Peri Reed has a great voice

If you missed January LaVoy’s rendition of Peri Reed in The Drafter, you’ve got to at least take a listen in to The Operator. She nails it!

Audible

ITunes

Wanna just read it?

 

Hollows–signed to you!

September personalization at Nicola’s brings us to WHITE WITCH, BLACK CURSE, BLACK MAGIC SANCTION, PALE DEMON, and A PERFECT BLOOD. I’ve signed the Truth books, the Princess books, and even the YA, Madison Avery series, and at the end of this personalization cycle, I probably won’t do this again for a very long time as its asking a lot of the people at Nicola’s who have to organize it. Those of you who ordered any of the earlier titles, you should have them by now. If not, shoot them an email. (And if you are late hearing about my personalization push this summer, I’m sure Nicola’s won’t mind adding some of the earlier titles we’ve featured to you pile.

 

Just click the images to go right to Nicola’s, and don’t forget to tell them when you order the books who you want them signed to. I’ve linked to the mass markets, but you can upgrade to the hard covers by a quick search.

Also, if you have not heard, Gallery was convinced to do a very small print run of hard covers for the upcoming THE OPERATOR  mass market release. Like the first four Hollows books, they are for the library trade, but they will be available for a time through normal channels. And, like the first four Hollows books, there is a pretty good chance that they will be hard to find in a year or so, much like those coveted FISTFUL OF CHARMS. Best part, the mass market and hard cover will be coming out simultaneously a few days before Thanksgiving.

Since THE OPERATOR is for all intents and purposes a mass market release, there will be no tour apart from an appearance at Nicola’s on November 26 for Shop Small Saturday, so if you want one signed, you have to order it.

 

      

To find out more sooner as opposed to later and get in on extra chances to enter for an ARC of The Turn, subscribe to my mailing list. This is where it will show up first: Kim’s Newsletter

I know I said I would have another shot at entering the contest this week, but I’m crammed and Tim can’t get to the computer to shoot out a newsletter. Hang in there. We’ve got time.

Went to Nicola’s last night

Books, books, books, beautiful books full of memories of Useless, Strell, Lodish, Connen-Neute (Verbalize, Connen-Neute!), and of course, Alissa. The newly printed Truth books had come in, so if you ordered your personalized copies last month, they are on the truck today going to the shipper, and then you. 🙂

Kim Harrison and Jessie at Nicola’s signing back list titles

Bit of a confession here. I got lost for a half hour this morning when I opened Forgotten Truth up to check on the spelling of Connen-Neute’s name. Septhama points, tracings, window wards. Redal-Stan, Talon . . . my beautiful Talon with your secret untold and sacrifice unknown. I forgot how much I loved creating these books. If you want some science in your magic, take a dip in the Hold. (happy sigh) It’s deceptively simple on the surface.

For those of you in the know, that’s a four-bell ankle bracelet, but alas, one bell has gone missing. I think Rex or perhaps Carnac has it.

But the books I’m featuring this month are the Princess books, and you can get both The Decoy Princess and Princes at Sea for the rest of the month personalized to you through Nicola’s. These are traditional fantasy but as before, the language and attitudes are contemporary making Tess very relatable. Like the Truth books, they are good to read with your kids if you’re trying to get them into “mental movies.”

Decoy Princess   Princess at Sea

But what I really wanted to give to you today was a wallpaper my tech person at Gallery made for me. The screen size of an iPhone and Galaxie are so similar that I think I  can get away with giving you just one. Feel free to upload and share!

Also, those of you who were contacted through the newsletter about getting an early copy of THE OPERATOR, hang in there. They won’t even be printed for a while yet, but you have not been forgotten. (sign up for newsletter)

 

Have you seen the Decoy series?

I think the robin in the box I put up two years ago has more than eggs under her today. Sorry for the blurry picture, but I don’t want to go outside and snap a shot, so you get the screen fuzzing it up.  The box is right in my line of sight when I sit at my desk, and she’s been keeping me silent company for a couple of weeks. In return, I’ve been yelling at the bluejays and one really big crow. So far, we’ve had no losses. I’m not sure what’s going on in the neighboring cardinal nest. They are there for a day, then not, then back. It might be too busy for the shyer bird. Pictures coming when/if we have little yellow beaks pointed at the sky for food.

