Jeri Smith-Ready

Last week's charity & Twitter ARC winners

Congrats to the winners of last week's giveaways. Sarah Kuhn from Twitter gave me the best name for my laptop. So introducing...


Grr, Fang says. Grr.

Fang is a Hewlett Packard Mini notebook, I guess what some people would call a "netbook." I love him. He's a tiny computer, but unlike most netbooks, the keyboard is 92% full-size, so I don't feel like Goliath typing on the thing. I still plan to use Tardy (my old laptop) for most writing, at least while at home.

The winner of the suggest-a-charity contest (in which I choose a charity to receive 10% of author royalties from Bad to the Bone) is Cory, who came up with what had to be the perfect animal rescue organization for this book: Rescue Ink, a group of tough guys in New York City who stop animal abuse by any means necessary. No, just kidding, their methods are totally legal.

Here's a New York Times article about them, and here are a few of their programs, including puppy mill awareness programs, outreach to elderly and children, animal housing construction, and dog-fighting prevention. You can see a ton of pictures on their MySpace page.

I mean, who would dare mess with these guys? Most people who abuse animals and children are freaking cowards, or they'd be picking on people who could fight back.

I had many wonderful suggestions for charities, which I'll list below, but Rescue Ink seemed particularly perfect for Bad to the Bone, for several reasons:

• Dexter the Vampire Dog might once have been a victim of abuse, possibly being used as bait for a pit-bull ring.
• Some of these guys remind me of Ciara's landlord Dean.
• Tattoos are a recurring motif in the book. One of them even provides a clue as to the bad guy's motive.
• The Rescue Ink guys combine compassion with major badassedness, kinda like most of my vampires.

It broke my heart not to pick some of the other suggestions, but I'll list them here to give them a wee bit of exposure:

• RSPCA Victoria, who is helping the thousands of homeless animals displaced and injured by the Australian bush fires.
• Canine Companions for Independence, an organization that raises animals to assist people with disabilities.
• Petfinder.com, a fantastic online resource helping adopters find new furry friends to share their lives. They also have a foundation that right now is helping animals affected by the floods in the Midwest.
• Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary in my favorite state to visit, New Mexico. They provide a home for wolves and wolf-dogs and also provide much-need public outreach and eduction.
• Rhode Island Veterinary Medical Association Companion Animal Foundation - They provide assistance to low-income families so they can keep their pets healthy, and keep them with them, period. Very important in these times of economic hardship.
• Hill County Paw Pals is trying to build a shelter in a rural part of Texas.
• Support Our Shelters (S.O.S.) - helps support ferret shelters in need around the world.
• United Animal Nations Emergency Animal Rescue Service (EARS) - UAN shelters and cares for animals displaced by natural disasters and other crises, such as criminal seizures and hoarding cases, in the United States and Canada.
• Canine Partners for Life - "Dedicated to training service dogs, home companion dogs, and residential companion dogs to assist individuals who have a wide range of physical and cognitive disabilities."

OK, I'm getting sniffly just looking at this list. If you have a few extra dollars, please consider giving one of them a hand.

Thanks again to everyone who suggested laptop names and charities, especially Cory and Sarah! Stay tuned for biggest giveaway yet. Next time, it won't be just an ARC. Muahahaha!

(In the meantime, you can still enter the ARC giveaway contest at Jaci Burton's blog.)

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Now playing: The Who - Pictures of Lily
via FoxyTunes

Labels: animals, Contests, good, twitter, vampire series

• posted by Jeri @ 8:15 AM
• 5 comments

ARCs for charity & Twitter folks

Congrats to Fantasy Dreamer, who won last week's drawing for an ARC of Bad to the Bone!

For this week's Bad to the Bone ARC giveaway, I'm copying from my 2008 self and giving away two (2) in an effort to make the world a little less sucky.

1. MS Walk Donations
I’m participating in the National Multiple Sclerosis Society 5K Walk on April 4. If you donate to my team, I’ll put you in a drawing to win an ARC. It’ll be like a raffle: donate $5 and get 5 chances; donate $25 and get 25 chances (not to mention a warm feeling). Please send whatever you can to help overcome this devastating disease.

Deadline for entry: April 4

2. Royalty Donation
I donate ten percent of author royalties to a designated charity related to each of my books. For EYES OF CROW it’s Conservation International, for VOICE OF CROW it’s the Wounded Warrior Project, and for THE REAWAKENED it will be split between those two charities.

