Kim Harrison's Blog, page 90
July 19, 2012
The big question
I woke this morning, reached out for my husband, opened my eyes, stared lovingly into his, and said, “Did it rain last night?”
Oh, my disappointment! It had not. I felt cheated because there was a massive storm coming across Lake Michigan when we turned out the lights. We even stayed up to make sure it made it across, because sometimes, the lake sort of calms everything and it evaporates.
I got to my computer first, though, and imagine my excitement when I pulled up the doppler radar and yes! the first wave had evaporated, but the second was on our doorstep! It is sprinkling as I write this, and more is on the way. It’s a big one, too. No guarantee that it’s going to hold together as it passes over the dry soil, but I’m hopeful. Everything is stressed, so stressed. It almost hurts to go outside and see the panic in the smaller animals.
Work is also going well. I took a few hours yesterday morning to re-outline how the last five chapters are going to go since I had only a vague idea when I started at page one. I’m sooooo glad that my writing style promotes revisions, and by that I mean that my first rough draft is actually that. Very rough, and holding only the bones of the story. Oh, it reads fine, but there is no way I’m going to show it to anyone because it’s all plot, no story–mostly because I don’t know what the story is until I get to the end and all the little ideas and realizations I make on the way culminate. If I sweated over every chapter to make it perfect, if I kept dropping back and changing things as I figured them out, it not only would take me two to three times as long to get it done, I wouldn’t be as open to revision. Some people write wonderful work that way. I cannot. I like my options wide open.
The story doesn’t know what the story needs until it’s on the page.
July 17, 2012
Must be summer
It must be summer, not just because it’s hot and I’m running around barefoot. Yesterday I caught sights of a sure sign of it: a sphinx moth.
This little guy is smaller than my thumb, and because he hovers over flowers, he’s often mistaken for a humming bird. One of his other common names is humming bird moth, and believe it or not, the larva is those big honking green caterpillars that you find on your tomato plants. Yes, he is actually a tomato hornworm, otherwise known as a tobacco hornworm.
It’s almost enough to let a few of those larva go ahead and eat my tomato plants, but this year, my plants are so spindly, I think I’ll pass. Too hot for tomatoes? Believe it or not, I think mine are suffering.
P.S. If you got in on the manic Monday yesterday, you got a book. The first twenty have gone out, so please give us a chance to package them up and get them addressed. We had about 200 responses, so it’s going to take a little bit of time.
July 16, 2012
Manic Monday, of a different, chaotic sort
Did you miss out on Comic Con in San Diego this year and all the free stuff? Me too, but I’m not complaining because I got tons done at my desk. Still . . . It was hard seeing all the photos come in and remember the fabulous time I had last year. Comic Con San Diego is an experience, and if you ever get the chance, I suggest you go. Take your most comfortable pair of shoes, a camera, and a poster tube for all the free stuff you can get for the price of admission.
But for everyone who missed it, Guy and I have something for you today at noon: A Manic Monday of a different sort. We have a grab bag of books from the Hollows, the Madison series, The Truth Books, and the Princess. Some are hardcover, most are mass market, all will be in English, and there might be a few ARCs in there. Lots of the Truth books are first editions and have been wrapped in paper the last ten years and look like new. You might get something that is pictured below, or you might get something completely different, but it will be signed, and it will be coming from my closet. I figure it’s cheaper than the price of Comic Con, and you never know what you’re going to get there, either. -grin-
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Here’s the deal, and if you’ve gotten manic Mondays from us before, please go over it because it is different than usual.
Between noon and 1:00 EST today, paypal Guy $6.00 at vampcharms@comporium.net to cover the cost of shipping and handling. I wish I could just do this at no cost to you, but I’ve got boxes, literally boxes. Make sure 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.**** Offer is available to US residents only. That’s it. No invoicing, just pay pal him six dollars and your address between noon and 1:00 EST, and we will send you a book.
Again, we don’t know what you’re going to get, but it will be signed, and because we expect a nice response, we’d ask that you limit yourself to one book per paypal / address / person. I’m sorry that I can’t include my international readers in this particular offer. Also, because we expect a large response, it might take a while for the books to go out. I’ll be helping Guy, but it takes time to move 100 + pieces of mail through my living room.
