the league of reluctant adults

I can't watch zombie movies. They give me nightmares. But everybody told me that I had to read "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" because it's so clever, (It really is, I chuckled plenty.) and I'm such a huge Jane Austen fan and have such an irreverent sense of humor. So I started reading it because I figured, how bad can it be? Well, it turns out that setting the action in my head is so much worse and graphic because I incorporate what I really fear about zombies. Like my kids being hurt or being sent away from my family because I've been nipped by the walking dead. I read a few measly chapters and had nothing but zombie nightmares last night. To the point that I woke up at 4 a.m. crying like a tiny, tiny girl. I gave the book to a co-worker just to get it out of my house. AND ON THAT NOTE.... I have a well-established fear of clowns. It's called coulrophobia. It's a real fear. Look it up. So someone sent me a still photo close-up of a clown, because h...

My cover artist won a big award! Yay!!! Orbit's so happy for her! And so am I ! Please take a moment to congratulate Sharon at Orbit, at my site, or both! Woo hoo!

I'm sure you all know by now what a giving personality I have. My giving is only exceeded by my modesty... So I thought I'd share the cover of the next anthology I have a story in. It's a January pub that moved a few times, changed titles, but here it is in all its glory. My story in it is a contemporary fantasy story called "Stannis", a weepy little tale about a young girl in the city and the centuries old gargoyle sworn to watch over her family. It may or may not be from the Simonverse. I'm not sure who else is in it, but aren't I enough reason to go out and support the title? Order now before the ghost of Billy Mayes comes after you with the hard sell!

For the winner of the lil mini-contest for Leaguers only, I used the highly scientific method of numbers cut up into a coffee can: Then I pulled one out! If my calculations are correct, number 6 is My Blog 2.0 (Dottie)! Congratulations, Dottie! Send me your snail mail deets at iheartselkies(at)gmail(daht)com, and I'll git you an ARC ASAP! To everyone who didn't win, I wish I had a copy for all of you! I really do want to thank each and every one of you for all of your support. You guys have been AMAZING and I hope you get your hands on a copy of TR soon!

I went to my favorite toy store last week to beef up my Christmas list. Although all I came home with was a glow-in-the-dark skull (woot!), I am now hopeful that my wind-up dancing robot girl will have a new boyfriend by the New Year. And I saw a yard-long ballpoint pen that would be just hilarious to bring to book signings, so it went on the list as well. What I feel I cannot live without, however, is a miniature Etch-A-Sketch. In fact, if I were a spy, that's how I'd leave messages for my comrades. Then they could just shake the Etcher after they were finished reading it and, voila'! Evidence erased! Think of the number of hotel fires this would prevent since nobody would be burning clandestine messages in trash cans anymore! How would you pass secret information to your undercover buddies, given the chance?

I'm not sure what the virus does, but it ain't good. Verdict? Awesome!

Mario here: What if the Honorable Sonia Sotomayor was not only the first Latina, but the first witch, to be nominated to the US Supreme Court? Read all about it: Pop Syndicate

The winner of the Rosemary & Rue ARC/Guest Reviewer contest is... JD! Come out of the woodwork and email me: me(at)markhenry(dot)us And NOT mark(at)markhenry(dot)us cuz that one doesn't exist. I'll hook your ass up.

So I'm back in the Porte du Shreve, in my revisions oubliette.  In a month or two, when it gets closer to my publication date, I'm going to do some pretty hard core contests. I'll try to advertise the shit out of those contests, to get as many people as possible to participate. But I wanted to reward our loyal League readers by doing a contest now, just for you. I won't say I'm doing it on Twitter, or Facebook. I may put up a lil tease on my blog, as I usually do, because the same people read both. I want to do this first, little contest because you guys have been awesome. I came out of nowhere, and you've patiently endured me blogging (a lot) about a whole bunch of bullshit.  To win the contest, just comment here. There's no hoops to jump through. If you want to tell me in great detail why you want to read Tempest Rising , I won't turn my eyes away. But you don't have to do anything but say, "hello." Next Sunday, the 26th, at noon, I'l...

Make sure to enter a chance to win an ARC of Seanan McGuire's Rosemary and Rue and become an official Reviewer for a Day on the League of Reluctant Adults.  We'll choose a winner by Sunday at 11:59 PM PST and announce the winner Monday. Just scroll d o w n

It's on, man! http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=9093

So my next offering from Tor will be an alternate-history steampunk romp called Boneshaker -- and with it, there will be at least another couple of books (eventually) and a novelette or two. It only made sense to make a website that could hold the whole assortment under one umbrella. So I did it. And it's live. You can find it right here. And if you'd like a sneak peek at the prologue/introduction, all you have to do is click right here . Anyway, if you get a minute, go check it out! [:: blows kisses ::]

