Kim Harrison's Blog, page 51

Title reveal/pub date on Monday!

Yes, you saw right! Title reveal and pub date for the last Hollows book is on Monday! And I swear, if you got an ARC and blab it before I get the chance, I’ll make you a psychotic bum in my next novel. And then I’ll have a bus hit you, and then you will ricochet into a vat of road tar and drown. Same thing with the cover, which we’re going to release the week of the 21st over the course of five give aways of previous ARCs and tour Ts! I think I’ve got some bunny pins and cover flats to put in there, too. :-)

My yard is finally starting to spring, and I’ve actually spent a couple of evenings tidying it up in time for the crocus and miniature iris. My mom beat me to getting in the pansies, which I think is cool. Ha! Take that, Mr. Winter.

And alas, Bis has bandaids on his wing this morning after a sudden fall cracked him. Poor Bis! He’ll be right as rain in the morning, though.

Shades

I’m still thinking about what I watched on TV last night. I don’t watch a lot of TV apart from movies. No reality, no sitcoms, no weekly drama. If it makes me laugh, I might turn it on, which is why the FIB killed Kenny (You bastards!) but it’s rare that I get attached to a TV show. But I do like my science shows, nature programs, or even an Egyptian mummy or Siberian  Mammoth snippet here and there. It’s a foregone conclusion that I’m watching Cosmos.

I watched the original Cosmos when it came out and soaked it in, made what it said part of my go-to common knowledge right along with ley lines and the difference between banshees and pookas. Most of what’s making in on the screen is familiar, and I can see pieces here and there of original script even, tweaked and brought up to date. I find myself excited when the science has evolved beyond what I remember and get something new, like last night.

But what I notice and appreciate more is that in the program’s evolution of seeing how our world works, is that the current series is bringing in a lot more non-western thinkers as innovators than I remember from the original program. It might be a conscious attempt at circling back to the same idea that it’s one world, one people, one question or drive to understand–but I appreciate it. Last night, though, I couldn’t help but feel a little sided because of my gender. I STILL have to pretend I’m a guy to be able to aspire to invention. Saw it in my reading as a teen, and still seeing it here, probably because women weren’t allowed or their contributions weren’t noted. Damn baby steps. I’m hopeful that as we get closer to the present that some of the innovators will look a little more like me. I’m pretty sure it’s not intentional, ’cause if there were any women innovators back then whose contributions were acknowledged, I’m sure the producers would make pains to put them in there. Right? So I let it go as an artifact of the time.

My original thought behind today’s post, which seems to have gone wildly off track, is colors and how we name them. Pink is a faded red, and gray is a faded black, or maybe a dark white. I’m trying to think of other colors that are just faded versions of their bolder cousins. Mmmm.

Manic Monday number two!

It’s the second half of Guy’s spring cleaning before we get to the big give aways on the week of the 21th, so today, from noon EST to probably twelve O’ one, Guy and I will be giving away the mass market of A Perfect Blood and Into the Woods.  (Both together, so you get two mass market books.) They will be signed, and we only ask that you pay for shipping to get them to you, so you need to be on PayPal to take advantage of this. Don’t have PayPal? Ask your brother, sister, uncle, or BFF.

To get one of the 25 sets we have, at noon, (not 11: 55)  paypal Guy your address and the appropriate shipping and handling to coldtoastwritingsllc@comcast.net (check for typos. PayPal won’t tell you if it goes to the wrong place) and if you are among the first 25, we’ll send you a signed mass market of both A Perfect Blood and Into the Woods. We think this will take about two minutes, and I’ll edit my post here and at FB when the books are gone. We’ll of course refund any paypal monies that slipped in the meantime.

Again, wait until noon, EST, or your money will be refunded. If you just won last week, could you wait until the week of the 21th to enter again to give someone who hasn’t won a chance? Put Manic Monday in the subject line so he doesn’t miss them. The books will go out media mail domestically, and first class out of the States, which is why the huge price jump.

USA will be $7.00

Canada is $20.00.

Other International is $28.00.

Everything should be in the post by Friday but media mail is slow.

We also ask that you put your current address in at the “notes to seller space. **** No address in the notes to seller space, and your money will be refunded.**** We are not sending invoices, just hit the “send money to” button.

This is all prep for the big give-aways on the week of the 21st where I will be releasing the cover for the next Hollows book. Title too. A-a-a-a-and the release date. :-) I can’t wait!!!

 

Last Monday went so well, we’re going to do it again

That’s right, we’re going to have another manic Monday on Monday! So do what you need to do to get yourself back here to find out what we’ve got for you by noon, EST, on MONDAY! (not today)

Unfortunately we have only about 25 books, so they will go very fast. But on the up-side, we’ll have another one the week after so if you miss out, there is more than another chance.

