Kim Harrison's Blog, page 64

N-n-n-nick (finished chapter 23)

Oh, the man I love to hate. Nick. He showed up in the rat fights quite unexpectedly, written in as a way to get Rachel out, and when I “saw” him for the first time, unafraid and curious, standing in Rachel’s kitchen, not afraid of either of them or the taint of possibly black magic, I was foolishly charmed enough to let him stay.

I really liked Nick when he first showed up. I though he was a great way to show that not all humans were scared or ignorant of magic. He was just a little too comfortable, I suppose. He was exactly what Rachel needed, and watching his character slowly de-evolve, or rather, Rachel’s understanding of him change, has been a trip.

Despite it all, Nick remains one of my favorite characters to write. Not because he’s bad, but because he’s determined, hard working, inventive, and smart. Kind of like Rachel.

The first of the Harper contests will be starting tomorrow. More about how to enter when their page goes live.

[Threaded chats at Goodreads]

Why does Jenks wear red? Kim’s read-along answers

I read up to chapter 21 last night, forcing myself to stop after a very pleasant afternoon in Trent’s office–right before the rat fights.

Sara Jane, oh Sara Jane. Poor smart, industrious, Sara Jane, who sees the trap and has no choice. I named her after one of the Doctor’s companions, and a small amount of that original character’s plucky determination has leaked through into my Sara Jane.

And I still don’t like Jonathan.

But Jenks? It’s right about now that his character just begins to shine, and he is one of my favorites. I bristle when he’s given the name comic relief, because he’s so much more. He’s the one with the large family, mortgage, and no money. The one who’s put both enemies and failing children into the ground–the first with a casual nonchalance, the second with a long-standing grief. He has talents, a wife that he adores, and absolutely no secretes. He is everyman, and it’s the dichotomy of his ruthless savagery and smart-mouth commentary that make the four inches work.

But as for red?

The wearing of red as a symbol of good intent and free passage came right from my back yard watching the ruby throated humming birds at my feeder. Turning the warning symbol into one of good intent was a small step. Sort of like changing  growl and baring of teeth into a smile.

Thank you again, Mark, for the rendition of Jenks. Love this one!

20-5-1

I read an extra chapter last night. I couldn’t help it. Kisten. OMGosh, I forgot we meet Kisten so darn early in the books. sigh. Just sigh. Kisten, of the leather jackets and sultry voice. Kisten of the velvet touch and dangerous lure. You were only supposed to be a warning to Rachel to be wary of vampires, to not touch, to stay back. And you fell in love. . .

I need a moment.

And we also meet Trent within those first 15 chapters, Trent, with his mysterious 20-5-1 scrolling screen saver. Can I say that it’s been almost a shock seeing him closed and secretive after working so intensively with him in the last two books. He’s changed. Changed a lot.  It took a long time because of his personality, but he finally opened up as to his fears, fears you can see in these first few pages if you know what’s coming. So I guess taking it slow with him was true to his character. Besides, we had Kisten to distract us.

I need another moment. sigh

The 20-5-1 screen saver is one of those things from me that made it into the books. It’s an old marketing term meaning from 20 cold calls, you will have 5 people interested, and 1 might buy. They were the words I lived by when I was trying to find publication, that if I just kept cleaning my work up and shopping it around, that eventually I’d find the one who would see what I did among the pages. They are still words I pin my goals to.  And yes, it’s my screen saver too, even to this day.

Thank you, Mark Rude, for the sketch of Trent and Rachel. It remains my favorite. (Mark did all the sketches of the characters in the HOLLOWS INSIDER)

Give aways and read-alongs

My editor reminded me last night that they have stuff to give away to go along with the read along. (grin) I completely forgot. Each give away will be different, but they might include the Hollows Insider, hard covers of the title we’re focusing on, galleys . . . Who knows what Harper has in their closet? It should be fun.

[read along with Kim-follow link to the discussion page]

I think what we’re going to do is set aside one day, (I’m aiming for October 1st for the first give away for Dead Witch Walking) and everyone who posts or comments in the specified area will be in the running. Not yet. October 1st. I’ll tell you were to post for the contest later so I don’t get early posters.

So, you might want to hold off on your questions to me until then.

As for me? I caught another fish from my pond this morning. Right now he’s sitting in a mixing bowl, warming up in my office before I slip him in with the rest. I’d left the net in the pond last night, and there he was this morning, sitting in it. Easiest fish I’d ever caught.

Read along and feels like fall

The hummer may still be at my feeder, but it’s cold today! I’ve brought my tender pond plants in, attempting to up the humidly in my office and keep them alive at the same time. So far, I’ve only caught three of the pond fish, but the colder it gets, the slower they are. Leaves are starting to turn, and Guy and I have been to the cider mill twice already for warm cider and hour-old doughnuts. I do love my weekends. And the fireplace was lit last night. Ahhh, happy sigh. Just the place to read a book, eh?

The read-along is starting up, and in the interest of trying to keep my front page from turning into a mess, I’m moving everything to a separate page. You can bookmark it for ease of use, or I’ve got a menu link at the top of the page here.

[Dead Witch Walking Read-along]

And thank you for all your comments yesterday! I was totally floored at the response, and yes, I read every single one of them. I love hearing how people find the books. It seems to be pretty equal between recommendation and serendipity.

Read-along starting today with Dead Witch Walking

I’m starting Dead Witch Walking today, slipping an hour or so of reading in after I close the computer down at the end of the day. I’m not sure if the copy I’ll be reading from is  first edition. I tore the page out with that info to send into SFWA way back to prove I’d published something. It might be first edition. It has that look about it.

I do know it’s got a lot of stickies in it from when I reread the entire series to help put together The Hollows Insider. The spine is cracked, and a few parts are highlighted. I like the ones that are loved the best.

