At long last a LiveJournal by Jeri Smith-Ready

Quick post between vet visits (nothing serious, just routine checkups):

For the few people who are actually on the internet this close to the holiday weekend, your diligence is rewarded! I have two interviews up with two different signed books being given away.

Furthermore, I did not repeat myself ONCE between the two interviews. Although I may have used the word "and" in both.

Jocelynn Drake's giveaway of Wicked Game continues through tomorrow, and is now joined by a short interview about the WVMP series. Then Brooke Reviews has a longer interview where I discuss entirely different things, and where I'm giving away a signed copy of Bad to the Bone.

Yes, I forgot this was Labor Day weekend. I'm an idiot. But hey, those of you who actually check it out will have an even better chance than usual to win, because you won't have to compete with people who are out having fun.

Not that reading an interview with me isn't fun.

Anyway, have a great weekend, holiday or not!

I think as of this morning, I'm finally caught up on sleep!  Yay!  I need the brain clarity, since Bring on the Night is due in a week (technically next Saturday), and I have a lot of plot work to do.  Little things, like what the hell does the villain want? 

Also, for the first time I am finding it a major inconvenience that the vampires can't go out during the day. The timeline for Bring on the Night is so tight, and events happen so quickly, it's hard to wait for sunset to get stuff done.  But I'll work it out eventually; somehow I always do. (Of course, with every book comes the fear that this time the plot will kick my ass instead of the other way around.)

Anyway, today two blogs are interviewing me (luckily with mostly different questions), and each of them are giving away a signed copy of any of my books.  Winner gets to choose from my vast library of published work. (OK, maybe not that vast.)

At the first one, Smexy Books asks you to answer the question, "Kick Ass Chick or TSTL?"  Since TSTL stands for Too Stupid to Live, it seems kinda like a "Cake or Death?" question to me.  But whatever.  Just go leave a comment to enter.

Then over at Star-Crossed Romance, you can find out Ciara's all-time favorite song (it might surprise you) and a little bit more about my YA series.  Leave a comment to enter to win any of my books, signed and personalized by me!

I might drop in next week if I have any major news (well, I have major news, but I'm sort of saving it for an awards round-up post next month), but otherwise I'll be trying to finish Bring on the Night.  Wish me luck and much caffeine!

Ciara and Shane from Wicked Game and Bad to the Bone were interviewed over at Amberkatze's Book Blog, where Amber is generously giving away a copy of YOUR CHOICE of any of my books. I will send to the winner:

a) a signed bookplate--the next best thing to an autographed book
b) a signed coverflat of Bad to the Bone
c) a cool little metal bookmark engraved with a paw print and quote about dogs (or cats, if you prefer):

Because Bad to the Bone has animals and it's, you know, a book.

This is Shane and Ciara's first joint public appearance. The contest runs until July 3 (that's next Friday). Enjoy!

Quick reminder: I'll be at Constellation Books at 303 Main Street in Reisterstown, Maryland, tomorrow 3-5pm.  There'll be a reading, signing, discussion, and most important--cookies.

Last night I went to a book club meeting in Central PA where they were discussing Wicked Game.  I had a ton of fun (and pizza)--it was great hearing everyone's thoughts on the characters.  Really motivated me to keep writing!

If you have a book club in the mid-Atlantic area (within a reasonable drive of my house) and would like me to visit your book club, let me know.  I'm also available to talk to book clubs over the phone (within the U.S.) or Skype (anywhere in the world).

As an aside, on the way up I heard The Killers' "Read My Mind," which is one of the first songs on the Wicked Game playlist.  It made me "homesick" for the beginning of that book, when Shane and Ciara had just met. Things were so simple then.  I'm working on Book 3 now, which takes place three years after their story began in Wicked Game.  They're still together (and always will be), but their world has grown a lot more complicated.  Such is the nature of a series where characters change and grow and make bargains with paranormal paramilitary organizations.

