Jeri Smith-Ready

Big SHADE-y News and a SHIFT-y ARC to celebrate!

I can finally share with the whole word the news I blurted out during last week's live chat from the Branson Cannibal Fest Writer's Retreat. Yesterday's Publishers Lunch contained this announcement:

Jeri Smith-Ready's conclusion to the SHADE trilogy, and a new untitled novel, again to Annette Pollert at Simon Pulse, in a [....] two-book deal, by Ginger Clark at Curtis Brown (World English).*

YAY!!!!! A million thanks to you readers, for making this possible, by buying Shade and spreading the word about it. Can I get a dorky high five?


Thanks, Liz Lemon!

I always hoped that there would be a third Shade book, because there's a lot left to explore after the end of Book 2 (Shift). Lots of questions get answered in that book (which comes out May 3), but lots more questions get asked, too.

However, because I didn't know whether or not Shift would be the last book in the series, it doesn't read like the middle book in a trilogy. In other words, no dark cliffhanger-y ending. Because that would be cruel.

The title to SHADE #3 will be announced later, but I can definitively say that it will not be any of the following:

a) SHIRT
b) SHAVE
c) SHARK

Probably not SHIRK, either.

SHADE #3 will be out Summer 2012, which could be as early as the first week in May, just like Shade and Shift.

What about the "new untitled novel," you ask? That's still to be determined, probably by the end of this year. I've been working on an exciting new idea, but it will no doubt undergo a lot of changes before I can talk about it. Right now, all I can say is that it will be for teens, it will be released Fall 2013, and it won't be a fourth SHADE book.

No, wait--I can also say that it won't be about any of the following subjects:

a) spaceships
b) circumnavigation of the Indian Ocean
c) trout

Check back periodically as I add to this list!

(Of course, now that I've said that, it'll end up being about a decrepit spaceship trying to earn back its "wings" by circumnavigating the Indian Ocean in search of the Great White Trout. Main character: 16-year-old girl who wants you to call her Ishmaela.)

Anyway, let's celebrate by giving away a signed ARC of Shift! To enter, tell me your favorite trilogy (movie, book, comic, whatever) AND which of the installments you love the most: first, second, or third?

For me, it's the Lord of the Rings movies, and my favorite is the second, Two Towers. I wasn't crazy about Fellowship of the Rings when I first saw it, honestly. I got frustrated with all the walking and was so, so relieved when the movie ended mid-scene (because I thought it would keep going until Frodo and Sam got to Mordor, which seemed VERY far away by walking).

But after seeing Two Towers--with its epic battle scene at Helm's Deep, and the riders of Rohan (and their heartbreaking theme song), and the introduction of Gollum, and the March of the Trees--I was hooked on the series. I watched Fellowship again and loved it big time. I bought the soundtracks. Now I try to watch the entire trilogy at least once a year. Even the parts with the walking.

(Plus: Pippin. Sigh...)

Deadline: Friday, February 18, 11:59 Eastern Standard Time.
International entries? YES!

I will announce the winner (drawn using a random number generator) here on the blog Saturday morning, so there's no need to leave your e-mail address. But if I can't contact the winner, and they don't contact me by next Friday, I'll draw another name.

Good luck, and thanks for sharing the moment with me!

EDITED TO ADD: Congrats to Reading Mind, who won the ARC of Shift! Reading Mind, please send your mailing address to at jeri AT jerismithready DOT com to claim your prize. If I don't hear from you by Friday, February 25, I'll draw another name. Thanks to everyone who entered!


*"World English" means that Simon Pulse can resell the rights to any English language publisher outside of North America--like Pulse UK, which has done such a fabulous job with Shade and Shift. "[....]" means the monetary amount of my deal is NOYB.

Labels: Contests, movies, SHADE series

• posted by Jeri @ 11:38 AM
• 68 comments