Tuesday, October 31, 2006

The last dark Halloween

As I mentioned 365 days ago, this is the final year that Daylight Savings Time will end before Halloween. Read last year's post for my grumpy thoughts on that.

Today I began my Halloween celebration by rewriting the final scene of Voice of Crow. It's dark, and triumphant. Darkly triumphant, one might say. A fitting end for the second volume of a trilogy.

Tonight we'll spend the evening with our friends in the suburbs, people who live in a trick-or-treater-friendly neighborhood. We've hung out on Halloween with this couple for nine years in a row. Originally my friend Jason (in his pre-spousal days), who lived in an apartment, would come to our house in the 'burbs to share the joy of giving out candy and emotionally scarring young children for life.

When we were younger and less overworked, we dressed up for the trick-or-treaters. One year Jason wore a Batman costume, which all the kids loved, except one:

A young boy, maybe five or six, arrived alone at our door, dressed as the Joker. When it opened, and he was confronted with his nemesis, the tyke narrowed his eyes and murmured, "Batman..."

Then they fought to the death. I, as Catwoman, looked on with amusement.

Sigh...I miss the old Halloween traditions. This year it's pizza and "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein." We are so old.

So how are you celebrating this wonderful holiday?

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Monday, October 30, 2006

Michael Steele's push poll

Long-time readers must be wondering when I was going to open my big mouth about the election. I was going to stay quiet. Really I was.

Until yesterday, when the nastiness reached through our telephone line and slapped the face of everything decent in this world.

Yesterday (during the Ravens game, no less) the phone rang. My husband picked it up and was confronted with an electronic voice that claimed to be part of an "independent political survey."

First it asked him which Maryland Senate candidate he planned to vote for in next week's election, Representative Ben Cardin (Democrat) or Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele (Republican pretending to be a Democrat).

Then it asked the following questions:
  • Do you want your taxes raised?
  • Do you believe medical experiments should be performed on unborn children?
  • Do you still beat your wife? (OK, not that one)
(Luckily, my husband already knew about the poll and was prepared with a list of answers not repeatable on a family blog. I love that man.)

This, ladies and gents, is known as a push poll--a particularly sneaky and scurrilous form of negative campaigning. It's not designed to take your opinion. It's designed to form your opinion by linking one candidate with clearly abhorrent choices.

The push poll is considered so repulsive, no candidate's campaign will conduct one themselves, but will instead have other organizations do it for them. The most notorious example occurred in the 2000 Republican primary, in which South Carolina voters were asked:
Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for John McCain for president if you knew he had fathered an illegitimate black child?

For the record, McCain and his wife had adopted a child from Bangladesh. Also for the record, a frozen embryo that will be thrown away if not used for stem cell research is not an "unborn child."

But the truth doesn't matter to these people, not as much as winning. Reports are coming in from all over the country that desperate candidates are resorting to this most devious form of mudslinging.

If you receive one of these kinds of calls, hang up, or better yet, vote for the candidate the push poll is attacking.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

The Saints Are Coming video



This is my first posted YouTube video, so I hope it comes out OK.

U2 and Green Day first performed their version of this song at the New Orleans Saints' "homecoming" game at the Louisiana Superdome.

The proceeds from the song (which is a rewrite of a 1978 punk anthem by the Skids*) will go to a charity called Music Rising, which helps replace musical instruments lost in Hurricane Katrina. Since music is the lifeblood of NOLA, what this charity is doing is nothing short of soul retrieval.

The video is brilliant, but I can't help wondering if some dense folks will walk away from it thinking the U.S. Government really did divert troops from Iraq to help Katrina victims. ("Dude, it's true! I saw it on that Green Day video, there were like fighter jets 'n' everything!")

*The lead singer of the Skids, Stuart Adamson, went on to form Big Country in the 80s. "The Storm," off Big Country's debut album The Crossing, still ranks as my #1 Song to Drive Through a Car Wash To.

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Thursday, October 26, 2006

Stock signings

Cruised around the Greater Baltimore area today signing stock, i.e., going into bookstores and signing copies of Eyes of Crow so that they can put little "Signed by the Author" stickers on the covers, which presumably encourage sales.*

All the booksellers were friendly. One told me I was by far the nicest author who had come in to sign stock. He said they'd had three recently who acted like total prima donnas and ordered the staff to gather all their copies so they could sign them. No 'please' or 'thank you' or any sign of respect. He told me one of their names, so if I ever meet her, I'll know she's secretly a Jerkface.

