Interview & Giveaway with Nicole Peeler

Today I welcome Nicole Peeler to the blog. She is the incredible creator and imagination behind the urban fantasy Jane True series.


1. When did you first start writing, and was there something in particular that inspired you?

I've written all my life, but mostly academic stuff. I only started really writing fiction when I wrote my first book. I'd dabbled, but it was always awful dabbling. Like finger painting on a placemat dabbling. But I learned a lot about writing by writing for school, and I learned tons at graduate school. I always tell my students that writing is writing is writing, and that learning the basics of grammar, mechanics, and structure is so important.


2. What first attracted you to the paranormal/urban fantasy realms when it comes to writing?

I always loved fantasy books when I was a kid. I've always been drawn to them, I think because they're so escapist, but they also offer the chance to explore current issues in a way that feels less involved or painful than in literary fiction. So I think I just built off of that love. I'd like to write other things, but writing in a genre I was so familiar with was a really great way to break into writing, for me.


3. In regards to your own characters, who is your favorite and why?

My all time favorite character to write was Salim. He's based on a former hairdresser of mine, and I don't think anybody even cared about that scene or that character. But I had such a hoot writing Salim, and he brought back so many memories for me of a really fun time in my life.


4. What other genres (besides your own) do you enjoy reading?

Mystery, especially cozy mysteries, is big on my list. I like reading YA fantasies, as well. Some crime, especially Sophie Littlefield's Bad Day series. I also read some Para Rom and occasionally a contemporary romance. I've been known to read erotica, I'm sure you're shocked. And I read a lot of literary fiction as well.

5. If you could not be a writer, what would you be?

I'm lucky because I've got both my dream jobs. For my day job, I'm a professor at a university, full time. I'm a lucky gal.


6. As a reader I know how difficult it can be to name a ‘favorite’ book, would you mind listing your top three? (Past or present authors)

My top three favorite books are Sabbath's Theater by Philip Roth, the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, and Notes from Underground by Dostoevsky. Those books all changed the way I view the world and my place in it. And I consider the trilogy one book as I read them as an omnibus. I'm not cheating, really. ;-)


7. What are some must haves when you sit down to write?

I don't have any must haves. With having two jobs and a really active life, I write whenever I can, wherever I can. Well, now that I've written that (on my laptop), I realize that I'm lying. I do definitely have to have my computer. My hands poop out after about a page of actual writing, with a pen, so the computer is the only thing I really have to have.


8. If you became trapped as a character in a book or series, which would you choose and why? (Any book, any series, new or old)

I'd want to be Nalini Singh's angel character, Elena. I've always wanted to be tall and strong and kick ass. To be able to fly would take the cake. And I wouldn't kick Raphael out of bed for eating angel crackers, either. ;-)



Nicole's Newest Release:

Eye of the Tempest:
Nothing says "home" like being attacked by humans with very large guns, as Jane and Anyan discover when they arrive in Rockabill. These are professionals, brought into kill, and they bring Anyan down before either Jane or the barghest can react. Seeing Anyan fall awakens a terrible power within Jane, and she nearly destroys herself taking out their attackers.

Jane wakes, weeks later, to discover that she's not the only thing that's been stirring. Something underneath Rockabill is coming to life: something ancient, something powerful, and something that just might destroy the world.

Jane and her friends must act, striking out on a quest that only Jane can finish. For whatever lurks beneath the Old Sow must be stopped...and Jane's just the halfling for the job.


About the Author:

Nicole D. Peeler received an undergraduate degree in English Literature from Boston University, and a PhD in English Literature from the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland. She’s lived abroad in both Spain and the UK, and lived all over the USA. Currently, she resides outside Pittsburgh, to teach in Seton Hill’s MFA in Popular Fiction. When she’s not in the classroom infecting young minds with her madness, she’s writing Urban Fantasy for Orbit Books and taking pleasure in what means most to her: family, friends, food, and travel.


Find Nicole:

Website | Twitter | Facebook

Nicole has kindly offered up a signed copy of any one of her currently available books in the Jane True series to one lucky commenter!

Rules for Entry:
- Giveaway ends October 22, 2011 12AM EST.
- Open to Canadian and U.S. addresses ONLY.
- Fill out the FORM below.