Jeri Smith-Ready

YA series sold!

*deep breath*

I only get to do this every two years (so far), so I'm taking a moment to savor......

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Okay, moment over!

This sales announcement appeared in yesterday's Publisher's Lunch:

WICKED GAME and Aspect of Crow trilogy author Jeri Smith-Ready's first teen fiction GENERATION GHOST, following a 16 year-old girl on a quest to uncover why everyone her age and younger can see ghosts -- and her struggle to cope with her boyfriend's passing when he haunts her regularly, to Annette Pollert at Simon Pulse, at auction, in a two-book deal, by Ginger Clark at Curtis Brown (World English).

On Monday, December 8 (yes, I've been sitting on this news for five weeks, wondering if it could be real), my proposal for a young adult urban fantasy series went to auction. It was a nerve-wracking, headache-inducing, productivity-destroying day that I would happily relive again and again.

As with every new series, I'm most thrilled at the fact that I get to revisit these characters I've come to love after only three chapters (seriously, they already have their own playlists).

A little more about them:

The Girl: Aura Salvatore's winter solstice birth marked a mysterious event called the Shift. Everyone born after the Shift can see and hear ghosts (who appear in violet, for reasons I can't go into here). She lives in Baltimore with her mom, whose law firm specializes in wrongful death suits. Aura translates for the clients, telling the ghosts' side of the grisly stories—not exactly the world’s funnest after-school activity. She's obsessed with figuring out what caused the Shift (or better yet, how to reverse it), and whether it has anything to do with her missing Mystery Dad.

The Boy: Logan Keeley is/was the lead singer in an Irish-flavored punk band he shares with his older sister and brother (think Flogging Molly, junior edition). He wants to be a rock star, and considers death just a speed bump (or maybe even the fast lane) on the road to fame. Logan might be right about that part, but his relationship with Aura is threatened by his new lack of...well, a body. But hey, no more curfews.

The Other Boy: Zachary Moore is a Scottish exchange student who seems to know more about Aura than she knows about herself. He and Aura work together to solve the puzzle of the Shift, which maybe involved a dark ritual at an ancient burial ground such as Stonehenge. In the battle for Aura's heart, Zach gets major points for being alive and very, very solid (and the accent doesn't hurt).

So there's music, mystery, mythology, and of course a megadose of angst, because I wouldn't have it any other way.

Oh! Pertinent facts might help: The first book, Untouchable, will be released in hardcover in Summer 2010, and its sequel, Never Ever, will come out a year later. Both book titles are tentative, so pretend I didn't tell you, because one or both will probably change. But I think we're sticking with the series name Generation Ghost.

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.

I'm sure I've forgotten a bunch of things, and this post is getting long and self-indulgent, anyway, so if you have any questions, let 'em fly!


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Now playing: The Treehouse Song - Ane Brun
via FoxyTunes

Labels: writing life, YA series

• posted by Jeri @ 9:01 AM
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