July 13, 2012
Made it to another one!
Yep, it’s Friday! Right now, my page count for the week is rather dismal, but I prepped 11 pages of dialog yesterday for today’s work, and it should turn into 22 pages of text, which will bring my total weekly word count to where I want it. If I can settle down and concentrate, that it.
I had a bit of a surprise yesterday when David, my alpha Were with the focus from a few books back, sauntered into my office and flopped down on my cool tile floor, staring up at me with his big puppy dog eyes to reminded me he would be perfect for this chapter. So he’s in there now, and I couldn’t be happier. Though he did add a chapter I wasn’t expecting. It’s all well and good. David’s cool.
July 12, 2012
More butterflies
And sometimes, everything falls in place. Wow! I think it’s one of the best pictures I’ve ever taken on the bunny cam.
July 11, 2012
Birds and flowers and butterflies
If you plant it, they will come. :-)
July 10, 2012
M, M, M, M . . .
No, I’m not humming. The summer days are evolving into a repetitive, easy, hypnotic flow, like practicing your handwriting M’s. (Thanks, Ray, for that analogy) I took yesterday off from my usual work to come up with an extra for the hardcover release for EVER AFTER. I can’t say much about it, seeing as I’m superstitious and I want it to be a surprise when it’s finally ready to reveal. Suffice to say it’s uber cool. I’ll be sending some of my ideas off to my editor this morning, and then we’ll see.
Which means today I’ll be getting back to the actual writing. I left Rachel in sort of a tight spot. It will make for an interesting day. I’m almost done with this beast–maybe two weeks left? It’s coming in a little short for me, but seeing as it’s a rough draft, I know It’ll balloon up when I go back and flesh it out. I’ve got all the fun stuff to put in yet.
P.S. The angle of the sun is already shifting. Wow, so much more is getting into my office than just last week.
July 9, 2012
Dog days of summer? Not quite yet
No it’s not quite the dog days of summer, but it feels like it, and now that the weather has broke, or at least fractured into more reasonable temperatures, I can relax and maybe enjoy it a little instead of spending most of my dirt time rescuing sun-damaged plants.
The picture here is of Zand, one of a set of two pups. Though never heavy, she’s been on a diet to lose a few ounces for medical reasons, and she’s looking great. Go Zandi!!
July 6, 2012
Friday? Fry Day? You decide.
I’ve been talking about Jocelynn Drake recently, mostly because she’s got a spanking-new series coming out that I’ve got a sneak peek at and am really excited about it. ANGEL WINGS, the first in the Asylum tales. (She’s been doing contests all week at her site) Yesterday, though, I saw a .99 cent deal pop up for her first novel, NIGHTWALKER. You might want to check it out, though the tone of this one and her new one are not alike at all.
Me, I’ll be plodding along today on a new chapter that should be exciting and full of action, but it’s Friday, and I am tired of sitting in my chair, looking out at air that is so hot it is disgusting. The weather should be breaking Sunday, all the way down to the mid 80s. If I can keep my yard alive today, (in the +100 weather) I’ve got a chance to maintain it through the 80s the next couple of weeks. Desperate squirrels have destroyed my moss. I’m so not happy. That stuff takes two years to take hold.
July 5, 2012
Ooooh . . . Ahhhh . . .
I hope everyone had a happy, safe 4th of July! I put a few hours in before calling it quits, and I’m chomping to get back to it this morning, eager to finish it up. We finally got some rain early this morning, so there are little branches in my yard, but that’s not complaining you are hearing from me. Wow, we could use even more rain, but at least the untended greenery now has a chance to make it to Sunday when this is going to break.
The picture is my daylily. I got this out of a ditch fifteen years ago, and it has traveled with me from place to place from there on out. I’ve left it behind every time, taking only a few roots to get a new garden started. This is the second year they’ve been in the ground in this particular garden, and I’m pleased at the number of blooms they had for such young plants. Like fireworks! And yes, there are three times as many petals there as there usually are, with no stamens at all. They reverted back to petals!
