Sunday, April 05, 2009

Shane's story: "Last Request"

I’ve posted the fourth story in my “Days the Music Died”/how-the-DJs-became-vampires series. Shane’s, not surprisingly, is the longest and most complex story of all. If you’ve read Wicked Game, you know who turns him. Here’s how they met. As always, it includes a short playlist of the music that appears in the story. Listen to it before, during, or after, and enjoy!

By no small coincidence, today is the fourteenth anniversary of his big change. You can follow Shane on Twitter, or visit his page at WVMPradio.com, where you can listen to his new-and-improved playlist, a sample of the sort of music he plays on his show.

BONUS GIVEAWAY: Everyone who leaves a comment on Shane’s story (either here or by e-mailing me), will be put into a drawing to win a very special prize, one that can’t be bought in stores, not even on eBay:

I’ll send the winner the marked-up, scribbled-on manuscript of the story’s first draft. You can see where I messed up, how I (hopefully) fixed it, and even a few arguments with myself over word choice, characterization, and plot.

NOTE: this will be a Xeroxed copy, because the original manuscript came down with a severe case of raspberry jelly. I have no idea how that happened.

The drawing will take place at 11:59pm Eastern Daylight Time on April 12.

Regina’s and Noah’s stories will appear later, but I have to work around my ever-tightening book deadlines, so hang in there!

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Monday, March 30, 2009

Pet story ARC winner and newsletter alert

Congrats to Hockeyvampiress (love that name), whose name I drew last night to win an ARC of Bad to the Bone! Thanks so much to everyone who shared their pet stories and photos and memories with us. They made me smile and go, "Awwww" a heckuva lot. I'll be sure to reply to you individually once these next two madcap days are over (see below for a hint of the madcappiness).

Also, a quick heads-up: I'll be sending out my newsletter either late tonight or tomorrow morning, so if you haven't signed up, here are a few reasons why you should:

1. You'll be the first to get a glimpse of Shane's short story. Most of the world won't see it until April 5.
2. Before each issue goes out, I draw two names at random to win a prize. Not surprisingly, this issue's prize is an ARC of Bad to the Bone.
3. All the cool people are doing it. You wanna be cool, right?
4. It only comes out four times a year.
5. It's totally text-based (i.e., no HTML) to minimize inbox clutter and download time.
6. It's entertaining. At least, I guess it is, because only two or three people (out of 1000+) unsubscribe after each issue. So I must be doing something right (or at least not doing anything very wrong).

Signup boxes are located on every page of my website. Come...join us....

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Monday, January 05, 2009

Happy New Year!

Welcome back, all you lazy sods relaxed folk who took off the entire holiday season. Here's what you've almost missed:

My latest Aspect of Crow tie-in short story is now live in its entirety! All eight weekly chapters are posted on my publisher's site, so grab a cup of cocoa and read all of "Storm Reaper" at once.

- The first in a series of booze-soaked mutual interviews between Dante Baptiste and Ciara Griffin, along with a chance to win a signed copy of Adrian Phoenix's fabulous new release, In the Blood (and possibly an Amazon gift certificate, too!) You can read my review and find out more about the subsequent giveaways in the previous post.

- On Friday, Justin Gustainis gave us an entertaining look at The Future of Urban Fantasy. Comment on his post and enter to win his newest Quincey Morris Supernatural Investigations release, Evil Ways.

Now, for my 2009 goals. They're pretty much a knockoff of my 2008 goals, which I reviewed last week. The only difference is they're a little bit more attainable.

1. Write and rewrite Book One in YA series.
1a. If YA Book One sells, write first draft of Book Two (maybe as NaNoWriMo project)
2. If publisher buys more vampire books, write and rewrite Book Three.
3. Write at least 10K words of vampire Book Four (contingent on #2).
3a. If publisher doesn't buy more vampire books, write proposal for new series.
4. Write three more tie-in stories for Wicked Game (Noah, Regina, Shane)
5. Write 1000 words/week on new adult urban fantasy novel/series (unless #3a comes to pass, in which case, faster!)
6. Brainstorm with potential collaborator (you know who you are) about that paranormal romantic comedy
7. Blog at least once every other week on WVMPradio.com (or replace the blog with something better, like...I don't know. Suggestions, anyone?)
8. Have Ciara and Shane blog at least once every other week on their MySpaces
9. Start Twitter account for Ciara
10. Start Facebook fan page and Ning social networking site (only if I can get someone else--maybe a couple of Street Team members?--to maintain them)
11. Attend 5 conferences/conventions/book festivals and 5 non-conference appearances (signings, talks)
12. Sign stock at 25 bookstores
13. Do 20 online interviews/guest blogs
14. Read 50 books
15. Watch 50 movies
16. Foster 2 cats (not at the same time)

Overall, more writing and less not-writing, which makes everyone happier. And of course, much of 7-10 depends on #2 coming to pass. Hopefully I'll know about that in the next couple of months, and I'll shout it from the virtual rooftops if it happens.