This is all leading up to a week of true give-aways thanks to Harper, (buttons, freebies, signed ARCS, and maybe a poster if I can find it) and a final, huge hard cover Manic Monday on the 28th to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Dead Witch Walking. I can’t believe it’s been ten years. I’ve lived in three houses over the last ten years, had kids from elementary to the Marines and home again in ten years. Lost two pets, four Mr. Fish, two grandparents, a brother, and mother-in-law in ten years. And wrote nearly 2.2 million words in just the Hollows alone.  (2,168,000 to be more accurate) I’ve been busy.

Can’t wait to see what the next ten years brings.

Mr. Fish number 5. And I swore I would never have another . . .

 

Sorry about yesterday. No. . .no I’m not. ;-)

It’s rare that I try to prank anyone, so thank you for all your good humor yesterday when I put up the never used, original step-back art for the mass market of White Witch, Black Curse with a fake title on it as an April Fool prank. And if it helps, my mom tricked me quite soundly later. Suppose I deserved it. . . (laugh) It was nice that the artwork was even available, clearly Hollows, and with the rights already secured, just sitting there.  You can thank one of the big discount stores for this, as they flat out said they wouldn’t stock it if it had “that” cover. So at the last moment, WWBC went to mass market with the hard cover art, which was just fine with me. I liked the new art, but all the different covers were getting confusing.

I will be releasing the new cover later this month, tying it in with the ten year anniversary of Dead Witch Walking. Harper and I have a week long set of give-aways that I’ll be running from the blog as FB gets funny about stuff like that. I’m thinking that most will be U.S. only, but the final blow out where Guy and I offer up a stash of hard covers–that will be open to International. Look for it all starting the week of the 21st. Oh! and there will be a mass market Manic Monday next Monday, so do come back for that. They go fast, which is why we wait until noon and the East Coast has time to find their coffee.

 

And the next Hollows book is . . .

Surprise! It happened faster than I thought it would, and we’ve got the next Hollows book: title, cover, and all!

 

Okay, not really. It’s an April Fools joke. I’m an awful evil author, but even I can’t do that to you. But I WILL have the real title, cover, and release day for you later this month. No joke! Keep a tight look on the website and here for how we’re going to release the cover and title for the last Hollows book.

Also, Guy and I are going to be doing a major blow out of a manic Monday on the 28th of this month to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Dead Witch Walking. We’ll be giving away a mix of titles, all hardcovers, and probably 100-150 of them. (which is why we’re asking you to pay postage.) Yesterday’s manic Monday winners have been notified, and they’re sitting on my dining room table, addressed and ready to go. If you were after the first 1-2 minutes and missed out, your money will be refunded today. :-)

Happy April Fools!

Manic Monday Noon to 12:15?

Manic Monday is done! Thanks, guys! If you missed out, We will have another one in a week or so. :-) Guy is going over the incoming and will do refunds for people who got in too late. Wow! Give him a day to contact the first 25 to tell them to expect their books, but right now he’s, ah, overwhelmed.

Guy needs more closet space, and so today, from noon EST to probably twelve-fifteen, Guy and I will be giving away the mass market of Ever After and Pale Demon (Both together, so you get two books.) They will be signed, and we only ask that you pay for shipping to get them to you, so you need to be on PayPal to take advantage of this. Don’t have PayPal? Ask your brother, sister, uncle, or BFF.

To get one of the 25 sets we have, at noon, (not 11: 55)  paypal Guy your address and the appropriate shipping and handling to coldtoastwritingsllc@comcast.net (check for typos. PayPal won’t tell you if it goes to the wrong place) and if you are among the first 25, we’ll send you a signed mass market of Pale Demon and Ever After both. We think this will take about ten minutes, and I’ll edit my post here and at FB when the books are gone. We’ll of course refund any paypal monies that slipped in the meantime.

Again, wait until noon, EST, or your money will be refunded. Put Manic Monday in the subject line so he doesn’t miss them. The books will go out media mail domestically, and first class out of the States, which is why the huge price jump.

USA will be $7.00

Canada is $20.00.

Other International is $28.00.

Everything should be in the post by Friday but media mail is slow.

We also ask that you put your current address in at the “notes to seller space. **** No address in the notes to seller space, and your money will be refunded.**** We are not sending invoices, just hit the “send money to” button.

A-a-a-and if you’re interested in adding to your e-library, I noticed Black Magic Sanction is 3.99 at most US outlets today.  Happy Spring! Today is supposed to be really warm!

Amazon

B&N

Kobo

As always, Nicola’s has signed, first-edition The Undead Pools.  [Nicola's] Signed, not personalized.

