Jeri Smith-Ready

Operation Auction

I am crazy busy trying to finish a (very sloppy) first draft of SHADE3, mail out prizes from the Give a Little (to Japan), Get a Little giveaway (which is still open through tomorrow) and write some guest blog posts and interviews before I go to the RT Booklovers Convention next Tuesday, AND OH YEAH, SHADE IS COMING OUT IN PAPERBACK THAT DAY, TOO! (See sidebar for order links.)

But I had to take a few moments to let you know about a great fundraiser ending late tonight, Operation Auction. From my friend author Lauren Dane's blog:

My beautiful friend Fatin (also well known as “mad” or “mad4rombks”) has been an integral part of the romance community for years – she owns and runs the RR@H Novel Thoughts and Book Talk blog, is an administrator of the WriteMinded loop my author loop and facebook page as well as my assistant and friend. She’s also a tireless advocate for romance novels and a friend to so many in this community. On Tuesday, March 8th, she lost her husband in a senseless act of violence, leaving her alone with four children. You can read more about the tragedy here.

When I heard about this horrible tragedy, I wanted to do something special to help out.

So I've donated a "marked-up" (director's commentary, annotated, whatever) version of Wicked Game. You can learn all sorts of inside information, like which of my real-life first-grade classmates the bully Jolene was based on, how I chose the different playlist songs, how certain scenes played out differently in earlier drafts (hint: one involves David and a LOT of drinks), and which details of Sherwood and vampires are true to "real-life."

I've only done this once before, so this is a two-of-a-kind prize. It takes a lot of work--fun work--to come up with amusing anecdotes and tidbits, which is why I don't often offer a prize like this.

As of now, the bidding is only up to about $15--which is the same amount you would pay for this trade paperback if you bought it in the store! (EDITED TEN MINUTES LATER TO ADD: Wow, it's up to $50 now--y'all rock!) Please consider bidding so that you can have this unique version of the book and to help out Fatin in her time of need.

Thank you so much!

Labels: Contests, good, vampire series

• posted by Jeri @ 11:13 AM
• 2 comments