This month we have Jeri Smith-Ready
chatting with us here at CK2S Kwips and Kritiques! Jeri had a new release
out from Pocket last month and we’re thrilled to have her here.
1. Congratulations on your latest
release, WICKED GAME! Please tell us a little bit about this intriguing
story.
WICKED GAME is a fun, sexy, dark urban
fantasy about a recovering con artist who tries to redeem herself by saving
a vampire radio station from corporate takeover. It’s a matter of life and
un-death, since without the tie to their original lifetimes that the music
provides, her strange new friends will ‘fade,’ becoming walking fossils of
the past. When she boosts ratings by turning their vampiric natures into a
marketing gimmick, hot-and-cool grunge DJ Shane McAllister is the first to
object—but far from the last. The publicity from the new “Lifeblood of Rock
‘n’ Roll” campaign turns out to have unintended—and deadly—consequences.
2. The idea of vampires being stuck
in their Life Time is fascinating! How did this idea come about? Which
came first, the idea for the vampires stuck in their Life Time or the radio
station that helps support them?
It was total serendipity. I was driving
to work flipping the dial and came to a classic rock station playing “Bad
Company” by the band of the same name. I thought, Hmm, “Bad Company” would
be a perfect title for a paranormal book with a shady main character. Ooh,
and there could be a whole series with “Bad” songs as the title: “Bad to the
Bone,” “Bad Medicine,” “Bad Moon Rising”…
By the time I got to the office, I had a
fully formed idea for vampire DJs stuck in time and a heroine with a
criminal past. If I hadn’t been listening to that station at that moment,
the series would have never been born. (Cue Twilight Zone music…)
The punch line is that even though it
all began with “Bad Company,” the publisher ultimately asked me to change
the title.
3. This question goes hand in hand
with the previous one… you excel at creating exciting new worlds that really
draw the reader into them. Where do you get your ideas for the worlds you
create? Or do you start with a character and then craft a world around
them?
If I knew where the ideas come from, I’d
go there more often. For me, big ideas come about once a year or so (which
is fine, because I can’t develop new series any faster than that). They
usually hit me when I’m listening to music. Sometimes it starts with a
concept (“a world where…”), or a character, or, as with this series, a
title.
4. What was it like combining two
loves, rock and roll and writing, into one project? Was it hard to pick the
songs you featured for each vampire?
It was wonderful! When the series was
sold to Pocket, I was ecstatic to be able to dive back into that world, to
rewrite the first book and then go on to write the second. It gives me a
great excuse to indulge my biggest love (music).
It wasn’t hard to choose the music for
each DJ. I knew from the beginning which eras they would be from, so the
music followed from that. Once I got to know the characters, I had a sense
of which songs they would enjoy most. Most of them like music with a
darker, sensual tinge (big surprise), but some of them, like Shane, also
have a goofy sense of humor (hence his love of The Dead Milkmen).
5. Ciara
is a very unusual character with her past history. What made you decide to
have Ciara as a “recovering” con artist who needs to delve back into that
life to save WVMP?
Con artists tend to be the most charming
crooks (who doesn’t love Redford and Newman in THE STING, or Sawyer from
LOST?). It also lets Ciara sympathize with the vampires, because she’s a
predator, too. So her previous career helps justify why she would come to
their aid, and why she would excel at marketing and promotion.
6. You have written books both in the
urban fantasy and the more traditional fantasy genres. Does the writing
process differ for you depending on the genre?
I find urban fantasy comes more
naturally. Everything in the world around me is potential fodder for plots
and characters. I can use every word in my vocabulary, including slang and
colloquialisms. Basically, I can write the way I think. Urban fantasy, in
my opinion, has greater room for moral complexity. Heroes and heroines
don’t always have to be heroic.
On the other hand, traditional fantasy
provides more of an escape, for both reader and writer. When the headlines
are depressing, I can imagine a better world, one where good always triumphs
over evil.
As for whether the process differs
depending on the subgenre, it’s more specific than that. Each individual
book has its own process, which I discover along the way. I think this is
partly my way of tricking myself into working. I’m the hardest-working lazy
person I know.
Seriously, though, we begin each project
at a different psychological, philosophical, and creative point in our
lives, so the process that worked last year won’t necessarily work again, no
matter how similar the projects. We have to teach ourselves how to write
each new book. We’re not making widgets on an assembly line–we’re creating
life. Readers can tell when we’ve begun to “crank out” books–which has
nothing to do with speed of writing and everything to do with the level of
engagement.
7. You know I’m a huge fan of your
Aspect of Crow series! The concept of a Guardian Animal Spirit is such
an interesting one with ties to various beliefs such as Shamanism. What
inspired you to use Animal Spirits in this series?
I love the concept of the Animal Spirit
or totem animal. I think most of us feel a sense of kinship to one or more
animals that we can’t fully explain—it goes beyond, “Wow, I think wolves are
cool.” A certain animal just resonates with our personalities or
strengths—our souls, you might say. So I turned this concept into a system
of magic. In the Aspect of Crow trilogy, the powers come from the Spirits
themselves, and the people get to keep those powers as long as they honor
the Spirits and the earth that they’re a part of.
8. Rhia, the heroine from the
Aspect of Crow series, is such a paradox. She is full of life despite
her gift being such a somber one. How did her character evolve for you?
That’s a very interesting question, and
it made me realize something important about her. For each book of the
trilogy, I planned at the outline stage for Rhia to be consumed by the
darkness of her gift. But she kept turning out to be stronger and more
active than I’d originally imagined. She didn’t have the patience to wallow
in self-pity or feel overwhelmed by the challenges presented by life and
death—she took matters into her own hands.
