Interview: Nicole Peeler

NRR: Can you share with us how you got started into writing?

NP: I've always been a reader, but I never wrote fiction till I wrote Jane True. It sounds a bit cosmic--I read one of Charlaine Harris's Sookie books, thought "Huh, I wanna write something like this," and then sat down and did. But, in reality, I'd been reading and writing for academia all my life. So, in reality, the books came along after a life time of hard work.  

NRR: How were you inspired to write the Jane True series?

I think the idea of a "real woman" heroine, like Sookie, was what did it for me. And then all these other interests I'd always had sort of filtered up through that

grain of an idea. I started thinking of what kind of character could be "real" yet magical, and I thought back to the Selkie mythology I loved as a kid. Jane was born from there, and the series was born from Jane. 

NRR:What is your guilty pleasure?

I have so many, to be honest. I'm a greedy, hedonistic little soul, and I pursue my pleasures with alacrity. One of my more banal pleasures is I adore watching "Murder, She Wrote," and I watch it way too much. It's embarrassing, really. ;-)

NRR:What is one word you would use to describe your character,Jane?

Uninhibited

NRR:What made you decide to write in the urban fantasy genre?

I think it was that I could write so many genres, writing in UF. I blended comedy, mystery, romance, and fantasy in just the combination I wanted, without feeling constrained by many genre conventions. It's a very liberating genre, in a lot of ways. 

NRR:Can you tell us what a day in the like of Nicole Peeler is like?

I'm a full-time professor, so I usually wake up and either grade or do author stuff, like update my blog or answer fan emails. Then I go to school, where I do work there or teach, or both. Eventually, I make it home, where I usually work till 8 or 10, depending on when I have to get up the next day. After which I'll relax with something on Netflix. Weekends usually find me traveling or grading, or both. Writing comes whenever I can do it. It's a busy life, but I love it!

NRR: Can you share with us a little about Tempest's Legacy?

Absolutely! This book is very much about Jane getting stripped down (not literally, for once) so that she really has to show her true mettle. A lot happens, and it's a lot more intense of a book than the others. But despite everything that is going on, or maybe in spite of it, Jane's still cracking jokes and lusting after people, a la Jane!

NRR: What can fans expect to see from you in the coming year?

The next two Jane books, Tempest's Legacy and Eye of the Tempest, for sure! I'm also working on some side projects under a pseudonym. Stay tuned to my website for more details. ;-)