Kim Harrison's Blog, page 86

Kim Harrison’s Comic Con New York schedule

I’m posting late this morning, partly because I’m dragging after my second stint out at Nicola’s to get all the preordered INTO THE WOODS signed.  So-o-o,  If you ordered before yesterday, know that yours is ready and waiting to go out.  The last date to order and hope to get it on the drop date is October 3rd.  You can still get one after that, but it won’t arrive on that magical day.  -laugh-  If you want one, check out the original post.  HOW TO GET YOUR SIGNED INTO THE WOODS  As I said, I’ll be going back one more time to Nicola’s to sign.

Also, I have the okay to share my NYCC schedule!  My PR person outdid herself, and I have something on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, so if you’re going, there’s a better chance our schedules will mesh.

Thursday, October 11


JUSTICE IS SERVED: 5:00PM – 6:00PM, 1A14

Cops, P.I.’s, government agents and regular Joe’s (or Jane’s) fight for all that is good and just in these Science-Fiction and Fantasy tales, even if the villains are vampires, telepaths, and the magically gifted. These protagonists solve crimes, kick-ass, and don’t let anyone–supernatural or otherwise–stand in the way of justice. Myke Cole, Thomas E. Sniegoski, Jacqueline Carey, Christopher Bennet, G.T. Almasi, Kim Harrison, and possibly one more, who is still unconfirmed.


 


Friday, October 12


1:15-2:15 PM  Justice is Served Panel Autographing  Tables: 2, 3, 4



3:00 PM


TITLE: Into (and Out of) the Hollows


Unbound Author Stage.  This is my solo panel.  I’ll be talking about the last few books in the Hollows, and what might come next.


 


Saturday, October 13


1:30-2:30 PM  Room A108


 Panel—“Hocus Pocus: Magic & Monsters in Science Fiction and Fantasy”


Science-Fiction and Fantasy authors discuss the costs and consequences of “magic” in their novels. Moderator Beth Revis will have authors Andrea Cremer, Jacqueline Carey, Jocelynn Drake, Kim Harrison, Max Gladstone, Cecil Castellucci, Victoria Schwab, and Richard Kadrey dishing about the scary, hairy, and dangerous creatures that lurk in the worlds they have created.





2:45-3:45 PM


Hocus Pocus Panel Autographing Tables: 2, 3, 4



4:30-5:30


Booth Signing—HarperCollins Booth #1004, with Richard Kadrey, Jocelynn Drake, and Brom

So, that’s it, other than its national Cheeseburger day.    Munch, munch, munch.

And as a final thing to make you go Hummm.  Guy ran into a poll this morning that said 86% of people polled feel that Christmas needs to be advertised no sooner than Nov. 1st, and of that 86%, 47% would prefer it to be advertised after Thanksgiving.  I’ve not seen any snowflakes yet, but I’ve seen the Halloween costumes.  Where’s my candy!

Busy Weekend

I had a hellacious weekend, and I’m exhausted. Saturday was spent moving two ton of rock into a new rock wall.  I swore I was done making rock walls, but there it is.  Just need the dirt now, which was supposed to be in Friday, but I can wait.  I’m thinking three yards . . .  Sunday was supposed to be a nice trip out to find some plants to put into it, but . . .

Sunday turned into an unexpected trip out to the Ren fair, unexpected in the sense of getting up planning one thing, and in thirty minutes, being out the door and in the car on the way to something else.  We had a great time eating and shopping–in that order–and when we left about 3;30, the line to get in was horrible.  Made me glad we went early. The shopping seemed better this year than last, or maybe I was in more of a shopping mood.  Now, here’s the funny thing.  The crowds and walking on Sunday exhausted me markedly more than moving two ton of rock on Saturday.  Go figure.  And the best part?  I slept long and deep, and had curious dreams.

Just as a reminder, if you’ve not heard, one of the stories from INTO THE WOODS (out October 9) has been released early in a special edition e-book.  Pet Shop Boys.  It also has the first chapter of EVER AFTER in it, so if you like sneak peeks, you might want to check it out.  It’s available right now.

Amazon:  Pet Shop Boys with Ever After chapter

Barnes and Noble: Pet Shop Boys with Ever After chapter

iTunes: Pet Shop Boys with Ever After chapter

Sony: Pet Shop Boys with Ever After chapter

Kobo: Pet Shop Boys with Ever After chapter

Harper opens submissions to unagented material for two weeks in October

Yes, you saw it right.  Harper Voyager, who is not just in the US but the UK and Australia, need fresh voices, and they are opening up gates that have been closed for almost ten years, letting you submit your manuscript without needing to have an agent.  After looking at the press release, I’m thinking they are starting a new digital line, which means promotional dollars.  Never a bad thing.  And there’s the chance your manuscript will make the jump to paper books, but seriously, my ebooks are selling gangbusters, so there you go.

The exciting thing to me is that the digital list will benefit from Voyager’s editorial, marketing, publicity and sales platforms, as in an editor, copy editor, attention to cover and art, etc.  Nothing is slapped together, and being a new line, there will be promotional dollars.