Anyway, there's a fun interview of Shane from the WVMP books over at Jackie Kessler's Cat and Muse blog.  Our boy managed to keep out of the clutches of that former(ish) succubus Jezebel. A testament to his devotion to Ciara, or maybe Jez just isn't his type.  He'll never tell.

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Now playing: Kasabian - Reason Is Treason
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Ciara (from Wicked Game and the forthcoming Bad to the Bone) continues her interview of and by Dante from Adrian Phoenix's A Rush of Wings and In the Blood.  You can read the interview on Dante's blog, then ask a question or make a comment AT THE INTERVIEW ITSELF to enter to win an Advance Review Copy of Bad to the Bone (coming May 19, did I mention that?)

Read Round One to refresh your memory if you like.

I'm off to finish a novel now, and on Monday I hope to be able to tell you what it is I've been working on these last two months, the main reason I've been blogging so little (the ancillary reason is that my computer is so slow these days that it takes--I am not kidding--about an hour to do one blog post, not including the typing).

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Now playing: Never/Ever - The Black Angels
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It's Valentine's Day here in Hallmarkistan, which means authors (especially those of us who write about The Love Thang) are being asked all sorts of broad questions about romance.

Book Spot Central invited me and several other science ficiton/fantasy authors to tell them which movies/TV shows/books had the most influence on us as viewers/readers?  At first I thought that meant, "Which were your favorite?"  But I'm glad I didn't answer it that way, because I would've given the same response as Paul Malmont (Groundhog Day) or Carrie Vaughn (The Princess Bride).

Instead, I answered the question literally and honestly.  Read our responses (I'm fourth from the bottom, right above my favorite answer by my friend Dave Williams).  And try to have a good Valentine's Day.

*even though in the final blog post it's written as "favorites" not "most influential."  Maybe this is what Sarah Palin meant by "gotcha journalism". ;-)

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Now playing: Bikini Kill - Jet Ski
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Since Dante Baptiste (of Adrian Phoenix’s A Rush of Wings and In the Blood) and Ciara Griffin (of Jeri Smith-Ready’s Wicked Game and the upcoming Bad to the Bone) are from two different worlds, it seemed likely (and sad) that they’d never meet.

But then the dimensional fabric between their worlds thinned for a brief time, so that they could share a few (okay, make that a lot of) drinks at the Bar Between the Universes (not to be confused with the Restaurant at the End of the Universe—the Bar only serves basic pub grub) and got to talking:

( You can't handle the click! )

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Well, that was, um, interesting. Anyway, leave a comment or a question for Ciara and/or Dante between now and 11:59pm EST next Wednesday (January 7) to be automatically entered to win an autographed copy of In the Blood. For simplicity's sake, please comment at my home page blog. (This LJ post is purposely closed to comments for that reason.)

And since I'm still skeptical about the level of people's internet engagement over the holidays, I'll throw in a $10 Amazon gift certificate if we reach 50 individual commenters (not counting Adrian/Dante and me/Ciara, of course), so you can buy another copy of ITB for a friend. That way you won't have to lend it out and get it back with coffee stains and cat-chewed cover corners.

If you don't have a Blogger account, no worries! Just sign your name and be sure to either check back next week to see if you won, or leave a way to get in touch with you (leaving an e-mail address not recommended, due to spam issues). An LJ username would be great.

Get an extra chance to win by friending Ciara or Dante on MySpace. Be sure to let them know you're entering the contest and what name you've commented under, so I know which commenter to assign the extra chances to. Clear as mud?

Happy New Year!

Here's the link for the audio for yesterday's Blog Talk Radio interview, focusing on world-building (I'd hoped to have the embedded audio, but it's not working for me, so just follow the link if you wanna listen).

Also, today I've got blog duty at SFNovelists.com, where I bring up the question of not just where but when to set one's novel--specifically around holidays or certain times of the year?

Our greyhound Meadow just went into surgery to fix four ruptured discs in her back. We tried the "conservative" method, i.e., crate rest and pain meds, to no avail, so this was our last option. Her road to wellness will be a long one (6-8 weeks, maybe more), but the doc seemed optimistic about her chances for a full recovery. Not sure if we'll ever let her run again, and she's definitely hanging up her WWE title belt (do they wear belts?), but we'll be thrilled just to be able to take her for a walk without painful consequences.

