No contest, but show me your pumpkins or costumes! Bonus points if a copy of one of the books is included. 😉 Here at the Harrison Household, I believe we gave away over 800 pieces of candy. Phew! I can’t tell you how much fun that was!
But I promised you a treat! From now until November third, you can get an ebook of Million Dollar Demon for less that two bucks at most major retailers. It’s a great way to round out your library, or get a friend hooked on the Hollows! Enjoy!
.
Filed under Kim Harrison
*** update: 6/13/22 *** We have our winners for the last two ARC give aways. Kelly and Wilda have already emailed me back to claim their copies. But thank you, everyone who as played along the last few weeks. Your interest makes me happy! –Kim
We are less than two weeks out from Trouble with the Cursed release: are you ready? I’m almost there, and I can’t wait to see you either at my two virtual events scheduled for the 14th, 16th (The amazing Charlaine Harris will be joining me on the Powell’s event!), or my first, post COVID, IN-PERSON SIGNING (!!!) on Friday, the 17th in Ann Arbor MI. If you want to take part in any of the events, you must register so they can send you the link to attend or in the case of the in-person signing, a block of time in which to approach the signing desk. This is Nicola’s first post COVID event, too, so we are both trying to find the best way to work it. (links at the website) We are planning for an outside event under the very large overhang, but if weather is bad, we will move inside.
But today, I have two more ARCS to give away! This week, I want to know who you think is the greatest threat to Rachel? Is it the DC vampires who don’t like her doing their job better than them? Or perhaps the humans, who don’t like her, period? Maybe it’s the elven dewar who sees her as a rebirth of their sworn enemies, the demons? Or possibly the witches coven who don’t want it known that they are in fact, stunted demons. Could it be the demons who want to catch her rising star and use it for themselves? Or maybe–it’s Rachel herself?
And because I like giving things away, if you email Tim your answer, you will be in the flash-giveaway for one of the last two ARCs ofTrouble with the Cursed. Want to enter? Here’s how this week!
Using an email you have access to for the next five days, email Tim at <coldtoastwritingsllc@comcast.net> Put “Rachel’s Nemesis” in the subject line so we know you’re entering the contest. In the email, tell me who you think Rachel’s greatest threat is. Tell me why you think so here and FB to help boost shares. One entry per household please.
I will cut off entries at midnight, PST on Monday, June 6th. I will announce the winner on Tuesday morning, AND email them for the address they want me to mail the ARC to as well as find out if and how they want me to sign it. Winners will have until the coming Thursday midnight to get back to me to claim the ARC and tell me their mailing address. If I don’t hear from you by Thursday midnight, the ARC is gone and I will find another way to give it away.
Books will go out UPS or USPS, whatever is best. Chance of winning depends upon how many enter. Winners will be chosen by a random number generator, and I can’t be responsible for mail that goes astray.
That’s it. I hope to see some of you the week of the 14th as I celebrate the release of Rachel’s next story.
Good luck!
Filed under Drama Box
The songs I’ve found that I feel relate to Rachel cover a wonderfully wide span. “Suicide Note” by Johnette Napolitano on the Underworld soundtrack casts long shadows on Ivy and Rachel’s ever evolving, complex relationship, as did “Thinking of You,” by A Perfect Circle. Fiona Apple’s “Criminal” and Coldplay’s “Lost” seems to fit Rachel pretty well just on their own. In regards to her other relationships, “Believe” by The Bravery, fit her and Al’s earlier relationship, and “Metal Heart” by Garbage used to work well for her and Trent until they began to understand each other, and then “Temptation” by Garbage took over. Breaking Benjamin’s “Breathe,” captured Rachel after Kisten almost perfectly.
As her story progressed, NiN’s “Down in it” took on a a special meaning, as did “Kinda I Want To” and “Sin,” and when she found herself pulled deeper into the Hollow’s underworld, “Fields of Innocence” by Evanescence was a good mirror.
But the three tracks that made it onto the Hollows playlist are the ones that relate to Rachel’s unchanging core, the part that is her, and not how she survives or loves those around her: “Your Own Worst Enemy” by Alice Cooper, “Extraordinary Machine” by Fiona Apple, and “The Line Begins to Blur” by Nine Inch Nails.