But I don’t need to sell it, do I.  I’m just excited.  I’m not that far away from those frustrating years of desperately wanting someone to simply look at my work.  Just look at it.  And here is a way.  Good luck.  Follow the link to get all the particulars.  Slow down.  Follow the rules.  Breathe.  Next week, I’ll tell you how I format my manuscript for submission so you can put an industry-expected face on your work.  :-)

Harper Opens Door to Unagented Material

Kim’s got her signing pen Where’s Into The Woods?

That’s right, the copies of INTO THE WOODS are in, and I’m making a run down to Nicola’s before the weekend to sign some stock early because . . .  ah . . . you guys really responded to the signed/autographed book offer, and . . . ummm . . . there’s a lot of them to do.  (happy smile)  Wow, I’m tickled.  This has turned out fantastic.  And it’s not over!

It is totally not too late to get one of these signed, even personalized to you, and if you order it from Nicola’s before the weekend, there’s a good chance I can do it then.  If not, I’ll be making another run or two down to Nicola’s before the drop date.   If you’re interested, follow the link here to the original post that details out how to order.   If you’re getting it signed or personalized with a note to you, be sure to give me the particulars in the comment box.  It’s all explained at the original post.  How to Get Your Signed/Personalized Into The Woods.

International orders, just call them at 734-662-0600

Also, HarperVoyager will be accepting unagented manuscripts for two weeks in October.  This is a very rare chance to get your COMPETED manuscript into the hands of an editor.  I’ll talk about it more tomorrow, but here’s the link to the press release.  HarperVoyager accepting Manuscripts for October 1-14

Stuff I can’t share . . . and stuff I can

That’s what I’ve been working on for the last two weeks.  Stuff I can’t share.  Despite the popular theory that I LIKE TEASING YOU, (which I sort of do) sometimes it sucks pixy dust to be working on ideas that won’t see the light of day for years.  I’m talking book thirteen here.  :-) OMGosh, it fell into place yesterday–after two weeks of plotting and a new-to-me plotting technique.

Horrors of horrors, I’ve actually plotted this thing out in a flow chart.  I know some writers use them extensively, but it’s not much use to me yet apart from helping me organize my thoughts, but I do have a new-to-me plotting technique to share, one that I’ve been using lately to help me mesh several diverse story lines into one cohesive plot.  If you’re struggling to organize your thoughts, this might help.

After coming up with the general story line, I write each separate plot down without regard to the other stuff, sort of like mini synopsis.  The elf thread, the magic thread, the relationship thread, the vampire thread.  Each one takes up a page, maybe two.  Then I transfer those ideas (and motivations) to cards, one idea per card. (This is the new thing for me.  Cards.  Sheesh.)  So I end up with about six to fifteen cards per thread.  I work making my card piles for a few days.  Long days.  I take it slow, and do lots of revisions here since I’m still putting the main plot together.  Lots of handwriting, lots of notes.   I do this with each plot thread–several times–and then sit down with my stacks, looking at the first thought in each thread.  And start weaving.  If you do it right, one idea flows into the next, and you don’t forget anything that needs to be included.  I usually break my woven piles down into chapters and days.  The trick is to be loose and free, and don’t rush it!  It took me two weeks.  I fully expect I’ll be doing some changes as I get into the writing, but if I don’t know where I want to go when I start, I can be paralyzed by the feeling of being afraid of wasting my time.

I’ve used cards for each thread now for a couple of books.  Peri needed this kind of organization badly, but I found I liked it so well that I’ve been using it on the Hollows too.  It lets me be convoluted without asking the reader to work too hard.  The flow chart?  I don’t know.  I got to use tape and scissors . . .

Friends don’t let friends . . .

Friends don’t let friends post when they’re asleep, and man, I did not get to sleep last night until late, which meant weird dreams this morning.  So no real post this morning as I spend my usual time with you guys trying to wake up.

That sounds like a promising title, by the way–Trying to Wake Up–one you could build a series around.  Sort of like Waiting to Exhale.  Mmmmm.

(See, I told you I didn’t get enough sleep.  That’s a God-awful title.)

Days until INTO THE WOODS

My Into the Woods countdown has clicked from months to days, and I’m getting excited!  It could be because of the chance to bring you all the previously released Hollows extras in one spot, but if I was honest, it’s the new stuff, the handful of ideas that had been simmering in my “cabinet of awesomeness” for the last five to ten years, the chance to bring a breath of life into them and see if there was another epic-long story hidden in their kernel of ideas–or just a novella.

