Kim Harrison's Blog, page 102

Going boldly

I feel like I should have tons to tell you this morning, but I don't.  Guy and I had a great weekend relaxing somewhat.  I dug out an old version of Sim City 3000 that I lost weeks on a few years ago, and I played around with that a bit.  Made some farms and an intentionally small city of about 10,000.  It's hard to keep your commercial demand high with a city that small, but if you keep your pollution low and your people happy, they will pay through the nose to live there, making up for the lack of industry and commercial.  (Yep, I'm a Sim City junkie from way back before when Sims were nothing but little, indistinct figures walking a street you could barely see.)

I did have some fun installing some blinds and got to play with a new cordless drill Guy got me for the holidays.  Apparently he was tired of seeing me struggling with the little cordless I've had the last . . . omgosh, fifteen years, maybe?  and gave me a real tool.  Nice.  The blinds work great and the room feels very open and airy.  Ahhhhh.  If I can get wireless moved to our sunroom/porch, I'm moving my office out there.  (grin)

I did not get through chapter four Friday, which was about what I expected, though I should today with a solid understanding of what's going on from there out.  And then . . . I'm dropping the NaNo book for a few weeks to edit the Harrison anthology scheduled for next year.  (September?)  This is the one with the novella of how Trent and Jenks stole Lucy.  It also has a handful of new stories that have dryads in them, each of them taking them from a different point of view so you can kind of see how I develop the magic of a new species over the course of ten years.  They are still evolving, by the way.

So I guess it's back to "work" for me this week.  It has truly felt like a marvelous vacation this October through December as I wrote on something new, finding things out, making things fit, working up new worlds and characters–a brand new batch of secrets so new and fragile I'm holding them close to my chest lest they become bruised.  Now that it's over, I feel confidently comfortable with the idea of writing that last Hollows book and being able to create something new that can hold my attention for a decade if I should be so lucky again.  Being able to go forth boldly makes a world of difference.

Succeed or fail, if you go boldly, you have won a contest of the spirit.

 

It works better if you take the brake off

Oh, I did not get hardly anything done yesterday.  The tweaks to chapter three blew chapter four to bits, and I spent all day weighing options because the tweaks were so much better for the story.  I'm keeping to a short post today because I have to throw chapter four out entirely and rework the chapter from basically scratch.  Ow.  I broke my ending, too, but I figure I'll find a way go get her where she needs to be another way by the time I reach that page.   Mmmm, yeah.

We did get snow, just an inch or so.  I can tell the experienced drivers from the newbies by how fast they are going past my window. There are going to be some fender benders today.

Snow?

I like snow, and I'm not going to apologize for it.  I knew there were a couple of systems moving toward Michigan, with the barest chance we might get some snow last night.  Sure enough, when I woke up in the middle of the night, there was a dusting.  But alas, it was gone by the time I woke up, washed away by the rain.  The real snow is still across the Great Lakes and won't get here until tonight.  What I don't like is ice.  Snow=good.  Ice=bad.  That's what I'm concerned about with this next battle with Mr. Freezemiser.  My dogs don't like snow at all, but they like it when we sit and watch Guy shovel it.

I wasn't able to crack open chapter four yesterday as I had hoped.  I had to spend more time than expected on three when I realized that things had to happen faster and the text had to be adjusted so Peri didn't look stupid.  Also had to go back and add in another death, fortunately this one is off page and wasn't even her fault.  Seriously, this isn't supposed to be a dark book, but things just kind of . . . happen?

Today is going to be rough.  I'll be lucky to get through chapter four by the time I push back from my desk, but it will shape the rest of the book and so it deserves a little extra time.  I've got a bad feeling that I just trashed half of it by my tweaks in chapter three, but if the book is tighter, than that's a good thing.

 

For those of you who have ordered Tour T's and haven't gotten them (which I hope isn't a lot) hold on.  Guy is going to make another print run very soon.  If you want to get in on this latest go, I'm going to send you right to the website with the ordering info.  Wearing one gets you in the family photo I try to take at every store.  Oh!  And if you have shirts from previous tours, wear them to the event!  You can be in the picture, too.  ;-)

Click for ordering information

Can't make it to an event?  Send me a SASE, and I'll send you this year's freebie.  Rachel's Pack Tattoo!  How to get  your free tattoo

 

Second chapter of A Perfect Blood

The second chapter of A Perfect Blood popped up on Harper Voyager's blog yesterday!  Yay!  If you've not seen it, and are in the mood for a little more teasing, go check it out!  It is in a much more accessible format if you were having trouble with the first.  Click for chapter two

Last night I spent some time working on shifting the website over to A Perfect Blood's colors, and I'm still not quite happy with it.  I wanted to pull on the red from the cover for the link colors, but it was too garish, so I aimed for Rachel's hair.  Something still isn't quite right, but it's getting there.  I like the monochrome look I've got going, but it's missing something.  Shadows, maybe. . .