I apologized on behalf of my kind. But really, what kind of nitwit treats booksellers like servants?

Yay to Barnes & Noble--all of them had Eyes of Crow face out on the bookshelves. One of them, the beautiful B&N in Ellicott City, MD, had it on their New in Paperback table at the front of the store:


Best of all, to me, was the Borders in Columbia, MD, where I've spent quite a few paychecks, even though it's located in the sadistically designed Columbia Crossing Shopping Center, where, if it weren't for the aid of a helicopter and laser-guided GPS, I would still be sitting in Christmas 2002 traffic.

Many times I've walked through those doors, looked at the front tables and thought, "maybe, someday I'll get a book out here--no, who am I kidding? " Even after I got the Luna contract, I didn't think it would happen. I thought those spaces were reserved for Big Time Authors, whose publishers paid dearly for that real estate.

Turns out, store managers can decide which books to put out front (within limits--some of those spaces are sold ahead of time). If they think the cover is cool or the concept is attractive, or maybe if they've read the book and liked it, they can put wherever they bloody well please.

So my old favorite bookstore had four copies of my book on the front table. I thanked them profusely for making my dream come true. The manager said they were Borders' #1 seller in the country in the SF/Fantasy and Young Adult categories (my mom suggested it might be because of the proximity to Goddard Space Flight Center and NSA--lots of geeky readers with smart kids).

Then I took my husband to Great Sage Restaurant in Clarksville, where we stuffed ourselves silly with delicious vegetarian food.

So much for being an author. Time to go back to being a writer and finish this book. I might not blog again until Monday. Can you say 'crunch time'? I knew you could.


*Studies showed that "Licked by the Author" labels were less successful.

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Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Halloween Mix Tape

A good compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do. You've got to kick off with a corker, to hold the attention[...]and then you've got to up it a notch, or cool it a notch, and you can't have white music and black music together, unless the white music sounds like black music, and you can't have two tracks by the same artist side by side, unless you've done the whole thing in pairs, and...oh, there are loads of rules.
--Nick Hornby, High Fidelity


I'm dating myself by even using the term, but since our car only has a tape deck, and my husband has had his iPod surgically attached, I still use tapes. Every October I listen to this mix I made back in 2002. It's like having Halloween carols.

Anyway, here it is, recorded in reverse alphabetical order by artist:

"Dragula (Hot Rod Herman Mix)" - Rob Zombie
From the Matrix soundtrack. The day this song doesn't get my blood pumping, just start shoveling the dirt over me.

"Introduction" - Tom Twycker
From the soundtrack to Run Lola Run, a cool German movie about a woman who relives the same twenty minutes three times in an effort to save her boyfriend's life.

"O Death" - Ralph Stanley
From the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack, from the scene where they're about to lynch Tommy Johnson (aka, the Wizard of Oz homage scene).

"Hell" - Squirrel Nut Zippers
Not from a soundtrack!

"Tragic Kingdom" - No Doubt
Back before Gwen Stefani became a bubbleheaded sellout. A song about the darker side of Disneyland.

"Polly" - Nirvana
Off Unplugged in New York. Rob, if you think Nirvana is all noise, you should give this album a listen. Beautiful vocals and guitar playing, and a huge dose of self-effacting humor from Kurt Cobain. Painfully good.

"Heresy" - Nine Inch Nails
Trent is uncharacteristically angry in this song.

"Sharks" - Morphine
Because every mix tape of mine must have a Morphine song. It's the law.

"Skinwalkers" - Robert Mirabal
Taos Pueblo tribe member mixes traditional Native American music with rock 'n' roll.

"Lake of Fire" - Meat Puppets
Yay, cowpunk! Who says Texas has no edge?

"Vampires of New York" - Marcy Playground
Ah, Marcy Playground. Geek Meets Grunge. On their second album, they did a song ("Wave Motion Gun") that used the 1970s Japanese animated TV show Starblazers to illuminate heroin addiction.

"Crawling" - Linkin Park
Widely regarded by me as the weak link (ha! get it?) on this mix tape. I thought they were pretty cool back in '02, but now I'm over them. Still, it's there.

"Monster" - L7
Riot grrrls extraordinaire. In Requiem, I modeled Gianna's punk band, Public Humiliation, after L7.

