Yeah! Saturday Guest Bloggers are BACK! Please give a very warm (it has to be warm somewhere, right?) jungle welcome to Jeri Smith-Ready, who is not only graciously spending her Saturday with us, but is also giving away an AWESOME set of books (winner to be announced tomorrow, so don’t forget to check back!) She has a spectucularly fresh new series out…and I can’t wait to hear more about it! Welcome, Jeri!
Tease Me, Taunt Me, Make Me Want You!
Happy Saturday, everyone! I’m Jeri Smith-Ready, author of the WVMP RADIO urban fantasy series (the vampire DJ books) and in a little over two months, the SHADE series for teens.
Thanks so much to Julie and all the Plotmonkeys for having me on your fabulous blog today. I was leery at first, due to my deep-seated fear of monkeys (almost as bad as my clown phobia), but as long as I stay calm and don’t make direct eye contact, we should all be okay.
I’m here to talk about two subjects that might seem unrelated: 1) rewrites, and 2) teaser chapters (those little novel excerpts tucked into the back of books). By showing how one of my opening scenes changed from teaser version to its final state, I hope to shed light on the large and small alterations that go into a rewrite.
As a reader, I can’t resist a teaser chapter. I’ve found many new authors in these tasty samples, or I’ve hungered for the next installment of the story I just finished (and been royally frustrated if it’s not available yet).
As an author, I was honored to have the first chapter of SHADE included in a Christopher Pike compendium, Thirst 2, which hit #1 on the New York Times children’s paperback list (zoinks!). For the mass market release of WVMP Book One, Wicked Game, my publisher included the first scene of its sequel, Bad to the Bone, which came out in trade paperback the following month.
In both cases, the teaser scenes were already in their final form. A couple of words changed here and there for the final version, but nothing major.
Then came Book Three, Bring on the Night. An August 2010 release, its first scene is excerpted in the mass market version of Bad to the Bone (which came out last Tuesday). Because of a deadline shift, I was asked to submit the opening teaser scene of Bring on the Night before I had rewritten the book.
Heh. Rewrites. Don’t get me started. Okay, get me started.
I once heard of a writer who did second drafts by deleting the entire first draft and starting from scratch. I’m not quite that bad, but my books tend to undergo sweeping overhauls after I get feedback from my editor and critique partners. The changes come from my own ideas, but they’re sparked by others’ observations, and also by the extended break from the novel my brain has received since I turned it in (since I turned the novel in, not my brain, although sometimes it feels that way).
In a rewrite, I kill characters who survived in the first draft, and spare those who once died. I chop out entire subplots and characters. In the original draft of Bad to the Bone, the stray dog that Ciara found was a regular mutt who happened to be “housing” a half-pookha semi-shapeshifter named Gwendolyn. Everyone hated Gwen, including me, so she disappeared, and Dexter became a vampire dog (which made more sense, anyway, as much as vampires can ever make sense).
My rewrite process is like an episode of American Chopper, that reality show where a group of guys builds amazing custom motorcycles while trying not to kill each other. At the bleakest point in a rewrite, my plot lies in useless pieces on the floor, with no resemblance to an actual book, and my inner Big Paul is screaming bleeped-out words at my inner Mikey, who just wants a day off to go surfing.
So there I was, trying to mold the first scene of a raw product (the unrevised Bring on the Night) into a teaser that would make readers salivate. My critique partner helped me polish the scene, and I turned it in. Soon it became immortalized in the back of Bad to the Bone’s mini-me version.
Then came rewrites, and oh, how that first scene changed. Let me tell you how, starting with:
Chapter One – Welcome to Paradise
Yep, even this part is obsolete. What was once Chapter One is now Chapter Two, though the title is the same (each chapter is named after a popular song). I decided to frame the past-tense novel with present-tense prologue/epilogue-style chapters that would prepare the reader for this unusually intense story, then carry them out again at the end.
I now present, in its international online debut, the final version of Bring on the Night’s first chapter, in its entirety, without commercial interruption:
Chapter One – Hey Hey My My (Out of the Blue)
I’m okay now.
