Tuesday, January 18, 2005

One way to look at it

A few of you already know that my husband was in a car accident last week. He's fine "except for" a broken collarbone. More details than that I probably shouldn't post online, since there may be a legal case pending.

One of the downshots is, my loyal Mazda Protege (which, at 9 years and 117,000 miles old, was the baby of our car family) is totaled. She never requested nor received glory or recognition. Critics called her "underpowered," "sluggish on turns," and "lacking a power button on the stereo," but in the end she gave her life to save Chris.

I've been trying hard to find a silver lining in all this (other than the "it could've been worse" factor, which initially made me giddy with still-having-a-husband), and I think I've finally come up with at least a bronze or copper lining:

I never had to sit in my car and punch the pre-programmed radio buttons to hear 99.1 WHFS in its new format ("El Zol"--which is Spanish for "the disappointment." See previous post.). My car and HFS went together like jalapeno jelly and cream cheese. I lost both in the same day--kind of a poignant coincidence.

Or is it? Perhaps my Protege had lost the will to go on living. I hear that in 13th century Spain, "El Zol" was a mystical term that everyone used but no one understood.

It meant "the suicidal automobile."

Next Release

Shade

Jeri's teen debut — May 4, 2010, from Simon Pulse, for ages 14 and up

First in a worldwide generation of ghost-seers, Aura's relationship with the dead changes when her boyfriend dies and comes back to haunt her.

More about SHADE

Pre-order at Mysterious Galaxy, Amazon.com, or Barnes & Noble.

Latest Release

Bad to the Bone

Bad to the Bone (sequel to Wicked Game) — now available in mass market paperback!

“Smith-Ready pours plenty of fun into her charming, fang-in-cheek urban fantasy” — Publisher's Weekly, starred review

Order at Mysterious Galaxy, Amazon.com, or Barnes and Noble.

Book 3, BRING ON THE NIGHT, will be released August 2010, and Book 4 will follow in August 2011.

Sorta new!

Wicked Game

“A colorful premise and engaging characters” — Library Journal

Wicked Game is now available in mass market paperback

Order at Mysterious Galaxy, Amazon.com, or Barnes and Noble.

About the author

Jeri Smith-Ready

Jeri Smith-Ready is a Maryland author of adult and teen urban fantasy.

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Photo © 2006 Szemere Photography

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    • First draft of SHIFT (sequel to SHADE)
    • "Crystalised" by the XX