Kim Harrison's Blog, page 100

Event schedule – A Perfect Blood- updated

I've updated the event's schedule with the newest information on the individual book store's signing policies.  If there's nothing listed, then you are welcome to bring in titles purchased from other stores, but it's always a good idea to check back a day or two before the event just to be sure nothing has changed.  Updated 2/13

And since I've got you here, the Cuyahoga Library, Strongsvill Branch outside of Cleveland, OH. requires you to contact them ahead of time to reserve a spot for the event.  They may cap the attendance, so please go to their website Strongsvill Branch and reserve a spot.

Most stores don't mind if you bring in previously purchased titles, especially if it's not the new book, but even so, it's a very good idea to purchase something, anything, while I'm there, even it it's not my book.  The cold fact is that if they don't make sales while I'm there, they likely won't ask me back, so please take the time to acknowledge that they have invested a in asking me to visit your area if you are not purchasing A Perfect Blood at the event. It doesn't have to be my book, but trust me, they keep track of sales. It's also not a bad idea to call the store and reserve a copy if you don't pick one up ahead of time. I have occasionally run out.

As far as me and the work this week, I'm not going to be good for much.  Fortunately I've finished my rewrite of the ms that I've been working on, and can now concentrate on, ah, taxes.  And promotional stuff.  And the last minute stuff that takes over my live before a tour.

But tonight is the first night of the dog show!  The Hound, Toy, Non-Sporting and Herding Groups are tonight,  so I'll be looking for a glimpse of my favorite breeds in two groups.

Valentines? No, nachos!

Life is best taken when the highs and lows are bracketed by traditions.  They help us more accurately see  where we are and how far we've come, that the bad times were still okay, and the good times will always be remembered.

So how do nachos fit in there, you might ask?

Well . . .   See . . .  There's a long story here, the quick version being that Guy's and my first Valentines was spent with nachos, and . . . ah . . . the Westminster Dog show.  (Both of us forgot what day it was.)  And for that reason, every year on or around Valentines day, we will take two nights from our busy lives and plunk ourselves in front of the TV and make nachos and watch the dogs.   Bracket this with two decades, and you can see what I mean when I say traditions let the changes, both good and bad, show in the glowy light of love.

So there are chocolates that only go to "waist," cards that end up in a drawer, and flowers that wilt and line the bin three days later.  They are all beautiful expressions of love–and woe be to the guy who fails to deliver when the gal expects them–but I think I'll keep my nachos and dog show.  They have served me well so far.

For more info and to watch along, click

A Perfect Blood Wallpaper

If you're a Drama Box regular, you've probably already seen the A Perfect Blood wallpaper that my publisher has made available for your personal use, but if not, I wanted to feature it again on my BRAND NEW LOOKING PAGE!    (Can I crow just a tiny bit?  It took me forever to figure out, and I hem and haw over the smallest things.  I'll probably still be tweaking it next week, but I like it!)  Let me know if you see ads on the page as you should not anymore.  Tricky, tricky . . .

So here it is, for those who missed it. Click on the thumbnail to go to the higher res copy.  That's the one that you want to use.

I'll be busy today finishing up the changes I wanted to make on the NaNo book.  Rough draft done–check.  First rewrite almost done–check.  I can't wait to tell you about it.  I'm dying here . . .

Tour T's are in the post

If you have ordered a tour T between the dates of December 16 and now, your tour t has been printed, packaged, enveloped, stamped, addressed, checked for payment, and is now either already in the post, or in Guy's truck headed to the post.  :-) (If  you ordered in November, you should have it.  If not, email Guy at vampcharms@comporium.net) It seems early for cutting orders off, but past experience tells us it might take two weeks for some of them to make their way to the West Coast, and we want to make sure they get to you in time.  If you happen to have a tour t from a previous year and are planning on going to an event, wear it!  This is the first year we're opening the family photo up to past Tour t's, and I'm curious what's going to happen.  ;-)

You might notice that there's a new look to the drama box today, and may have even noticed me trying out a much starker theme late last night.  (It looked good on their site, but I couldn't figure out how to enable images on the previews without paying extra, and I'm a cheap bast- ah, frugal country girl.)  I think I'll go with this one for a week or so to see how easy it is to work with in the early am hours when I'm not focusing yet.  The spoiler pages and ask Kim a question pages now have their own tabs, which I think is cool.  I'm going to see about getting the tour info up there, but really, check the website because that's where the quick changes will be made.