"Falling Away from Me" - Korn
Though they are the mentors to the mentors of Linkin Park (Limp Bizkit), they're still cool in my book, because they don't take themselves seriously. I had to put this on a Halloween tape because it debuted on the second South Park Halloween episode. The band members played themselves in a brilliant Scooby Doo spoof. When they changed into various forms of corn to "fight" the pirate ghosts (or was it ghost pirates?), I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe.

"Voodoo" - Godsmack
One of the tape's highlights.

"People Are Strange" - The Doors
My favorite part of this song is Ray Manzarek's cute little keyboard interlude. I have this vision of a bunch of eerie old people prancing around wearing zombie-like smiles at a David Lynch-esque firehall dance. There's this one lady in a pale blue print dress with big glasses and her hair in a bun. She's creepy. But happy. And that's all that matters.

SIDE 2 (it's a tape, after all)

"Halloween" - Dave Matthews Band
A lyric from this deliciously evil song gives us the mix tape's title: Shadows on the Window

"Burn" - The Cure
From The Crow soundtrack. As I was listening to this last week, I came up with the perfect ending to Voice of Crow. If you haven't seen the movie (or read the comic) The Crow, it's about a guy who comes back from the dead to wreak vengeance upon the people who killed him and his fiancee. Hearing the song reminded me that Crow, like all the Spirits, isn't always benevolent. Hee-hee.

"Bloodletting" - Concrete Blonde
One of several songs (along with Sting's "Moon Over Bourbon Street") inspired by Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire.

"The Future" - Leonard Cohen
I knew Kurt Cobain and I shared a brain when he wrote in "Pennyroyal Tea": Give me a Leonard Cohen afterworld/so I can sigh eternally. Cohen makes me sigh, heavily. However, this song once made me burst into tears, as I was driving home on Election Day 2000. Because I could see the future, brother. It is murder.

"Creepy Crawling" - Chumbawamba
They were most famous for "Tubthumping" (the I get knocked down, but I get up again song), but the whole album was wonderful. Anarchy you can dance to.

"Dr. Bones" - Cherry Poppin' Daddies
Even more than the aforementioned Squirrel Nut Zippers, the CPDs somehow made swing sound sinister.

"Comfort Eagle" - Cake
We are building a religion/We are making it bigger/We are widening the corridors and adding more lanes/We are building a religion, a limited edition/We are now accepting callers for these pendant keychains.
They don't come any more sardonic than Cake.

"Mouth" - Bush
This is a remix off Deconstructed, but I think it also appeared in the American Werewolf in Paris soundtrack. I say "I think" because like all but 13 or 14 people, I never got closer to watching that movie than seeing the commercial.

"Big Brother/Chant of the Ever-Circling Skeletal Family" - David Bowie
Another good Election Day song.

"Low Red Moon" - Belly
No special comments, just a great song.

"In the Flat Fields" - Bauhaus
Because you can't have a Halloween mix tape without a Bauhaus song. Another law.

"The Pink Room" - Angelo Badalamenti
From the Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me soundtrack, which could be an entire Halloween tape on its own. "Black Dog Runs at Night" gives me the hibbie-gibbies every time.

"Happy Phantom" - Tori Amos
Baby, don't fear the Reaper. It might be fun to be a ghost.

Happy Halloween, everyone. Now go get your creep on.

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Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Today

Runnin' down a dream,
Never would come to me.
Workin' on a mystery,
Goin' wherever it leads.
Runnin' down a dream.
--Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

Well, I've been waiting for this day for nearly two years, and here it is. The official street date of Eyes of Crow, my first "major label" release.

I feel like I should say something eloquent and expansive, find a way to express the hugeness of the occasion and what it means to me. Words should bounce and bound across the screen like meth-addled jackrabbits. I should employ exclamation points and italics and all-caps and possibly even colors like these.

But all I want to say is thanks, especially to those who've been with me for the last 25 months, back when this blog was called Seething in the Wilderness. In a twist of irony, SitW's first post was a fake rejection letter from an editor who found the story of the Republican National Convention too far-fetched for anything but science fiction.

Some of you I've never met in person, and some I've known in the corporeal (though not Biblical) sense for over a decade. I'm grateful that blogging has let us keep up with each other's lives, though we may be separated by state lines, oceans, or even AFC North division rivalries (hey, Jim).

Anyway...you've all been great, and I...I just--I don't know what I would've done without your support to get me through the hard times, those dark nights of the soul....

(snivels drunkenly)
I love you, man! I mean, I reeeeally love you.