I’m late this month in releasing the next two Harrison/Cook back list titles for personlization. But Nicola’s and I are ready for you, even those of you who live overseas. I really have to thank Nicolas for doing this with me. I know it’s a big pain, which is why we don’t normally do this but for a few weeks around release a release date. I’m going to try to run through all my backlist before we get to the Nov 22 release of THE OPERATOR, but this is likely the last time I will be making my back list available for personalization in this way. (If you missed the Truth titles and really really want them personalized, I don’t think anyone will say anything if you make the effort to order them–even now.)

We just finished the Truth series and next is the Princess series, so for the rest of the month, you have the rare chance to get both DECOY PRINCESS and PRINCESS AT SEA personalized and shipped to you.
Again, the covers say traditional fantasy, and they are, but as with the Truth books, the language and attitudes are comfortable. The pace is a little faster than the Truth books as well, and for anyone wanting to see a writer developing her style, here it is.

These were written right about the time that Dead Witch Walking was finding a publisher, though the short story that DWW came from had been circulated and then dropped in a drawer years before. The Princess books were targeted for the adult audience, but I’ve always thought of them as young adult and I would be very comfortable recommending them to younger readers you’re trying to get into the lost art of voyaging within the written word.

One of the themes I was playing with is that magic has a price, and the very thing that makes Tess powerful can and is killing her. There’s a wise teacher, a cad, and a noble hero. I’ll let you decide who is who. There’s also a disgruntled princess as I flip the story of the milk maid who is actually royalty and tell it from the point of view of the common girl who has been raised at a princess and who is now finding she’s actually nothing. Who hasn’t felt that way at one time or another?

But you know I wouldn’t leave it at that, and Tess finds that her strength has always been there and has zero to do with the title “princess.”

I just love the original covers. She is so sassy, and after that blonde bombshell on the Truth covers, very refreshing. Dark haired girls have exciting adventures where they can be powerful, too.

Click  the book to go right to Nicola’s. To order a personalized copy, please make a note as to who you want it personalized to in the note section when you order. Any questions, just email orders@nicolasbooks.com International is okay. I noticed that their page said the titles might not be available, but I have checked, and they say they can get them. I’ll go in to sign at the end of the month, and ta-da! Personalized Princess books.

For those of you who ordered the last set of Truth books, I’ll be going in soon to sign for you. I’m hopeful I can get something extra in there for you as a thank you. 🙂 I know this is incredibly slow, but I’m trying to make this as painless as possible for Nicola’s so they don’t kick me out.

Last Chance for Lost Truth

 

For those of you who haven’t heard of me talk about Nicolas before, they are my local store who I’ve been working with the last six years or so to have an outlet for people who can’t come to a signing. They are absolutely wonderful, and they will even ship overseas.

Right now, they are handling the I’m Broken, Don’t Fix Me signing campaign that is currently going on. This month’s featured titles are LOST TRUTH and FORGOTTEN TRUTH, and for a few more days, you have the rare chance to get both of them personalized and shipped to you. I’ll be featuring the Princess books next month, and then the Madison, and finally, the Hollows until we get to THE OPERATOR in November. The books have always been available, but Nicholas is letting me personalize them for a short time, and once this is over, I likely won’t be able to do it again. (However, if you ask nicely, and are coming into this late, I’m sure they will honor your request for a personalization for a title we’ve already covered.

Don’t let the pure fantasy covers put you off if you’re a diehard urban fantasy reader. I won’t kid you and try to tell you they aren’t fantasy, they are, but there’s no purple prose here, and the language and attitudes are comfortable. My love for dragons shows, as well as my propensity for small, powerful defenders that sit on your shoulder. Clearly, dragons haunt me still a decade later.
These were not only the first books I got published, but the very first book(s) I had ever written, and if you want to watch an author learn her craft, this is a great place to see it.  But the characters still ring true to me after all these years. The books targeted the adult market, but I am totally comfortable with recommending them to younger readers. They are also a great vehicle to open up a safe discussion about prejudice if you care to read these at the same time as your kids. Curiously enough, one of the protagonists and the villain share a similar flaw. One overcomes, one doesn’t.

