| |
 I
heard about Jeri
Smith-Ready when she posted a blurb about Wicked
Game on Fangs, Fur and Fey over on LJ. Vampires,
rock music... how could I pass that up? The website for
Wicked Game WVMP
hooked me right in:
WVMP, The Lifeblood of Rock ’n’ Roll. Real Music for
Real Vampires.
Located in Sherwood, Maryland, our signal reaches
Baltimore, Washington, Harrisburg—and beyond the grave.
Come on in. Look around. Bites by
request.
I friended Jeri on
LJ,
and then on
Twitter too. I've found her to not only be a
terrific author, but she's a great person too. I was so
happy when she agreed to an interview for DoC.
From her official bio:
Jeri Smith-Ready has been writing fiction
since the night she had her first double espresso. She holds
a master’s degree in environmental policy and lives in
Maryland with her husband, cat, and the world’s goofiest
greyhound.
Her hobbies include cooking and animals—though not at the
same time, unless you count the cat’s culinary supervision,
which looks remarkably like sitting on the floor waiting for
food to drop.
 Which
came first: the music or the DJs?
Most of the music came before I was born, so I would have to
go with that.
Oh, you mean for the book?? Well, the whole idea for the
series came from a song.
Ahem...cue long story:
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.
By the time I got to work, I had a fully formed idea for the
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.
The playlist itself (found at the beginning of the book and
also on my website,
www.jerismithready.com) is literally the list of
songs mentioned in the book, (e.g., the songs Shane plays
for Ciara
on the guitar, or what the DJs play at their debut party).
So it would be an actual soundtrack.
I didn't plan to build that list, but my publisher asked me
toward the end of the production process to create it, which
gave me a chance to go back and add a couple of songs to
make it better.
With the sequel,
BAD TO THE BONE (coming May 19!), I was much more
aware of the playlist as I wrote the book. But the music
forms a huge part in the storyline of both novels--it's not
just background noise.
I really like that Ciara isn't superpowered - just a
very smart human being - is there a reason you made her
human?
One of my favorite aspects of
urban fantasy is the way that it sheds light on what
it means to be human. I thought having a human character
who was a different kind of predator (a con artist) would
throw off the typical Beauty and the Beast routine. (Maybe
the vampire boyfriend is the beauty and she's the beast, mmm?)
But more important, I wanted a main character I could relate
to. (Um, not that I'm a criminal. Swear.) Let's face
it--I'm weak. The closest I get to combat is yelling at
politicians and umpires on TV.
So I like that Ciara kicks ass with her brains and charm
instead of her fists. I mean, I loved Buffy, but Buffy's
been done, right?
The time bubbles holding the vampires...that's so
different. What made you think it up and do you regret it?
We all know people who are stuck in the sixties or the
eighties or whatever, who think that nothing worthwhile was
ever created after they turned 30. People with that "back
in my day" attitude, people who never change or accept the
wonder of Today and Tomorrow, to me, are the walking dead.
Hence vampires.
I don't regret it, and I've tried to make it apparent
that the vampires (at least the vampire DJs) still basically
understand what's going on in the world around them. I
mean, they have to read news reports--they know that Nixon
is no longer President. And I try to play against
stereotypes as much as possible while still keeping the DJs
as recognizable representatives of their eras.
Also, the younger vampires, especially Shane, are still
capable of learning new things and changing. At least,
that's Ciara's fervent wish--to keep him as human as
possible. She runs into harsh reality on that account in
BAD TO THE BONE and has to learn to accept (and
love) Shane for the monster he is.
 Which
one of the DJs is your favorite, and are you thinking of
doing any longer stories set during their time periods?
Oh, Shane by a
million miles. The others are a little too scary,
but I could totally hang out with him (and do so much more
than hang out, if I weren't married, and if, you know, Shane
actually existed). He's probably my favorite non-narrator
character in all of my books (even though he's a Steelers
fan).
As for stories, I've written three tie-in pieces of short
fiction so far, the first-person tales of how each DJ became
a vampire. They're all on my website, 100% free (and with
playlists!):
"Crossroads" (Monroe)
"Rave On"
(Spencer)
"When
the Music's Over" (Jim)
Shane's story (tentatively titled "Last
Request") will be out April 5. Regina and Noah have
to wait until I'm past my book deadlines later this year.
But that might've not been what you were asking about. If
you mean, will there be full-length novels set in those
other time periods, probably not. Until I clone myself, I
can only handle Ciara and my new YA series, which starts in
2010. But a novella or longer short story would be great
fun, if anyone reading this is looking to fill an
anthology. *whistles innocently*
Are any of the DJ's influenced by real musicians -
Robert Johnson...
Shane was definitely inspired by his hero and my favorite
singer,
Kurt Cobain of
Nirvana.
One of my readers told me that in her mind Shane is what
Cobain would’ve been if he’d had another chance at life (or
"unlife," if you will). Maybe creating Shane was my feeble
attempt to bring Kurt Cobain back to life, or at least honor
his memory.
But like all my characters, Shane soon became his own person
and changed from my original concept. As he developed (and
fell in love with
Ciara),
he got a lot less self-involved and even learned to
occasionally look on the bright side. There’s still a lot
of Cobain in him, but some of that is *his* conscious
emulation of his hero.
To a lesser degree, Jim is reminiscent of
Jim Morrison. In
WICKED GAME,
he tells Ciara that
The Doors
were playing on stage when he was turned into a vampire. He
has that magnetic, sinister aura about him, quite different
from the flower child stereotype of the sixties. Perhaps in
Jim's mind, he absorbed some of Morrison's essence when he
was turned.
While the rest of the DJs have their favorite singers, which
they sometimes dress like (Monroe and Robert Johnson, for
example, or Regina and
Siouxsie Sioux), these are the only two I consciously
modeled after real people. And in both cases, it's obvious
in the books that they're aware of it, so hopefully it comes
off less as me copying the singers and more as the
characters' own affectations.
Can you tell us anything about the
YA project you're working on? Will you take bribes?
Now that it's sold, I can tell you everything! The series
is called GENERATION GHOST, about a 16-year-old girl
on a quest to discover why she and everyone younger than her
can see ghosts. Ideally, she'd like to make them go away,
but when her boyfriend dies and starts haunting her, things
get complicated.
The first installment, tentatively titled UNTOUCHABLE,
will be published in hardcover Summer 2010, with the sequel
coming a year later along with a paperback release.
I'm very excited to be a part of Simon Pulse, as I've loved
this line for years, ever since I started reading teen
fiction in a serious way. Best of all, both of my series are
now under Simon & Schuster (different imprints and different
editors), so we can coordinate things like deadlines and
release dates to keep everyone sane and happy.
Anyway, I hope you all give it a try. It'll be geared toward
young adult readers, but my writing style really won't
change (other than to be true to the character's voice), so
my current readers of all ages should enjoy the books. After
all, I was never much of an adult to begin with, in real
life or on the page. So yay.
And now - the Lipton questions:
1. What is your favorite word?
Also (pre-Sarah Palin)
2. What is your least favorite word?
Also (post-Sarah Palin)
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or
emotionally?
Music
4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or
emotionally?
Sameness
5. What sound or noise do you love?
Purr
6. What sound or noise do you hate?
A pencil eraser that's worn down flat, so that when someone
uses it, the metal part scrapes the paper. Oww! My spine
hurts just thinking about it.
7. What is your favorite curse word?
God-fucking-dammit.
8. What profession other than your own would you like
to attempt?
Zamboni driver.
9. What profession would you not like to do?
Daycare provider.
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God
say when you arrive at the
Pearly Gates?
You're twenty years early. |