Well, not all of them. Because mystery's so much more fun than "she wears pink toenail polish." But I am doing a slamma-jamma interview over at Bitten by Books this Wednesday where I give up some inside info on the Jaz Parks series (and my future plans) as well as offer some LOVERLY prizes. So if you wanna RSVP, you can follow this link to do that, at which point you'll have gained 50 entries into the contest for one of five autographed copies of the new, mass market edition of Once Bitten, Twice Shy as well as a $50 Barnes & Noble Gift Card. Just like that. Click, click! http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=8813

This week we have debut urban fantasy novelist, Seanan McGuire, talking fairy tales and horror and such (and even giving away an ARC in a fun two part prize)!  Seanan's Rosemary and Rue hits the shelves in September.  Take it away Seanan! ****** Growing up perky and blonde in Northern California has its advantages, most of them having to do with getting out of doing your homework because no one actually believes you have three brain cells to knock together.   It also has its disadvantages, most notably the fact that no one believes you have three brain cells to knock together.   This makes it harder to get access to the important things in life: books that aren't about Dick and Jane, horror movies, and fairy tales by anyone but Disney.   If your goals involve these treasures, you'll have to learn guile, cunning, and the ability to look like you didn’t realize what part of the library you had warned into. Growing up perky, blonde, and geeky in Northern California means yo...

I need to be more careful when I text. Yesterday, I'd been working for hours on scene in which two characters die and my husband texted me from work to ask how I was doing. I responded, "Good. I just killed two people, which is always fun." And then I realized how bad that would look if someone else picked up David's phone. Especially since all of his co-workers are cops! **************** So Friday I stumbled onto a review of Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs on the French version of Amazon.com. It's a great review, five stars... but it's in French. I don't speak French. I took Spanish in high school. But there seemed to be some good words that I recognized in there, so that was great. Does this mean that I'm going to be "huge in Europe?" Am I going to be the David Hasselhoff of vampire authors?

So I just back my agent, Stephany's, notes on my as-yet-untitled werewolf book and we agreed that two characters need to be cut to lighten up the considerable cast and improve the hero's motivation. One of my weaknesses as a writer is that I occasionally create wacky, compelling characters that ultimately don't do anything but distract from the story. In every manuscript, I end up cutting at least one character and parceling out that character's better lines out to other characters. A while back, I joked with Stephany that I needed to start an online memorial for my "fallen characters," and we realized that would be pretty funny. Unfortunately, I couldn't start it until certain books came out because it would spoil the plots. So, with the publication of NICE GIRLS DON'T DATE DEAD MEN, next month, I will be introducing a "character graveyard" section to mollyharper.com. I'll give you a hint about the first interrent. Two words: "Wann...

...my books haven't attacked anybody in a long time. So, despite the risk, I will be appearing over at Bitten by Books all day next Wednesday and into Thursday (to accommodate those of you who live outside the States). Join me for a cool interview, major gossiping, and your chance to win SWEET prizes! See ya on July 15!

Here's one courtesy of Undercover author, Lauren Dane. Thirst!!! Mmm.

I love natural disaster movies. Volcanoes, global warming, tornadoes ... I'm all in. Last night, when my daughter and I were watching "Knowing" with Nicolas Cage (and PS, did not like the movie itself, though it did offer a spectacular disaster), she was like, "Why do you like movies that show realistic ways we could all DIE?" My very detailed and informative responses was: "I dunno. I just do." Then we talked about the "end of the world" prophecies for 2012 and I said I'm sooooo seeing "2012" the movie, and she rolled her eyes and said, "Of COURSE you are." So I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite disaster movies. You're welcome. TWISTER THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW DANTE'S PEAK TRAILER FOR 2012

As previously announced here , I've drawn a new winner for the Linda Robertson Interview Contest . The new winner is: Tom Gallier! Congrats, Tom! Please email me your info { mail (at) kellymeding.com } and I'll forward it to Linda.

I'm working on handouts for my upcoming upper level class on Modernist Fiction, and I stumbled across something that rocked my socks. Cause those modernists? Hella crazy.... For everyone who thinks that the modernists were stuffy, ya'll obviously haven't read Joyce's dirty letters . One caveat... do NOT open that link at work... it may actually cause a porn filter to explode, taking you and your computer with it. What I love about Joyce's letters is that they're not only filthy, they're also delightfully juvenile. They're like an episode of Terrance and Phillip, from South Park , only Joyce really is wanking when he writes them. So I knew that the modernists were definitely not all stuffed shirts, but I had no idea just how audacious they were, till I read about the Dreadnought Hoax. Basically, a contingent of the set that would soon become the Bloomsbury Group (which included Leonard and Virginia Woolf), tricked Britain's Royal Navy into believing t...

Yes, yes, I know. I've been a bad Reluctant Adult lately. But now the deadline dread is finally lifting, and I'll be back around more. Is that happy weeping I hear? I thought so. I come bearing gifts for all our writerly readers. Over at the Clarity of Night blog, I'm co-hosting a flash fiction contest with my good friend Jason Evans. The contest is a belated celebration of the release of Red-Headed Stepchild since the book idea was born in a previous contest there. For those who don't know what flash fiction is, it's basically a really, really short story. In this case, you get 250 words to tell a story based on a picture we've posted. In fact, here it is now: If you've read Red-Headed Stepchild (and really, if you haven't what the hell are you waiting for?), you'll understand the significance of the theme. Anyway, I hope some of you enter. There's money and books to be won if you're brave enough. Are you brave enough? We'll see. We...

