the league of reluctant adults

Warning: Nicole has taken into her (slightly mushy) brains that Incredibly Inappropriate Things would make for great YA . . . so be forewarned. Earlier today she was overheard asking the werechupacabra, “Is felching considered middle grade?” --never a good sign. Nicole: Hi folks! Nice to see you here, again, for our second and last installment of YA week. During the last interview, Victoria Schwab (an EXPERT, mind you!) said that I can totally fucking swear in YA as long as I have, and I quote, a “plot go to with my potty mouth.” I’ve been thinking hard on Victoria’s words, and one of the plot devices I think I could successfully bring to the YA table is . . . sex! Gratuitous sex! I mean, how many books for teens have you read where the main character is banging everybody he or she meets? NONE, right? Totally original! The publishing world will fall to its knees and beg for more. . . So I’ve brought in Courtney Allison Moulton , another debut YA novelist, so that I can run my ide...

So I promised Dr. Peeler I'd post on the topic here, Thursday and here it is...Thursday. Well, Thursday night actually. As many of you know (or maybe you don't), I've been working on a young adult novel for several months now and it's been slow going miserable work to say the least. I figured I'd break it down for you 5-w-style. Cuz I'm structured like that. Actually, I'm not, but it seems as good a format as any since I'm bloated from sushi, reheated coffee and blurry-eyed from revising the damned thing (aka Velveteen my Why-A). Who? Go ahead, say what you're thinking: But, Mark, you've built a career on filth! How can you reign in that dirty mind for the youth of America and beyond? Right? The truth is it isn't easy and some days I'm not kidding when I say it's absolutely miserable. I was never big on fiction geared towards children and adolescents, even as a child and adolescent. I was reading adult fiction in elementary school and...

Warning: If you don’t like swearing, please don’t read the following. Nicole Peeler drops f-bombs like she’s a fucking bomber during the fucking blitz. It’s a fucking travesty! Needs her mouth washed out with fucking soap, she does . . . Nicole: Well, hello everybody! Welcome to YA Week here at the League! I’ve been intrigued by how many UF and Para-Rom writers are now writing YA (including many of our residents here in the League Asylum), and I want to understand what’s the pull. After all . . . you can’t fucking swear as much when you write YA! You may not have noticed, but I have a bit of a potty mouth, and my mind is boggled by the idea of not fucking swearing! How can people NOT SWEAR? Is it just me? I mean, “drat” or “shucky darns” is NOT cutting it for me, people. To help me explore these issue, I’ve invited the lovely and vivacious Victoria Schwab . She’s going to tell us about her own journey to YA authordom, and maybe she’ll help me locate my OWN vat of inner YA aspiratio...

Hey YA’ll! It’s YA Week, here at the League! So that’s why I said YA’ll! Get it? YA’ll! I don’t have this PhD. for nothing, bitches! First of all, don’t be frightened. Just because it’s YA Week, here, doesn’t mean we’re going to be any less, immature, inappropriate, or snarky. In an adult way. But there’s tons of crossover, right now, with YA, Para Rom, and UF. Many fans are reading both; many of us authors are writing both--so I thought we should take a week and talk about YA. To keep things moving along, I’ve interviewed two YA, debut novelists who have been absolute stars. Needless to say, I have Many Fine Ideas about what I should do to break into the world of Young Adult fiction and they have listened to all of them. And not punched me once. So stay tuned for my interview with the lovely Victoria Schwab, Wednesday, and the adorable Courtney Allison Moulton, for Friday. But I’m not the only one playing along! Granted, I am often talking to myself, but sometimes other people...

Hey did you guys know Cherie M. Priest has been nominated for a Nebula Award ? Yes my lovelies our very own Cherie has been nominated for Best Novel for Boneshaker! And to think we knew her when she was just wee... Way to Go Ms. Priest!

