the league of reluctant adults

Mario here: We Celebrate! Fellow Leaguer Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy was chosen as the Best Teen Series at the Canadian Teen Read Awards in Toronto. Go Richelle. Your help is needed. Another Leaguer, Carolyn Crane, has embarked on a "manly" challenge. Five pull-ups. Who-hah! Drop by her blog The Thrillionth Page and post your support as she charts her success on the Blue Bar of Progess. Learn her secrets for making coconut soup, which involves a machete. Crane is obviously a woman who likes to express herself physically. Don't forget to put her next book, Double Cross ( due Sept 28) on your shopping list. Read a review on The Literate Kitty . Our intrepid Jeanne Stein with our Mystery Writer peeps (Becky Martinez, Beth Groundwater, and Mike Befeler) at the Mountain & Plains Independent Booksellers Association Trade Show. As expected, the show was a great opportunity to meet regional booksellers and renew contacts. But in a sign of the times in the book bi...

We here at the League spend a lot of time goofing off and joking around, but it's my sad duty today to share some very upsetting news. Urban Fantasy author Jennifer Rardin passed away on Monday, Sept. 20, 2010. Jennifer was a talented author, funny lady and a class act. We at the League are devastated by the loss of our friend and colleague. There's nothing we can say to lessen the pain of this for her family or friends, except to assure them that she and they are in our thoughts. Rest in peace, Jennifer. You're already missed.

Interview & Win a free book! and chocolate! What more appropriate activity to do on my birthday than to talk endlessly about myself?  Lovely Jessica over at the Spinecracker, a totally fun and smart new blog, is giving me just that chance...at  her inaugural "Behind the Pen" interview. .. with an eclectic set of interview questions.   We discuss pet peeves, what it's like to be an author on release day, TV shows and more. And, I'm giving away a copy of  Mind Games  along with a CHOCOLATE TREAT to one lucky commenter. Woo!  Come visit! And comment to win!! Pull ups challenge In other news, I might need an extension on my 5 pull-ups challenge! Who set the date as the end of September? I think it was my evil doppelganger! Or is it my evil doppelganger who hasn't worked on it in a week? Either way I'm afraid I've backslid. Nooooooo! I'll find out later during the workout portion of my birthday. But maybe I'll still make it. I have one week and tw...

Hey All, Somehow, people out on the internetz got a hold of the covers and have posted them here and there. So I figured I'd share them with you here. Are they not the cutest? Due out in February 2011: COVER COPY: Even in Grundy, Alaska, it's unusual to find a naked guy with a beartrap clamped to his ankle on your front porch. But when said guy turns into a wolf, recent southern transplant Mo Wenstein has no difficulty identifying the problem. Her surly neighbor Cooper Graham-who has been openly critical of Mo's ability to adapt to life in Alaska-has trouble of his own. Werewolf trouble. For Cooper, an Alpha in self-imposed exile from his dysfunctional pack, it's love at first sniff when it comes to Mo. But Cooper has an even more pressing concern on his mind. Several people around Grundy have been the victims of wolf attacks, and since Cooper has no memory of what he gets up to while in werewolf form, he's worried that he might be the violent canine in question. If...

Mario here: 1. There's often talk that vampires have run their course. We scoff at such heresy. At the Biting-Edge, it's always: Friday and Saturday, Sept 24-25, Jeanne and I will spread the undead gospel at the Mountain & Plains Independent Booksellers Trade Show at the Marriott Denver Tech Center. The Biting-Edge can never get enough vampires, and we especially dig the old school, creepy pre-sparkly kind such as Frank Langella, the urbane and dashing Dracula . "No drugs! It will pollute her blood." Spoken like a true gentleman in a 70s do. We even appreciate Frank Langella's thespian license when he steals the show as Skeletor in Masters of the Universe . (watching this movie helps if you have a thing for Meg Foster as Evil-Lyn.) On the subject of goofy, sci-fi/fantasy-related videos, check this out: 2. We're riffing here, so follow the drops of Saurian brandy to this classic piece on Space Trek Sousing in Modern Drunkard . Spoiler alert, the autho...

