Kim Harrison's Blog, page 69

Searching for SuperWomen Interview

I’m sort of on holiday until Monday, but I can sit down for a moment while I have my breakfast caffeine and let you know of an interview I did for Searching For Superwomen. (’cause all good women are super, right?) 

Emmie and I talk a bit about the Hollows, and then delve into the industry a little, but they are all fabulous questions and the site itself is chock full of stuff.

It will go live today a little after nine. http://searchingforsuperwomen.com/

Psssst! It’s still on sale!

Because of the overwhelming response to the 1.99 ebook sale of DEAD WITCH WALKING, my publisher has asked me if I wanted to extend the sale through the holiday weekend.

Heck yes!

So you can still pick it up for yourself or gift it to someone for that firework-and-sparkler price of 1.99.  And shhhhh, we’re going to do this for the entire series, so if you’re looking to collect them all . . . here we go!

Amazon Kindle   B&N Nook    Kobo   ibooks

A-a-a-a-and if you’ve already got this puppy and are still looking for a beach/car read, INTO THE WOODS just came out this week in paperback. This is my collection of all the Hollows shorts and novellas, plus a novella showing Trent and Jenks stealing Lucy, plus four other stories that are not Hollows related, one of which I might follow after the Hollows is done. So if you want a peek into the future, this might be it. INTO THE WOODS Nice little bite-sized chunks that fit between the beach and hotdogs at the pool.

Amazon               B and N             Indies         Kobo

Looking for your beach read?

Just in time for your Fourth of July beach/car read! Into the Woods just came out in trade paperback today, nice size chunks of the Hollows and other stuff from my mind that will fit perfect between the beach, the water park, and of course . . . the woods.

If you think you’ve missed a Hollows short, and there are a lot of them, this is the best place to find them all in one spot. But I wouldn’t give you a book that’s all old stuff, and I’ve got not only a new Hollows novella, but several non-Hollows related novellas and shorts that might contain what I pursue after the Hollows is done. (Don’t panic! After THE UNDEAD POOL this Feb, I’ve got one more planned.)

Not sure if you’ve read all the shorts? Check out the list at the right. Million Dollar Baby is my favorite of the bunch, a nice chunk of Trent’s mind when he and Jenks rescue Lucy.

Still not sure? Amazon has a nice “sell-mentary” on it that gives you a bit of what was going on in my mind when I was writing the new novellas you find here.

Although bestselling urban fantasy writer Kim Harrison is known for her novels, she also has written short fiction—now collected in Into the Woods, out tomorrow in trade paperback from HarperVoyager. Some of these stories contain situations and characters from her popular Hollows series. The tales here include an original Hollows novella, “Million-Dollar Baby,” about Trent Kalamack’s secret elven quest in Pale Demon; two original short stories, “Pet Shop Boys” and “Temson Estates,” that explore what happens when humanity and the supernatural collide; and two longer stories, “Spider Silk” and “Grace,” set in new worlds … [Read the rest at Amazon]

Amazon               Barnes and Noble              Indies         Kobo

Have my birds and eat pie too

A few weeks ago, when the Michigan cherries started to ripen, I had a notable influx of birds in my yard, eating said cherries from my small little new tree. I’ve only had it for a few years, and last year, they ate them as fast as they ripened. Actually, they never really got that far. So I netted it this year and saw a huge drop in bird activity.

Figuring I could buy a pie, but I couldn’t buy birds in my yard, I unnetted it about a day or two later, and the birds came back.

But what I hadn’t counted on was the abundance of cherries. The birds couldn’t keep up, so when they began over ripening on the tree, I started picking them. And picking them. And picking them, until I had five cups. And as my recipe says, that’s enough for a pie.

So Guy helped me pit them, and I made up a crust, and we had pie! I think I’ll do it again next year. . .

 

The List — Rebroadcast of Kim Harrison about town in Cincinnati

Are you in Cincinnati? Got a TV? “The List Show” (thelistshow.tv) will be rebroadcasting a small segment they recorded with me when I was in town last January. Look for it today on WCPO channel 9 between 7:16 and 7:24 PM. The archive will be available shortly thereafter, and I’ll repost with a link. 

1.99 DEAD WITCH WALKING to promote THE UNDEAD POOL (2/25/14)

Dead Witch Walking 2004

Yep! If you’ve not heard, we have a title and proposed publication of the next Hollows adventure, and it is THE UNDEAD POOL. To help celebrate the 2/24/14 publication, there will be a series of sales on the previous titles, and we’re going to start with DEAD WITCH WALKING, so today you can get it an electronic copy for 1.99 to either round out your library or gift to someone who you’ve been trying to get hooked on the Hollows. Best part? Most of them have apps so you can read it on your computer if you don’t have a device.

