Kim Harrison's Blog, page 101

Cold and cloudy Monday

It is cold and cloudy outside this AM, but it's warm and tropical in my office.  I went out this weekend and bought a humidifier.  Guy could not believe it when I dropped the one that looked like a penguin into the cart, but the way I feel about it is if you have to have something, it may as well be fun, right?   I understand they make a dragon, too.  I may have to upgrade . . .

I also spent some time and found a couple of plant stands that used vertical space rather than horizontal so it doesn't look like so many plants.  Too much of anything looks nasty, and I think I've hit that point.  Now if only I could get them to bloom.  Time.  It takes time.

The manic Monday books have been invoiced, so if you didn't get one, take heart in that there will be more in the future.  Also, we will be bringing the last of the glow in the dark posters to Schuler's store on the 21st to give away while they last.

Where Kim is signing

Manic Monday!

Books are gone!  Thank you, very much, guys!  If you missed out, we will have more manic Mondays after the tour.  As always, we are giving away Rachel's pack tattoo freebie for a SASE.  Info HERE  Tuesday I will have a free wallpaper for you as well, so be sure to take advantage of that!

Yes indeed, it's a Manic Monday on Friday.  Originally I wanted to give away copies of FIRST TRUTH in recognition of the Year of the Dragon, but when I went digging, I realized that we had already given them away.  But what Guy and I did find was boxes of anthologies.  Today at noon, EST, we will make them available to you for the price of shipping and handling.  Two books will go out with each offer, Guy's choice as to which two you get.  The tattoo freebie for A PERFECT BLOOD will be in there, as well.

The skinny: Guy will begin taking orders at noon today, EST.  (Don't email him now.  Wait for noon.)  One set per person, please.  The cost covers the shipping and handling.  USA shipments will take two weeks from when we ship, international will be a bit longer as there are forms to fill out and longer shipping times.

Shipping and Handling for the package (two books) is $5.00 in the US, $10.00 to Canada, and $18.00 everywhere else.  If you are in Germany, please allow for a long shipping time as everything gets hung up in customs.  To make this as painless and fast as possible for Guy, we are taking Pay Pal only.  Unfortunately we can't combine any other merchandise in with this, but as I mentioned, you'll get Rachel's pack tattoo.  Domestic will ship Media Mail.  International will go out as First Class.

If you are interested, at noon, EST today, (no earlier) send an email to Guy at vampcharms@comporium.net with the words Anthology offer in the subject line.  If you are among the first 48, he will send you an invoice, so please include your shipping address in your initial email. If you do not include your shipping address in the initial email, he can not ship you your book(s), and your order will not be acted on.  PayPal doesn't always put the address in, and it's frustrating.  We don't do anything with your address but ship you your book(s).  We don't have the time to do anything wicked, and I hate it when people sell mine, so . . .

As usual, I'll update this post when they are gone to help avoid confusion.  If you miss out, I'll be having more shipping and handling give aways.  Just so you know, Sunday is the last day you can order a Tour T as Guy will be placing the last print order Monday.  It takes a bit of time to get them back and shipped out to you, and we want to be sure that you have them for release day.  Click for ordering information

Manic Monday–on Friday?

If you've been lurking on the drama box, you know that I've been working on several novellas and shorts for inclusion into a Harrison anthology due out this next September.  The intent was to put a lot of the older Hollows novellas and shorts into it, but I'm not sure how much room is actually going to be there for old stuff.  Something is going to be left out, and with that in mind, I dug to the back of Guy's office closet and pulled out a box here, a box there, and found that my, my, my . . . we have a lot of anthologies that need good homes.

I'm pretty sure we're going to bundle them up into two books per person, maybe three, Guy's choice as to what you get.  There are a few ARCs in there, too.  I'll sign 'em this time.  Check back tomorrow for the full scoop and how to get in on this, but the short word today is hold on–we aren't quite ready yet.

For a listing of the Hollows series with the novellas and shorts included: CLICK

I had a nice break through (insert DUHH here) with Grace yesterday on how to make it work within the concerns my editor brought up, and should wrap it up today with hardly a hiccup, giving me tomorrow to skim through the Jenks and Trent novella.  I am so glad I don't have to revamp her story again.  She's been through so much already.  Talk about pulling it out of your, ah, hat.