(sings off-key, swaying)
I could fly higher than an eagle, 'cuz you are the wind beneath my---

Oh, screw that. Just buy the book.

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Sunday, October 22, 2006

New site design

Check it out, all around you. The latest triumph of Christian Ready Web Services.

We're still making some nips and tucks here and there (well, my husband is, I'm just telling him where to apply the scalpel) but we'd love to hear your feedback. Tell us what works and what doesn't.

So...whaddya think?

P.S.: If you haven't already, try out the Which animal are you? quiz.

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Friday, October 20, 2006

Which Animal are you?

As you probably know by now, the premise of my Luna series, Aspect of Crow, is that everyone has magic according to their totem animal or Guardian Spirit. Sort of X-Men meets Clan of the Cave Bear, I like to say.

So I've designed a personality quiz to let you find out which of twelve Animals from the book you would be. A test version of the quiz is up now.

I'd love for you all to try it out and give me feedback. Do the results fit you? Are there the right number of questions, or too many (or too little)? Any comments or suggestions are most appreciated. You can either post them here or e-mail me at jeri AT jerismithready DOT com.

I'll do some tweaks on Monday night so the final version can launch Tuesday with the rest of the site.

PLEASE NOTE: Many of the links at the top and side of this page don't work yet--this is part of the new design that will be up Tuesday. Only the links to the blog, the home page, and the "Contact" page work, and they take you to the current version of the site.

Have fun, my little beasties!

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Thursday, October 19, 2006

Book signings scheduled

Friday, October 20, 6-8 PM (tomorrow night!)

A Likely Story, Sykesville, MD - Author's Social

Also appearing will be Barry Lyga, author of The Amazing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl, as well as children's author Lois Szymanski.

Saturday, November 18, 12-2PM

Border's Express - Springfield Mall, Springfield, PA

Ah, home sweet home. In all my days of roaming the Springfield Mall, dodging the market researchers and grabbing a slice of Sicilian pizza at Sbarro's, never did I dream I would return to sign books as a real live author.

I hope to have another signing lined up for the Baltimore/Washington area soon. I was contacted about doing one for a literacy event on Saturday, December 9 at the new B&N in Baltimore on 33rd Street near Hopkins, but it's not confirmed yet. I'll be sure to let you know!

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Tuesday, October 17, 2006

EOC arrives fashionably early!

As was reported in the comments to yesterday's post, Eyes of Crow is shipping earlier than expected from Amazon.com. The product page still lists it as "Pre-Order" and says that the publication date is November 1. The product page lies. UPDATE: It's now listed as "In Stock"!

Though Amazon is great, I encourage you to order from Mysterious Galaxy, an independent bookseller that specializes in science fiction and fantasy. They're a fantastic group of people. One of the owners is author Jeff Mariotte. MaryElizabeth Hart listed EOC as one of her staff picks (click and scroll down).

So support the indies if you can, because they support us. If Amazon's gotten their copies, so have all the other bookstores, including the one down the street from you (unless the one down the street from you has a name like 'Repent Ye Sinners').

They might not have it on the shelves until next week (or the week after), but I bet if you ask, they'll be happy to dig one out of the box and take your money for it.

Oh, and pick up Stephen King's new book while you're there. I hear he needs the support.

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Monday, October 16, 2006

Capclave Schedule

If you're in the DC area this coming weekend, stop by the Hilton Washington/Silver Spring for Capclave 2006.

It's a small, intimate science fiction/fantasy con, where you won't get lost in the throngs of fans. Where you won't get lost at all.

Saturday, October 21
11PM - 1PM: Writer's Workshop
Along with fellow authors Allen Wold and J. Jagi Lamplighter, I'll be...well, I'm not allowed to tell you. Show up with a pen and paper, and we'll tell you what to do. It's fun, really. For us.

3 - 3:30 PM: Reading
In which I do my best impression of an audio book. No, you can't rewind me.

9-10PM: Group Discussion--New Novelists
Karl Schroeder, Catherynne Valente, and fellow Luna author Maria V. Snyder will join me for a discussion on what it's like to be a newbie in this business. Come, taste the fear.

Hopefully my book will be on sale in the Dealer's Room, though it technically doesn't come out until next week.

Yes, it's next week already. Tuesday, to be exact--be at your bookstore demanding it in a loud voice. If you've already received a free copy in a contest or because you're a dear friend who gave me helpful feedback, then buy another one to give as a gift. Loudly.