Just so you know.
I mean, just so I know.
Not that I wonder.
(deep breath)
That’s it.
*ducks as WVMP series fans throw rotten tomatoes with rocks hidden inside*
So sometimes the teaser scene isn’t even the book’s ultimate opener. Authors often reshuffle the chronology of their novels’ beginnings, maybe to heighten tension or to ground the reader in the world, or for many other reasons.
Moving on to the first line of the old Chapter One/new Chapter Two:
The vampire could smell me.
Dramatic, right? But on page two, the heroine Ciara slathers leftover pizza on herself to repel a vampire (white pizza = maximum garlic), so that opening sentence’s meaning becomes fuzzy. Does it refer to that first moment pre-pizza wipe, or later in the scene? A little mystery is good, but do I really want to confuse readers on page one?
So the opening line became:
I could smell my own fear, bitter and tangy as an overripe orange.
Now the focus is solely on Ciara and her state of mind. We don’t know what she’s afraid of for several paragraphs. Greater tension and less confusion make for a more solid opening.
On page two, my correction solved two separate problems:
Original: At the end of the alley I passed an overstuffed Dumpster, where the odors of unneutered-cat piss and discarded pizza boxes battled for supremacy.
As one of my beta readers put it, “That sounds like a pretty one-sided battle.”
But that wasn’t the only reason for changing the sentence. In the following paragraph, Ciara gets the idea for the pizza vampire repellent.
Waaaaaaait a minute: why would she assume there was a leftover piece in that box? Where I come from, we finish every bite of pizza (unless it’s accidentally been left out overnight at room temperature, and even then I have to argue to save us from food poisoning, because my family thinks pizza contains a magical intrinsic antibacterial agent).
Revision: At the end of the alley I passed an overstuffed Dumpster, where the odor of cat piss snagged my attention. I wrinkled my nose and glanced at the bin. The lid was clamped on a discarded pizza box, pinching it open to reveal a leftover slice inside.
Ah, so she sees the leftover pizza slice before drawing the connection.
This is a perfect example of the details we insert or alter when revising a manuscript, details that clarify what the character is thinking and why. Often an author will make a leap of logic and forget to bring the reader along. We need to remember that cause comes before effect. Readers can read our books, but they can’t read our minds.
Sometimes small revisions come from big changes. Near the end of the teaser scene, Ciara’s training partner in the paranormal paramilitary agency the Control, Tina, is being scolded by their instructor for her excessive use of force.
Original: “…Losing a bit of blood is better than losing one’s life.” As Tina began to voice her disapproval, Kaplan cut her off. “Don’t like it? Go join the Fortress.”
That shut Tina up. The Fortress is a renegade band of zealots who not only slay vampires, but
Boooooop! Boooooop! Incoming infodump!
The second paragraph here not only verged on boring, but became superfluous. The Fortress was Ciara’s archenemy in Bad to the Bone, and in early drafts of Bring on the Night, I considered bringing the Fortress back, or at least using it as a red herring to distract readers from the real villain. But the book ended up with more antagonists than it needed. Since I like each novel to stand alone, the oldest enemy was the one to be ditched. I proceeded to delete all unnecessary references to the Fortress.
We authors sweat and swear over our opening scenes. They have to grab the reader by the eyeballs, so hard that they stand there in the bookstore aisle, riveted to the page, their feet falling asleep and their kids running rampant and unsupervised, until finally the bookseller shakes their shoulder them and says, “Hey, you going to buy that or what?”
But when we know these scenes might be turned into early ads for the next book, the pressure is even greater to make them shine. And maybe even make sense!
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Readers, have you ever sought out a novel because of a teaser chapter you read in another book? Ever noticed that the teaser chapters don’t always match the final version? Within a series, do you enjoy getting a glimpse of the next installment, or is it more of a tease than you can bear?
Authors, have you ever written a teaser chapter before the book was rewritten (or for that matter, written)? More fundamentally, how massive are your rewrites? Do you change the plot and characters or just do a polish? Do you get all the story elements right the first time, or is the first draft just a starting point, a faint shadow of what the book will eventually become?