Keep your fingers crossed for her!


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Now playing: Lisa Loeb - Do You Sleep
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I'll be on Blog Talk Radio today at 3pm Eastern discussing world-building with fellow urban fantasy authors Mark del Franco, Ilona Andrews, Kathryn Smith, Jordan Summers, and Cheyenne McCray, along with Harper Collins executive editor Diana Gill.

Fans can call the following number to listen from their phone and ask questions live during the show.

CALL IN NUMBER: (347) 826-9684
Or, listen to the show and ask questions online:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/stations/AuthorsOnAir/TheBeyond/2008/11/20/Fangs-Fur-and-Fey-team-discuss-worldbuilding

If you go there now, you can set a reminder to receive an email just before the show starts. We recommend you check out the site ahead of time in order to login to the chat room discussion.

I'll post the whole thing here after it's over.  Hope to hear from you!


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Now playing: Donovan - Colours
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More big news on a Monday (scroll down for the other thing):

Bitten by Books has a brand-new interview with yours truly. One lucky commenter will win their choice of an autographed copy of Wicked Game or an autographed Advance Reading Copy of Bad to the Bone when it becomes available (probably January or early February). This is the very first opportunity to win the latter, so go read my sleep-deprived thoughts and leave a comment. Get extra chances to win by spreading the word (see the bottom of the interview post for details).

Thanks to Rachel at Bitten by Books for the interview! Comments will be taken from now until 3pm Eastern Time tomorrow. I'll be stopping by all day today and tomorrow morning, so feel free to ask more questions. See you there!


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Now playing: Joni Mitchell - Woodstock
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It's in!  I finally finished polishing Bad to the Bone and sent it off last night.  Which frees me up to tell you about two fantastic chances for you to win a complete set of Aspect of Crow books.

I have a fun new interview at Amberkatze's Book Blog.  Amber wants you to take my Animal Spirit personality quiz and leave your results in the comments of the interview post.  She'll draw a name on Sunday to win a signed trilogy coming directly from me (US residents only--sorry, it costs a bundle to mail three big books).

Amber gave the series awesome reviews here (Eyes of Crow), here (Voice of Crow), and here (The Reawakened).

Also, author Ann Aguirre is lucky enough to be on a sun-drenched vacation in Mexico (as opposed to her sun-drenched everyday life in Mexico).  While she's gone, she's left a post offering an Aspect of Crow trilogy, courtesy of her, to one lucky commenter.  Of course, I'll send autographed bookplates to the winner.  This contest is open to anyone anywhere (because bookplates are cheap to mail)!

Now I have to go clean my house and catch up on approximately 3,478 e-mails. And eventually shower.

Bunches of news, all of it good. (Nothing huge, and most of it can be doled out in small pieces over the next few days, so don't sit on the edge of your seat waiting for some big announcement. Yeah, I wish.)

Zero-eth, I turned in "Storm Reaper" yesterday, four whole minutes before the deadline. Thank you, thank you. The first chapter will be posted on my publisher's site on Monday, November 17, and another chapter will appear each Monday through January 19, 2009. This will be, as far as I know, the last hurrah of the Aspect of Crow world (after the "colorful" (Publisher's Weekly) and "powerful" (Romantic Times) conclusion of the trilogy with The Reawakened).

First, you have the rest of today to enter to win a lecture packet from writing instructor extraordinaire Margie Lawson. Go to yesterday's post, take the cognitive style quiz (i.e., are you left-, right-, or whole-brained?), and leave a comment. Not only will she pick one winner from every 25 commenters, but she'll also answer your questions and generally interact with you in a positive manner, which is more than you can expect from me most days.

Second, Amberkatze's Book Blog is going to interview me about the Aspect of Crow series over Halloween weekend. Amber's looking for reader input on the interview, so please go to this post and leave a question you've been burning to ask me. Make it look like people care about my books. Pretty please? (Just don't sign your name "Jeri's Mom.")