Time once again (because I'm too busy writing a novel under deadline to be creative) for Ancient Webbery. This time the original Pigeon of Death essay that started off a whole weird chapter in the continuing saga of Richardson and Richardson Spout Silly Things at Each Other in Public. Here it is and at the bottom a link to the evil, Totally Not Safe For Work Flash 2 animation it inspired: The Pigeon of Death originally posted on unknown day, September 2000 All right, I admit it: I'm not a fan of birds. All my bird-owning buddies have just put me on their shit-lists, to be sure, but, what the hell.... I don't mind finches or house sparrows or whatever those little, brown, innocuous flitterers are. Watching a clutch of little seed-eaters hopping about and making "beep" noises as they peck up a spill of birdseed can be rather charming, but, frankly, if its wingspan is larger than my head, it's not destined to be my friend. Parrots, macaws, cockatoos, avians of th...

I'm a big fan of crawling: nightcrawling, pubcrawling, dropped-my-contact-crawling . . . and now LitCrawling! After having planned a completely spontaneous, last-minute trip to go see my lovely friend, Jana, in San Francisco, I sent one of my typically annoying emails to Orbit's ever-patient (and most probably magical) publicist, Jack. It read something like, "OMG! Wow, like, I'm ummmm gonna be in San Fran for like a few days--we're going to eat from those zeppelins of meat!--so, um, could I do something there, and stuff? for the books? And stuff?" Jack, once again, translated (hence the patient part) my mindless patois and then (magically!) found me an event to glom myself on to like an overzealous leech. On Saturday October 9th, I'll be appearing with the lovely Gail Carriger , amongst others, for LitQuake's LitCrawl, at Borderlands, from 7:15-8:15. Full details can be found here, on my appearances page . Shenanigans occur when Gail and I are togethe...

Okay, my book trailer is finally finished! Well! This was like a fun art project where my OCD perfectionist editor ran wild! Quick watch it before I take it down and make a completely different one. (I'm just kidding. I won't do that. I have other things to do. Like write books! Where's my pen?) Some very kind twitter pals totally volunteered to be my beta watchers, back when this thing was even longer and had slow, porny music. And other problems, not that it doesn't now, but it's not the fault of: Joe Alfano (Zombie Joe), Renee Vincent, Closetreader Lea (Toriaimeegirl), Katiebabs, LB Gregg, MagdelenB, Melissa (MelLHay), Jo Evans (girljo) and Debs (debsholloway)! Thanks for beta-watching and giving feedback you guys!!

I was trawling through my Amazon sites today and I discovered that they've announced who is reading Jane for my audibooks ! A woman named Kate Reinders! Here's a clip from some of her work: Kate Reinders from Walleye Pictures & Sound on Vimeo . I really like her in the second group of clips. And she reminds me quite a bit of Kristin Chenoweth, whom I adore. But what do ya think? Think she'll make a good Jane?

In an attempt to lighten my mood I have more Ancient Kat Litter for you. This was originally meant to make fun of the misuse of the intransitive verb "grow" to mean "enlarge", so in honor of the spate of Twitter spam this week I give you: I Hear They Grow On Trees originally posted: August 21, 2003 I'm not quite sure why, but a lot of people out in Electronica Land seem to think I need to grow a penis.  And the biggest possible penis, at that.  A veritable State-Fair-Blue-Ribbon-Winning Penis.  Is this like Sea Monkeys?  Will I be able to "watch them grow and marvel at their skills?"  I receive a great deal of informative e-mail and, although my helpful correspondents did not say so, I suspect that I can grow one of these amazing, life-changing things in a pot on the foredeck.  Or I hope so. In order to grow my penis, I first need to determine how much space it will need. I know it's always a bad idea to take on a pet or a plant which has e...