Anyway, chapter three is open on my desk this morning, and I might be able to even get four at least started before I push back.  I played with chapter one again yesterday, cementing things since it was THE FIRST CHAPTER, and I've decided I like it.  I like it a lot.  Especially the first line, which has three clues as to what the story is going to be about, all of them not easily seen unless you are looking for it.  (I love words . . .)

First chapters are tricky beasts.  They have definite needs, especially in genre fiction where there are expectations and conventions, something you need to pay attention to if you are making up magic, rules, and worlds.  Expectations help the reader can find their feet faster and their reading experience more enjoyable and allow the uniqueness of your story to stand out.  I have a few things I like to work in to help make my first chapter more successful.  (This is for genre fiction.)

I once heard it said that most bestselling books start with dialog within the first three paragraphs.  I don't know if it's true, but I try to follow that rule, even if it's just the main character talking to themselves.

Use action to introduce the main characters, not reflection.  My personal rule is to not introduce more than two people in any given chapter.  First chapters are best lean on the characters.  Show only what will carry through to the end, whether it be a person, emotion, or idea.  I have someone dying in the first chapter, so clearly he isn't going to carry through to the end, but the emotions that stem from it do.

First chapters need to touch on the issue that the main character is going to be dealing with.  For example, if someone close to the main character is going to die and the book is about her dealing with it, she needs to see someone die, or a funeral, or a car accident, or an obituary, or a dead flower.  Something!  There needs to be a hint so the reader is primed for it and the clues you will be dropping.  You don't necessarily have to be blatantly obvious about it, especially if discovery is involved, but it should be there.  Readers are savvy.  They will be looking for this whether they know it or not.  Give it to them, and they will follow you to the next page.

The inner strength that will get your main character to the end needs to be shown.  The personal drawback that will hinder them needs to be there, too. Not the bad guy, the personal quirk that keeps the main character stumbling, but if you can get the bad guy in there too, all the better.  Just don't add the entire cast at once.  One line goes a long way in a first chapter.  This is part of character development, and your reader must be able to identify with your character immediately, or the page won't be turned.

The magic needs to be shown, or at least mentioned with some emotion attached so the reader knows how to feel about it.  We must know from the first chapter if the magic is open and talked about, or hidden and creating a danger just by being able to do it.

These are the biggies, and if you ask a different writer, you'll probably get a different answer, and that's the beauty of it.  To get all the above in less than 20 pages is a tall order, but this is what a publisher or agent is looking for when they ask for your first three chapters.  Most editors and agents will know from three pages if they want your work.  Much of what they are looking for is "voice", but I've always felt this is what they are unconsciously looking for as well.  Can you immerse the reader immediately?  Can you tell us what the story is going to be about without smacking us in the face with it?  Can you make us identify with the character and care?  Can you mash all that in and still make us want to find out more?

It isn't easy.  It takes time.  And rewrites.  Lots of rewrites.  I seldom wind up using my original first chapter, so don't beat yourself up trying to make it perfect on the first run through.  Take your time.  It's often not until the end that we know how to start.

Working. Just working

I will admit that it was a relief to finally sit back down in my office chair this week.  I've been working all through the break, admittedly not hardcore about it but still getting things done.  I called the rough draft of the book I started for NaNo finished, and yesterday I started over with chapter one, knowing far more about the story now than I did back on the third of November.  It's changed, evolved, and I've found a lot of the things I knew I needed when I started, but not where they actually were.  It was very much a seat of the pants run-through–even if I had my chapter outlines at all times.  (They changed almost weekly, but that worked well.) I wasn't surprised, and it was easy to shift from my highly regimented outline technique I've been working with the last five years or so to a freer style.  I have no idea if this is going to be my next series, but I like it, and it speaks to me.  As I go deeper, it connects more to a new set of ideas and less to the whispers of Rachel still drifting in the back of my techniques.  All good.

But getting back to my office . . .  That was and is a relief.  Though I've cultivated the skill of being able to work anywhere, having a place to work that is one's own is surprisingly important.  It's ugly outside, but inside I've got a slew of orchids re-blooming and some weird succulent plant I picked up at a plant sale this summer is sending up a three ft tall spike that I think is going to turn into a leaf. Mr Fish has become aggressive over the last few months, meaning he is about a year from the great mud puddle in the sky.  The print on my keyboard is slowly being worn off, and I've begun to try to save the individual keys with a silver pen.  The sun travels a slowly shifting arch each day from extreme to extreme, the pattern familiar and reassuring.

Everything before me as I sit at my desk changes slowly over time, growth and decline happen gradually, with no surprises.  It's very much like the process of writing.  The mind falls into an easy drift of pattern recognition, and it's comforting knowing that though change, like progress on the book, is slow, it does occur.

or maybe I just need a new keyboard and a new set of blinds . . .