I know I’ve brought this up before, but if you are not going to be at Comic Con NY, the only way right now to get one of these bad boy’s signed is through Nicola’s.  If you put your oder in by the third of October, they will even try to get it to you by the drop date.  It just doesn’t get easier than that.  How to order  International orders are okay, but you have to call them. ( 734-662-0600)  And remember, Ann Arbor is in the Eastern Time zone, so no 3am calls please.  :-)

I’ll be the first to tell you that Rachel is a hard act to follow, and if you want a look at what you’ll find in the new stuff, you can get one of the stories, Pet Shop Boys, early.  It’s been released as a reduced price e-book along with the first chapter of Ever After.  There’s like a dozen platforms you can read this on, so I’m going to list the top ones only.

Amazon:  Pet Shop Boys with Ever After chapter

Barnes and Noble: Pet Shop Boys with Ever After chapter

iTunes: Pet Shop Boys with Ever After chapter

Sony: Pet Shop Boys with Ever After chapter

Kobo: Pet Shop Boys with Ever After chapter

As a personal note, I’m pleasantly exhausted this morning.  I woke up Sunday, trying to decide if I was going to my home improvement store to get some block for a new landscaping effort and suddenly realized I had 40 daffodil bulbs coming in about a week–and the bed I wanted to put them in was covered in mulch and hadn’t had a shovel in it in the last three years.  So I boxed up the mulch and started digging.  Surprisingly there were no major roots to contend with, but I had to slow down to pull out about five quarts of a rather interesting bulb, the white version of Glory of the Snow.  Most of them were too deep to flower, and I’m still trying to decide if I’m going to put them back in the ground or into the composter.  Ahhhh, who am I kidding.  I’ll put them back in the ground.

Will you be at Comic Con, NY?

If you’ve been lurking here for a while, you probably know that I’m going to Comic Con, honored to be a literary guest this year.  My schedule is starting to fall into place, and if all goes well, I should be on the floor most days at least once, so if you can only go one day, the stars are aligning.  Also, unless something completely falls apart, there should be copies of INTO THE WOODS at the Harper booth.  This is my only chance to get out and sign for this bad boy, and I’m excited about it.  (If you want a signed copy and can’t make NY, I’ve got something going with Nicole’s.  Info here:)  

My proposed panels are not just about vampires, which has me doing the happy dance.  There is so much to this job other than vampires, and getting to touch on other stuff is a relief.  Needless to say I’m getting excited about wedging my butt out of my chair again.  You can check out the Comic Con Website for more info

I spent a good portion of my day yesterday clearing my office of stuff that needed to be filed, sorted, tossed, stacked, and moved into storage. I have three places to put things now, and keeping it straight can be a challenge.  Odd thing is that my office doesn’t look any cleaner.  I’m just glad it’s Friday.

I was going to send you to Audiable today.  A reader came to me with the Truth books being on sale for under five dollars for an audiobook, but when I went to check it out, I don’t see that price.  I think it’s for people already subscribed to them.  But if audiobooks are your thing, they seem to have a standard offer going of 7.49 for any of my titles if you “sign up.”   If you’ve not heard, the Truth books are the very first thing I wrote, (seriously, the first friggin’ thing ever,)  full of telepathic dragons, abandoned castles, and a father’s love for his daughter stretching past death.  It’s very much traditional fantasy, and Alissa is not Rachel in a dress but her own person.  Maybe I should have given her a crossbow instead of a kestrel. . .  Ahhh, hindsight.  (snerk)

If you’re interested . . .

Two teasers for the price of one

Teasers, teasers, teasers!  I got ‘em today, two for the price of one!

I have been relentlessly teasing almost a year over the collection of Hollows and non Hollows shorts and novellas that culminated in INTO THE WOODS.  It’s a big one, with all the previously released bonus Hollows shorts and anthology novellas, plus a new one with Trent and Jenks stealing Lucy.  But what I’m most pleased about is the other 200 or so pages of entirely new, non-Hollows stuff.

See, I know I’m not a one-trick pony, but Rachel is a hard act to follow, so I took a summer to develop a few solid ideas that I might want to work with for the next five or six years as well as to remind myself how to write outside the Hollows.

But I said two sneak peeks, didn’t I?  Well, one of the novellas in INTO THE WOODS, Pet Shop Boys, has been released as a major teaser ebook.  Included in it is chapter one of EVER AFTER.

Here’s how you get yours:

Amazon:  Pet Shop Boys with Ever After chapter

Barnes and Noble: Pet Shop Boys with Ever After chapter

iTunes: Pet Shop Boys with Ever After chapter

Sony: Pet Shop Boys with Ever After chapter

Teasers, teasers, teasers

I’m done teasing you about my stuff today, though I’ve got a lot to tease you with.  Something nice is firming up at my desk, and because I can’t say much, I’m going to tease you with something from Jocelynn Drake, best known for the Dark Days series, but soon to be known for her Asylum Tales as well.

Jocelynn has two e-shorts out, each featuring two of her secondary characters from her latest series.  Angel’s Ink will be out this October, but you can get a feel for the new world she’s playing in now.  I’ve read it and the sequel, and I’m really excited for this to hit the shelf.  But until then, click covers to go to Amazon.  Someone tell me if you have to have a Kindle to read these, or if you can read them on your PC, too.