the novel or the art of the entertaining blog post. What I can tell you is that I've written some of both of which I'm quite proud, and here...