I’m giving away two signed sets of the first two WVMP books, Wicked Game and Bad to the Bone (with bonus teaser chapters, of course). Thanks again for having me! I’m much less scared of monkeys now. Plotmonkeys, at least.
By all reports, Julie Leto was a sweet child once, somewhat shy, preferring to play quietly in her room making up stories. However, being raised with three brothers in a loud, primarily Italian household did have its influences and Julie discovered her inner tough girl. That’s probably why most of her heroines kick serious butt. Writing sassy heroines has worked out, as she’s sold nearly thirty books to three publishers featuring strong, confident women. Julie lives in Florida with her husband, daughter, spoiled dachshund, enormous guinea pig and a wide range of relatives all within driving distance.
3 Seductions and a Wedding
COLD SIGHT
Kiss Me If You Can
Wild For Him
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If your books are anything like the writing in your blog you have a new fan. You have a way of keeping the reader inhanced by what you have to say.
I read the teaser sometimes but at others I want to wait and read it all together. A couple of my nieces love the teasers.
I wrote a story for NANOWrimo and can’t bring myself to edit it. Maybe now I will bring it out and give it a try.
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Welcome to the jungle Jeri, and there is no need to fear the monkeys here. They are very friendly…LOL!!! I loved your blog…the overall message I picked out was Show not tell. You want to engage the reader so that they have no time to question what they are reading too much. Showing versus telling, eliminates distractions. That’s my take for what it’s worth.
Personally, I don’t like teasers. Prior to reading the blog, after reading that you were going to use your teaser paragraph to explain rewriting, I almost didn’t read it. I don’t like to read excerpts or teasers much because I feel it takes away too much for me. If it is an author I really love, I get very frustrated waiting for the next book, so I would rather read a book win its entirety when it comes out. When I was younger, I used to read little blurbs and excerpts of books, but I found that I spent more time trying to find what I read, rather than focus on the book itself. As a result, I missed a lot, and I would have to start over. That in itself is frustrating.
I hope you have a wonderful day swinging in the jungle with us. I will check back in later.
Peace and love,
Paula R.
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I’ve been hearing good thing about Jeri’s books. I can’t wait to get my hands on them!
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Great blog Jeri! I love teasers and have a running list of books to buy just based on a teaster I read in the back of another book.
Tami B.
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I have bought books before because of the teasers in other books. And when I am reading a series, I love series books by the way, I enjoy getting a glimpse of what is coming next. I don’t know that I have ever noticed that a teaser didn’t match the book. I would love to read your books.
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Welcome to the jungle, Jeri! The monkeys are all fun at the plotmonkey site, although I do share your fear of clowns. You are a new to me author, but after reading your blog today, I’ll be adding your books to my TBR pile.
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Great! Never enough advice about revising and rewrites. The “I could smell my own fear” line sounds like an example from Margie Lawson’s classes. Very visual!
I love teasers in the back of books, and they do determine if I’ll look for the next book. The latest teaser I enjoyed was the excerpt for Changeless in the the back of Soulless.
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Jeri, i absolutely love your WVMP series (as you know) and i just stayed up all night last night to read through BTTB again! your plot twists are just the most brilliant!!! anyway, i love authors that post teaser chapters at the end of their books, because it makes me drool for the next one and pre order!!! :)
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Pat: Thank you! I think the WVMP books are a little like my blog writing. Ciara as a narrator probably sounds a lot more like my public “speaking” style than any other character. Which is not to say we are anything alike as people–I’m not nearly smart or quick-thinking enough to be a con artist.
And you should definitely pull out that NaNo story and start revising it! You’ll probably be surprised how fun revision can be. I know I’probably ve made it sound painful, but there’s nothing like taking the rough model of a manuscript and sculpting into a book. It’s my favorite part of the whole process.
Paula: Thank you so much for having me! I agree that teasers can sometimes be distracting. Luckily I have really poor memory for details, so I could probably read a teaser and then the whole book the next week and not remember what the teaser was about. ;-)
Llehn: Glad to hear that! I hope you enjoy the books if you get a chance to pick them up.
