Mundie Moms

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Blog Tour/Interview- Shift by Jeri Smith-Ready

We're the next stop in Jeri Smith-Ready's Shift blog tour and we're so excited to have Jeri on Mundie Moms today. There's a lot of fun things going on with this blog tour. Please be sure to read all the information at the end of the post to learn more about our giveaways today and the grand prize giveaway!! Be sure to mark your calendars, on June 7th we'll be CHATTING with Jeri LIVE here on MM's, at our normal chat time, 8 pm CST/ 9 pm EST.

Published by Simon & Schuster
Released on May 3rd, 2011

Aura's life is anything but easy. Her boyfriend Logan died, and his slides between ghost and shade have left her reeling. Aura knows that he needs her now more than ever. She loves Logan, but she can't deny her connection to the totally supportive, totally gorgeous Zachary. And she's not sure that she wants to. Logan and Zachary will fight to be the one by her side, but Aura needs them both to uncover the mystery of her past—the mystery of the Shift. As Aura's search uncovers new truths, she must decide whom to trust with her secrets...and her heart (quoted from Jeri's site here).



In Shade you introduced us to the pre- and post shifters. What was your inspiration for your mythology?

Hmm, my imagination? As far as I know, I made it up. When I first conceived the world, I liked the idea of ghosts being acknowledged as real because a large portion of the population could see them. The real breakthrough was deciding that it would be a matter of age. The ultimate generation gap!

Every teenager thinks that adults don’t understand them. Here, it’s literally true—younger people have an entirely different experience of the world, because only they can see and talk to ghosts. Pre-Shifters just don’t get it.

Which of your characters do you feel is most like you?

Definitely Logan. We share a lot of the same hopes and fears and passions. We live for music. We’re afraid of being forgotten. We want everyone to be happy and to like us, even if it means going along with things we don’t want to do, or know we shouldn’t do.

Luckily, I have much better self-control and have never accidentally killed myself to keep someone from being mad at me.

We are really looking forward to Shift's release, what would Aura, Logan and Zachary tell us readers about Shift?

They would say, pick up a box of tissues on your way home from the bookstore! Everyone gets their share of torture in this one. But in the end, I think they’re all pretty happy.

For now.

What advice would you give to writers who are interested in writing both YA and adult books? Do you find it challenging switching between a YA voice and an adult voice in writing?

It’s not a matter of writing “YA vs. adult voice” as it is simply writing different characters’ voices.

That would be my advice—don’t write YA characters. Write YOUR characters—who happen to be teens—and the rest will follow. Don’t transcribe what you overhear in the carpool or the food court. Your kids are not your characters, and your characters are not your kids. Teens aren’t aliens or exotic species to be observed, dissected, and replicated on the page. They’re individual people with individual minds and voices and desires.

Honestly, the biggest challenge I have in writing both adult and YA books is keeping up with the reading in both genres. It’s impossible, because there are so many great books coming out every week. My TBR pile will never reach zero before I die, and I’m okay with that.

If you could have a paranormal power, what power would you want and why?

I’d want the power to pick a new paranormal power every day. What can I say? I love variety!

We love hearing book recommendations from authors. What have you read lately that you could recommend to us?

I just read HOURGLASS by Myra McEntire. Her characters are so complex and real, especially the heroine Emerson. I also get the sense that there’s a huge world to explore there that we’re only seeing a small part of in this book. I love that zeroing-in-on-a-tapestry feeling, because it not only makes me salivate for the next book, it’s also more realistic. No one character is going to understand everything. It makes me feel like I’m IN the world, rather than observing it from outside and knowing all.

Thank you so much Jeri for being with us today! We are really looking forward to reading Shift. We agree about Hourglass, we love that book too.

Thanks for your fun questions!


Tomorrow's stop will be at Jackie Morse Kessler. You can find the rest of the tour schedule HERE.

Give us a comment or ask Jeri your own question below to enter today’s drawing. There will be two winners.

The Prizes:

Winner # 1 gets a signed copy of SHIFT, plus a Van Gogh Starry Night magnet (to match the poster Zachary gave Aura), courtesy of Jeri.
Winner #2 gets an unsigned copy of SHIFT, courtesy of Jeri’s publisher.

Additionally all commenters will be entered into a draw to win the Grand Prize - annotated copies of SHADE and SHIFT, an early copy of SHIFT (book three of the series, of which there will be no other ARCS) and an iPod Shuffle! Go HERE for the Grand Prize rules. Grand Prize winners will be announced on May 11th.

Open to international entries! Winners will be drawn after 24 hours. Please fill out the FORM below to enter:


Author Bio: Jeri Smith-Ready’s latest release is SHIFT (May 3), the second in the YA ghost trilogy that began last year with SHADE (which is now out in paperback). She loves to hear from readers, so please visit her at www.jerismithready.com, or better yet, on Facebook (www.facebook.com/jerismithready) or Twitter (@jsmithready), where she spends far too much time.

Waiting on Wednesday- Silence

By Becca Fitzpatrick
Published by Simon & Schuster
To Be Released on October 4th, 2011

The noise between Patch and Nora is gone. They've overcome the secrets riddled in Patch's dark past...bridged two irreconcilable worlds...faced heart-wrenching tests of betrayal, loyalty and trust...and all for a love that will transcend the boundary between heaven and earth. Armed with nothing but their absolute faith in one another, Patch and Nora enter a desperate fight to stop a villain who holds the power to shatter everything they've worked for—and their love—forever.

I am in love with this cover! This is by far my favorite cover out of the series. In case you missed it, Hollywood Crush revealed the cover on their site this week and they have an exclusive first look at the cover along with an interview with Becca HERE. Here's a little sample of what you'll find on their site:

He closed the distance between us, and just when I thought he'd drawn me against him, he stopped, holding himself in check. I exhaled, trying not to cry. He leaned his elbow on the doorjamb, just above my ear. He smelled so devastatingly familiar, soap and spice, the heady scent bringing back a rush of memories so pleasurable, it only made the current moment that much more difficult to bear. I was seized by the desire to touch him. To trace my hands over his skin, to feel his arms tighten securely around me. I wanted him to nuzzle my neck, his whisper to tickle my ear as he said private words that belonged only to me. I wanted him near, so near, with no thought of letting go.

Believe me, there's more to that quote. Be sure to head to Hollywood Crush's site, linked above to go read more. Our friends FallenArchAngel have a week long celebration happening on their site HERE. You don't want to miss it, they have giveaways, a chat with Becca and much more.

What do you guys think of the cover?

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