Which leaves me “Not Going Away” by Ozzy Osbourne. I’m not entirely happy that this is the song I relate to the most. There are others I’d like to cleave to, happier ones because I’ve been told happy sells, hardship doesn’t when your name is Kim Harrison. But after the last four years of unwanted manuscripts and downward spirals from meh sales of books that don’t feature Rachel, it is a sentiment that I will wear like a belligerent badge. Do what you will, I’m still here.
Looking for the entire playlist of the Hollows? I’ve got it here: https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/6qYXtGoaMxjMoravl5Jt21 (You don’t have to upgrade from free to see it.)
Filed under Drama Box
Newt is an odd one. She is frustrated that her power has been trapped by jaded men, guilty that she killed all her “sisters,” and irate that she can’t remember why. But that’s not to say Newt is helpless. She is, or was, rather, the ever-after’s most powerful demon, and her memory clears enough to remind them of that from time to time. That she became the elves’ goddess is sweet justice, and ties into a long running, series encompassing thread that is so subtle it’s basically there for only me. Writing is a close-to-the-soul thing, and as we circle in towards Newt, Rachel, and the one track for me, I find they can be shuffled like cards and still fit.
But Newt’s soul has a definite feel. She’s angry at the system as she struggles to overcome artificial blocks. She holds a tremendous amount of power, even if it is being stifled. (Mmmmm. Sound familiar?) Her tracks on the Hollows playlist are all from NIN, whose sound encompasses those very things. “Only” (which touches on her anger at being held down) and “Every Day is Exactly the Same” which highlights her magically induced memory loss and her ability to see the future because it will be no different from today. Ah, NIN is not always work safe, so if you have small ears in the room, you may want to wait to listen.
Tomorrow I will give you Rachel’s music and the one I threw in there for me.
Remaining songs:
Not Going Away: Ozzy Osbourne
Your Own Worst Enemy: Alice Cooper
Extraordinary Machine: Fiona Apple
The Line Begins to Blur: Nine Inch Nails
Looking for the playlist of the Hollows? I’ve got it here: https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/6qYXtGoaMxjMoravl5Jt21 (You don’t have to upgrade from free to see it.)
Filed under Drama Box
Ah, Kisten. You get three entire tracks on the Hollows playlist. Three tracks, and they don’t come close to your simple/complex soul. (And I have to apologize. Somehow one of his tracks got dropped from the list of remaining tracks yesterday, so think of it as a bonus.)
Kisten was originally a walk-on, a way to show Rachel the danger in the vampire, but I fell in love, and he became so much more, a way to show the broken side of the vampire coin, the manipulation, the addiction, the fragility and strength. A study in high and low contrasts, he is likely the most real character I have penned, and I’m not sure I ever did him justice.
He wasn’t supposed to die, and in truth, he didn’t until the editorial rewrite when I looked farther down Rachel’s road and realized that Kisten couldn’t help her. It had to be an elf or demon. I am sorry, Kisten. I still miss you. Pike will never take your place. I promise.
Not surprisingly, I found a lot of music to reflect Kisten’s soul. “Thinking of You,” and “Weak and Powerless” by A Perfect Circle work great, but the three that made it onto the Hollows Soundtrack are “You and I” by Jeff Buckley, “Living Dead Girl” from Rob Zombie, and “Never Say Never,” from Queens of the Stone Age off the Punisher soundtrack. The depth of “Never say Never” probably fits Kisten’s hidden soul the best. I’ve always felt the strength of the music is hidden by the ego-testical attitude of the refrain–just like Kisten’s depth is shrouded under a carefully constructed front to disarm and beguile. “You and I” by Jeff Buckley is Rachel and Kisten, the soulful, almost lustful voice just screams Kisten to me.
And then there’s “Living Dead Girl” by Rob Zombie. This one is here not because it relates to his soul, but because every time I hear it, all I can see is Kisten line-dancing with twenty or so beautiful vampires behind him. They were free for those three minutes. He gave that to them. All of them free of their master’s demands, free to be what they wanted, instead of what they had been made into. That was Kisten’s legacy and why I miss him so much.
Tomorrow I will give you Newt’s music.
