Hunkering down

If I had to use one word to describe the weekend, it would be hunkering down, which is technically two words, but there it is. It had nothing to do with Sandy, seeing as we are far enough inland that it will be likely reduced to a severe wind-and-rain event with limited flooding on Halloween, but I think the hype has triggered a deeper need to prepare for winter a tad early.

Saturday was a blitz of baking followed by a few hours in the yard pulling leaves out from my side yard. Only one more corner to go now, and they will all be at the curb. I do think I’ve run out of nice days to get them there, though. I’ve been picking away at tucking my yard in for the winter for almost six weeks, but finally the view out my window is green and earthy black, and the cement and metal decorations of summer are tucked in the basement. Storm windows went up yesterday on the few original windows left on the house, and I planted a few last crocus in the new landscape island I put in this fall. Hunkering down is easier when you’ve got a pattern, almost a pleasure when it’s tied to memories of being warm and close to the ones you love when the storm shakes the windows and moves on to check the latch of the next house on the street.

Now I’m in my toasty office, starting out at a bleak landscape pared down to the bones, with the trees bare and little numbs of green hugging the ground to weather the coming winter. The birds are active at the feeders, which makes me happy, and I’m imagining my yard in snow and liking what I see, even it it’s in my mind’s eye.

And wow, I think we’re going to get an early taste of winter this year. For those of you in Sandy’s path, hunker down and ride it out, be it at home or the emergency shelters. NY has been on the news the most, and I’m imagining it with open streets and empty sidewalks.  I can see it very easily, though it’s got to be creepy as all get-out.  I’ve got a notion that these freak storms on the edges of the season shifts are going to become the norm, so find your pattern to make it easier. And do as I tell Thing Two before he goes off to school, “Smart decisions.”

I‘ve got one thing for you that came in late Friday for all you Trick-or-Treaters! INTO THE WOODS made Houston Press’s list of the top six Halloween reads.  6 New Books We Like Check it out! KRAMPUS and DEVIL SAID BANG also made it.  Whoo-hoo! I am delighted that INTO THE WOODS made this list. Spider Web, especially, feels kind of Halloween creepy to me.

And tomorrow is the release day for BLOOD CRIME, book two in the graphic novel saga of how Ivy met Rachel.  :-) See Blood Crime for more info and where to find it.

Back at home, and back on the lists!

Believe it or not, I have just got back from New York late yesterday after taking the opportunity to fly to SC instead of MI to truck a van of stuff from storage back North.  Guy and I had a smidgen of a color tour, first from the air which isn’t as pretty as you might think unless you’re looking at the shades of turned earth (which were beautiful), and then a slow two-day slog back over the same territory in a rental truck. Oddly enough, on the way back there’s a spot of color in the smokey mountains and then a strip of blandness where the leaves are past their peak, and then another spot of color right around lower MI. I didn’t miss my one-year-old little trees turning, which I was afraid I might. They were green when I left, but I know little trees turn fast. As expected, they are fading fast, but I did see the orange and can imagine their glory in fifteen years or so. It’s going to be breathtaking, especially if the hundred-year-old yellow trees around them hang on a little longer. We’ve had an arborist out to help us with them and he says they’re healthy, but nothing lives forever unless you’re one of those dawn redwoods.  :-)

So today I’m back in my beloved office and looking at a week’s downtime in the past, more than ready to get lost in the Hollows for a few weeks–the music is on, the rain is a soft hush, and the leaves have made the world yellow up, down, and in between in a slow steady drift.  Ahhhhh, simple needs are anything but simple, even if they make for happy people, and I’m happy today with a slow excitement for what is going to land on the page.

But I said I was back on the lists, and that makes me happy too and it is one of the most complicated things in my life.  My editor called with the news yesterday that  Into the Woods will be debuting on the NYTimes hardcover fiction list at thirteen, tied with book twelve, which I think a delightful number this time of year and with this kind of book. Anthologies are devilishly hard to predict, and to have readers excited enough and a publisher willing to help promote it has given it a very nice birthday number. Thank you, guys–you’re the best. I worked to give you something to become excited about, and you made the effort to get out and pick it up on that first week or two.

