Kim Harrison's Blog, page 114

Getting ready to get 'er done.

I put in some hours at the desk this weekend so that I'd have a clean one for this week out in San Diego.  It's harder to admire the costumes and have fan-girl moments when you know there's work waiting for you when you get home.  I would even dare say that I might call it a vacation of sorts.  And we're leaving at a good time too.  It's supposed to be nasty all week in MI, and in San Diego, it's always 74 and sunny.  -grin-

So I'll be watering my new plants heavy over the next couple of days to get them through the span I'm gone.  My folks will be watching the garden and puppies, so I know everything is in good hands.  I'm going to lose one Rhodie, though.  I swear, the things are inbred so far that they die for no apparent reason.

Here's a shot of something I'm kind of proud of.  It's a common day lily, rescued almost fifteen years ago from a gully next to my house.  I took three or four slips and babied them until I had a nice showing.  Then we moved, and I took a clump or two with me–babied them along as well until I had a massive showing.  Then we moved again.  This time, I took the thinnings of my established bed, not expecting anything to flower this year, but bang!  I did get a few.

What I like about this plant, other than I've had it in three incarnations over fifteen years, is that it's a double maybe a triple, meaning that it's got two or three times the normal chromosome count.  (Mud, some help here.  I've not had a Biology class in almost two decades.)  Plants, unlike people, can do that.  -grin-  That's why it's got three sets of petals.  From a ditch.  In the middle of a field.  Go figure.

Happy Friday!

Yep, we made it to another one, and though I'm looking forward to it, I'm looking forward to a clear-headed Comic Con a bit more, and so I will probably be breaking my "no work on the weekend" rule to try to clear my desk and thoughts for next week, and take Monday and Tuesday off instead.  Honestly, I've been tranking on this rewrite and it's going well, but there's just so much one can do in a day before you really aren't thinking straight and you have to spend the first two hours of your new day going over the last two hours of work the night before.  It's all good, though.  I don't mind working long hours to have some extended time off where I don't have to think about anything, and that's what CC is going to be.  Par-tay!

You may have noticed that the drama box is getting later every morning, too.  That's me trying to adjust to Pacific Coast time.  There is nothing more embarrassing than begging off from an 8:00 party because you are nose-down in your soup.  I miss my mornings, though.

I've got something kind of cool for you today from last month's excursion into RWA in New York.  There were parties, and AVON, the romantic sister to my publisher at Harper, was kind enough to take me in under their wing and include me in their festivities since Harper isn't generally a presence at a romantic conference.  Short story long, I was invited out to the Boat House at Central Park to rub elbows with everyone.  And of course, there were cameras.  My stint is way at the end.  I got there late and missed the formal taping, but that's totally cool with me.  ;-)

One more time . . .

Those of you who have been keeping up with me lately know that I have a robin nesting on my front porch.  Their first nest had four eggs from which we got two babies, and ultimately one fledged.  A few weeks ago I mentioned that they were starting their second nest already, and they have been sitting on four slightly larger eggs until today.  I had a feeling they were close, (which is why I took a shot on Monday) and when momma robin left this morning, I ran out and got a snapshot hoping to find an ugly new-hatch.  I never know what she's sitting on until I stand on tiptoe and hold the camera over my head and take the shot, and though it's hard to tell, but there are two there, resting their heads on their as-yet unhatched siblings.  (Go robins!)

I won't be taking anymore pictures inside the nest, but it won't be long until they are poking their heads up and begging for food.

Also, I have a link for those of you who have a question you are dying to ask but can't quite bring yourself to post.  Shawn, who is going to interview me at Comic Con, has opened up a page for you to drop your questions in.  It's going to be a video interview, I think, so you might get a bit more of an answer from my face than you ever would from my words.

And for those of you who are going to Comic Con, here is my schedule.  I'd like to point out that the Harper booth signing on Friday at 2:30-3:30 is Special Limited Edition Hollows Insider Poster signing.  Dude, it glows in the dark.  -grin-

Phew, the weather finally broke

Before I get to waxing about my like for revisions, (which I am deep into this week) I want to drop a link here to a fab review from one of my long-time readers over at B&N SciFi Fantasy Blog  This is the blog that I will often drop by and chat with the regulars when a book comes out, so I'm so glad that Paul liked what he found.

