Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Saturday's booksigning, and a great cause

A couple of quick notes before I dive into my main project for the day, catching up on all my e-mail, MySpace, Facebook, etc. correspondences before they saturate my alveoli. (That's not as dirty as it sounds.)

This Saturday I'll be signing all my books (including the new one, The Reawakened) at the Waldenbooks in Cumberland, MD, along with several other local fantasy/science fiction/horror authors. If you're in the area, please come out and say hi. Do your part to keep the economy from imploding.

Fellow fantasy author Patrick Rothfuss is raising money for a wonderful charity, Heifer International, an organization that really makes a difference in the lives of ordinary people by providing them with livestock with which they can continue to earn a living. (Obviously, it's animals like goats and chickens and sheep, which can produce without being slaughtered.) He's matching every donated dollar, and the thermometer thingy on his donation page is getting redder and redder.

Patrick has a similar philosophy toward charitable giving as I do:

There are a lot of worthwhile charities out there. Important causes. Things I feel strongly about. But Heifer is my favorite. Here's why.

Let's say by some miracle I raised ten thousand dollars to help fight cancer, or Parkinson's, or Alzheimer's. While it would help the cause, it would just be a tiny drop in the bucket. Enough to help fund some lab's research for a couple weeks.

But we don't need to research a cure for hunger or poverty. We know how that works. Heifer doesn't just hand out bags of rice, Heifer gives a family a goat and teaches them how to take care of it. Then that family has a continual source of milk for their children. They can sell the extra milk to make money. When the goat has babies, they give those babies to other members of their community, sharing the gift.

Heifer helps people become self-reliant.

As part of his fundraiser, he's giving away fabulous prizes, which will eventually include an autographed Advance Reading Copy of The Reawakened. (I've been saving a couple just for this purpose.) Stay tuned to find out more. The giveaways run through December 11, I believe.

Questions? Click here to read all of Patrick's Heifer International-related posts. Then go forth and give goats.

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Next Release

Shade

Jeri's teen debut — May 4, 2010, from Simon Pulse, for ages 14 and up

First in a worldwide generation of ghost-seers, Aura's relationship with the dead changes when her boyfriend dies and comes back to haunt her.

More about SHADE

Pre-order at Mysterious Galaxy, Amazon.com, or Barnes & Noble.

Latest Release

Bad to the Bone

Bad to the Bone (sequel to Wicked Game) — now available in mass market paperback!

“Smith-Ready pours plenty of fun into her charming, fang-in-cheek urban fantasy” — Publisher's Weekly, starred review

Order at Mysterious Galaxy, Amazon.com, or Barnes and Noble.

Book 3, BRING ON THE NIGHT, will be released August 2010, and Book 4 will follow in August 2011.

Sorta new!

Wicked Game

“A colorful premise and engaging characters” — Library Journal

Wicked Game is now available in mass market paperback

Order at Mysterious Galaxy, Amazon.com, or Barnes and Noble.

About the author

Jeri Smith-Ready

Jeri Smith-Ready is a Maryland author of adult and teen urban fantasy.

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Photo © 2006 Szemere Photography

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