Last year I asked my blog readers to suggest a music-related charity to receive my WICKED GAME "tithe." I ended up choosing VH1's Save the Music Foundation, and the three people who suggested it each won an ARC of Wicked Game.

This year, on behalf of Dexter the Vampire Dog (pictured on the Bad to the Bone cover), I'd like to send my 10% to an animal rescue organization. Preferably one that helps dogs, though it doesn't have to be exclusively dog-related.

Reply to this blog post or send an e-mail to jeri@jerismithready.com and suggest an animal-related charity that should receive 10% of author royalties from Bad to the Bone. If I choose your suggestion, you’ll win an ARC!

Note: It's possible that I might end up deciding to donate to the charity I volunteer for, Tails of Hope. In that event, I'll just draw a name at random from the people who sent me suggestions, and award the ARC that way.

Another note: Let's start by taking Best Friends Animal Sanctuary off the table They're a great group, but they already get a lot of exposure through the Dogtown show. Plus the awesome Judi McCoy is giving all her royalties to them. I'm looking for a smaller charity where my modest money will really make a difference.

Deadline for entry: March 25.

***Special giveaway for Twitter folks only!***

Those who follow me on Twitter are well aware of my frustration with my sloooooooow laptop (nicknamed "Tardy" after the turtle from Greg the Bunny). I recently bought a new laptop and am looking for help in picking out a name.

So if you follow me on Twitter, just send me an @reply before the end of the day tomorrow with your suggestion for a new laptop name. I'll choose my favorite answer and give that person a signed ARC of Bad to the Bone.

Sure, you may sign up for Twitter just to follow me and enter the contest. I promise you won't regret it. It's a fun and relatively non-time-consuming way to keep up with friends, news reporters, and celebrities. I mean, aren't you wondering what Ashton Kucher and P. Diddy are thinking right now?? Me neither.

Labels: animals, Contests, good, twitter, vampire series

• posted by Jeri @ 4:04 PM
• 5 comments

First BAD TO THE BONE signing this Sunday

Just wanted to pop in to let you know that I'll be at New York Comic Con this Sunday, February 8, signing Advanced Review Copies of Bad to the Bone (sequel to Wicked Game) at 3:30pm at the Pocket Books/Simon & Schuster booth. Yay!

Technically my signing lasts until 4:30, but last year the books lasted about half that time, so come as close to 3:30 as possible to be sure to grab your copy. It doesn't come out until May 19!

Oh, and if you want to see the cover for the new book, Ciara seems to have a monopoly on the thing, on her Twitter profile. I'll be putting it up here soon. Swear. I'm a little behind on some of my promo tasks this year, due to all the, well, writing. Crazy priorities, I know!

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Now playing: Wonderwall - Oasis
via FoxyTunes

Labels: appearances, twitter, vampire series

• posted by Jeri @ 6:19 PM
• 3 comments

Bad to the Bone cover leaked!

That little minx Ciara Griffin hacked into my hard drive and stole the cover for her next adventure, Bad to the Bone (May 19, Pocket Books), so she could put it up on her brand-new Twitter profile for some cheap attention.

And I was planning this big rollout next week, complete with playlists and contest announcements and news about signings.

So anyway, if you want, go look at it. I think it's the only place on all the Internets where it can be seen. But if I were you, I'd stay away and wait for me to unveil it next week. A bunch of hits and new followers will just encourage this sort of behavior from her in the future.

But if you'd like to follow me on Twitter, it would make me feel better. Marginally.

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Now playing: Mr. Moustache - Nirvana
via FoxyTunes

Labels: twitter, vampire series

• posted by Jeri @ 9:53 AM
• 2 comments

A fistful of updates

Sorry I've been slack on blogging lately. Actually, not so much slack, just really busy writing and taking care of my invalid dog (mostly the latter--she's a very demanding patient).

- A full fifty percent (50%) of "Storm Reaper" is now available on my publisher's website. The link there goes to the main page where you can access chapters 1-4 at will.

- You have one more day to enter two giveaways:

Lori Devoti's 30 Days of Vampires ends tomorrow, and so does the chance to win a signed ARC of Bad to the Bone (or a signed copy of Wicked Game, if you prefer).

Patrick Rothfuss's phenomenal fundraiser for Heifer International will end tomorrow. He's already met his new goal of $40,000 raised by fans and friends, which he will match, because he is a dude of the highest order.