It has been right on the edge of insufferable the past couple of days in terms of heat and humidity, hovering at the 90 degree point.  I wasn't having much trouble after 13 years of SC summers, but my plants were.  As expected, that second, unfertilized fruit on my pumpkin vine in the picture a few days ago fell off without ever having opened up.  It was just too hot.  The one already fertilized weathered just fine.  I've got another immature flower that I'm watching now, and it looks good so far.  The rhododendrons, too, I covered with a sheet to keep off the sun.  I didn't plant them in a good spot, and they get too much sun in the afternoon.  Most days they can take it, but for the next couple of years as they settle in and the shade plants I put behind them get taller, I will be looking like a dork, hanging curtains in my yard when the temps get above 88.

But right now the house is open and the air is dry and cool.  I'm hammering away at the editorial rewrite.  It's been sitting on my desk far too long as I take care of other stuff that had to come first, but I want this done before comic con, (Here's a great schedule, if you are going.  My booth signings are not listed there.  To see them, jump over to the event's page.) which means I'll be putting in some very long days this week.  If the windows are open, I mentally have an easier time sitting at my desk, so this is a very good thing.  Fortunately I have a plan of  attack, so it's just going through it and making the changes.

Taking that 3-7 pages of editor suggestions and distilling it to an attack plan is often the hardest part.  You have to learn how to translate editor speak into author action.  "End the conflict with more tension and drama" sounds great, but how do you do that?  My favorite is "expand on this" or "isn't translating well as written" or "needs more work" or "develop this idea throughout the book more."  (Diana, if you are reading this, I'm not complaining as much as explaining, as long as you don't use the word neat anymore.)  -laugh-

But after a couple of years at this, I've found editorial rewrites are often my favorite part of the process because I have to develop this idea, translate that better, add more drama to the end, or completely rewrite the beginning to set the story flow up better.  It gets me to think a bit more, tighten the weave, make the ideas I'm trying to convey more understandable and clearer.  I can get sloppy, and those edit letters make me straighten up and fly right, and when it comes right down to it, I want this to be the best thing I can write at this time in my life so I can look back at it with pride no matter how sophomoric it might look to me in 20 years.

So I will be sitting happy today at my desk with the windows open and the breeze blowing through, tweaking, tugging, shifting, changing, wedging little bits of chips between the cracks to make a neat package.  I have been working with these malleable words and ideas for two years, and it is time to harden it off and let it go.

P.S.  Vicki Petterson of the Zodiac series is at the same stage of putting a book together as I am, with the same editor, (how rare is that conjunction!)  and she has a much better post than mine about how she actually breaks editor speak down into action.  Check out her blog post today for more "inside the writer" action.  :-)    Edit Letters A Rare Writing Post

Release Day

That's right!  It's Tuesday, and all across the US, a handful of authors are grinning ear to ear, waking up with the words on their lips, "It's out today."

This time, it's my turn, as Blood Work finally hits the shelf.  This has been a labor of love for me, and I put a lot into it, trying on a new tool belt in more ways than one.  I could not have done it without the patience and even hand of my editor at Del Rey, Betsy Mitchell.  (If you've not seen it, I've got a page at the website on "the making of".)  We are already applying ourselves for the sequel, so there will be at least two stories from Ivy's POV.  It was a wonderful chance to see things from her direction, and if you are a fan of hers, you might want to pick it up and give it a glance.  If you're looking for it on a real shelf, you will find it in the graphic novel section most likely.  If you're looking for it online, I've got a couple of sources here:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Borders

Indi Bound Books 

Kim's books at Del Rey 

Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego

Borderlands in San Francisco

Rendezvous – The Romance Bookstore  Australian outlet to help curb the shipping cost.

Infinitas Bookshop – science fiction, fantasy and horror booksAnother outlet in Australia.

SFBC (The Science Fiction Book Club)

Today is the last day to enter for the boots on the cover that my editor at Del Rey is giving away.  Five runner up's will receive a signed copy.  Signed copies are also available to win at the blog tour posts.  (I've got them on yesterday's post if you've not entered yet.)  But today, I've got a short interview with Shawn over at suvudu.  (He's on WC time, so the link hasn't gone live at the time of this posting, but as soon as it does I'll drop it in here.)

Me?  As exciting at today is, it is a work day for me, and I'll be sitting at my desk pushing through the second editorial rewrite of A PERFECT BLOOD.  I was expecting this second rewrite since I made so many major changes in it the first time.  But yes, it is stronger, whether you like what happens or not.  -grin-  I swear, the most interesting things happen in the editorial rewrite. . .

With a bit of fertilizer and sun

Sun, sweat, and a whole lot of fertilizer.

Kim's sorry-looking patch last year

Those of you who have been with me at the Drama Box for over a year might remember me lamenting over my pumpkins last June.  I got them in the ground far too late, into soil that was tired and worn out.  It prompted a post about how writing could be compared to gardening.  It has a picture of my hail-damaged seedlings and a post of me lamenting that despite my efforts and sweat, there just wasn't enough shi–ah, fertilizer to support a fruit last year, and I was going to try again next after amending the soil.