Tami: Thanks! I think teasers can be a great way to intrigue readers, especially to a new-to-them author.
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I will be on the lookout for you books too. Haven’t tried you yet…coming to the jungle is the best teaser for me. I have found a lot of new to me authors whom I have fallen in love with.
I love your blogger voice too, which is always a good sign. Continue to have a blast here. I will check back later. Glad you are over your fear of “monkeys” LOL!!! Some of the other monkeys in the jungle are real friendly too.
Peace and love,
Paula R.
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Linda: Mostly the mismatch would be little things, a word or two changed. Because of the way publishing production schedules falls, the teaser chapter is usually set in stone before the real thing has been copyedited and proofread.
Liza: It’s great to meet a fellow clown-fearer! :-) Thanks for adding me to your TBR pile.
Gillian: Funny you should say that. I’m a huge Margie Lawson fan–I’ve taken just about all her classes. I was super honored and flattered when she used a couple of examples from Wicked Game for one of her courses.
Jennzah: Yay, glad you enjoyed BTTB the second time around! Hope you didn’t have to go to work this morning. ;-)
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Thanks for the post – I had no idea that rewrites were that drastic after your first draft!
As a reader I have bought a novel because of the teaser chapter from another book. It especially helps me find new to me writers – I think samhain publishing does a great job with this. I have noticed that teaser chapters don’t match the final version – sometimes they have more details, or they turn out a little different but usually no 180s from the original teaser chapter. And I have to say that teaser chapters for the next book in a series that doesn’t come out for months and months kill me! I mean I love reading them but afterwards I keep thinking about everything it could mean and it drives me nuts..but definitely increases my excitement for the next book.
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Heather: I don’t think they’re this bad for everyone. I try to tell myself it’s because I get such great ideas for improvement, not because I can’t get the story right the first time. ;-)
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GSM: Thank you! And i’ll probably never be over the *whole* monkey thing. Just the plot monkeys. ;-)
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I have a love / hate relationship with teasers at the end of books. Most of those I’ve come across are the teaser of the next book in the series (I read a lot of long story arc stuff) and so I often war with myself as to whether I’ll read it or not. I read so fast that even if I’ve just discovered a new series I’ll get caught up in a couple of weeks and then if I read the trailer in the last one I go nuts until the new book is published :)
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Arrgh, I JUST realized I could hit Reply instead of just posting a new comment. Okay. Waking up now.
Toby: And that’s exactly why they give you teasers–to make you want the next book soooooo bad! ;-) I think teasers are only done for books that are out in six months or less (I could be wrong). Any longer than that would be torture, and would probably have an even higher likelihood of being off-base.
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I love teaser chapters. If there is a decent gap between books I really won’t remember the teaser chapter per se, I’ll usually just remember that it made me want to read the book. If the next books is available I often won’t even read the teaser chapter because I know changes get made.
Good luck with both series!
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Thanks, Kelly! I agree with your points about teasers. If I know I already want a book, I usually won’t read a teaser for it. But sometimes I can’t resist. ;-)
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Thanks for the opportunity Jeri! I really liked reading this blog and will definitely be printing it out to reference later. As a reader I used to read the teaser chapter (and still occasionally do) however, it’s really hard not to get frustrated when the next book isn’t available. Teasers just make the wait longer! As a writer (just starting a novel in my free time) I find myself rewriting some scenes in their entirety and just polishing others. It really just depends on how much time and thought I was able to put into the scene the first time around. Once again thanks!
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Liz: Glad you found the post helpful! I’ve definitely found that the scenes I wrote super fast are the ones that end up needing the most work later. That’s why I try very hard to stick to a daily schedule so that I’m not playing catchup later on and writing lots of messy scenes.