If you are on FB. They have changed their ranking system for fan pages again, meaning unless you like, comment, or otherwise interact, my FB posts will likely not show up in your news feed, or sporadically at best. The best way to counteract this is to tell them AGAIN that you really want to see my posts by going to my home page on FB and doing this:

 

 

My FB home page is here: https://www.facebook.com/KimHarrisonsHollows?ref=ts

Ha, ha. It’s Friday again.

Oh, thank all that is holy, we made it to another Friday. I’m still suffering through the best/worst part of the writing process of trying to hammer out a new plot line, something recognizable, but unpredictable, something totally new, but recognizably Kim Harrison. It’s not easy in the plot-savvy readership that’s out there. The second guessing myself is awful, and the staring at the blank page or out the window is pretty much non-stop. I’ve got the rough plot down so what’s left is sketching out a page for each chapter. And trust me, they don’t come easy. I’ve already had to change things dramatically, add about three characters, and shift things because I spotted two writing traps before I fell too far into them. Hopefully I’ve got enough of a world now to play in without adding anything more. We’ll see. For all my joy in world building, I like to keep my character list as sparse as I can.

I stared at a blank page for three hours this morning before the collective thoughts and ideas finally started making sense–watching the birds, resisting the Internet, staying out of the kitchen–and finally, in an hour more, found direction and got four chapters outlined.  (I’m giving myself a little reward right now by stepping away and procrastinating before I get back and try for two more chapters before I run out of plot to put down for the day.) So I guess the gem to come away with from that is that three hours of frustration do not mean the next three hours won’t be productive. And if you struggle for three hours and give up for the day before anything reaches the paper, you’re just going to have to struggle three more hours tomorrow until your head figures it all out. You may as well sit there now and get the hard part over.

Or not. :-)

Guy and I are trying to get a manic Monday together for Monday. We’ve got about 25 mm copies of Ever-After and A Perfect Blood that we’re packaging up. We’re going to ask that you pay for shipping/handling, but for two signed books, you can’t beat what we’re asking. More info on Monday, but if you want to see how we’ve handled it in the past, here’s an old post.

Manic Monday

 

 

Woodpeckers are smacking the eaves

It may be cold, but the sun is rising in a clear sky this morning, and I’m betting that it gets warmer than the paltry 33 they are forecasting. The chipmunks have been up now for two days, and that sun is hot. Hang in there. The warmth is coming. You can’t stop the sun. You can only delay it for a time.

I’m listening to Electric Area on my Sirius this morning. I can take about an hour of it and then the “boots-and-pants” begin to drive me nuts, and then it’s over to Chill or maybe Spa if I am really strung out. And I’ll admit I’m a bit strung out today, but in a good way. The plotting for Peri II is going extremely well, as in I know this has the bones to be the best thing I’ve written to date. I can’t wait to get it on paper so I can go back to Peri I and bring some of this new sparkle to it. I’m pulling from OMG-everywhere, and it’s draining even as the exhilaration has me at it until the next idea is teased out, tried, and worked in or abandoned.  Hence the need to shift to something very calming on the radio. This is nothing new, but feels compacted this time, a pattern that’s becoming recognizable and allows for better control, because when the mind shifts over to pure creativity with no regard to reality, the messy chaos follows you out of the office door and into the real world. If you’re not watching for it, it will break things.

I’m not explaining this very well, but if I go silent on the blog for a few days, it’s only because I’m working, and will only stop in here to mention stuff like it being the last chance to get a personalized The Undead Pool. (Seriously, it is. I’m going in tomorrow to sign in the back room, and from then on, it will be signature only. International is okay, but email them for a quote first at nicolasbooks@tds.net. And be sure to tell them when ordering whose name you want it signed to, or you’ll just get a book. [order signed book]

I won’t be going utterly silent, because that just doesn’t work for me, ( I love my FB) but I probably won’t have an organized thought on my blog until at least Monday. :-)

 

 

 

I refuse to believe in snow right now

That’s not snow, sifting down under thick clouds. That’s . . . ash! Yes, that’s ash, from the fire where they’re burning all the Christmas trees that have slowly been appearing from under the melting six-foot piles by the road. (No, not really.) Or maybe it’s a lot of little white bugs. It could be!

Yes. I firmly believe that’s not snow. Though to be honest, by rights we can get snow into early April here in Mid Michigan. My neighbors think I’m nuts. I’ve been moving snow from the shadows into the light just to get rid of it. They tell me it will be warm again on Thursday. I’ve always liked Thursday . . .

B&N has a very flattering, non-spoiler review of The Undead Pool up on one of their blogs today. :-) Somedays, it feels really good.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/five-reasons-you-should-read-kim-harrisons-the-undead-pool/