This year is different, and after a whole lot of work bringing in new dirt, tilling in compost, and enriching the ground, I'm delighted to say that I have not only a slew of vines taking over the space, but female fruit setting.  You can see two in this picture, one has been fertilized, the other has not yet opened.  (Female flowers are carried low on the vine and have a miniature fruit under them, males are carried higher on stalks.)

Kim's healthy, growing patch this year

Now, if only the heat doesn't interfere, I should have pumpkins to watch this late summer and fall.  Too high a temp, and the fruit doesn't set, regardless of how rich the compost is.   I still think writing is a lot like tending a garden.  It takes sweat, dedication, some know-how . . . and things you have no control of can make or break you no matter how much compost you put on it.

The contests to win Ivy's boots will be closing tomorrow.  (rules, regs, how to enter)

Not sure what time, so if you've not entered, go check it out.  The contests to win signed copies of Blood Work will be ending, too, so if you've not entered, go check my guest blogs out and either leave a comment to enter, or send them an email with your name and address, depending upon their individual rules.

Graphic Novel Reporter. Why I wanted to write a graphic novel.

Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. Blood lust–how do you show an emotion?

Fantasy Book Critic. Rachel and Ivy–how they met.

Comic Beat. Team player? Loved it.

 Tomorrow I'll have one last guest post to kick off the official publication date.  Yay!

Book Trailer goodness!

Happy Friday!  Wow, after a week of painstakingly going through the world book one last time, I'm ready for it.  But look at this!!

My editor at Del Rey plopped this on my desk yesterday.  It had me doing the happy dance, and I had to share.   (Feel free to put on your own site and spread the word.)  How cool is that?  Just a handful of days left until this hits the shelf, and I'm so ready for it!

By the way, I took a closer look at the blog tour sites I gave you yesterday and noticed that the entry rules to win the signed books from each site are different.  (head hits desk)  Some are comment to enter, some are email your name and address to them.  So if you posted and left, you might not really be entered in all of them.  My apologies.  (wince)  I've been distracted lately . . .  The contests run until the 12th, I think, so you should be okay.  If you missed them, here they are again:

Graphic Novel Reporter. Why I wanted to write a graphic novel.

Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. Blood lust–how do you show an emotion?

Fantasy Book Critic. Rachel and Ivy–how they met.

Comic Beat. Team player? Loved it.

And the link to win Ivy's boots . . . (rules, regs, how to enter)

The robin that nested on our porch is at it again, and we've got another batch of four eggs incubating.  Here's hoping they have better luck this time.  I'll have pictures after they hatch.  Right now, it's not much different from the last photo of four eggs.  They look a bit bigger is all.

Blog tour. We gots one!

As part of the celebration of BLOOD WORKs release this coming Tuesday, my publisher has arranged to give away a pair of those boots that Ivy is wearing on the cover.  (rules, regs, how to enter)  But we also have a blog tour!  I had no idea what a blog tour was until a few weeks ago, but basically it's sneak peeks at some of the pages, and a little bit of rambling by me.  Each site is also giving away two signed copies of BLOOD WORK. (US residents only.  I'm really sorry.  I'm going to have a manic monday for my non US residents soon to try to make up for it.)

All you have to do is pop on over to the blogs, leave a comment to be in the running, and then go to the next to do the same.  You can enter at all four blogs.

Graphic Novel Reporter. Why I wanted to write a graphic novel.

Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. Blood lust–how do you show an emotion?

Fantasy Book Critic. Rachel and Ivy–how they met.

Comic Beat. Team player? Loved it.

There's your excitement for the day!  Me, I'm slogging through the page proofs for THE HOLLOWS INSIDER.  (My last chance to catch typos.) This is the first time I've seen it all together with the photos you guys sent, and all the graphic changes that production made to my messy attempts at formatting.  Wow, this thing is going to be fabulous. There's a lot of me in this one, a lot of stretching.  I'm so lucky my publisher is as excited about it as me.  I can not wait for you guys to see what we've come up with.

Win a pair of Dansko Penelope Knee-High Boots!

Ta-da!  I teased and I hinted, and now's your chance to win a pair of butt-kicking boots that Ivy is wearing on the cover of BLOOD WORK.  My editor at Del Rey really went all out for this one, and for a few days to help celebrate the release of BLOOD WORK, (the first Hollows graphic novel) we are giving away one pair.  I am thrilled and I hope you take the time to enter over at suvudu.