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Nice interview Jeri and I really loved it when you talked about rewrites and SHOWED us as well as explaining what you did differently the second time around and why. As for teasers, yes of course I’ve sought out a book after reading a section of it in another book and yes sometimes I’ve noticed the difference. And as for your other question, in a book series I always like getting a glimpse of the next installment at the end of the book because usually I can’t seem to stop reading, or WANT to stop reading so it’s good to have that teaser there as a “crutch” to lean on LOL. And if the teaser is good enough, it will wet my appetite even more for the next book. If it’s reaaaaaaaaally good and I’m desperate for it, I’ll hit the preorder button!
Not sure how you enter the contest but I’m in it just for Wicked Game please as I already have Bad to the Bone
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Lynsey, I’m so glad you found the post interesting! It was fun for me to see what had changed and why in order to write the post. I’m always up for making fun of myself. ;-)
If you win, I’ll send you both books and you can pass on your extra BTTB to a friend.
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I like teasers for new books or series. I don’t read them (or when authors put whole chapters up) for series that I’m already reading. I get too caught up (and stressed) in wondering what will happen and then I have to wait for the book to come out! My imagintaion starts working overtime and I’m usually wrong anyway :-)
Don’t enter me in the contest – I already have the books.
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Hi Karen! Great to see you here. Sometimes an imagination is an inconvenient thing, no?
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I love teaser chapters… It makes me want to read more, so I have to add another book to my reading list!
I have not had the pleasure of reading your books yet… going to add your name to my ever growing list of authors to try!
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Thanks! I hope you enjoy the books if you get a chance to check them out. :-)
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I read teaser chapters all the time- preferably ones from new authors or books not in the series I just finished. It’s easier on me that way- I don’t get po’d that I have to wait for the next book; instead I go off and find someone new to read.
and did you know that they canceled American Chopper? You should see the big ole building they built to house the place- a far cry from the dinky little garage they used to work out of. I hope it didn’t all go to Big Paul’s head and they go under now.
and just because it’s Saturday- :Irish1: . I ‘ll need some when I finally get out and get shovled out of here.
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They canceled that show? I guess it doesn’t surprise me. It seems like the kind of show that after a while would just run its course.
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They canceled that show? I guess it doesn’t surprise me. It seems like the kind of show that after a while would just run its course.
Good luck shoveling out and getting that :Irish1:
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I don’t usually read the teaser chapters at the end of books.
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Thanks, chey, for your succinct response!
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honestly, I’ve never really paid too much attention to teasers because I really hate waiting, especially when you know you’re waiting for something awesome lol
I actually never knew teasers could be written before a book comes out either, but I can see why with all the deadlines =X
thank you for sharing this with us! =)
(I hope the giveaway part is open to Canada?)
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Thanks, ninefly! I hate waiting, too. Often I will read the first book in a series, and if I like it, I’ll wait until the entire series is over so I can read them all at once. Otherwise I would forget who everyone is.
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I do the same thing Jeri. I still have some books on my shelves that I haven’t opened because I had to wait…Sue Grafton’s. I waited to read all the Evanovich’s and JD Robb series. Suze Brockman is another one too. Sometimes I don’t realize it is part of a series until it is too late. Once that happens, the reading stops and I wait.
Peace and love,
Paula R.
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I like teasers – they set up a subliminal trigger to grab the book when it comes out.
Being knee-deep in revisions, I enjoyed reading your process. Thanks!
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I’m glad it was helpful, Serenissima! (And I love your name. :-)
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Sounds like a great read! I love the cover. Thanks for the chance to win!
Amber
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Thanks, Amber! Yep, they did a fabulous job with that cover. I think it’s my favorite of all my books. Then again, I could just be partial to the dog.
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As a reader I have bought a book because of the teaser chapter and noticed that they were not quite the same but close! I love reading the treaser chapters! Your books sound fabulous, thanks for sharing!
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Thanks, Quilt Lady! I was wondering if mine were the only ones that changed. :)
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Love the teaser chapter, it is what often gets me hooked and eager to read the story…or not! :Irish1:
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Yes, it can be an excellent way to judge. Thanks for stopping by!
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I loved the earlier books, and I’m sure I’ll love the new one as well (and you don’t need to enter me in the contest, since I already own them both!)
