Jeri Smith-Ready profile picture

Jeri Smith-Ready

Half in the shadows, half in the husky moonlight...

About Me

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"Jeri Smith-Ready has created a set of strikingly original, fascinating characters, rich with as much style and rhythm as the music her vampires love."
— Rachel Caine, bestselling author of the Weather Warden series

"An addictive page-turner revving with red hot sex, truly cool vampires, and rock 'n' roll soul."
— Kresley Cole, New York Times bestselling author of A Hunger Like No Other

"Shane is sure to be the next it vampire on the literary scene...It’s Twilight for adults!"
— Shooting Stars Magazine


Hi! I’m Jeri Smith-Ready, award-winning author of romantic urban fantasy. (Did that sound cheesy? I mean, my name is up there on the profile, but it felt rude not to introduce myself here.)
I'm very excited about my new vampire series from Pocket Books, which began May 13 with Wicked Game :

A novel of sex, blood, and rock 'n' roll

Recovering con artist Ciara Griffin tries to redeem herself by saving a vampire radio station from corporate takeover—a matter of life and un-death for her new friends, including hot-and-cool grunge DJ Shane McAllister. But when she boosts ratings by turning their vampiric natures into a marketing gimmick, the ensuing publicity has unintended—and deadly—consequences.

Read the back cover and an excerpt on my website. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

{...feeds cat, catches up on filing...}

Welcome back! You can preorder Wicked Game from Mysterious Galaxy , the world’s greatest bookstore, where all True Friends TM shop, and where you’re likely to get an autographed copy, or you can preorder from Amazon .

Here's a condensed playlist for Wicked Game:
I also write the award-winning Aspect of Crow fantasy series, set in a world where everyone has magic according to their Guardian Spirit—sort of X-Men meets Clan of the Cave Bear. Charles de Lint called Eyes of Crow " an absolutely delightful coming-of-age novel ," which will keep me happy 'til the day I die. The sequel, Voice of Crow , just came out in October 2007, and the trilogy will conclude with The Reawakened this November.

Take a personality quiz to find out which Animal from the book you'd be. Make your friends and family take it—are you compatible, or do you fight like Cougars and Wolves? Send me your results to enter a monthly prize drawing.
My first novel was Requiem for the Devil , an urban fantasy about the Devil falling in love. It takes place in modern-day Washington, D.C., where Lucifer masquerades as a political consultant. (Not really a fantasy, I know.)

To keep my head in the real world, I foster not-so-magical shelter dogs and puppies for an animal rescue organization called Tails of Hope Sanctuary . You should send them money, or at least really nice thoughts.

***Sign up for my quarterly newsletter for the latest updates, exclusive prize-winning opportunities, and dark secrets I only tell my thousand closest friends.***

My Interests

writing...uh, is there anything else? Animals, cooking (but not at the same time), reading, music, staring off into the distance, and obsessing over pro football (especially the Baltimore Ravens).

I'd like to meet:

Anyone who loves books, music, vampires, animals, the NFL, or any combination thereof. If you wrote a book about a vampire football team with musical mascots—or a song about a vampire football team with mascots who form letters with their bodies—I’ll make you a Top Friend for sure. Then I’ll have you committed.

As mentioned above, I want to meet bands and do my small part to help independent musicians find exposure, in the spirit of Wicked Game . Together, we can change the world (or at least show it a good time).

Music:

A small sampling:AFI Alvin Youngblood Hart Belly Bikini Kill Bob Marley Bruce Springsteen CAKE Chevelle Chris Isaak Coldplay Concrete Blonde Counting Crows Dave Matthews Band David Bowie Elvis Presley Evanescence Eve 6 Fields of the Nephilim Fiona Apple Garbage Gin Blossoms Green Day Guy Davis Hole Howlin’ Wolf Incubus Johnny Cash Korn L7 Leadbelly Leonard Cohen Liz Phair Loreena McKennitt Marcy Playground Matthew Sweet Meat Puppets Morphine My Chemical Romance Neil Young Nine Inch Nails Nirvana Peter Gabriel Pink Floyd Pixies Psychedelic Furs R.E.M. Robert Mirabal Roy Orbison Rusted Root Siouxsie and the Banshees Son House Squirrel Nut Zippers Steve Earle The Chieftains The Cure The Killers The Kinks The Pogues The Police The Shins The Smithereens The Smiths Tori Amos Tribe Van Morrison Veruca Salt Violent Femmes