Third, I have a really Really REALLY cool WVMP-related contest coming up this month. I will ask you to be as creative and devious and outrageous as you can. The prize will be the very first ARC of Bad to the Bone, which will probably be available in January.) Stay tuned for details.

( More voter registration reminders! )

Visit Bother Voting for swell e-cards like this one:


and this one:


The ones I really like I can't show on a family blog. Just go check 'em out.

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Now playing: Call Me When You're Sober - Evanescence
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You thought the Wicked Game Blog Tour was over? Ha! After twenty-some stops, it's just getting started.

Actually, it is almost over. Soon you'll have to give up on getting a free copy and go buy your own.

But not today! Patricia's Vampire Notes is posting an interview with me, and a name will be randomly drawn from comments today through tomorrow night to win a signed copy of Wicked Game.

Patricia reviewed Wicked Game for Library Journal in May, saying that "A colorful premise and engaging characters make the author's latest a fun read."

I'll be sitting close by throughout the day to answer any questions or comments, so it'll be almost like a chat. In the same way that telegrams are almost like phone calls.


NOTE: to enter, you must make your comments at the interview post, not here, because Patricia will be doing the drawing.  Also, you can get extra entries by asking me a question or linking to the interview from your own blog, and possibly by standing on your head while reciting the preamble to the Constitution, but I could be wrong.

ANOTHER NOTE: You have until 11:59 tonight to enter the contest for an ARC of The Reawakened, the last installment of my Aspect of Crow trilogy.

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Now playing: Science Killer - The Black Angels
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Stuart and Glory Jaffe's Eclectic Review discussed Wicked Game again, even more in depth than in last month's episode. This time it was in the context of recycled art and how the novel puts unique twists on the old vampire conventions.

Stuart also remarks on the unobtrusive use of first person present tense (something that usually annoys him) and how he didn't even notice it until a third of the way through. I discussed my choice to use that technique in my answer to the first question in the Fangs Fur & Fey interview, if you're interested.

Speaking of which, I'm posting over there today on the Topic of the Week (today's is pen names), because that's how I deal with Mondays.

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Now playing: Drunken Lullabies - Flogging Molly
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Back in May I was privileged to be interviewed by Mike Zipser of Fast Forward TV, a monthly half-hour TV series on science fiction and fantasy. It was on the air the in DC area during July, but thanks to the internet, you can view it at your leisure (like, now, for instance!).

It was a huge pleasure to do the interview. Mike was a fantastic host who asked fun questions (which I didn't have access to ahead of time), and it was over before I knew it.  Also, they gave me a sweet mug, which is in my main rotation of coffee deliverers (as opposed to those last resort mugs that sit at the back of the cabinet) because it brings back good memories.

Like that podcast with Jon Armstrong, I haven't watched this yet. I find it too nerve-wracking. So let me know how it is, and whether I should wear my hair back next time.

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Now playing: Peter Gabriel - I Have the Touch
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My Conestoga update will have to wait for tomorrow, as I need to finish my proposal today to stay on schedule. Plus I have a ton of e-mail/MySpace/Facebook messages to catch up on--a never-ending battle. So I need to spend my online time today carefully.

So the stuff:

Fellow author Jon Armstrong interviewed me for his podcast, "If You're Just Joining Us."  I haven't listened to it yet, because we did the interview in the morning, when I'm not at my best.  So if someone out there would listen to it and report back as to whether I said anything grossly stupid or offensive, that'd be swell.

Also, CK2S Kwips & Kritiques posted their interview with me yesterday. In it I discuss both series of books, what it's like to foster dogs, and discuss a tiny bit about Wicked Game's sequel, Bad to the Bone. Check out Kelley's and Debbie's sweet reviews of Wicked Game while you're there.