What are your goals for this year? Are they like mine, simply tweaks and updates from last year, or are you doing a major overhaul of priorities? How do you measure your progress? Do you see goals as a chance to stretch yourself, or as a way to set yourself up for failure? Or both?

Have a great 2009! I'll see you back here next year! (Just kidding. I think I'll be back tomorrow with another guest, but I have to check with them.)

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Now playing: The Newlydeads - Cities In Dust
via FoxyTunes

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Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Jim's story is live!

I’ve posted the third story in my “Days the Music Died”/how-the-DJs-became-vampires series (thanks to Renee S. for the series title suggestion!).

At the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, Jim tunes in and turns on to a group of hippies who promise him the experience of a lifetime. The last experience, as it turns out.

Here’s the opening line:

The sixties are dying, and now, so am I.

Read the rest!

This story’s page features an Isle of Wight set list playlist, as well as a video of The Doors performing “When the Music’s Over,” the song they sang while Jim, uh, broke on through to the other side.

BONUS GIVEAWAY: Everyone who e-mails me at jeri AT jerismithready DOT com (or comments on this post) with their thoughts on Jim’s story will be put into a drawing to win a choice of ONE of the following:

1) a DVD of MESSAGE TO LOVE: THE ISLE OF WIGHT FESTIVAL, featuring performances by The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, and Joni Mitchell
2) a CD of The Who’s Isle of Wight concert
3) a CD of Jimi Hendrix’s Isle of Wight act, which sadly was his final appearance before his death

The drawing will take place at 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, December 2.

If you subscribed to my newsletter, you could've read it a week ago. I'm just sayin'. The signup box is on every page of my website.

Read the first in the short story series: “Crossroads” (Monroe’s tale).

And the second, “Rave On” (Spencer’s story).

I probably won't be blogging again until after the holiday weekend. I plan to spend the week catching up on e-mail, cooking scrumptious food, and nursing my convalescent post-surgical pupster.

For frequent updates, this week and always, come follow me on Twitter. You're more likely to see the real, spontaneous me there any day. If you need extra incentive, in February I'll be doing a Twitter-exclusive contest to win an ARC of Bad to the Bone. It's fun, it's quick, it's thoroughly non-annoying: it's Twitter!

(By the way, you don't have to be a Twitter user to follow me--my status updates have an RSS feed. But the contest will be for Twitter users only.)

Don't forget, I'll be signing books and doing a reading from The Reawakened at the Winchester, VA, Borders bookstore this Saturday, 3-5pm. Hope to see you there!


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Now playing: Snow Patrol - You Could Be Happy
via FoxyTunes

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Monday, November 17, 2008

New Aspect of Crow short story is live!

Chapter One of my new Aspect of Crow tie-in story is now up on my publisher's website!

"Storm Reaper" takes place about two years before The Reawakened, but since it's set in a completely different area with different characters, you can read it either before or after that book.

Fans of Voice of Crow will remember Kiril, Filip's comrade from the Ilion cavalry. He's one of the protagonists of this story, along with a disgraced noblewoman named Helena. Filip and Alanka make an appearance in the story as well.

I was thrilled to be able to visit this world one last time. As I might have mentioned, several characters and plots were cut from The Reawakened as I was working on it. The biggest deletion dealt with how the war and revolution were affecting Filip and Kiril's native country of Ilios.

A new chapter will appear every Monday between now and January 19. Enjoy!

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Thursday, November 13, 2008

Ending a series, and newsletter reminder

I'm the Affiliate of the Month over at my favorite bookstore, Mysterious Galaxy, which means I wrote a guest blog post connected to my new release, The Reawakened. "When 'The End' means THE END" discusses what it feels like to end a series on purpose (hint: there are smiles involved) and when an author knows it's time to say goodbye.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on when a series should end. If you don't have a MySpace account, feel free to discuss it here. I've copied the questions from that blog post here:

Is the "stand-alone trilogy" a thing of the past? Are you more likely to start reading a series if you know when it will end? Do you have different expectations for open-ended series versus those with a defined story arc? Does it depend on the genre or subgenre?

---

Monday I'll be sending out the Fall issue of my quarterly newsletter. As always, I'll draw two names to win a prize just before it goes out and announce it in the issue. This issue's prize will be an autographed copy of The Reawakened.