9. Your books have such a careful
balance of light and dark. How do you keep that balance when writing?
Wow, thank you! I don’t know, maybe
it’s just a reflection of my own personality and tastes. My favorite
musical bands tend to blend deep emotion with humor, or at least an
infectious rhythm or riff. I love that juxtaposition.
For instance, my favorite song ever is
“Inside Out” by Eve 6. When my husband was learning to play it on the
guitar, he remarked, “These lyrics are really dark.” My reaction was,
“Really? Huh. I never noticed.” I just like the way it sounds, and it’s
fun to sing along with.
So I guess I tend to see the light in
the darkness, and the darkness in what most people would consider light.
It’s a real struggle for me to watch children’s shows without making snarky,
profane comments. But my niece and nephew are at the age where they’ll know
what I’m saying, so I keep my thoughts to myself.
10. What is your favorite place to
write and what does it look like?
If the weather is nice (and sometimes
when it isn’t), I like to sit out on our back deck. From there I can see in
one direction to a horse farm, and in another direction to the Catoctin
Mountains (and Ski Liberty in the winter time), and in a third direction
over a farm (this year they’re growing wheat, which is much prettier than
corn—it’s at that ‘amber waves of grain’ stage). In the fourth direction is
the house. Obviously.
Right now there’s shade on the deck from
a lovely maple tree, but not for long. Apparently its roots are growing
into our septic system. Not good! I’ll cry when they down tear that
beautiful tree, but toilets that run in the proper direction are a priority
for me.
11. If you could meet any one
character out of all of your books, who would you choose to meet and why?
Heh. Shane from WICKED GAME. The ‘why’
is pretty obvious.
12. What
actors or actresses can you envision portraying some of your characters?
WICKED GAME: Scarlett Johansson has a
look that perfectly captures Ciara’s sensuality and craftiness. For Shane,
I’d pick Cillian Murphy. Those haunting pale blue eyes are just like I
imagine Shane’s, and he has this sense of showing toughness when you least
expect it.
EYES OF CROW: For Rhia, I pictured Anna
Paquin. She has an unconventional, almost fragile kind of beauty with great
strength underneath.
13. What
authors have influenced you? If we were to peek on your own bookshelves,
who would we find?
My first big influence was Margaret
Atwood. In my first story attempt, I tried to write like she does,
bittersweet and pessimistic and super-serious. What a mistake! That’s not
my natural voice. Once I let myself write the way I think, it started to
flow.
Other influences that fit my true voice
include: Neil Gaiman, Elmore Leonard, Christopher Moore, and Carl Hiaasen.
(Yep, all men, even though I write romantic fiction.) What I like about all
of them (in addition to their humor) is their ability to create memorable
characters that I want to hang out with. If I’m going to spend several
hours reading about people, I want to like them, even the villains.
Now my voice is developed enough that
I’m not influenced by what I read. Inspired, yes, but not influenced. Some
of my current favorites are Caprice Crane, Jennifer Crusie, and Charlaine
Harris. When it comes to paranormal fiction, my favorites (in addition to
Harris) are PC Cast/Kristin Cast (House of Night series), Rachel Caine,
Jenna Black and newcomer Adrian Phoenix.
14. What do you do to relax when you
are not writing?
I perform my duties as indentured
servant to my cat and dog. The petting and cuddling is relaxing—the 5AM bark
alarm, not so much. (Is it winter yet?)
15.
Which book has been your favorite to write and why?
WICKED GAME, because it made me so happy
to write. I’d be in the car listening to music, and a song would come on
that resonated with one of the characters or a part of the story. It was so
much fun to write and to think about even when I wasn’t actually working on
the manuscript.
16. And
one final question, completely unrelated to writing…I see from your web page
that you foster dogs for the Tails of Hope Sanctuary. As a dog lover
myself, I know this must be both rewarding and challenging. How hard is it
to let go when an adoptive home is found? Any stories you’d like to
share?
When a dog goes to his or her “forever
home,” as we call it, it’s a joyous event. I really believe that there’s a
great family for every unwanted pet. Some of them take longer to place than
others, but when they leave, they don’t look back. We return to our lives
of relative freedom, and my greyhound gets her stuffed animals back.
There was one very special dog, though,
a Great Dane/Black Lab mix named Foots. We wanted to keep him for
ourselves, but then he tried to eat our cat, so we had to find him a new
foster home (a home that adopted him permanently a few days later). So I’ve
immortalized him as Dexter, the dog-who-might-be-something-more in WICKED
GAME’s sequel, BAD TO THE BONE (May 2009).
For more stories, visit the foster dog
posts on my
blog.
Thank you so much Jeri for taking the
time out of your busy schedule to answer our questions. Is there anything
you else you would like to say in closing?
Is anyone still awake after all my
jabbering? Then you might also want to check out
www.WMVPradio.com, a real website with real music (and real
merchandise!) for a fictional radio station. There you can meet the DJs,
listen to sample songs from their shows, and someday soon, read their blog
entries.
You can learn more about WICKED GAME,
read an excerpt, and listen to playlists from the book (a “soundtrack,” the
chapter title list, and more) at
http://www.jerismithready.com/wicked-game/.
Ciara and I can be found on MySpace,
though mysteriously never at the same time. (http://www.myspace.com/jerismithready
and
http://www.myspace.com/ciarawvmp)
Thanks so much for having me, Debbie and
Kelley. I love your site!
Read
reviews of Jeri's books:
Wicked
Game
Reviewed by Debbie
Reviewed by Kelley
Voice
of Crow
Reviewed by Debbie
Eyes
of Crow
Reviewed by Debbie
Reviewed by Jennifer
Interviewed by Debbie and Kelley
July 2008