And as an author, I laughed myself silly over your editing desciptions. It really can be amazing how things change over the course of rewrites :-)
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Thanks, Deborah! I’m glad you found it entertaining. I also love reading about other people’s adventures in self-editing. :0)
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I have never purchased a book because of a tease chapter—-I don’t read them.
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Estella, thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. :)
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Welcome to the Jungle!
Sorry I’m so late getting here. My daughter had a skating competition this morning. She took first place in Pairs and first in Free Skate
As a plotter, I have my characters and plot figured out before I begin writing. I’m not one of those writers who can just fly into the ether. I need GPS. I do go back and do a lot of polishing to make it shine as much as possible. That doesn’t mean things don’t get changed as I go along because they do. By the end of the book I feel like I have a handle on my characters so then I go back and have fun inserting all those interesting extra layers.
Thanks for being here and for the teaser. Yes, I have bought a book because of a teaser.
Cher
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Cher, congrats on your daughter’s skating competition win! I guess your family, like ours, has been glued to the TV the last two weeks for the Olympics.
I like to do some planning ahead of time, too.Then I revise my outline as I go along. Or not. The process changes with every book.
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Hi Jeri – I loved Wicked Game and have really been looking forward to Bad to the Bone. I often buy books based on chapter excerpts or teasers. I also often look in the back of books for blurbs or promos for other books. I’ve found several new authors this way.
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Thanks, Cybercliper! I’m so glad you enjoyed Wicked Game and hope Bad to the Bone brings you a fun read, too. :)
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I have found several new authors by reading teaser chapters at the end of other books.
If they are at the end of a series book though and it’s for the next book in the series and it’s a long way off until the next book’s release then I try and resist teaser chapters of theat sort because it only whets my appitite for the next book in the series and I still have that long wait…..and overall I am not a patient person when it comes to my reading sometimes and why give myself the extra grief right????
Looking forward to your next release. Love urban fantasy…it’s the new black for many readers.
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Barbara, you’re right. Urban fantasy is hugely popular now. I’m so thrilled, because it’s what I’ve always loved writing best–taking our world and putting a paranormal twist on it. I always try to keep my books as realistic as I can (considering they have vampires and ghosts in them ;-) and make the paranormal part be about what it means to be human. That sounds kinda pompous, maybe, but it really comes from the fact that I like people better than any kind of superwhatever. ;-D
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I like teaser chapters as long as it gives me a feel for the story but doesn’t give anything away.
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Joyce, good point about spoilers! I can’t stand them. I’m phobic about even checking the back of the book to see how many pages there are, for fear I’ll see a word or name that spoils the end. My mother-in-law, OTOH, always reads the last page of a book.
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By that I mean, she always reads the last page FIRST. I (almost) always read the last page, too. ;0)
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Very interesting to see how you rework a scene and how different those scenes can be from start to finish. I’m very intrigued by this series and am really hoping to win/read this soon.
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Thanks, Joder, I’m glad you found it interesting. Good luck in the drawing!
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Jeri, thanks so much for being here–so glad we helped you overcome your fear of
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AAAAAAAH!! Well, I WAS over my fear of monkeys, but those animations have re-freaked me out. ;-)
Thanks so much for having me! I’ve had a fabulous time. You have a wonderful blog here–I love the variety of post topics and the enthusiasm of all the bloggers.
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I have definitely bought books based on teasers. It is a pain though to have to wait for the books to come out :)
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Raelena, it is a pain. However, I console myself with my giant TBR pile/shelf/room. ;-)
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Great blog Jeri.
Yes, I do seek out a new novel from reading a teaser chapter.
I love teaser chapters at the end of a book. Especially when it is a teaser of the next book in a series.
I also love those little booklet teasers. Those really make me want to get the book. :Irish1:
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Gigi, I love those chapter booklets, too! Especially since I don’t like to read on the computer and I have a miniscule online attention span.
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Glad to hear we’ve cured you of your monkey phobia…at least the plotting kind!