It's about time we started pushing a demon-friendly agenda around here. What with all the talk of zombies and vampires. Everyone's favorite stripper turned memoirist turned screenwriter, Diablo Cody, has come over to the dark side and pushed out a horror comedy that looks pretty damn good. Check it... See what I mean? Thoughts?

As previously announced , the winner of the Linda Robertson Interview Contest was BETH who posted June 26, 3:54pm. We haven't heard from you yet (*pokes*), so please email me ASAP [ mail (at) kellymeding.com ]. If we don't hear from our winner by this Thursday (7/9) at noon EST, another winner will be chosen.

Mario here: Over at Biting-Edge blog , we're having our summer contest. Theme: What a Dumbass! Win this classy t-shirt from the most fabulous Tattered Cover bookstore. Plus more shwag. Try and top my story. I double-dog dare ya!

Hey, thanks a ton for submitting those creative and occasionally bizarre comments that also entered you into my Once Bitten, Twice Shy giveaway! I had a blast reading them all and imagining you skulking (or possibly sprinting) through a dark alley in the company of some big, bad monster! Without further ado, here are the winners of an autographed copy of the new, mass market release of book one in the Jaz Parks series: saycheesepease Taylor-Marie booklover Congratulations to you! Please e-mail your full address to jennifer at jenniferrardin dot com and I'll get that puppy posted to you by the end of next week. Sound good? Hope so!

Mark beat me to a zombie walk post! Le sigh. But he did leave out my favorite pic of the event, so I'll post that one right here -- all the better to haunt your nightmares with. And in case anyone's curious, my write-up of the event can be found over here .

...the dead will go for cocktails. What started out as a perfectly nice day trip to Seattle to hang out with Team Seattle folks ended in a nightmare of biblical proportions...and I loved it. The Fremont Outdoor Movies people pulled together a zombie walk/Thriller dance reenactment that clogged streets tighter than old man toilet and left blood smears on every sign, window and unsuspecting passerby. And!!!! We broke the world record, at last count the registration reported 3800 something, but expect that more like 6000 were in attendance, lots opting not to stand in the massive line. So here's a recap... Started off the day driving our disabled temp-tired hybrid to the tire shop to fix a flat, which of course was in the side wall and therefore not fixable. New tire. Thankfully we had a warranty, because--little known glamorous author fact--when you're as new at the business as I am, and as unlikely to earn out your advance, I don't get paid with any great frequency. In fa...

At the risk of incurring the wrath of Twilight fans (Michelle, forgive me) I had to share this. Unfortunately, I have to say, this is exactly what would happen if Buffy met Edward. Watch and see if you don't agree. Buffybuds of the world, unite!!! Also, Mario and I are starting new contest on Saturday. Hop on over to The Biting Edge and tomorrow before picnics and fireworks and check it out. XOX Jeanne

I'm not giving up on my rotty favorites, but I know lots of you dig the mosquitos. Here's a new vamp flick that just popped onto my radar. Looks seriously decent. Well? Opinions?

HELLO LEAGUE! I know, I was like totally MIA. I've been crazy bloggin' over at my own site , where you can see all of our crazy road trippin' adventures, but I took a vacay from the League. Now I'm back! And better than ever! Okay, I'm actually knackered, with bags under my eyes, and a liver that is crying out for peace in the middle east, but whatever. I am back. And not only am I back, but I have THESE! Yes, that's a big ass box of ARC's. And yes, there WILL BE CONTESTS! I just am not sure what they will be, or when I will do them, as of now. Because, as I said, I have three brain cells left, and two of them are fighting in a boozy brawl while the third munches on weeks-old beignet. But soon I will devise nefarious plans to get these into your hot little hands! I Tweeted the idea that I'd totally give one to whoever paid my rent this month..... but apparently that's not what people had in mind. So I'll come up with something better, I promise....

Okay, maybe I shoulda been a tad more specific. My mass market came out today! (Happy dance!) For those of you operating in the unawares, five books in the Jaz Parks series are floating around the bookishness of the universe, but to this point they've all been trade paperbacks. The biggers. Now you can get the first book in the series, Once Bitten, Twice Shy , in the regular size (and price!) So to celebrate (which I'm always looking for excuses to do) I'm giving three copies away to random commenters. All you gotta do is tell me which monster you'd prefer to meet in a dark alley. Vampire? Werewolf? Zombie? Orc? Something I haven't named that you think you could vanquish a lot easier with your handy-dandy homemade sledge-0-matic? Lemme hear from you! The giveaway will close Friday at midnight Central Standard time. Let the virtual massacre begin!