I will also have several exclusive guest postings this week and next until BLOOD WORK hits the shelves talking about such sundry things as  why I wanted to write a graphic novel, how I wanted to show an emotion such as blood lust, the need to show Ivy and Rachel meeting, and what it was like to work in a team environment.  Soon as they go live, I'll give you the heads up.  Topping it off is a trip out to San Diego for Comic Con as a guest of honor at the end of the month.  (my schedule) The only thing that could make this better is my feet in a pair of those boots as I hit the tarmac.  On second thought, they might be a bear to get through security . . .

To win these boots, either for yourself or a loved one, plus an autographed copy of the graphic novel. Here are the rules/regs/how to enter.

How To Enter

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY

Enter by completing the electronic form at Suvudu.com at http://paranormal.suvudu.com/2012/05/giveaway-contest-win-these-amazing-boots.html.

This sweepstakes runs from 12:01 A.M. (EST) on July 5, 2011 to 11:59 P.M. (EST) on July 12, 2011. LIMIT ONE ENTRY PER PERSON. All entries become the sole property of the Sponsor, and will not be returned or acknowledged. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, incomplete or misdirected entries.

Limit: one (1) entry per person (regardless of whether a person has more than one e-mail address) per e-mail address (regardless of whether more than one person uses the same e-mail address) for the duration of the Sweepstakes. In the event of a dispute about entries submitted by multiple individuals using the same e-mail account, entry will be deemed to have been submitted by the authorized subscriber of the e-mail account used to enter the Sweepstakes at the actual time of entry. The authorized e-mail account subscriber is deemed to be the natural person who is assigned an e-mail address by an Internet access provider, online service provider, or other organization that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses or the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address. Sponsor is not responsible for telecommunications, network, electronic, technical, or computer failures of any kind, interrupted or unavailable network, server or other connections; scrambled transmissions or other errors or problems of any kind, whether mechanical, human, or electronic, technical malfunctions of the computer hardware, software, or any combinations thereof; or problems associated with any virus or any other damage caused to entrants' systems, or for entries that are stolen, misdirected, garbled or delayed by computer transmission. Entries that are inaccurate, incomplete, illegible, lost, corrupted, received outside of entry deadlines or otherwise not in compliance with these official rules are void and will not be accepted. All entries become the property of Sponsor and will not be returned.

Eligibility

This sweepstakes is open to legal residents of the United States (excluding Puerto Rico) over the age of 18 at time of entry. All federal, state, and local regulations apply. Void where prohibited. Employees of Sponsor, Random House, Inc., its parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, suppliers, and agencies, and their immediate family members and persons living in their household are not eligible to enter this sweepstakes.

Prizes

One (1) winner will receive one (1) pair of Dansko Penelope Knee-High Boots plus an autographed copy of Blood Work by Kim Harrison (Approx. Retail Value: $243.00).

Five (5) winners will each receive one (1) autographed copy of Blood Work by Kim Harrison (Approx. Retail Value: $23.00). No transfer or substitution of the prize will be permitted, except by Sponsor. Any and all taxes on the prize will be the responsibility of the winners.

Winners

Winners will be chosen at random by July 15, 2011, from all eligible entries received by the entry deadline. Winners will be notified by e-mail and will be required to confirm their address for mailing of the prize within five (5) business days.

Winners List

For the name of the winners, available after July 18, 2011, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope by July 29, 2011 to Suvudu.com, c/o Random House Inc., 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.

Reservations

By participating, entrants agree to abide by these official rules. Acceptance of the prize constitutes permission for Sponsor to publish, post online, or otherwise refer to the names of the winners in any and all forms and media throughout the world, and for any and all publicity or promotional purposes, without obligation or compensation, except where prohibited by law.

Sponsor, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to disqualify any person tampering with the entry process or in the operation of the Suvudu.com website or otherwise violating these rules. Sponsor further reserves the right to cancel, terminate, or modify the Sweepstakes if the Sweepstakes cannot be completed as planned because of infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, or technical failure of any kind

SPONSOR is Random House Inc., a New York corporation with its principal place of business at 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.

Five runners-up will win an autographed copy of Blood Work.

Quick question . . . Nook, Sony, Kindle . . .

I want to have a post this morning about the first stop on the blog tour, but I don't have my ducks in a row yet.  In the interim, Jim asked me about e-readers and if I could recommend one over another.  I know there is a fraction of people who feel that e-readers in general are threatening to take away our smelly, stinky, tactile-rich books.  Personally, I don't see that happening.  But if you have an opinion on the pros and cons of individual brands, now is your chance to weigh in and tell us what you think.  I believe Jim is most interested in the feature that enlarges print.

I'll have more on the contest to win Ivy's boots later today . . .