And that's not all! Newsletter subscribers will get a link to my new short story, "When the Music's Over," which depicts the weird and wild way Jim from Wicked Game became a vampire. I swear, I was not on drugs when I wrote it, except Aleve and Tylenol. The rest of the world will have to wait an extra week to read the story.

If you haven't read the previous tie-in short stories, here they are: "Crossroads" (Monroe) and "Rave On" (Spencer).

To subscribe, just put your e-mail address in the SIGN UP FOR JERI'S NEWSLETTER box on the sidebar over there. I'm getting really close to 1,000 subscribers, and I think there might be a special prize for #1,000. Good luck!

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Now playing: You on the Run - The Black Angels
via FoxyTunes

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Wednesday, October 08, 2008

A whole lotta lotta going on (and cards to show you sort of care)

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.

And now...back to our regularly scheduled Voter Registration Nag-athon. Below is the list of states in which you can still register to vote. You'll notice that none of them are blinking; that's because no states have a deadline of tomorrow, October 9. You'll also notice that I took Virgin Islands off the list. They sort of never should've been there in the first place. They don't get to help pick a President, but they do get to live in the Virgin Islands, so it all balances out.

As always, visit VotersUnite! for rules and regs pertaining to your neck of the electoral woods.

Alabama
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Idaho
Iowa
Kansas
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Oklahoma
Oregon
South Dakota
Vermont
West Virginia
Wisconsin


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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Sunday, October 05, 2008

The Great 2008 Cave-In Part Two (and freedom to Devo!)

I'm getting to that pre-deadline place (story due tomorrow, novel rewrite due three weeks later) where I'm generally cranky about dealing with the internet at all, so forgive my lack of interesting/important news. I'm sure there's something really cool I forgot to tell you about.

Here are the best Urban Dictionary Words of the Day from last week:

September 29: Blackberry Jam

A people traffic jam that occurrs in subway tunnels and bus stations. Caused by inconsiderate workaholics walking too slow while their noses are glued to their Blackberry device.

I was late for work because there was a Blackberry Jam getting out of the A train.

October 04: manicorn

a mythical male creature who is successful (read: pursuing his passion and can pay his electric bills/rent), funny, chivalrous, masculine (read: not chauvinistic), adventurous, artistic (read: not suicidal).

See any John Cusack film (or Chuck Klosterman's witty commentary on Fake Love in Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Pops), any romantic comedy where the flawed guy comes through in the end...

"Where is my manicorn? I keep going out with all these losers!"

"Too bad I settled when I got married, I just met my manicorn."



And now your list of states whose voter registration rolls are still open. The blinking ones will close either Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday (i.e., before my next blog post--guest blogger coming tomorrow, then deadline Tuesday). Most of them end on Monday! As always, check with VotersUnite! to see the specific rules and regs for your state. Don't get Left Behind!



Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii

Idaho
Illinois
Indiana

Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Montana

Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas

Vermont
Virginia
Virgin Islands
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming



Wow, that is nauseatingly blink-tastic. Let that be a lesson to you, or something.

And now, for a video suggested by fellow author Yasmine Galenorn, Devo's "Freedom of Choice."





Now I know what my next nightmare will look like.

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Monday, September 15, 2008

New Aspect of Crow story sold!

Starting November 17, one of my publishers will be posting eight weekly installments of "Storm Reaper" (tentative title), a short story in the same universe as my Aspect of Crow fantasy trilogy. It takes place a couple of years before The Reawakened and features several characters from Voice of Crow (Alanka, Kiril, Filip) who mostly didn't make it into The Reawakened, due to my publisher not wanting the novel to be 1,000 pages long (go figure!).

Naturally, I'll remind you when it starts. The story will be completely free to readers online. Basically, it'll be just like "The Wild's Call", except the installments will be longer and only once a week. Oh, and with a completely different story.

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Now playing: Hole - Asking For It
via FoxyTunes

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Friday, September 12, 2008

THE REAWAKENED contest winners

Thanks to everyone who e-mailed me guessing the identity of the Raven child, a mystery proposed in Voice of Crow, the answer to which will be revealed in The Reawakened (coming November 1).

The prize was an Advanced Readers Copy of the new novel, and the winner was...Janice Y.! I'll have another ARC contest next week, so stay tuned.

Also, thanks for all your comments on the amazing cover for The Reawakened. I drew three names from the commenters to win cover flats:

TT (Lena)
Nozomi429
MEME

Yay!