Remaining characters:
Rachel (3), Newt (2) … and one for me–my theme song after a hellish couple of years now dumping into one hellish year for everyone.
Remaining songs:
Not Going Away: Ozzy Osbourne
Only: Nine Inch Nails
Your Own Worst Enemy: Alice Cooper
Every Day is Exactly the Same: Nine Inch Nails
Extraordinary Machine: Fiona Apple
The Line Begins to Blur: Nine Inch Nails
Looking for the playlist of the Hollows? I’ve got it here: https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/6qYXtGoaMxjMoravl5Jt21 (You don’t have to upgrade from free to see it.)
Filed under Drama Box
Trent and Jenks, the two most important men in Rachel’s life at the moment. But it didn’t start that way, and that’s reflected in some of the music I relate to Trent.
Trent is another one of those characters who has been with us from book one, evolving a full 180 degrees as his and Rachel’s hidden, joined past twine with their future. When I first began working with Trent, I found “The American Way” by The Crystal Method fit his drug-lord persona perfectly, but as I began to learn more about him and the agenda behind the need for the large influx of money that Brimstone and illegal genetic medicine brought in, I found “DOA” by the Foo Fighters. The line “dancing with the bones of my buried past” just hit me as extremely apropos. And most recently, since his fall, “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay. This track is about Napoleon, I believe, but hey, it fits!
And Jenks! There’s track ten on the Ocean’s Eleven soundtrack, “Planting the Seed.” “Peter Gunn” done by Henry Mancini is a great fit for when he’s on a run. But the one track that made it onto the Hollows Playlist is “Red-Tape” from Agent Provocateur, which is also on the Underworld soundtrack. Yeah, I know the song isn’t really about little thieves, but inspiration is where you find it. The power and drive behind the music fit Jenks perfectly 😉
Tomorrow I’ll tell you about Kisten. He’s got three of the remaining tracks.
Remaining characters:
Rachel (3), Newt (2), Kisten (3) … and one for me–my theme song after a hellish couple of years now dumping into one hellish year for everyone.
Remaining songs:
Not Going Away: Ozzy Osbourne
Only: Nine Inch Nails
Your Own Worst Enemy: Alice Cooper
Every Day is Exactly the Same: Nine Inch Nails
Never Say Never: Queens of the Stone Age
Extraordinary Machine: Fiona Apple
The Line Begins to Blur: Nine Inch Nails
Living Dead Girl: Rob Zombie
Looking for the playlist of the Hollows? I’ve got it here: https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/6qYXtGoaMxjMoravl5Jt21 (You don’t have to upgrade from free to see it.)
We are up to Piscary and Ceri in the Hollows playlist match-up! I hope you are enjoying the look into how I create a character. I don’t have music on most of the time when I’m writing, but when I’m looking to free my thoughts just a little bit more…music does it.
Ceri, first. Ceri was an accident. I had the entirety of Every Which Way but Dead plotted out, and when I sat down to write that first chapter, Ceri walked out from behind the tombstone and blew it all away like dandelion fluffs. But she was most welcome into the Hollows. Ceri was never far from her royal, ancient elven roots, and the music I’ve found to fit her wild, dangerous self is Filii Neidhardi by Corvus Corax. I found this group right about the time I began developing Ceri’s persona, and it just seemed a perfect fit.
Piscary, on the other hand… His character was a careful creation, a friendly uncle who has ugly tastes and an unparalleled skill for both gas lighting and manipulating. All his children love and hate him, and he really doesn’t care. There are a lot of tracks that bring up vampires in my mind, their power, their grace, their often-time beauty, but Lullaby by A perfect circle holds a disjointed disconnect that I have always felt encompasses a vampire’s hold on their prey.
I’m going to be bringing these to you faster this week to finish up Friday. Tomorrow I’ll tell you about Jenks and Trent’s tracks. Jenks has one, and Trent has three.
Remaining characters:
Jenks (1), Rachel (3), Trent (3), Newt (2), Kisten (3) … and one for me–my theme song after a hellish couple of years now dumping into one hellish year for everyone.