Don't worry, I'll remind you.

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Sunday, October 15, 2006

Panthers 23, Bizarro Ravens 21

  • Our vaunted secondary was full of holes--for once the defense, not the offense, lost this game.
  • Derrick Mason caught no passes.
  • Matt Stover kicked no field goals.
  • Weirdest of all, after replacing an injured Steve McNair, Kyle Boller threw three touchdown passes, displaying little of the incompetence that lost him the starting job this season.
Who are you guys, and what have you done with my Ravens?

Friday, October 13, 2006

T.G.I. Paraskevidekatriaphobia

That's "Fear of Friday the 13th," to those of us who like to keep our words to ten syllables or fewer (which would be everyone outside of Finland).

An Urban Legends article cites a British public health study that compared traffic accidents on two subsequent Fridays, the 6th and the 13th, a study which came to this conclusion (emphasis mine):
Friday 13th is unlucky for some. The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52%. Staying at home is recommended.
Though I have my phobias and superstitions, Friday and 13 are not among them.

Apparently Friday has historically been considered an unlucky day to begin any new venture. Like being born (oops, I messed up there) or getting married (uh-oh, that one, too).

Hope your Friday is full of lucky beginnings. Start with a new six-pack and go from there.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Here to stay, is the new bird

In a Colombian cloud forest accessible only by helicopter, scientists discovered a new bird species, the gorgeous little Yariguies Brush-Finch.

This ex-biology major's first reaction to the bird's photo should have been:
Fascinating. I wonder what its taxonomical classification will be.
Instead, I went:
Awwww, wook at the pwetty widdle birdie!
I should be ashamed of myself.

Anyway, I can think of several universities that need a better mascot, and they should seriously consider the Yariguies Brush-Finch. The team uniforms would look like something out of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Hmm, whaddya think, Virginia Tech? Stanford? Delta State?

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

VOC release date

Found out that Voice of Crow will be released in trade paperback in October 2007 rather than November 2007 as originally planned. Which means readers will only have to wait eleven months instead of a whole year to read the sequel to Eyes of Crow. Yay!

Of course, it also means I have that much less time to work on revisions. So on that note...unplugging the wireless card again!

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Monday, October 09, 2006

Broncos 13, Ravens 3
Well, Miracle McNair met his match with the Denver defense. Three interceptions, including one in the end zone at the end of the first half (what was he thinking? Take the freakin' field goal!). The shanked punt by my favorite rookie Sam Koch didn't help either.

Bummer.

At least the Yankees lost the ALDS to the Tigers, so I've met my sports bliss quota for the week month year.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Voices from the Sandbox

Doonesbury.com has just started a "milblog" (short for "military blog") called The Sandbox.

Today's Doonesbury comic explains that it's become exceedingly dangerous for the press to cover Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. One solution, therefore, is to let the troops report on themselves.

It's a fascinating glimpse into the everyday lives of our men and women in uniform , so check it out. Supporting our troops starts with hearing what they have to say.

UPDATE 10/11: Now that the explanatory strip is on the site, I've included the link to it.

Friday, October 06, 2006

50 Ways to Leave Your Laziness

(Cheating a bit and post-dating my hasty blog entry so I can spending tomorrow partying like it's 1995--i.e., like there's no high-speed Internet access to interrupt my writing.)

SF author Jerry Oltion has a marvelous list of "50 Strategies for Making Yourself Work."

I checked the list several times and couldn't find:
Write really long blog posts when you're three weeks from a deadline.
...so I'll sign off now. Feel free to add your own strategies. I'll be back on Monday with my latest way of tricking myself into working.

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Thursday, October 05, 2006

Let's napoli Napoli

As you may recall, back in March the Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Novels started a Google-bomb campaign against SD state Senator Bill Napoli, the bozo who championed the abortion ban that doesn't even make exceptions for rape, incest, and the health of the mother.

His infamous quote, if you can stomach the memory, was his definition of the kind of rape victim that just maybe might qualify for an abortion (even though, under the very law he championed, she wouldn't):
A real-life description to me would be a rape victim, brutally raped, savaged. The girl was a virgin. She was religious. She planned on saving her virginity until she was married. She was brutalized and raped, sodomized as bad as you can possibly make it, and is impregnated. I mean, that girl could be so messed up, physically and psychologically, that carrying that child could very well threaten her life.
Now this guy is running for reelection, and it's Reckoning Day. An Oglala Lakota woman named Theresa Spry is his opponent, and the Smart Bitches have set up a donation page for her campaign. Read more about their efforts and about Theresa Spry on today's post.