And speaking of the website . . .  I've almost got all my pages flipped over to the new, hopefully crisper layout.  It's time to say good-bye to the darker colors and bring on a more clean look.  I've been working toward it for a while, but this year, as I revamp for the release, I went all the way and found–the color white.  -grin-  It looks pretty good.  If I get brave, I'll change the front page over tonight, and it will be official.  Check out the books page.  It's a good representation of the site's new theme.

If I'm puttering on the website, then you know the work is either going really good, or really bad.  For a change, it's going really good.  I'm almost through my first rewrite of my NaNo book.  It's going to sit for nearly a year before anyone sees it, but I LIKE IT!!!  When I get back from tour, I'll be writing book 12 of the Hollows, refreshed and ready from the rest.  I have a feeling that Peri is taking off where Rachel is going to leave off, a much more confident, kick-butt woman with a different set of problems.  Getting to work with a more mature woman for several months is going to mesh well with Rachel's final story.  I am so glad that I have the luxury of time.  I worked my butt off to get it, and it's paying me dividends.

Ah, saying no helped too.  That's my newest favoritest word.  -grin-

 

Sneak peek chapter five of A Perfect Blood

Chapter five of A Perfect Blood is up for your reading pleasure at the Harper blog!  I hope you enjoy it!

Want a signed book and I'm not coming near you?  I've got two options this year!

(To see if I'm coming near you, check out the event's page.)

In Ann Arbor: I will be signing A Perfect Blood in Ann Arbor on February 22, and won't be back until March 10th.  Nicola's will cheerfully ship overseas.  (Note, because she takes your order by phone, please tell her if you want me to simply sign it, or personalize it with your name and a note.)  Call at 734-662-0600 to order.  They also carry signed Blood Work, Pale Demon, and might have some Hollows Insiders as well.

In Seattle:  I will be signing A Perfect Blood in Seattle on the 7th at the Signed Page.  I believe Shawn will ship overseas, as well.  To order, follow the instructions at the online form here.  Kim's online form.  Patricia Briggs will also be signing Fair Game at the time, and her online form is here.  Patricia's online form  Please don't order personalized books after the 7th.  I won't be there to sign them.  But I'm sure there will be some generically signed books for a span.

I was cheering for the commercials

The Super Bowl is a big deal at my house.  We have chips and dip, wings and chili, and all that goes with that.  We sit around the TV and stuff our faces and talk while the game is on, wincing at the hits and yelling when something spectular happens.  Like yesterday when the offence played beautifully and opened a hole ten yards from the line big enough to throw a cat through, and the ball carrier turned around and sat down just inside the inzone.  (Loved that play.)

However, when it's all done, I don't care who actually won the game.  I'm watching for the commercials.

This year, I'm giving them a 7 out of 10.  Maybe an 8.  Points off for the teasers telling you to go to their website to see the rest of the commercial. And where were the dogs barking the theme to StarWars?  They didn't seem to be as many inventive spots as I've seen in the past, but the ones that were, sparkled.

Clint's halftime pep-talk was my favorite, followed by the yogurt head butt that caught me completely off guard.  The vampires were FABULOUS!!  (Love to see them being used to sell anything, but I had to explain them to my mom.) and baby-slinging grandma was a hoot.  I liked the play on Bueller's Day Off, but heard that it had been out already.  Our only difficulty was keeping my dad from muting them.  He's so automatic with that clicker.  ;-)

Oh, and Madonna was super.  I liked seeing her up there.

