At long last a LiveJournal by Jeri Smith-Ready

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
via FoxyTunes

Another of my fellow SFNovelists, Diana Pharaoh Francis, is having a big release this week. I've heard phenomenal things about her work, so take a gander at her newest. I can't wait to delve into this series as soon as the deadline trolls release their death grip from my throat.

*ducks back into cave*

( Clicking: it's what's for dinner. )

11) How do people find out more about you and your novels?

First, thanks everyone for hanging out with me. I appreciate it. To buy the books, head over here to Mysterious Galaxy, Barnes and Noble , or Amazon. For more about me, a taste of the books, or random useful information, go to my website. Here’s a link for my blog, Mad Libs.

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A few years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Mindy Klasky at Capclave. Now I'm proud to count her as a friend, but I'm not here to talk about her warmth, her disarming sense of humor, or her inexplicable faith in humankind.

About a year ago I read SORCERY AND THE SINGLE GIRL, the second in Mindy's Jane Madison series, without having read Book One, A GIRL'S GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT. This is not something I would normally do or even recommend (books are in a certain order for a reason, after all), but I was getting ready to write Bad to the Bone and was studying second books in series to see how other authors pulled it off.

Not only did I enjoy Sorcery immensely ("fun and charming" says my book journal), but I absorbed the characters and situation instantly. It was a masterpiece of seamlessly introduced backstory. This is a particularly tough challenge when writing in first person narrative. There's always the "Why would she be thinking this fact right now?" issue, and in most books I just accept the seemingly inevitable awkwardness.

I actually marked up my copy with a pen, bracketing every place where Jane introduced another tidbit of her past, so that I could go back and study how it was done, because the overall effect was, "I really want to read Girl's Guide, but not until after I finish this book." I was so thrilled to find a Book Two that truly stood alone while at the same time felt like it was part of a larger narrative tapestry.

Anyway, the conclusion of the Jane Madison series, Magic and the Modern Girl, comes out today, and I can't wait to see if (please please please) Jane ends up with David.

Here's Mindy to tell you more about the book, the series, her exciting new project, and her plan to raise charity dollars by making us all fat:

( Clicking tastes great, appears to be less filling )

Thanks for taking the time to ask these questions! I hope that people will stop by my website and/or email me any questions at mindy@mindyklasky.com.


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Now playing: Sad To Be Alone - Sonny Boy Williamson
via FoxyTunes

Today I'm undertaking a special project with some of my fellow SF Novelists authors. The Plot Synopsis Project was started by Compton Crook Award nominee Joshua Palmatier (author of The Skewed Throne, The Cracked Throne, and The Vacant Throne, the Throne of Amenkor fantasy series).

Joshua explains it here:

Essentially, I gathered together a group of authors who were willing to post an entry about their own plot synopsis writing technique as well as a sample copy of one of their own plot synopses OR post an entry about how they got published without using a plot synopsis, to show everyone how different people write their synopses, and that it isn’t necessarily required to get published.

So today I'm honored to take part in...Plot Synopsis Project II. Because in science fiction and fantasy, we loves us a good sequel!

At the bottom of this entry I've included links to the other PSP2 participants, whose synopses are undoubtedly better than mine, or at least shorter. But not self-deprecating-er, I bet.

I'll present the synopsis with which I sold the Aspect of Crow trilogy to Luna Books in February 2005. I sold the trilogy on proposal, which means I didn't write the entire book before selling it, but only three chapters and this eighteen-double-spaced-page synopsis.

It's fascinating (and rather hilarious) to see how much the eventual book changed from the original synopsis. With Book One, Eyes of Crow, the changes were relatively minor [and are presented in italics and brackets with self-directed snark].

With Book Two, Voice of Crow, almost the entire story changed from my original conception, because I came to my senses and decided, what the hell, let's NOT kill off the hero of Book One.

And the synopsis of Book Three (what eventually became The Reawakened, which comes out November 1) bears no resemblance whatsoever to the final version, other than the Descendant occupation and ultimate good-conquers-evil ending.

NOTE: It should go without saying that these synopses contain THE ENTIRE PLOT OF THE FIRST BOOK, which means HEY, SPOILER ALERT. I hope that even after reading it, you'll still want to read Eyes of Crow and its two sequels. (I swear, the books are better written than the synopses. Check out these excerpts if you don't believe me. Oh, and this one, too.)

***To raise those hopes, I'll give away one signed copy each of both Eyes of Crow and Voice of Crow to one commenter. I'll draw a name at random from my three blogs next Thursday at 11:59pm eastern time.***

Here we go--the synopsis as submitted to Luna Books in 2004. For those short on time, just read the stuff in italics.

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( Unlock the guaranteed key to publication! Make Money! Money! Money! )

And here are my fellow PSP2ers:

Alma Alexander (Will post on the 20th instead.)

Sam Butler

Diana Pharaoh Francis

Daryl Gregory

Simon Haynes

Jay Lake’s comments and his synopses

Kelly McCullough

Joshua Palmatier

Jennifer Stevenson

Edward Willett

Here's a series I've been wanting to get my hands on for a long time. I've never met Kat but I've heard from reliable sources that she's really sweet and gives great panel.

Quick reminder: I'll be at the Author Extravaganza in beautiful Cumberland, MD, tomorrow from 11-3 at the Country Club Mall. Click here for directions. Hope to see you there!


Kat Richardson is the author of the Greywalker paranormal detective series. UNDERGROUND, the third book in the series, will be out August 5--it's her first hardbound book and she's very excited about it. You can learn more about Kat and her books by visiting her website or blogs (katrich.wordpress.com or katatomic.livejournal.com).

( Clicking fights cavities! )

This week I'm featuring interviews with two authors from my SFNovelists group. The first is Gregory Frost, fantasy author extraordinaire. I loved his take on the Bluebeard legend, FITCHER'S BRIDE. It was fascinating and absolutely riveting, and I would tell you more if I could a) remember specifics about books years after I read them and b) write a coherent book review. Regardless, Frost is definitely an author to keep your eye on, even if he never writes a frickin' vampire story.

( Read more. )