As I mentioned in my comments on their post, I've been bombarded with e-mails and phone calls asking for money for well-deserving candidates. This is the first plea that made me open my wallet.

If anyone deserves to burn to a heap of crunchy ashes in the Great Crematorium of Democracy on November 7, it's Bill Napoli.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

VOC cover news

Found out from Chad Michael Ward of Digital Apocalypse Studios that he just started working on the cover for Voice of Crow. Sweet!!

I’m glad they’re using the same artist as they did for Eyes of Crow, and not just because its cover is brilliant and beautiful. It gives the series a consistent look. You’d be surprised how many publishers try different artists throughout a series, especially if a particular book hasn’t sold well.

And to all you Amie Decker fans, no, I didn’t ask if she would be the model again, though I very much hope she is. I figured Chad’s at a sensitive stage in the artistic process, with just beginning the work, so I didn’t want to bug him with specific questions. It would be like you guys asking me what’s going to happen in Wings of Crow (Book 3), the proposal for which I’ll be starting soon.

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Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Hero of the Week

We talk about natural resources as if everything had a price tag. You can't buy spiritual values at a shopping mall. The things that uplift the spirit—an old-growth forest, a clear river, the flight of a golden eagle, the howl of a wolf, space and quiet without motors—are intangibles. Those are the values that people do look for and that everyone needs.
--George Schaller
This month's National Geographic has an interesting interview with naturalist George Schaller. He was one of the people whose scientific work helped establish the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

In a bizarre twist, one of the other people instrumental in setting aside this chunk of land in 1960 was none other than Ted Stevens. Yes, that Ted Stevens, the Senator whose annual efforts to open ANWR for oil drilling make him #1 on my "Pin List" when I get my voodoo certification (they claim it's in the mail).

What happens to a man over the course of his life to make him go from protecting a natural treasure to trying to destroy it?

Maybe a caribou bit his sister.

Monday, October 02, 2006

Short story goes to a loving home

People often ask me, "Isn't it hard to foster dogs?"

And I say, "Holy Herd of Herefords, yes!"

And then they finish their sentence: "because you get attached and have to let them go?"

Then I try really hard not to laugh, because the hard part is not the letting go. That's the easy part, the rewarding part, as they trot off into their new owners' car, never once looking back at the people who took them out of the pound, sopped up their pee from our carpet, and taught them how to sit, stay, and stop being such a freak.

Handing in my short story, "The Wild's Call," to my publisher today, I finally had that feeling, of being attached to something that left too soon.

Not that it's not finished. I revised that puppy down to the word, refining every moment, a luxury not available to most novel-length projects. The 500-750-word chapter limit meant I had to make every sentence count.

The problem is, I've gotten attached to the characters. Their personal histories are complex, and their world is deeply troubled. The short story has a soundtrack, for cryin' out loud.

I'd love to flesh it all out in 115,000 words instead of 15,000 (14,261, to be exact). Maybe someday I will. Until then, I'll wave goodbye and hope the editors and readers love it and feed it and brush it every day.

Okay, that's where the metaphor breaks down.

UPDATE 10/11: Editor loved it, no revisions suggested. Score!

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Sunday, October 01, 2006

Ravens 16, Chargers 13
With the second last-minute, come-from-behind scoring drive in two weeks, Steve McNair pulled the Ravens to their first 4-0 record ever. It's the first time they've won 4 games in a row since...

don't say it...

the 2000 Super Bowl season.

{slaps self}

Now with New England eviscerating Cincinnati 38-13 (Go Pats!), the Ravens sit alone at the top of the AFC North and finally win some respect for beating a good team.

The endgame heroics are exhilirating, but my blood pressure is ready for a walk in the park for the next game. Somehow, though, I don't think the Denver Broncos will accommodate my wishes.

Latest Release

The Reawakened

“Myth blends with passion in the colorful conclusion to Smith-Ready's Aspect of Crow trilogy” — Publisher's Weekly

The Reawakened — Available now!

Order at Mysterious Galaxy, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon

Previous Release

Wicked Game

“A colorful premise and engaging characters” — Library Journal

Wicked Game is now available!

Order at Mysterious Galaxy, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon

About the author

Jeri Smith-Ready

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

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