Remaining songs:
Red Tape: Agent Provocateur
Not Going Away: Ozzy Osbourne
DOA: Foo Fighters
Viva La Vida: Coldplay
Only: Nine Inch Nails
Your Own Worst Enemy: Alice Cooper
Every Day is Exactly the Same: Nine Inch Nails
The American Way: The Crystal Method
Never Say Never: Queens of the Stone Age
Extraordinary Machine: Fiona Apple
The Line Begins to Blur: Nine Inch Nails
Living Dead Girl: Rob Zombie
Looking for the playlist of the Hollows? I’ve got it here: https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/6qYXtGoaMxjMoravl5Jt21 (You don’t have to upgrade from free to see it.)
Filed under Drama Box
Ah, vampires. What would the Hollows be without vampires? And so Pike happened. He’s is a new character that you will get your first glimpse of in just a few more weeks, (Hurray!!!) but I gave you some hints yesterday to help find his track in the Hollows Playlist. He’s a living vampire, from a good house, youngest and most vulnerable. Down on his luck even as he’s got a lot of personal power. Mmmm.
I’m expecting a lot from this guy, and we’ll see much more of him in MILLION DOLLAR DEMON. I miss the allure of the vampire, and I will be really ticked if he tries to replace Kisten. No, Rachel is very happy with Trent, and her soul still smarts from Kisten’s loss. She does not want to go back down that particular rabbit hole and I don’t want to take her there again.
But if she did? It would be with Pike.
His song is recent compared to the rest, which makes sense. I found it in a new band called Grandson who mixes a lot of sounds into something new. I’m very curious to see what they come up with next. Bury me Face Down
Tomorrow, I’ll tell you about Ivy and how she got three tracks on the Hollows playlist.
Looking for the entire playlist of the Hollows? I’ve got it here: https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/6qYXtGoaMxjMoravl5Jt21 (You don’t have to upgrade from free to see it.)
Remaining characters:
Jenks (1), Rachel (3), Ivy (3), Trent (3), Newt (2), Kisten (3), Piscary (1), Ceri( 1) … and one for me–my theme song after a hellish couple of years now dumping into one hellish year for everyone.
Remaining songs:
Red Tape: Agent Provocateur
Pearls: Sade
Not Going Away: Ozzy Osbourne
New Years’s Prayer: Jeff Buckley
DOA: Foo Fighters
Viva La Vida: Coldplay
Filii Neidhardi: Corvus Corax
Only: Nine Inch Nails
Your Own Worst Enemy: Alice Cooper
You & I: Jeff Buckley
Every Day is Exactly the Same: Nine Inch Nails
The American Way: The Crystal Method
Never Say Never: Queens of the Stone Age
Extraordinary Machine: Fiona Apple
The Line Begins to Blur: Nine Inch Nails
Lullaby: A Perfect Circle
Short Skirt, Long Jacket: Cake
Living Dead Girl: Rob Zombie
Takata is one of a handful of characters who has been with us since Dead Witch Walking. He began as a wish for me to be in the band, and by the time I had finished writing The Good, The Bad, and The Undead, I knew who he was and how he related to Rachel. We were still looking at only three books at that point, and I figured I’d never get the chance to bring his relationship with her out, but I began to lay out the clues anyway. If I was going to play the “I’m your father” card, I wanted the clues out early and faint–hence seeing him in drips and drabs through his lyrics.
It took almost six books, but I managed to create in Takata’s lyrics something that could both foreshadowed Rachel’s ultimate future as a demon as well as her hidden past. I was never able to bring more than a phrase or two into the actual texts, but I did write them all out, and if you look through hindsight at them, you can see Takata’s shame and regret for having given his son and then his daughter to the woman he loved to be raised by his best friend from college. Sift the clues from the dust, from my lives, of my will. / I loved you then. I love you still. (You can see the lyrics in their entirety at the website [lyrics] ) It still gives me pause, that regret that he gave her away, and he was telling Rachel even then that the clues and hints to her future and past were there in his music–if she would slow down and listen. Takata was my oracle, the one who knew everything–bound to silence by a promise he made to the woman he loved. Even as he ached. That he and Rachel’s mom are now together makes me happy at night.
So…when I found Rockstar by Nickleback, it was an obvious peek into Takata’s soul, and unlike a lot of the music that the characters grow out of, I think it still fits him pretty well.