It’s hard to re-read anything without thinking, “I should have done that differently,” and though those moments are few with me, I’m pretty sure I might take out the references to Ivy’s owls. They did serve a great purpose in bringing in some of the rules of magic, but she gave them to Erica and we never see them again. (shrug)

I’ll be opening up a page here at the blog for ongoing discussion tomorrow, but we’ll have question thread I’ll answer on FB on October 1st as well. We’re going to move quickly on the read along since there are so many to go through to catch up for Late February.

But for now, anyone want to chime in on how they found the series? Friend? Faceless recommendation? Fell out off the shelf at you?

The Undead Pool: cover and chapter one

I promised you a treat today, other than this big, beautiful, cover of Rachel and yes, Trent. More on the treat in a moment. I just want to look at it for a moment and smile at what it promises, not just more Trent, but a Trent who is willing to be there, knowing who she is and not minding that at all. And isn’t that what we all want? To be accepted for what we are, proudly what we are?

And the treat? I’ve got two of them. First, I asked you a couple of weeks back if you re-read the series before the next book, and because so many of you do, I’m going to do a read-along over the next couple of months. Even if you don’t read with us, don’t feel like you can’t join in on the discussion as we tackle each book at a time. I’ll be here at the blog like I always am, but there will be one dedicated day where I’ll focus more strongly on one or two questions that you might have. I’ll be opening a discussion page on Dead Witch Walking Monday. We’ll be starting The Good, The Bad, and The Undead October 15, so this will be fairly fast paced.

As for the second treat?

Chapter One: The Undead Pool

How does the man make checkered shirts and pastels look good? I thought as Trent lined up his drive, head down and feet shifting, looking oddly appealing outside of the suit and tie I usually saw him in. The rest of his team and their caddies were watching him as well, but I doubted they were rating the way his shoulders pulled the soft fabric, or how the sun shone through his almost translucent blond hair drifting about his ears, or how the shadows made his slim waist look even trimmer, unhidden beneath a suit coat for a change. I found myself holding my breath as he coiled up, exhaling as he untwisted and the flat of the club hit the ball with a ping.

“Yeah, the elf looks good in the sun,” Jenks smart-mouthed, the pixy currently sitting on the bottom of my hooped earrings and out of the moderate wind. “When you going to put us all out of your misery and boink him?”

“Don’t start with me.” With a hand held up to shade my eyes, I watched the ball begin to descend.

“All I’m saying is you’ve been dating him for three months. Most guys you date are either dead or running scared by now.”

The ball hit with an audible thump, rolling onto the par-three green. Something in me fluttered at Trent’s pleased smile as he squinted in the sun. Damn it, I’m not doing this. “I’m not dating him, I’m working his security,” I muttered.

“This is work?” Wings humming, the pixy darted off my earring, flying ahead to do a redundant check of the area before we walked into it. [the rest is at the website]

 

 

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If a picture holds a thousand words, a smile holds all the rest of them

I will admit that Rachel sharing cover space with someone (to be named tomorrow) is one of the things that makes this my favorite cover to date. The way the magic is depicted, showing Rachel taking control of it, is another. But it’s Rachel’s face that made me say “Holy Cow!” when I first saw it. You can see her confidence, and it’s not a mean, bitchy confidence that Hollywood seems to be stuck on as the only way a woman can be confident or in control in a sf/fantasy film. It’s not even an “I’ve got power” confidence. It’s a confidence that comes from knowing who she is, what she can do, and where she is in her life. The little bit of “dare you” in her eyes doesn’t hurt, either.

Like the magic, Rachel’s face has been changing on the covers over the series’ span. I grant you that some of it is industry based, and when The Good, The Bad, and The Undead came out, body parts were all the rage. I was tickled when full feminine forms finally began to show up, but the need to see her had begun to become important, and for a while there was a back and forth where we tried to get a full face and had to compromise. Black Magic Sanction would have been Rachel’s debut, but she was misted out when big book buyers said they’d buy more if her face remained hidden.

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But eventually, mostly due to an evolving market, we were allowed to show Rachel’s face, (A Perfect Blood) and ultimately, that smile.

Last piece is tomorrow. I can’t wait!

P.S. About the hair. Curly haired women will rarely be shown on covers as most people view curly haired women as not being kick-ass. Besides, when Rachel is out, she usually has her hair in a hard-to-grab French braid so she doesn’t get her head slammed into the wall, floor, whatever.

Evolving magic of the Hollows, and piece three

Yesterday I gave you a glimpse of a man beside Rachel, and the guesses ranged as to who it was from Nick, to Pierce, to Al, David, and yes, Trent. Me? I’m not saying, because today we shift focus back to Rachel, and we get a glimpse of magic! (and a decidedly sophisticated corset!)

Larry, (my cover designer) has been slipping more and more magic into the covers, evolving from slight glows and mysterious fogs, to breathtaking lightning, to intentional glows about Rachel’s reach.

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The cover magic in The Undead Pool is is my favorite so far, because, as Larry’s depictions show, Rachel has been gaining control as the books progress, and what was at first hazy, has matured into a clear and definite control.

You can see it in her face. Well . . . I can. You get that tomorrow.

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Piece two: The Undead Pool cover release

Day two, and I’m giving you my second favorite piece this morning in the “Great cover release of The Undead Pool!” out February 25th. (Dun, dun, dun-n-n-n!)

I’m giving you legs again. And a bit of a chest. Be still my heart  . . . Al? Trent? David?  . . . Nick?

I’ll have another piece tomorrow.

Pre-order Amazon

Pre-order B&N

Pre-order Kobo (not available yet)

Goodreads can’t wait for list 2014

Kim on Pinterest