 

Crickets

So yesterday I spent a few minutes on iTunes and found an hour of cricket sounds to serve as white noise in my very quiet, very welcomely quiet, office.  It might be five minutes looping, but it sounds good to me.  ;-)

Work is moving forward at a faster clip than expected, and I should have the Harrison anthology (September 2012) off my desk by the end of the month or shortly thereafter.  The last story is going to give me issues, (Grace) and I want to go over the first again (Trent and Jenks' elf quest) to see if I've made him too soft in my attempts to bring out more elf culture.  He feels soft to me, and that's not what I wanted.  Balance, balance . . .

Today, though, I'll be working with Meg, who, if you remember, is a creepy sort of story that leans toward the fairytale horror that you're seeing on a lot of SiFi shows right now.  This is the one in the bunch that I think my editor was the most excited about, and the one that would play the most havoc with my balance if I developed it into a full novel.  (because of the horror.)  I don't see it as a series, but as a stand-alone.  It has a wonderful voice I've not worked in for a long time.

Stand alones are not popular at all right now, but this one feels powerful enough to make it.  (shrug)  We'll see. If someone wants it, they want it.  If not, I might just write it to get it out of my mind so I can write something else. I feel pretty good with several outstanding ideas with which to play with in the coming years.  (Ah, they aren't outstanding quite yet, but the bones lend themselves to outstanding if the work is put into them.)  It's all very wide open.  As the song says, "You don't get open, You just are open."

Early heads up: We're going to have a Manic Monday on Friday in celebration of The Year of the Dragon.

A Perfect Blood early release of chapters

Harper has released chapter four of A PERFECT BLOOD today at their blog!  Here's the link!  Chapters 1-3 are there as well.  Enjoy!

Click for sneak peek.

The psyche-up begins

I took a look at the calendar Friday to schedule out my time for the rewrite on the Harrison anthology (due out this next September).  I knew the tour was coming up, but it hadn't hammered home yet how close we are.  It's close.  Real close.  Close enough that I have to start the month-long process of psyching myself up for it.

Don't get me wrong.  I love getting out and seeing you guys.  I like the chance to see new places and sleep in a new one every night.  It's fun to see what kind of room you're going to get and if cookies on the desert menu.  (Only the most posh places have them.)  I don't get out much while I'm home, so tour is kind of like an intense, on-the-go working vacation where you bust your butt for two to three weeks to get four hours of sight-seeing or shopping in somewhere far from home.  (Seriously, that's about all I ever get in.  Not complaining, just explaining.)  But I am a very closed person who doesn't take naturally to the spotlight, and it takes some psyching up to get myself in front of a crowd and not throw up.  There's a reason I don't eat two hours before a signing, and this is most of it.  I love talking to you guys, but wedging my butt from my comfortable chair takes some doing.

Anyway, I realized we're about a month out, which means I have to start making sure I have everything.  Child care–check.  Puppy care–check.  Clothes–check.  (I do have a few new outfits this year, bringing in a bit of red into my wardrobe.  The only time I can EVER find the right mix of casual posh for signing clothes is two weeks before New Years.  This year, I got in the day before New Years and everything was half off.  Score!)  Freebies–halfway done.  Just have to get them to the signing stores and the publishers.  Health–getting there.  (I wait until two weeks out before I start drinking Echinacea tea to wake up the immune system.  So far, so good.)  Work–planning out the time needed to get rewrite for anthology done, and maybe a few more chapters in the NaNo book, because when I get back, I'm going to have Hollows book 11 to rewrite, and then the rough draft for book 12.

Then there are the hundred of other little things like how to plan for four different weather scopes and two levels of polish within the confines of one bag of luggage, finding a pair of shoes that zip for ease of flight travel, that can handle a day of walking comfortably, and look good on stage, because I'm not going to pack a pair of shoes–and finally, making sure I have my camera charger with me because I love what I do and I want pictures to remember it.

Ahhh, the things they never tell you you're going to have to learn when you say you want to write.  (grin)

What is this "2″ you speak of?