Tomorrow I’ll tell you which track holds Pike’s soul. No worries if you don’t guess. No one but I have met him yet, but you’ll get an introduction in AMERICAN DEMON, and a really good look in MILION DOLLAR DEMON (formally titled The Rule) If you want to try to find his music, he’s a vampire from a very good family, but as the youngest and still alive…he’s in a bit of a spot.
Looking for the entire playlist of the Hollows? I’ve got it here: https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/6qYXtGoaMxjMoravl5Jt21 (You don’t have to upgrade from free to see it.)
Remaining characters:
Jenks (1), Rachel (3), Ivy (3), Trent (3), Newt (2), Pike (1), Kisten (3), Piscary (1), Ceri( 1) … and one for me–my theme song after a hellish couple of years now dumping into one hellish year for everyone.
Remaining songs:
Red Tape: Agent Provocateur
Pearls: Sade
Not Going Away: Ozzy Osbourne
New Years’s Prayer: Jeff Buckley
DOA: Foo Fighters
Viva La Vida: Coldplay
Filii Neidhardi: Corvus Corax
Only: Nine Inch Nails
Your Own Worst Enemy: Alice Cooper
You & I: Jeff Buckley
Every Day is Exactly the Same: Nine Inch Nails
The American Way: The Crystal Method
Bury Me Face Down: Grandson
Never Say Never: Queens of the Stone Age
Extraordinary Machine: Fiona Apple
The Line Begins to Blur: Nine Inch Nails
Lullaby: A Perfect Circle
Short Skirt, Long Jacket: Cake
Living Dead Girl: Rob Zombie
Filed under Drama Box
When I began to write Al, he had no soul. Well, his character did, but I didn’t know who he was. His soul, his desires, his fears were all hidden behind his big-bad-ugly persona. At first, that was okay with me. But then we got to where Rachel had to either destroy him, or start to understand him. Al was far too interesting to dispatch, and so–ever so softly–Al began to open up to me in words not said, actions not taken, hesitations that held a memory of his past.
It was then that my muse began to ping against the music, sending me in search of Al’s soul, the hidden past that he wouldn’t dare show Rachel. But me? As the architect? He would speak to me. ;-).
I first found Al in Sympathy for the Devil by Guns and Roses. The callous, cocky attitude, the power, the dismissive ego, the long life and the indulgence that stems from it raw and in your face. Of all the characters, Al is probably the one who is still evolving the most, and after he was given the trust of two little girls, I found Al’s deeper history, the one with blue butterflies and regret and longing. And so Lilac Wine by Jeff Buckley became Al as well. I think the slow, soulful sounds of an artist taken way too soon from us capture him well.
Sympathy for the Devil Guns and Roses
Tomorrow I’ll tell you of Takata. His track is easy to find if you listen to the lyrics.
Looking for the playlist of the Hollows? I’ve got it here: https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/6qYXtGoaMxjMoravl5Jt21 (You don’t have to upgrade from free to see it.)
Remaining characters:
Jenks (1), Rachel (3), Ivy (3), Trent (3), Takata (1), Newt (2), Pike (1), Kisten (3), Piscary (1), Ceri( 1) … and one for me–my theme song after a hellish couple of years now dumping into one hellish year for everyone.
Remaining songs:
Red Tape: Agent Provocateur
Pearls: Sade
Not Going Away: Ozzy Osbourne
Rockstar: Nickleback
New Years’s Prayer: Jeff Buckley
DOA: Foo Fighters
Viva La Vida: Coldplay
Filii Neidhardi: Corvus Corax
Only: Nine Inch Nails
Your Own Worst Enemy: Alice Cooper
You & I: Jeff Buckley
Every Day is Exactly the Same: Nine Inch Nails
The American Way: The Crystal Method
Bury Me Face Down: Grandson
Never Say Never: Queens of the Stone Age
Extraordinary Machine: Fiona Apple
The Line Begins to Blur: Nine Inch Nails
Lullaby: A Perfect Circle
Short Skirt, Long Jacket: Cake
Living Dead Girl: Rob Zombie
Filed under Drama Box
Kim Harrison 