A Perfect Blood, is again on the lists, too.  It’s been out three weeks and debuted at fourteen, has left the list and come back this week at thirty on the mass market. Again, thanks to the readers and a proactive publisher. I think that SafeCo (?) has it available for a ridiculously low price, and I saw it in Walmart for only pennies more, which makes me happy. Some of you have waited so long. If you’re only now reading it, I hope you find it worth the wait. It’s only going to get better from here on  out.  :-)

Kim’s off to Comic Con NY to celebrate the release of Into the Woods!

I’m trying something new today–setting up a post to go live tomorrow at my usual time. We’ll see how that goes, but if I do it right, I’ve got a link for you today to the brand new, very cool Spotify music list that Harper and myself made up for Into the Woods.  It moves from 80s to hard rock/industrial to more of a mellow edge to electronica, and I’ll be honest in that I like the tracks at the end the best.  :-)

If you’re not familiar with Spotify, well . . . neither was I, but I figure if it didn’t explode my editor’s computer, it probably wouldn’t bother mine.  (I did toggle the button to keep my listening private, though.  I don’t want my editor knowing how often I’m on-line listening to stuff.–laugh–)

If you already have the Spotify app, the link should just start right up, but if not, it’s pretty painless to download the app and listen, especially if you have a FB account.

But here’s the link!  INTO THE WOODS Enjoy! Each one ties in to one of the stories or characters.

Today I’ve got a panel, and I’m looking forward to it and meeting my fellow panelists. I’ll try to remember to take a picture, but seriously, it’s going to be iffy.  -grin-

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.

Kim Harrison’s Into The Woods is on the shelves

Finally, after weeks spent signing pre-release copies to send to you, promoting an early e-book snippet, prepping e-interviews, developing freebies for comic con, and getting all my ducks in a row, Into the Woods is on the shelves today and dropping into your e-readers as I type this.

Whoo-hoo! I’m excited about it, even as I’m bracing myself for the ugly reviews sure to follow such a shift in writing style/logic/voice/etc, in some of the non-Hollows novella’s.  So if you read them and like them, don’t be shy in publicly saying so right next to those bad reviews. This is the only litmus test you’re going to be able to take part in as far as to what might come after the Hollows, so good, or bad, I want to know what you think of the three non-Hollows novellas, Spider Silk, Grace, and Pet Shop Boys.

Also, Into the Woods made USAtoday’s recommended reads this morning. Thanks, Jessie! What a great way to start a release! Recommended Reads

Copies should be on the shelves today, but if you’re having trouble:

Indibooks
Barnes and Noble
Books-A-Million
Harper Collins
Amazon
Brookline Booksmith
Politics and Prose
Powell’s Books
Rainy Day Books
Tattered Cover
Watermark Books and Cafe

Also available as an audio book and through the SFBC

Perfect Blood to old school Santa Claus, yes, these things go together–today.

It’s a grab-bag of mish-mash today! First, I finished up signing INTO THE WOODS last night, and wow, I have to thank you guys for your response. I’d say my hand is tired, but you know the voice is the first thing to go. -grin-  I left some signed stock, so if you are desperate and can’t get out to Comic Con NY (where I’ll also be signing) you can order one from here. Order signed INTO THE WOODS

Second, but actually this should be first, on the way to Nicola’s, my editor called, and you guys pushed A PERFECT BLOOD up into the New York Times list!  It hit at a very respectable 14 on the mass market. Not bad for a book that has been out for almost a year and hit #2 on the hard cover list.  Smiles, smiles, smiles. Thank you!  It feels pretty good sitting at my desk this morning. Also, Guy was out yesterday and spotted it at the “must read”end cap at a get-all store. I know one chain, especially, is going to have A PERFECT BLOOD at a steep discount, so keep your eyes peeled, and if you spot it, let me know.

Third, I’ve added a booth signing on Friday morning at Comic Con, hopefully before it gets too much the mad house. I’ll be at the Del Rey booth signing very early releases of BLOOD CRIME, the second graphic novel.  This bad boy isn’t supposed to be out until Halloween, but you can get it at Comic Con.  If you miss the signing, you can buy it even when I’m not there, and bring it to another Comic Con signing, of which I’ve got several. My updated Comic Con NY schedule

Fourth, tomorrow I’ll be posting a conversation between me and Faith Hunter about the importance of having friends in the industry, giving you the down and dirty on how we met and what we’re up to now. This is the woman who mentored me and literally shoved me in front of the man who later became my agent. She’s a pushy broad, and everyone who knows her loves her for it, because she pushes you into what she knows you’re capable of. So tomorrow, you’re going to be witness to two ladies gushing all over each other. (grin) You have been warned.