Two?  Two degrees?  Seriously?  I think I heard some nose hairs shatter this morning when I took the dogs out.  But it's nice and warm in my office, and very still outside my windows.  No runners this morning, no one walking their dogs.  I'm just glad it's not windy.  Most of my outside plants are good to that temp, but I might have just lost all my lavender.  Two degrees . . .  Not unheard of, but unusual for lower MI.  Once every fifteen years or so.  Maybe it will kill the bugs.

So, I'm officially in my new office.  I had lunch yesterday in my old one, already repurposed to a nice reading/eating nook area. It's still kind of a mess, but that is what the weekends are for.  At least I'm not going to have to buy any furniture for the switcheroo, (except maybe a bookshelf) but I will likely have to upholstery a settee that I purchased last year and has been sitting in an upstairs hallway.  Next warm afternoon (HA!) I'll take it outside, put a dust mask on, and rip it down to wood and springs.  Meantime, I will have to go fabric shopping.  That could take weeks.  I don't think I'll have the reading nook done anytime soon . . .

But my office is done apart from two blinds that had to be specially ordered, everything switched in an afternoon, which I think is nothing short of miraculous.  As you can see, I brought my desk plants with me.  They are liking it as much as I am. Mr. Fish is happy, and the dogs love it.  Yesterday, I got a lot done, so I do believe I'm going to call it good, and just enjoy having the best room in the house.  (snerk)  Besides, I do let Guy in here.  He has his own chair and table for his morning coffee.

 

 

Back to work

After much soul searching, I took yesterday afternoon off to move my office to a more sunny, much quieter location.  I was intending to wait until the weekend, but couldn't stop myself  after the cable guy came and made the area open to internet.  So this morning, I'm typing in blessed silence with no knocking on the door, hammering upstairs, or barking of dogs at the hundreds of people who seem to pop up with a question when I am working.  I've got nothing but silence.  Not even the whir of a fan.  Ahhhhhh.  The dogs like it, too.  It's toasty warm.  If I wasn't looking at snow out my window, I'd think I was on a beach.  (Pictures later.  I can't post anything and say "This is where I work" when I've not actually worked there yet.)

I have put up a spoiler page for the first couple of chapters of A PERFECT BLOOD.  You can find them HERE  It is really designed for you to discuss among yourselves, but if you preface your post with "Hey Kim," I'll see it and answer.  Otherwise, I won't be reading them so feel free to cut lose.

 

The voice of Kalamack

I'm turning my face back to the Hollows this morning after reading through the Trent/Jenks novella and making the typo tweaks yesterday.  –Which means that I finally got through my chapter four.  Whoo-hoo!  I really like it after dropping back to more of the original copy and tightening it up.  There were a few surprises to me that will make some of the later chapters make more sense, and I now know why Peri brought a knife to a gun fight.  She is one pissed puppy, which means I can stop work on her knowing that I can pick her up tomorrow or next month and remember where I was with the story.

Trent, on the other hand. . .  I'm liking the story a lot, but the narration has a lot to be desired.  I'll be working on voice this week–I can tell already.

 

Slogging boldly

I don't particularly want to talk about why I didn't get through chapter four yesterday.  (snerk)  But I didn't, and I should have in my thoughts.  In my own defense, it's a massive chapter, weighing in at about 24 pages, but I've been working on it for three or four days.  True, it's pivotal, one of those chapters that the entire book hinges on, more so than usual–but four days?  *sigh*  Complicated, yes, but it's starting to feel simple, which is what I'm aiming for.

And yet, I'm excited to work on it this  morning.  I'm almost there, down to the tweaking of who has what gun and why did she bring a knife to a gun fight?  It feels really good, and I will celebrate with a piece of cheese when I'm done.  -laugh-

I'm waiting for Harper to drop chapter three on you.  Soon as it pops up, I'll put a link to it here.  You can check yourself with a peek at their blog.  Harper Voyager Blog

PS  Does anyone remember how you take yourself off the "notify me of new comments/posts" by email?  It seems to me that sometimes you have to go into your preferences area when simply unchecking the boxes don't work.  Any ideas?