 

P.S.  I've updated the event's schedule.  Times and places are now listed, but as before, please check back a few days before going to an event as things often, er, change.  Click for event's page

 

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here's an excerpt:

London Olympic Stadium holds 80,000 people. This blog was viewed about 530,000 times in 2011. If it were competing at London Olympic Stadium, it would take about 7 sold-out events for that many people to see it.

Where did they come from?

Most visitors came from The United States. Germany & Canada were not far behind.

Click here to see the complete report.

What really surprised me was the break down of where my visitors were coming from.  Wow!  I love that my work is better traveled than me.  It is truly an honor.

A Perfect Blood Sneak Peek

Howdy campers!  I tried very hard not to go online for the last two weeks with questionable success, and even though I technically have a few days left to my enforced drama box vacation, I did want to tell you that the first chapter of A Perfect Blood is up for your viewing over at the Harper Voyager FB page.  [Chapter one of A Perfect Blood]

Chapter two should be available on the 10th.  You do not have to be a member of FB to see chapter one and two, but after that, you're going to have to "like" the page in order to see chapters three through five.  (Yes, they are going to release up through chapter five!  Whoo-hoo!)

And since I'm here, I may as well blather a bit. . .  Guy, Thing-one and Thing-two and I had a fabulous holiday break.  I hope everyone else did as well.  It feels like I spent equal time between sorting/cleaning, eating/knitting, and yes, writing.  I am calling my NaNo book done at first draft though there is a very large hole of action in two places I need to fix now that I've reached the end.  This is one of the most messy rough drafts I've had in a long time, but seeing as it's new characters, worlds, and magic, I'm not surprised.  It was very much a seat-of-the-pants, even thought I always had my ever-changing chapter briefs in front of me.  I can't wait until Monday and the chance to dig back into page one and fix this.  I really like where it's going.  It wasn't until this last week that I found the love interests.   happy sigh

 

Pssst . . . I'm not really here

Seriously, I promised myself I would stay off the Internet until the first week of January was over, but I wanted to remind you that Harper Voyager is scheduled to release the first chapter of A Perfect Blood tomorrow.

To receive notice of this and the rest of the chapters 2-5 as they are released over the coming weeks, sign up for Harper's Author tracker.

Click here to sign up

Taking some time off

They say if you are too busy to take a vacation, that you're not doing it right, so in regards to me keeping a balance that enables me to get everything done and still stay reasonably sane, I'm going to sign off the drama box for a week or so to better enjoy my family.  Trust me, I'm still working.  Even though I try not to carry my work with me when I push back from my desk at the end of the day, it's hard to shake it off, especially when you love what you do.  I'll still be dropping comments/notices on my FB page, but I will not be here at the drama box.

So Guy and I and the boys wish you all a safe, contented holiday, whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or simply recognize the Solstice.  It's telling that all three are vastly different, but celebrating the same darn thing–the new light in the dark.

But I'm a broad-sweep kind of a girl and never much cared for the details.

Peace

 

 

'Twas the night of the Solstice

'Twas the Night of The Solstice . . .

'Twas the week before Christmas, and up in the Hollows,

Solstice bonfires were burning, to toast the marshmallows.

The pixies were snug in their stump, even Jenks,

Who claimed he was tired, and needed some winks.

So I in my parka, and Ivy in her boots,

Were toasting the season, with thirty-year hooch.

When out in the street, there came such a crash,

I thought that it had to be 'coons in our trash.

Away to the gate, I trudged through the snow,

While Ivy just said, "If it's Kist, say hello."

I lifted the latch, and peered to the street,

My face went quite cold.  We were in it thigh deep.

'Twas a demon, who stood in the headlamps quite bright,

With his coat of green velvet, and his uncommon height.

His eyes, how they glittered, his teeth how they gnashed,

His voice, how he bellowed, his tongue, how it lashed.

The street wasn't holy, so on Big Al came,

As he bellowed, and shouted, and called me by name.

"Morgan, you witch.  You're a pain in my side.

"Get out of your church.  There's no place to hide!"

Like hell's fury unleashed, he strode to my door,

Where he hammered and cursed, like a cheap jilted whore.

But Ivy and I, we circled round back,

To stand in the street and prepare for attack.

"You loser," I shouted.  "I'm waiting for you."

And the demon, he spun, taking on a red hue.

Ivy stood ready, and I whispered, "Okay . . .

"If he wants to get rough, I'm ready to play."

With nary a word, us two girls got to work,

Putting foot into gut, of the soul-sucking jerk.

I circled him quick, with a few words of Latin,

While Ivy distracted him with lots of good wackin'

"Get back!" I yelled out when my trap was complete,

And Ivy somersaulted right over the creep.

My circle sprang up, entrapping him surely,

Al fussed and he fumed, like a demonic fury.

The neighbors all cheered, and came out of their houses,

Where they'd watched the whole thing, like little house mouses.

So Ivy and I, we both bowed real low,

Then banished Big Al, in an overdone show.

But I heard Al exclaim, 'ere he poofed from our sight

"You won this time witch, but I'll get you one night!"

Kim Harrison

December 14th, 2005