Bookblurb is leading out with DEAD WITCH WALKING today, but the rest will follow. Here’s the link to sign up to get access to their free and reduced books. They do this all the time: http://home.bookbub.com/home/

I just signed up today. No passwords! I love it! Easy peasy. I especially liked that all formats–nook, kindle, etc, were available right there on the same page if that’s what you set up for, and you can limit your genres to avoid a lot of inbox clutter, but seriously, most of the deals are free.

But in case you just want the DEAD WITCH WALKING:

Amazon Kindle

B&N

Kobo

ibooks

I honestly don’t know if this is US only. I’d try the Bookblurb link first as the others go to US sites.

 

 

Here comes the kraken!

I set down my needles last week to work on making a sun screen for my pergola. It’s been an interesting project since I’ve had to plan it from scratch, deciding how I’m going to fix panels of fabric up there in such a way as the wind won’t blow them down and yet I can run them out in the sun, and back under the eves in the rain. (Grommets work, but s-hooks are not a good choice to hold them to the runner cord. Book binder rings from the dollar store work great.) Everything has to be rated for outdoor use, which means outdoor fabric, polyester cord and thread which won’t sun rot, and of course none of the spans I’m covering have the exact same width. (Head hits desk. Shouldn’t something only two years old be within spec?) So I’ve been busy with the sewing machine my grandpa found at a flea market and fixed up for me when I was 12. Singer, baby! They last forever. Now that is a GOOD machine.

I’m working my way through the panels right now, pecking away at them after work and going slow but steady with first the iron, then the machine, and finally putting in grommets and hanging them, but it has meant my knitting (read therapy) has sort of taken a back seat.

I did, however, take pictures today of what I’d been up to this last month to get them up on Ravelry. (Kim at Ravelry). You can see a definite theme here. My goal is to use them in my bathroom, make sort of an underwater, beach theme, and seriously, doesn’t every home need a kraken? Now that I’ve got the basics–tentacles, arms, and shells–in a larger yarn, I’ll work on duplicating them in smaller. I’d love a bunch of starfish or colorful shells in yarn. Fish would be good too.

But for now, my therapy is either puttsing in the garden or working on the sunshade. My deck gets too hot, and it all flows into my kitchen.

Kitchen Sink

Have a few things to share today that I found yesterday. The first is kind of a fun thing for readers, and a chance for authors to share their work. It’s called no names, no jackets, and though I’ve not investigated it, it has bunches of potential if he can handle the influx of authors I think might be taking part. I love the idea behind it. 

And in case you missed it last week, Goodreads has the back flap synopsis up for THE UNDEAD POOL, which is scheduled for a last Tuesday in Feb release.  You don’t have to be a member of Goodreads to look at it, but you do if you want to put it on your “to be read” shelf.

goodreads.com-the-undead-pool

And finally, to show that I really am working on the editorial rewrite for said same book, I’ve got my favorite line from yesterday:

Barefoot and feeling a chill in the air, I padded to the kitchen, hesitating at the threshold. Normal. It looked normal, and I wished it was mine to keep, to see again and again like the slow repetitive feel of summer days until the fear was dabbed away.

The-Undead-Pool-Kim-Harrison

I always love it when I’m working on a book that takes place during the same time of year that it actually is. THE UNDEAD POOL is set right before the 4th of July, so it’s a treat.

Fishes

I really wish I had something better for you on this fabulous Monday, but quite honestly, I’m just trying to get back into the work and finish up, hopefully the entire rewrite, by Friday. So all  you’re getting today is a bad picture of my fish. -laugh-

Fish are supposed to be good luck, right? Phew, it’s going to be a rough week. I’m going to have to make a hellacious “made-it, met-it” reward for myself to push myself through. Maybe . . . more fish! The pond water has probably cycled through enough to handle a few more. Mmmm.

Happy summer solstice

It’s the summer solstice! Longest day of the year. Before I moved back home and lived in South Carolina, I would sometimes pull up a live web-cam of the Mackinaw Bridge at sunset (local time) to see the sun still up at that different lattatude. The longitude, (North and South lines) were the same, but the latitude had changed enough that it made a big difference, especially this time of year.

Most readers probably don’t notice or care, but one of the first things I do when starting a book is spend a few hours printing out a chart of sunrise/set, moonrise/set, twilight data for each location in the books. Usually I’ve only got one, but PALE DEMON had a bunch, and it was interesting seeing how latitude as well as longitude changed things.

If you write, it’s a great resource. http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneYear.php