Fabulous blog and fabulous comments today! I, for one, don’t buy a single book unless I’ve read a teaser or excerpt, unless it’s an author I’ve read a bunch of times. I’ve discovered MANY new authors through excerpts in the back of other books or on websites! But it really doesn’t matter to me if the excerpt changes by the time the book comes out. I never remember details…I just remember that I wanted the book!
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Julie, thank you so much for having me to guest blog! I’ve had a great time reading all the comments.
I’ll keep working on that monkey thing.
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I love the teaser chapters at the end of books and have found a lot of books that I wanted after reading them. Great post very interesting.
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Thanks, Sherry–glad you enjoyed the post!
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I’ve never started another book because of a teaser, but I love&hate the teasers for the next book in a series. I love how I’m able to get a glimpse of the next book, but on the other hand it leaves with too much guessing and impatience to find out more.
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Jeannette, I know how that is. I like to read books in a series back to back if I can. Otherwise I forget the storyline and characters and it takes me a while to settle into the new book while I get reacquainted. That’s one of the greatest challenges in writing series, too–how to reintroduce the world and catch people up without a boring recap.
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What incredible timing! I am sitting here, first draft in shreds on the floor, notes and cards spread out and my mind in a tailspin…. First book, second draft – Oh dear Lord let there not be a real draft… or would that be an improvement? Hard to tell.
As a reader I can comment on the teaser chapters – which I mostly like. I say mostly because I have actually not bought a book because I look at it in the store and think, “I already read this.” I do sometimes read the first couple paragraphs, but try not to read the whole chapter.
I had to laugh at the image of the reader in the bookstore with the world swirling around as she reads. I didn’t realize I’d been seen.
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Good luck with that second draft, Laurel! I think you’ll find all that hard work and hair-pulling will be worth it.
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Thank you for being here today. I loved hearing about your book. I have bought books because of the teasers.
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Thanks, Lisa–I’ve had a great time!
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I have not read any on your books but I loved the post. I would love to read your book so I must add to my growing list of to buy books. LOL..
Thanks for your visit and I did enjoy the information you gave us. Thanks again
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Thanks, Brenda! I hope you enjoy the books if you get a chance to pick them up. :)
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Hi Jeri,
Wow! How cool to have you here! I love the teaser chapters and always have to buy the next book!
Sometimes I will forget to buy it if I don’t write it down. It would be better if the next book came out pretty quickly so readers like me don’t forget! LOL 
What an awesome prize your offering Jeri! Please enter me in the contest!
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Michele, I’m extraordinarily forgetful, too. I finally had to start keeping a book journal because I found myself reading books I’d already read a few years before.
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Hi Jeri,
Funny you should say that! I started a book journal this year as my New Year’s resolution. It is so much fun to see the books that I have read so far this year. I think I have read a little over 20 books so far. It sure is a great way to remember what books you have read and what you thought of them. I write the title, author, the time it took to read it, my thoughts on the book, etc. I wished I would have started this years ago!
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I’ve never noticed that the teaser chapters don’t always match the final versions because it’s usually too long a gap between my readings of both to compare that closely, but I
getting the teaser for the next book in a series!! Because when I get drawn, I’m addicted to that world and just can’t get enough. Especially if it’s a cliffhanger, that’s when I freak out and only the teaser for the next book (when it’s printed at the end) can bring me down from that anxiety of “what’s gonna happen to —-?”
Seriously, I sometimes just plain hate having to wait for the next book b/c the suspense is enough to give me blood pressure issues, lol
So I guess a teaser is a misnomer for me; it’s really more of something to hold me over till I can get my fix with the next book
And I need them! lol
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Bella, that’s a good point about releasing a little bit of the tension using a teaser. For the Bring on the Night teaser, I wanted to show that a certain amount of time had passed since the end of Bad to the Bone and that I was following through on a certain storyline so people wouldn’t think it was being put off for several books.
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thanks for the opportunity to read your fabulous books
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Thanks, Karen! I’m glad for the opportunity.
Hope everyone enjoyed the blog and had a great weekend!