Movies:

    28 Days Later Adaptation Almost Famous American Beauty Being John Malkovich Clerks Dark City Ferris Bueller's Day Off Grosse Pointe Blank Groundhog Day Heathers Memento My Blue Heaven O Brother Where Art Thou? Pleasantville Pulp Fiction Run Lola Run Saved! Stranger Than Fiction Sweeney Todd The Blues Brothers The Crow Zoolander

Television:

    Angel Arrested Development Babylon 5 Battlestar Galactica Buffy the Vampire Slayer Dead Like Me Deadwood Greg the Bunny Homicide: Life on the Streets Hustle Northern Exposure Oz (for the fine writing not the naked men) (Really) Scrubs Six Feet Under The Simpsons The Sopranos Twin Peaks

Books:

    Someplace to Be Flying, Charles de Lint Good Omens, Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Michael Chabon The Sparrow and Children of God, Mary Doria Russell Stupid and Contagious, Caprice Crane High Fidelity, Nick Hornby The Time Quartet series, Madeleine L'Engle Jitterbug Blues, Tom Robbins Stormy Weather, Carl Hiaasen Bloodsucking Fiends, Christopher Moore Uglies-Pretties-Specials, Scott Westerfeld The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
    Comics: Sandman Transmetropolitan Fables Y: The Last Man Top Ten

Heroes:

My mom, my dad, my sister, my brother, Albert Schweitzer, Gandhi, anyone willing to put their life on the line to protect or save others, anyone who works for peanuts (or nothing) to help people or animals, anyone who fights for the environment. Oh, and Jon Stewart. And Strong Bad.

My Blog

Last day on the island

Wahhh, it's already time to leave my new friends at the Desert Island Keepers blog.  They really know how to treat a guest. Stop by today to see which 6 books and which 7 CDs I'd bring with me t...
Posted by Jeri Smith-Ready on Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:29:00 PST

Its all about Shane (for once)

First, Happy Canada Day to my friends from the north!If I were really organized and forward-thinking, today would be the big debut of Regina, the Canadian vampire from Wicked Game. But alas, I didn'...
Posted by Jeri Smith-Ready on Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:24:00 PST

Monroes 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 Mississ...
Posted by Jeri Smith-Ready on Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:23:00 PST

Join me on the Desert Island

I'm the leadoff guest author over at the hottest new blog for readers, Desert Island Keepers.  I'm giving away a signed copy of Wicked Game (or another book if you already have that one) to one p...
Posted by Jeri Smith-Ready on Mon, 30 Jun 2008 08:31:00 PST

Interview and giveaway on Amberkatze

Thanks to everyone who stopped by last night to chat with me on Jacquelyn Frank's Marathon Chat, and congrats to those who won books, WVMP swag, and the marvelous raffle bags Jacki was giving away. It...
Posted by Jeri Smith-Ready on Sun, 29 Jun 2008 01:46:00 PST

Marathon Chat Saturday!

This just in! I've just confirmed that I'll be taking part in author Jacquelyn Frank's Marathon Chat tomorrow (Saturday) and giving away a signed copy of Wicked Game to one lucky participant.Here's t...
Posted by Jeri Smith-Ready on Sat, 28 Jun 2008 06:11:00 PST

New review site, Ciaras fear-ah, and a trip to the vet

Time for a few sundry items. Bitten by Books reviewed Wicked Game yesterday.  I post a link not only so you can read the review (Five Headstones!), because I don't blog about every review (seems...
Posted by Jeri Smith-Ready on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:08:00 PST

Guest blog/giveaway at the Maverick Authors

The Blog Whore Tour is back on the virtual road!  Today I'm blogging over at the Maverick Authors group blog about the Top Ten Signs You're on Deadline. Everyone who comments gets put into a dra...
Posted by Jeri Smith-Ready on Thu, 26 Jun 2008 07:02:00 PST

SBD winner and bits of geekery

The winner of the signed Sarah Beth Durst hardcover giveaway is...Jess (from my Blogger blog).  Congrats!  Jess, just send your mailing address and your choice of book (Into the Wild or the ...
Posted by Jeri Smith-Ready on Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:21:00 PST

Not-So-Lazy Sunday

Yesterday's event at Constellation Books went amazingly well.  I'm always astonished when people I don't know show up at these things.  Some of them had read the article in the Westminster E...
Posted by Jeri Smith-Ready on Sun, 22 Jun 2008 08:47:00 PST