Mario here: Big report on the 2010 Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold conference. But first: The winner of the Hailey Lind drawing is Barbara E. Congratulations! Another Colorado Gold conference has come and gone. This was my fourteenth. It was a great time to hook up with old friends like YA mystery writer pal, Bonnie Ramthun and hubby, Bill. ...and make new ones. We had a fantastic crop of newbie attendees like Mireyah Wolfe. She found the Gold conference via the League of Relunctant Adults blog. Our 2010 Writer of the Year, Holt Medallion winner and Willa Finalist Pam Nowak , gave the Kickoff Speech. The Keynote Speaker was NYT and USA Today bestseller Brenda Novak (L), who wowed us with her speech about the need to pace yourself and not give up in spite of the odds or the competition. That, and don't piss off a female mountain biker. The Closing Speaker, the entertaining and irreverent (and multiple Hugo and Nebula-award winning) Connie Willis (R). Best bit of ad...

The other day when I was looking at my Thrillionth Page blog search stats, I noticed somebody had arrived by typing in the query:  "Why aren't men  like Jamie Fraser?"   That is a really good question, and one that, unfortunately, I don't think the blog answered. Until now. Dear Google Searcher:  Why can't men be more like Jamie Fraser? Yeah, I'm with you sister. I, too, have read  Outlander  and wondered that. In fact, I think most women who have read  Outlander  wonder this at some point. It's time for answers! I hope that this list helps.   Reason #1 Men can't be more like Jamie Fraser:  Prime time medical dramas Toward the beginning of  Outlander , Claire uses rudimentary medical skills to set Jamie's dislocated shoulder and disinfect his wound, saving his life. Even though he thinks she is an English spy, he is totally grateful and impressed, and thus begins his fierce, passionate loyalty toward her.   Now, even though...

OK, so I forgot August.... Sue me. Here is one of my many strange bits of Ancient Webbery. Originally posted August 23, 2002: Not Quite Road Kill It's still there.... For a month or more, I have been walking past the strangest object which is slowly, ever so slowly, disintegrating. Lying on the sidewalk, up against the side of Salmon Bay Sand and Gravel, it is a dark, misshapen mass, gritty with filth, dead leaves. It is curiously lumpy, longer than my closed fist, oddly shaped, but reminiscent of something... unpleasant. It has no discernable odor, though, so it may not be what it appears. One night it moves out into the sidewalk and where the beam of the streetlight falls upon it, it is dark red. Grim and gory and begrimed. Yet, it attracts no insects and its decomposition is curiously slow. Do I touch it? No. I inadvertantly kick it. It wobbles, but remains intact, dark, brooding and repulsive. A few days later, the rain has revealed a streak of the flesh beneath, enabling me to...

Hello there! I'm hosting a contest here at the League of Reluctant Adults blog to celebrate the release of CROSS YOUR HEART, Book 7 in the Broken Heart series. To get the details, you'll have to sit through my vlog (posted below). Okay, okay. The shortcut is this: Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win the prizes. Also, I will pick a few of my favorite comments to read during the vlog winner announcement. You have until September 14th to enter. Also, you can buy your very own copy of CROSS YOUR HEART . Right now. This very second. (Hint, hint.) Oh, and ... yes, that's Napoleon Dynamite saying, "Lucky." That's what my phone chirps when I get a text message. In case you were wondering. Or not. Let the torment begin!

Mario here: Last week, Jeanne had the inaugural signing for her newest book, Chosen . In her usual classy style, Jeanne gives a silent retort to my many witty comments. PJ Brown of Heroes Only Comics and Games in Cheyenne, Wyoming, graciously invited me to his store for a signing. I was asked what books I was reading. An interesting question because I'm currently reading this... And coincidentally, we at Biting-Edge are proud that we scored this exclusive interview with one of the authors of Arsenic and Old Paint , the Julie half of the writer-sister team known as Hailey Lind. Carolyn (L) and Julie (R). CONTEST! Post a comment over at the Biting-Edge blog by Saturday, Sept 11, midnight, Pacific Time, and you could win signed copies of Brush with Death, Shooting Gallery , and Arsenic and Old Paint . Q The last book in the Art Lover’s series, Brush with Death , left us with Annie Kincaid partnering with the art thief Michael X Johnson to start an art retrieval business. What can...