Oh, wow, the leaguers are setting the world on fire. Chairs are going through plate glass windows. Mannequins being beheaded and danced with. Sometimes they are danced with, and THEN beheaded. Okay, maybe not, but at least, keyboards are blazing. No part of the world is safe from our blazing keyboards!! COOL THING #1 Anton Strout and Amber Benson at Babel Clash all this week and next The two authors discuss science fiction, fantasy, and more - with all kinds of interesting little bits related to reading and culture and they reveal things like where the League of Reluctant Adults name came from. And whether Anton is secretly writing serious fiction and passing it off as Chik-fil-A. And what is the one thing that has kept Amber Benson sane? The conversation has been really fun to follow already, and it's only day 2!! Check it out ; running the week of Feb 16th and the week of the 22nd. COOL THING #2: TODAY ONLY Paranormal Roundtable! Today, 2/17 at 4 pm ET at Suvudu Diana Rowland a...

First of all, come see my cover arts for book three, Tempest's Legacy! YAY! Secondly, if you're wondering where I've been, don't worry. For you will get a lot of me soon . . . I've wrangled some YA authors and am launching a little fun here, soon. BE AFRAID. BE VERY AFRAID. Watch this space for more details!

I haven't been able to run for a while due to snowy conditions, which means I've had to resort to indoor forms of exercise. This requires room I really don't have, so picture me attempting a Pilates workout while snaking my arm through the rungs of a dining room chair, and twisting just far enough to miss the kid's tower of Xbox 360 games. It's a challenge that, more often than not, leads to flying figurines and bruised shins. Which lets me know I could never be like Jaz and Vayl. If I tried to sneak through somebody's house--a place I'd never been--with the idea that I wouldn't make a single sound to alert them, I'd be toast before I made it to the halfway point. Most of the time I imagine myself tripping over the coffee table, falling into the ottoman, and being enthusiastically humped to death by the family Shih Tzu. Yes. I know that if I worked as a CIA assassin it would, at minimum, lead to certain torture and the divulgance of my safety d...

Or something like that. Yup, went out and did X-rated things with Mr. Kat for a combined birthday/Valentine/Spring Festival celebration. There was also food, movies, and whiskey (that weren't x-rated.) And chocolate (which should have been but wasn't.) No, you can't have details. Make it up. I do.

Whew! It has been a real whirlwind two weeks since my entry into the league! I didn’t know it would be so much work, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Newbie duties: completed. I have finally completed the required paperwork denouncing Minneapolis and adopting Seattle as my “true spiritual and psychological home” as demanded by Richelle Mead, and purged my closet of all pink clothes per Kat Richardson’s instruction, and I am finally done cutting the hundreds of individual letters out of different magazines “ideally bought at garage sales” asked for by six of the league members for their “collage projects.” Learning the truth I will admit that before I was a member, I believed pretty much whatever I heard about the league. Now that I am in, I would like to dispel some of these myths that have been floating around about it. It just goes to show, you shouldn't believe everything you hear. Eight League Myths: Do not believe everything you hear!! MYTH #1 : Mark Henry we...

**x-posted from my blog** Yes folks. Release Day/Week/Month/59 Days is upon us. Happy Hour of the Damned is trickling into your back pockets from bookstores all over the place (or so I'm reading on twitter and such). And there are tons of events going on to promote the release. Yesterday's Twitter explosion was very nearly overwhelming thanks in large part to Rob Thurman's big giveaway and so many retweets I was left reeling. But it's not over yet! Today, I'm over at Bitten By Books for a 24 hour event full of Vlogs (count 'em 4!) and so much filthy interaction you'll all be in need of a shower. I'm also interviewed at Chez Casa Emma Petersen , with contests at both places so head on over and comment, interact, maybe later we can make love. Speaking of Bitten By Books , you might notice a certain banner ad over there for the next month. In prime position. Thanks much to Rachel and my good friend Renee George for making that happen. I love it... Now f...

So I'm sure by now you've heard that Amazon has come to the conclusion that Macmillan has a monopoly on Macmillan titles. (If you haven't heard that...yeah, well, that's it. Amazon concluded this.) This is so utterly brilliant . And it makes me wonder... What do YOU have a monopoly on?