Jeri Smith-Ready

New free (and enhanced!) Aspect of Crow e-books

In November 2006, I wrote a twenty-part serial short story for my publisher's Daily Reads feature. That story, "The Wild's Call," is a distant prequel to the Aspect of Crow trilogy.

And it's now available for Kindle, absolutely free! Which means they gave it some bitchin' cover art. I'm pretty sure this is the first urban fantasy to feature a fox on its cover.

If you're like me and you don't have a Kindle, you can still read it online.

Also new for the Kindle this week is an "enhanced" version of the final Aspect of Crow novel, The Reawakened. It features several deleted scenes, with accompanying director's author commentary. It sells for the same price as the regular version.

Warning: deleted scenes contain major spoilers, so read the novel first.

All Aspect of Crow novels are available in e-book, in the three major non-Kindle formats. You can find them at Mysterious Galaxy, or pretty much any other place e-books are sold. Same goes for Requiem for the Devil (<<direct Kindle link there). Sorry, my WVMP Radio books (Wicked Game and the upcoming sequel Bad to the Bone) are only available in good old-fashioned paperback at this point.

Happy Kindling!

Labels: bookstores, The Reawakened, The Wild's Call

• posted by Jeri @ 11:12 AM
• 1 comments

Win an ARC of THE REAWAKENED!

Here's the first of two chances to win an Advance Review Copy of The Reawakened. Here's a new image--now with bonus back cover!




(Click image to embigulate.)

As I mentioned in my post last week (where the cover flat giveaway is going on for one more day), The Reawakened is the final installment in my award-winning Aspect of Crow trilogy.

For those who've just joined me since Wicked Game, a little more about this trilogy:

Aspect of Crow takes place in a world where everyone has magic bestowed by their Guardian Spirit Animal (what some might call a "totem" or "power animal"). Sort of X-Men meets Clan of the Cave Bear.

It began in November 2006 with Eyes of Crow and continued last October with Voice of Crow. More information, including excerpts of all three books, can be found on my website by following those links.

The main character, Rhia, has the Aspect of Crow, which in her first phase gives her visions of people's deaths; and in her second phase, gives her the power to speak to the dead.

Charles de Lint called Eyes of Crow "a delightful coming-of-age novel" in his review in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, which pretty much made my life. That novel also won the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award for Best Fantasy Novel, and was nominated for two Rita Awards.

In addition to the three books, there's an urban fantasy prequel story online, "The Wild's Call." It takes place roughly mid-21st century, thousands of years before Eyes of Crow, and depicts the first Reawakening. It's completely free, so check it out!

Now for the ARC. I’d like to see them go to current fans of the series, the ones who are really salivating for it, so to enter, please e-mail me with your best-guess answer to the following question:


Everyone who sends me a character name will be entered in a random drawing to take place at 11:59pm Eastern Daylight Time on September 10, 2008. All entries will be eligible for the drawing, not just the correct ones.

BONUS entry opportunity! To double your chances to win, tell me WHY you think this person is the Raven.

(Note: I'm disabling comments so that people e-mail me directly with their guesses instead of dropping hints in public. Spoiler-free blogging ahoy!)

Labels: Contests, Eyes of Crow, short stories, The Reawakened, The Wild's Call, Voice of Crow

• posted by Jeri @ 8:21 AM

Readers' Choice Awards

I had the honor and thrill of being nominated for three Readers' Choice Awards on the eHarlequin site. Nominations came from the community of readers who participate (and occasionally party) on the message boards. The awards ceremony took place online last night, and though I didn't win, I looked stunning in my Versace gown and matching bedroom slippers.

Eyes of Crow was nominated for Favorite Cover Art, yours truly was nommed for Favorite New Author, and "The Wild's Call" made the list for Favorite Online Read.

By the way, if you haven't read "The Wild's Call" yet, it might not be up forever. They can only fit so many stories on their server (or something like that), so they'll be rotating the stories in the future. I'll try to keep track of it and update the links accordingly.

A-Z Update: "Born Slippy (Nuxx)" by Underworld

Labels: Eyes of Crow, The Wild's Call

• posted by Jeri @ 7:20 PM
• 1 comments

Contest for "The Wild's Call"

My online serial short story, "The Wild's Call," is almost over. If you haven't read it yet, what are you waiting for? Free words!

There's a contest associated with it that I probably should have mentioned here sooner. It's a contest of skill, not chance, so you have to read the story and...

Name Darien's boat.

There are no limit to the number of entries per person. E-mail your suggestions to jeri AT jerismithready DOT com or use the contact form. The deadline is 11:59 PM EST, Thursday, December 7 (that's tomorrow!). I'll pick my favorite and announce it on Friday, December 8, when the last chapter posts.

The prize is a black onyx bear pocket totem. It comes with a velvet carrying bag and a card explaining the meaning of the stone and the animal.

After the story is over, it'll be archived somewhere on my publisher's site. I'll update all the links so you can still read it if you haven't yet.

Have fun!

Labels: The Wild's Call

• posted by Jeri @ 11:24 AM
• 3 comments

The wild is calling

My serial short story, "The Wild's Call," has begun! Read Chapter One.

Enjoy!

Labels: The Wild's Call

• posted by Jeri @ 7:51 AM
• 3 comments

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!

Labels: The Wild's Call

• posted by Jeri @ 11:01 AM
• 2 comments