Kim Harrison's Blog, page 47
June 24, 2014
We have a few tour cities! (and we want to know…)
We are 77 days out from publication of The Witch With No Name, (OMGosh!) and I’m so pleased to be able to start releasing some cities! I told you about the midnight release party at Cincinnati on Monday night, but if everything goes well, I’m also going to get to stop at Raleigh NC, Birmingham AL, and even down to Florida this year. (Probably Orlando or Tampa.) More cities are forthcoming this week, so don’t freak out that that’s all there is. West Coast, hang in there. I know I missed you last year.
My big question for you today is that Harper is wanting to use some real comments and book expectations from you, my readers, in their press release. Now is your chance to let your voice be heard (with the anonymity of just your first name and city) and possibly have your comments be used to help get out the word about the Hollows. You don’t get anything but bragging rights. :-)
Signed B&N copies. Limited to say the least.
So keeping in mind that short is way better than long, and unique will be favored over generic, tell me and Harper your first name, city, and what you love about the Hollows and what you’re hoping to see in this last, number 13.
And if you need a little warm up teaser, chapter one is at the website.
Chapter one of The Witch With No Name
Also, if you’re wanting to be sure to get a signed first edition copy from Nicola’s or B&N, it’s not a bad idea to order now so they know how many to pre-order. Nicola’s is my local independent, and they do this all the time. You can also get a generically signed book from B&N.
Click to order signed copy
click to order signed/personalized copy of The Witch With No Name
June 23, 2014
Yes, I’ve been quiet. This is why.
I know I’ve been quiet the last couple of days, but I’ve got a great excuse, one that includes head lamps, bottled water, and my biggest question: what do you wear into a dusty, damp, hot environment when you want to be safe, comfortable, and still have a look that says, “author?”
Yes, if you drove down Central Park Avenue Thursday or Friday morning and saw the road crew just standing around in the middle of the road, sweating in that 90 degree heat, it was because Guy and I were under it in a muggy 80 degree heat, exploring the Cincinnati tunnels with a camera crew. (Yes, that ambulance/fire rescue was for us, too. Everyone is okay. We erred on the side of caution in calling it when we had an unexpected issue and Cincy smacked us for the audacity of looking up her skirts.)
Up until now, all I had to imagine the tunnels was words and a few pictures like the one above. Not bad, and it holds up to reality. But now, I’ve got smells. I’ve got moisture on my skin. I’ve got the utter pitch black and the will-o-wisp glow of street grates luring me into the unknown until I turn around and realize there’s nothing lighting my way back.
I’ve got the impressions of a handful of people who occasionally find their way in and leave their mark but surprisingly little else. Respect, perhaps, for the silence?
We found echoes and shadows, and we left the same, filling the empty sponge of a place with a shock of noise and unexpected drama, wringing it from us to dart into the dark to be absorbed and lost as if it was inconsequential.
The tunnels were built to contain motion, and there was none but what we brought ourselves. And when we left, we took the memory of us from the empty walls, leaving the tunnels to ease back into an oblivious slumber where the drips of water mark meaningless time.
Thank you, Cincinnati, for allowing me to explore and experience. That was about the coolest thing ever.
June 18, 2014
Caught a break
Caught a break this morning when I woke to the sound of thunder. Windows went open and the house fan flicked on, pulling all that wonderful coolness into the stuffy house. I do love my whole house fan. As soon as that sun breaks through, it’s going to get hot and sticky, but for now, it’s cool and damp–and I won’t have to water my new grass, either. Yay.
Work has slowed to a summer’s crawl, but any progress is progress, and I’ve been enjoying the slower pace while I catch my breath for the upcoming tour in September. I got a lot of questions about Tour Ts (Look for them next week) and signing stores (I won’t know for a while, but the plan is a midnight release in Cincy, then probably dart back to Nicola’s for my usual Tuesday night signing, but I’m not sure of that until the “plan” moves onto paper and becomes real.) I’ll know more soon, because, crap on toast, it’s only a few months away.
June 17, 2014
Midnight release party is on the schedule
Wow, it got hot fast, like I knew it would. I spent the day yesterday between stints at the computer watering the landscape. Most of it had just finished putting out new growth to cover the winter’s damage, and unless it’s well watered, all that new growth is going to suffer in the coming hot spell. It should be okay now with spot watering for the next week or so, but I’ve got a few patches of grass that I’ve been trying to repair, and those are going to be stunted unless it rains, which I’m not counting on. Hey, it was worth a try.
My big news, (which tells you how slow it is around here right now) is that someone did take the ten-year-old hose I laboriously coiled up and put out at the curb on Saturday. I’d had it through three moves, and it had gone through at least ten winters and summers of freeze and bake, freeze and bake. The polymer had fixed into one shape, and it was like fighting an anaconda to roll and unroll it. I’d finally had enough and began expounding upon its “lack of ability.” Thing One saw me struggling with it, and came back from the store with a new one.
I’m fulling expecting to see it at someone else’s garage sale with five bucks on it.
The first of the tour dates for September have started to come in, and I’m thrilled to announce that I will be in Cincinnati for a midnight release on Monday the 8th. If you are ordering a signed/personalized book from Nicola’s, don’t fret. They’ll have their books about a week ahead of time, and though it’s a challenge, they’ll try to get them in the mail for an at or near arrival at your doorstep on Tuesday.