Renowned tabloid National Examiner is giving away 5 copies of Wicked Game in their "Fantastic" summer giveaway. If you get a chance to pick up a copy, check out page 46 of the July 28 issue (click for larger image):


So if you're wondering how I got a free ad in a magazine with a circulation of 420,000, it happened this way: Pocket sent the Examiner a review copy of Wicked Game, and I guess someone there liked it (described it in the ad as a "delightful comedy") and asked if they could do a giveaway. 

Not bad, eh?  And in this issue, the ad faces an exciting article about the pyramid-shaped "Car of the Future," an eco-friendly machine that uses NO gas, is bulletproof, and hits 200 mph. 

There are no airbags as the nose cone and interior of the eco-friendly car is lined with a 3-inch-thick layer of bubble wrap.

Get yours today.

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Now playing: Iggy Pop - High On You
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I'll post my Conestoga rundown tomorrow--I'm running behind right now due to United Airlines having stolen a day of my life. 

EDITED TO ADD: Read others' accounts of Conestoga here on the Fangs Fur & Fey debriefing post.

All I can say is that it was fabulous, one of my all-time favorite convention/conference experiences. I had a chance to talk at length with a lot of people I'd only met briefly at more hectic conferences like RT, or had met only online.  The convention was tons of fun, without leaving me feeling like I'd been hit by a cement truck.

The trip there and back, on the other hand? 

Let's see, from the time I left my house until I got to my hotel room Thursday: 17 hours.

On the way home? 26 hours.

I'm once again thinking of giving up air travel. 

Two contest updates:

The winner of a copy of Nancy Hunter's Taste of Liberty is Jamie!  Thanks to everyone who commented on the interview last week, and especially thanks to Nancy for stopping by.  Jamie, please get in touch with me at jeri AT jerismithready DOT com to claim your fabulous prize.

Also, there's one day left to win a signed copy of Wicked Game on Sidhe Vicious's blog, where she interviewed me earlier this month.

Now.  Must shower.  Brush teeth.  Buy groceries.  All the things I couldn't do while standing in line at Customer Service. (Fortunately, I am part English, so standing patiently in line is in my blood.)

I'm the leadoff guest author over at the hottest new blog for readers, Desert Island Keepers. I'm giving away a signed copy of Wicked Game (or another book if you already have that one) to one person who leaves a comment on either today's or tomorrow's post.

Today I'm introducing myself by running the gauntlet of "About Me" questions the DIK ladies (hee) all succumb to. Find out my favorite love (and sex) songs, which hero I would be (hint: he has a butler and a lot of cool toys), and which series I would live in (other than the fantasy that is my real life).

Monroe's story will be up later today/tonight. I'll post when it goes live!

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Now playing: Junior Wells - Blues Hit Big Time (alternate take)
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Thanks to everyone who stopped by last night to chat with me on Jacquelyn Frank's Marathon Chat, and congrats to those who won books, WVMP swag, and the marvelous raffle bags Jacki was giving away. It was great to meet and hang out with some new readers.

There's an interview with me up at Amberkatze's Book Blog. You can enter to win a signed copy of Wicked Game. Enter once by leaving a comment or question, enter twice by blogging about the interview somewhere else, and enter thrice by joining Amber's newsletter. Triple the contest-entering fun! Entries will be taken until next Sunday, July 6.

I'm also excited to announce that the short story about vampire DJ Monroe Jefferson's 'turning' will definitely be up here at jerismithready.com tomorrow. It's done, just needs a bit of polish and formatting for the web. I finished it off last night while watching the DVD of Eric Clapton's Crossroads benefit concert, which is four hours of phenomenal music. Almost makes me want to learn to play the guitar. Almost.

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Now playing: Eric Clapton - Little Queen of Spades
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Damn the paparazzi--they've cornered me again and forced me to talk about myself and my new book.  We all know how I hate that.

Today's stop on the Blog Whore Tour is an interview with Love Romances, who gave Wicked Game a sweet review a couple weeks ago.  Come find out why I can't write like Margaret Atwood and whether Ben or Matt would make a better Messiah. 

Thanks very much to Dawn for having me over to the site!

No.  I mean, damn her for getting me to talk. 

Again. 

About my new book. 

Wicked Game. 

In stores now.