Click  the book to go right to Nicola’s. To order a personalized copy, please make a note as to who you want it personalized to in the note section when you order. Any questions, just email orders@nicolasbooks.com International is okay. I noticed that their page said the titles might not be available, but I have checked, and they say they can get them. I’ll go in to sign at the end of the month, and ta-da! Personalized Truth books.

I did First and Hidden Truth last month, and I was amazed at how many books there were! If you’re still waiting for your books, they have not been forgotten. They had to print more.

Covers will vary. Most of the time, they will be the new ones.

Gimpy’s got a friend

I rearranged my office this weekend to take advantage of a new view that is opening up, and if I’m cleaning, it’s not because I’m nervous that THE DRAFTER comes out tomorrow, but because I just moved something off my desk and I’m trying to cleans my mind for a new project. THE OPERATOR, Peri Reed #2, is back at the publishers for copy edit, so we’re right on track for a November 22 release. I would like to just jump right into the rough draft of number three, but I have to finish up THE TURN, which comes out in 2017 sometime. Either way, the screens are on my windows and it’s like working outside all day under a canopy.

But my new yard space . . . I was finally able to get back into it this weekend, and though it still needs gobs of work, it’s starting to take shape. I’m also starting to see why the “landscape” is so funky with dirt piled up against the shed and fence, rotting the wood, directing water into areas instead of out of them, because under every ill-placed hump and raised “flower bed” is a stump or fence post. And there are a lot of them. So it’s slow going as every surface item I’m addressing has underlaying issues to have to fix. As usual.

But I’m in no hurry.

I would like to get some grass seed down soon, though. Having to fix someone else’s past shortcuts is slowing me down. Tim, though, is helping with the heavy stuff, which is a great relief, both mentally and physically. It’s going to be gorgeous when I get done. The Michigan wild flower bed at least is defined and can now sit and perk while I see what comes up and needs to be moved out. I’ll start planting it this fall with divisions from my current Michigan bed.

You might remember me talking about Mr. Gimpy, the lame robin who has taken up residence in my yard. He’s a robust fellow, even if his wing does droop. He’s flying now, after a month, and fending off other robins. Well, except for one. (laugh)  They have a nest now, at the corner of my garage. It’s already been found by the bluejays, who checked it out and left because there were no babies yet. They will be back, and there will be trouble. However, there is a cardinal nesting like ten feet away in the clematis, and surprisingly, they leave each other alone. There’s usually one of them around, which bodes well. Someone is going to be eaten, but someone else will make it. sigh. Maybe I should have put the box somewhere else. Frankly, I’m just tickled they are using it after three years of being up and empty. Perhaps now that they have identified it, I can bring it closer to the house where the bluejays might leave it alone entirely.

I’ll try to get a better picture of her on her nest. The light is really bad in the morning, bouncing around my office to make reflections everywhere.

 

Peri Reed Chronicles book two cover release

It won’t be out until November 22, but the cover is finalized and available for sharing, so spread the word. I absolutely love the colors in this one, and it shares that same hot/cold look that “Waylaid” has.

It’s been a very busy week on the blog with the cover release, pushing out everything else that’s been going on in my office such as orchids blooming and grass baskets growing tall. If you missed anything, I’ve got a recap. Just click to go:

“Waylaid” will be out in a matter of weeks, the Hollows/Peri mash up for less than a dollar. (retitled LEYLINED in the UK) It’s got Rachel. It’s got Jenks. It’s got Peri, and just a whisper of Al, because he’s somehow become the Morgan Freeman of the Hollows. Click for more info and outlets.

 

 

I can’t call them tour T’s, but the shirts are up and available, featuring the “I’m Broken, Don’t Fix Me theme of many of my characters, where our greatest strengths lie in being less than perfect. Prices and sizes at the end of the link.