Going to a signing? Call before you buy the book . . .

I've been busy updating the website yesterday, and though I've not gotten to the front page yet, most of the back pages have been revamped.  Changing the website is NOT procrastination.  Really!  It isn't. . . much.  In any case, I've got a new, crisper look I'm going for.  (And an idea of how to get around that "thunk" moment.  I'm not a big believer in the philosophy of taking a walk when you get stuck, but in this case, I needed to step back before I royally screwed up what I had.)  I think it's working for me.  (both the web site and the book.)    I'll mess with the front page this weekend, now that I have a better feel for it.  Today I'm cracking that nut with my keyboard.

Anyway . . . what all the above is leading up to is that I updated the event's page with phone numbers when I had them.  If you're planning on going to a signing, I recommend calling them to find out if they have a buy-it-here, get-a-line-number policy.   More and more of the independent sellers are doing so to help defray the cost of having an event.  Good news is that you can often call ahead and reserve your spot in line along with a book.  Most places don't mind if you bring in older titles for a signature if you are buying a book at the same time.

It's foggy this morning, and I smell skunk.  It's way too soon for that . . .  I've got a bad feeling that we are going to get hit and hit hard by some snow before it's all over.  ;-)

Link to the Event's page

Thunk

And I was moving along so well, too.  Yesterday I came to one of those nasty spots that my current work is becoming known for, and I fell asleep last night going over the possibilities.  I still don't know which way I'm going to go, but I distinctly remember hitting this same spot on the rough draft.  Now that I'm in the rewrite, you'd think I'd be set.  But no-o-o-o-o.  Clearly something isn't rubbing me right, and I have to take another look at it.  I can get rid of an issue and move forward hoping it goes away by the time I hit the end, or fall back and incorporate it into the earlier text.  The first will smack me hard at the end.  The second is going to take finesse and attention to detail–and it might not work when all is said and done.  Decisions, decisions . . .

Also, three of my favorite writers have an e-book title on sale if you partake in e-books.  Interested?  You need to hop on over to your favorite vendor and hunt them up, but for $1.99, it's worth a little hopping.  (Unfortunately, this might be open only to US vendors.)

Harper Voyager e-book sale  (click for all the titles)  But here are my favorite three.  ;-)

NIGHTWALKER, Jocelynn Drake

SANDMAN SLIM, Richard Kadrey

THE SCENT OF SHADOWS, Vicki Pettersson

 

Ahhh, you gotta look at the whole sentence.

Ahhh, there seems to have been some confusion over yesterday's post.  The charm/shirt/cover flat give away is only in the Portland event.  They are traditionally my largest signing, (if Cincy is not on the tour) and I was trying to reach the most people I could.  Guy and I would love to have a huge manic Monday and just give them away for S&H, but he can only handle addressing about 50 pieces of shipments a week, (with all the other stuff he's doing) and we want them out of the house.  My apologies for any hurt feelings at the misunderstanding.  Just because you can't take advantage of a give away doesn't mean I don't like you or that I'm dissing you.  I've simply got a bunch of stuff and I need to get rid of it as painlessly as possible.  Rachel's pack tattoo will be available at ALLLLLLLLL the signings, as usual.

A Perfect Blood Wallpaper

It's Tuesday!  For the last few weeks, Harper Voyager has been treating you to a new chapter of A PERFECT BLOOD, but this week, they have a wallpaper for your screen instead. Soon as the wallpaper pops up, I'll change today's post to include it.

(Click for chapters one to four)  Chapter five will be released next week, and then the book will be on sale on the 21st.  (Dude, it seems very close now!!!!)

Meanwhile, the tour is starting to take a very definite shape.  Guy and I have added a few give-aways in addition to the usually freebies with almost 100 posters to give away at our first store in Michigan, Schulers in Lansing, and a mess of charms, signed cover flats, freebies from last year, and maybe even a few T-shirts for our last out of state signing at Portland.  Your choice.  Pick something!