Faith is coming on to my pages here to celebrate her release of DEATH’S RIVAL, number five in her Jane Yellowrock series.  I’m going to give you a link to Amazon only because it’s easy, but you can find it everywhere this week.  Death’s Rival on Amazon And tomorrow, the gushing begins . . .

And lastly, i09 has published a SF/Fantasy don’t miss in October list, and one of my faves is on it.  Go Bram!  I had the chance to read KRAMPUS before it came out, and loved the old school Christmas crashing into even older pagan ritual. And yes, it’s got illustrations.  :-) Jump on over to i09 for the complete list.  io9 Bookshelf injection-October Bram is also going to be at Comic Con, so check the schedule. We have a joint booth signing on Saturday at Harper. Jocelynn Drake is going to be there too, along with Richard Kadery.  It’s going to be a happy madhouse. I can’t wait.

Cutoff for signed/personalized Into The Woods offer is today

That’s right. I know I’ve been talking about it for a long time, but INTO THE WOODS comes out in less than a week, and today is the last day to order a signed/personalized copy from Nicola’s and expect a ghost of a chance of getting it by the drop date of Tuesday. I am so excited. Most times, my ideas sit in a cabinet never seeing the light of day for years and years, if ever, but here, I’ve been able to bring them all out and develop them into stories, not synopsis or outlines, or proposals, but stories–stories with characters and ideas, and little jumps of thought that never happen until the act of creation is, well, acting. So if you want a nice solid peek at what might (or might not) be coming after the Hollows, you have to check it out.

I’m going to give you a link to a previous post for the particulars on how to order from Nicola’s instead of rewriting it all here.  How to order from Nicola’s The official cut off is noon, EST, but don’t panic. I will be in to sign after Comic Con, so you’ll still get your copy.  It just won’t be by the drop date.

Also, I promised you a wallpaper. I’d forgotten I had this. Isn’t it fabulous? I might change my banner for a week or so just because.  :-) It’s free for your own use, just click the small picture to go to chose your size and grab it.  Into the wood Wallpaper

Into The Woods signing party

Last night, Guy and I went to a signing party out at Nicola’s, signing the orders that had come in since last week, and wow!  This is going great! I’ve already gone through one pen and started on another, which is cool because this and Comic Con are the only two ways this year to get one signed. The only problem is that Guy is standing over my shoulder saying, stuff like, Oh! LeAnn!  I send stuff to her all the time.  She’s a nice lady.”  (Sheesh!) Sometimes, I think he knows you better than I do.

There is still one week left to order one of these bad-boys before we reach the cutoff of October 3rd, noon EST.  It’s sort of like a Manic Monday that last all week, because as soon as we hit that noon, EST mark, there is no way you will get this on the drop date.  Oh, you can still order one, and I will still sign it, but it might be a few days after the drop date that you get it.  I’ve got to get back from Comic Con, for one thing.  :-) ( If you’re going, I’ve got my schedule here.)

To order one a signed/personalized Into The Woods, this is what you do.

1.  Go to their ordering site and order a book.  I’ve got the link at the end here.

2.  Work through the order form until you get to the “pay me” part.  Way down at the bottom you’ll see a box that looks like this.

3.  In this box, you write in “Please have Kim sign my book”  ORRRRRRRR  ”Please have Kim sign my book to __________”  and fill in the blank with who you want me to personalize it to.  The first will get you my signature, the second will get it personalized to you with a note.

4.  If you don’t put anything in the box, you’ll get a book but no signature.  :-)

5.  International orders are okay.  Email them for a shipping quote at nicolasbooks@tds.net with “ordering Into The Woods” in the subject line.

6.   If you want it by the drop date, you have to order by October 3rd, noon EST.

7.  Here’s the link to get you started.  Nicola’s signed Into The Woods offer

And if you’re on the fence about it, I’ve got a .99c excerpt available as an ebook.  Pet Shop Boys also has the first chapter of EVER AFTER in it, too.  I’ve just got stuff going on all over the place!  -grin-

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

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

10:00-11:00 Blood Crime signing at the Del Rey booth #1120

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!

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

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.