I bought a goat (not for me, for a family somewhere in Foreign Lands) to celebrate a few things I'm grateful for this Christmas:

1. My husband still has a job. Two, in fact! And no, you can't have one. We need them both, because of #2.

2. Meadow had surgery the week before Thanksgiving to fix four ruptured discs in her back. She is recovering nicely and is no longer in massive amounts of pain and fear. It was really bad there for awhile. Her regular vet was starting to suggest that she be put out of her misery, and he was pessimistic about how well she would handle the operation and recovery. Mainly because, unlike her neurologist, he didn't have a clue what he was talking about. Pbbbttt! We'll be looking for a new vet pronto. More on that later, because I think it's important for all dog owners to be aware of the symptoms of ruptured discs and what to do in that event.

3. Um, can't tell you about #3 yet, so for now we'll put in a placeholder: the Ravens are having a spectacular season, despite the fact that they have a first-time head coach and a rookie quarterback. For the first time since, uh, ever, they have an offense that doesn't embarrass their terrific defense.

Where was I? Oh, a goat. So the least you can do (for the chance to win an ARC of The Reawakened and prizes much cooler, like the manuscript for Kevin J. Anderson's Batman/Superman: Enemies and Allies, the book where Batman and Superman apparently meet for the first time, and which won't be out until May) is pony up twenty bucks for some chicks. Or name your own donation amount in the white box.

Patrick's already met his 40K goal, but I bet if we get tons of people donating today, he'll raise it to $50,000. That's not a dare, just a hunch.

- Four more days to enter the giant Spirit Animal/Aspect of Crow trilogy giveaway. Details on the click-through.

Anyway, I'm pretty much giving myself permission these days to do nothing but take care of my dog and work on books in various stages of existence. So blogging has to fall by the wayside.

But as always, I'm active on Twitter. If I go off Twitter for more than 48 hours, just assume I'm either dead or held captive by a roving band of clown monkeys. If it's the latter, please pray for the former.

Labels: Contests, pets, twitter

• posted by Jeri @ 9:11 AM
• 2 comments

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:


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

Labels: appearances, Contests, short stories, twitter, vampire series

• posted by Jeri @ 12:23 PM
• 1 comments

Reawakened now shipping!

If you're in a bookstore this weekend, look for The Reawakened! Official release date is Tuesday, but some stores put them out early. Or just order from Mysterious Galaxy, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon.com.

If you want to know what's happening with me, come follow me on Twitter. No time to blog due to deadline on Tuesday, but I have moments here and there when I can spit out a sentence or two. This morning I've been answering questions on how I can write 176K words on a ~100K novel, and yesterday I discussed my little girl Meadow's recent medical adventures.

There may come a day when I give up regular blogging in favor of the less time-consuming Twitter. It suits my need to spit out random thoughts and connect with others without having to develop a full-blown essay.

Enjoy your weekends!

Labels: pets, The Reawakened, twitter

• posted by Jeri @ 9:54 AM
• 3 comments

I'm all a-Twitter! (and how not to be a moron)

We interrupt the social studies class for a moment to announce that I finally joined Twitter, where you can check out my random thoughts during the day. Since I'll have less and less time to blog this month, Twitter is a good place to go to keep up with All Things Jeri. Why anyone would want to do that is beyond me, but whatever. I rarely answer the question posed, "What are you doing?" because frankly, WHO CARES???

Anyway, you don't have to join Twitter to follow me. Just lurk and listen, then shake your head in bewilderment at this exercise in self-importance.

Now...as promised yesterday, the list of states where voter registration is still open. I'll employ the world's most obnoxious HTML code--the dreaded blink tag--to denote states where voter registration closes tomorrow. And at the bottom, a new video, featuring a hysterical rant by late night talk show host Craig Ferguson! He's from Scotland, which means anything he says is funny.

Please check out VotersUnite! for any special rules or concerns regarding the voter registration process in your state. In a few states they make you reregister if you didn't vote in 2006, or show a photo ID at the polls, or or eat fried lizard tails (which taste like chicken, but only when wrapped in chicken), just to see if you're serious about voting.

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi (or until noon on 10/4 if clerk's office is open Saturdays)
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Virgin Islands
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

And now, your reward for scrolling through the list of great states:

Labels: twitter, voter registration

• posted by Jeri @ 7:59 AM
• 1 comments