If you want one of these bad boys, it’s not a bad idea to order now so they know how many to pre-order for the store. International is okay, just email them first for a shipping quote at nicolasbooks@tds.net. Nicola’s is my local independent, and they do this all the time. You can also get a generically signed book from B&N. ()
click to order signed/personalized copy of The Witch With No Name
June 11, 2014
Dragons and books go together like dragons and . . . gold!
My garden looks great, it’s raining, and my new grass is coming up. Which means I’ve had more time to work on my dragon design. There’s a new dragon in town, and if I get my way, he’ll have his wings by the week’s end. He seems to be the topic of conversation, poor Gerry the Giraffe being left out again. ‘Course, they might be talking about the snazzy new cover one of my hardcovers is modeling this morning. Covers have been printed, so the real thing can’t be far behind! :-)
Before you ask, I do not have the pattern available yet as I’m still tweaking it, and once you publish it, it’s harder to tweak. I’m actually starting to think about maybe compiling them into a book, maybe at the end of a kids book that feature the dragons themselves. And Gerry, the Giraffe who wanted wings.
I won’t ever be selling these, but I have been known to give my soft sculpture away to people who have made a difference in my life. That said, the green one there in the hat? I’m putting him in the Buns and Roses literacy auction in October. More info here at the event’s page.
June 10, 2014
Alien was one
I watched The Adjustment Bureau last night. I’d forgotten that the main love interest there is the love interest in The Edge Of Tomorrow. (Also a fab movie. Go see it.) It’s like they’re bringing all the SF short stories I grew up reading in the late 70s to the big screen. Happy, happy.
But hey, Hollywood, you _can_ make a marketable film where the female is doing some of the discovery so I don’t have to pretend to be a man to have my adventure. No superhero women please. I want a real woman discovering it, figuring it out, touring the facility and taking up slack, changing her name from Kitty to Karen. Wait . . . I think I’ve heard that before.
Men will watch a woman who knows where she’s going as long as there’s a man there who’s as smart as she is. Oh, and if she’s not a bitch. That kind of ruins it for everyone.
June 9, 2014
The Witch With No Name chapter three (and one and two)
I know it’s hard to wait until September, so I’m thrilled to be able to offer you the chance to get a few early chapter releases of The Witch With No Name. Today is chapter three, and if you’ve somehow missed chapters one and two, I have links for them as well. I’m so excited to share this with you–you have no idea. Enjoy! And I promise chapter three ends better than chapter two did.
To jump right to chapter three at Harper’s website, :
And Chapter One and Two at my website if you missed them.
If you’d like to preorder, We have options!
is also available, and if you go to the right page, they also have
is also an option, and I can personalize these with a note if you pre-order and tell me who to sign it to in the comment section when you order. International is okay but email them for a quote at nicolasbooks@tds.net
June 6, 2014
Chapter three of The Witch With No Name
Early heads up! I’ll have a link for you on Monday to chapter three! Come back then. :-) But if you missed it before, here are links to chapter one and two on my website.
If you’d like to pre-order a signed book, We have options!
(I will personalize these with a note if you ask in the comment section. International is okay but email them for a quote at nicolasbooks@tds.net
June 4, 2014
Trying to shut up, and not doing very well.
I’m trying to keep my head down and keep my opinions to myself today, but if you write or read, you should be scared and watching what’s going on between Amazon and Hachette. It’s not impacting my books yet, but if Hachette caves and allows a major book distributor to dictate the price of literature, be it a newbie (who should be priced accordingly) or a 40 year veteran (who should also be priced accordingly) it will.
Maybe I’ve got it wrong. I’m always trying to take the complex and par it down to the simple, but that’s how I’m seeing the practical aspect of it. One item, one price, is that how it is, Amazon? I’ve heard it said that books are not toothpaste. I’ll agree with that. Books are more like shoes. You don’t expect all the pumps to be a flat rate when you walk in the door. No, you expect to pay more or less depending on who makes them, how well they are crafted, your experience with the brand. Can’t afford the red sparkled ones that have insoles like clouds? You wait for them to go on sale. Boom. Happiness ensues. Fashion is creative, and we reward successful creativity with a higher price tag. I’ll say it again. We reward successful creativity with a higher price tag.
Books are not shoes, obviously, but they are works of creative talent, whether they are genre fiction or literary, or non fiction, or self help. The people creating them have talents varying from newbie to professional. You can’t price them the same. You can’t ask someone who has been working their entire life at crafting words into cohesive stories to be valued equal to someone who has been at it for two years. Would you work at a job for 20 years, then accept a new, forced salary commensurate with the mail room guy? No. Of course not.
I should just shut up. I’m seeing my buy buttons vanishing from Amazon. I’m seeing the good relationship I’ve had with them used as a bargaining tool to my detriment. I’m seeing my future numbers tank because Amazon has become an integral part of getting books to readers–and my algorithm is suddenly not there.
But I’ve never been good at keeping my mouth shut. Just ask my neighbors.
And if you don’t care, here’s a picture of my dog. Everybody likes dogs, right?
Know when to hold them . . .
Ever have one of those days when you just want to scream, “Wake up! Look at what they are doing to the thing you love!”
Yeah. So here’s a picture of my dog. Isn’t she sweet?