Patricia is getting ready to draw a name from her Wicked Game giveaway, so that just leaves the Spencer story contest open...for now. Check back next week, like I said, for another chance to win a Reawakened ARC.

Have a great weekend, and if you're in southeast Texas, don't be stupid--do what the authorities tell you to do. If you're in Galveston, get the hell out. This may be the first and last time I ever quote Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff (emphasis mine):

Chertoff also urged people not to succumb to "hurricane fatigue," referring to concerns that authorities were overestimating Ike's potential impact.

"Unless you're fatigued with living, I suggest you want to take seriously a storm of this size and scale," he said Thursday.

Stay safe, people.

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Now playing: ... But Home in Nowhere - A.F.I.
via FoxyTunes

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Thursday, September 11, 2008

Spencer's story, "Rave On," is now live!

As promised, I’ve posted the second story in the how-the-Wicked-Game-DJs-became-vampires series. So now, for your absolutely free reading pleasure, I present "Rave On".

On the Day the Music Died (February 3, 1959), Spencer literally meets his maker. For the first time, we get to see what happens to a brand-new vampire as he deals with the transformation into an immortal being. It doesn't involve Valentines and teddy bears, that's for sure.

It's more of a typical story-story than Monroe's "Crossroads," which was largely a mood piece. "Rave On" features fight scenes, cheatin' hearts, and a cameo by one of the other WVMP DJs. I hope y'all like it.

There’s a playlist at the bottom of each page for you to listen to, featuring tunes that inspired the story and/or appeared in it.

BONUS GIVEAWAY: Everyone who e-mails me at jeri@jerismithready.com (or just comments on this post) with a comment on Spencer’s story will be put into a drawing to win a Sun Records 50th Anniversary multi-CD collection, featuring artists like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash in their primes. Great stuff! The drawing will take place at 11:59pm Eastern on Wednesday, September 17.

If you subscribed to my newsletter, you could've read the story a week ago. I'm just sayin'.

Jim's story, tentatively titled, "When the Music's Over," will be posted in late October/early November, depending on my other deadlines. His will probably be a little weird. Maybe more than a little.

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Now playing: Wolves, Lower - R.E.M.
via FoxyTunes

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Wednesday, September 03, 2008

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:

Who is the Raven?

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!)

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Friday, August 22, 2008

Newsletter alert

It's coming!! I'll be sending out the summer issue of my quarterly newsletter the week of August 31. If you haven't signed up, you should, and here's why:

1) It'll include a link to the new vampire DJ short story, depicting the night Spencer went undead. Newsletter subscribers will get to see it a week before the rest of the world.

2) It'll offer a contest to win an ARC of the concluding volume of my Aspect of Crow trilogy, The Reawakened.

3) As always, two subscribers will be drawn at random the day the newsletter goes out. They'll each win a signed copy of one of my books (winner's choice).

4) The newsletter will be concise, entertaining, and totally text-based. At the risk of bragging, after each issue goes out, an average of two people unsubscribe. TWO, out of many hundreds. So I must be doing something right.

You can sign up in the box over there on the sidebar. It's easy, and if you're already on the list, a little message will tell you. So when in doubt, subscribe!

I've got a full weekend of work planned, but it's all fun stuff, and the weather is gorgeous.

What about you? Any exciting plans? Movies? Beaches? Hurricanes?

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Now playing: Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars
via FoxyTunes

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Monday, June 30, 2008

Monroe's story is live!

In the nick of time (it's still June, barely), I've posted the short story "Crossroads" by Monroe Jefferson.

This is the "true" tale of how vampire DJ Monroe was turned, back in July 1940, at a Mississippi crossroads. It's slightly different than the story he told in Wicked Game. That version was just to impress the crowd at the Smoking Pig, but this here is the real deal.

It even has a playlist at the bottom if you want to listen to the music while you read. (Personally I think it has more impact if heard afterward, but hey, it's a free country).

To celebrate, I'll give away a brand-new copy of the first CD that turned me on to the blues, Alvin Youngblood Hart's Big Mama's Door. To enter, just send me an e-mail telling me what you think of the story, or post a comment here. I'll draw one name at random a week from now, at 11:59pm eastern time, Monday, July 7.

But wait, there's more! Beginning with Spencer's story in August, my newsletter subscribers will get to read the stories a week before the rest of the world. So subscribe now (or stay subscribed) and get in on all the vampire action early.

Enjoy!

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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!

“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.

Mass market paperback version coming February 22.

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.

Learn more about Jeri...

Photo © 2006 Szemere Photography

Sign up for Jeri's newsletter


    • First draft of WVMP Book 4
    • "The Bones of You" by Elbow