 

 

 

The back cover of THE OPERATOR so you know what it’s about.

 

 

 

 

Links to get your personalized Truth books, the first thing I wrote, and suitable to read with your kids to open up the dinner conversation and talk about real-world prejudice without them even realizing it. Finding strength in our faults. It’s in here.

 

 

Almost there . . .

Just one more piece to be revealed. I’ll have THE OPERATOR cover for you in all its glory.

As I mentioned to a reader on FB yesterday, this book is only coming out as a mass market and e book, which means the only way you can get a signed/personalized copy will be through Nicolas. They don’t have their order page up yet, but it’s over six months out, so I think we have time.

For those of you who haven’t heard of me talk about Nicolas before, they are my local store who I’ve been working with the last six years or so have an outlet for people who can’t come to a signing. They are absolutely wonderful, and they will even ship overseas.

Right now, they are handling the I’m Broken, Don’t Fix Me signing campaign that is currently going on. For the rest of the month, you have the rare chance to get FIRST TRUTH and HIDDEN TRUTH personalized and shipped to you. I’ll be featuring two other of my backlist titles next month, and so on until we get to THE OPERATOR in November. The books have always been available, but Nicholas is letting me personalize them for a short time, and once this is over, I likely won’t be able to do it again.

Don’t let the pure fantasy covers put you off if you’re a diehard urban fantasy reader. I won’t kid you and try to tell you they aren’t fantasy, they are, but there’s no purple prose here, and the language and attitudes are comfortable. My love for dragons shows, as well as my propensity for small, powerful defenders that sit on your shoulder. Clearly, dragons haunt me still a decade later.
These were not only the first books I got published, but the very first book(s) I had ever written, and if you want to watch an author learn her craft, this is a great place to see it.  But the characters still ring true to me after all these years. The books targeted the adult market, but I am totally comfortable with recommending them to younger readers. They are also a great vehicle to open up a safe discussion about prejudice if you care to read these at the same time as your kids. Curiously enough, one of the protagonists and the villain share a similar flaw. One overcomes, one doesn’t.

Click  the book to go right to Nicola’s. To order a personalized copy, please make a note as to who you want it personalized to in the note section when you order. Any questions, just email orders@nicolasbooks.com International is okay. I noticed that their page said the titles might not be available, but I have checked, and they say they can get them. I’ll go in to sign at the end of the month, and ta-da! Personalized Truth books.

If you order both books at once, I’ll slip in a signed cover flat for The Drafter mass market as a thank you.

 

 

 

The Operator: back copy

 

Day three, and I have the back cover blurbage about what the book is about for you. The cover itself is starting to give a hint at how beautiful it is.  Two more pieces to go.

I wrote the back cover blurbage myself, so I’m all pins and needles and upset stomach that I, ya know, did it justice. It’s bandied about in the industry with rolling eyes and sighs of exasperation that the worst person to try to design the cover and write the back copy is the author, (We always try to make the model look like the hero and talk about what the book is about, not what will actually sell it.) but perhaps with the acceptance of self-publishing, that isn’t a thing anymore. I’ve always had a voice in my covers, but writing the back blurbage is new to me.

In any case, here it is: I think I’m in love with the last line, so maybe there’s something to this “doing it myself” thing.

Peri Reed’s job eats her mind,
but for a special task agent in hiding, forgetting the past can be a blessing.

Betrayed by the man she thought she loved and the agency who turned her into the very thing she fought against, Peri abandoned the wealth and privilege of Opti for anonymity riddled with memory gaps and self-doubt. But when a highly addictive drug promises to end her dependency on those who’d use her as a tool for their own success, she must choose to remain broken and vulnerable, or return to the above-the-law power and prestige she once left: strong but without will—for whoever holds her next fix, will hold her loyalty.

Yet even now as then, a love based on lies of omission might still save her life.

click to preorder

Click to preorder

Cover Reveal part two

Day two in the reveal, and we’re starting to see some detail, those hot and cold colors I like so well starting to pop! We’ve got a bright light and a subway staircase, and a little graffiti, but it’s the broken disjointness that really tells you what you’ll find inside. I’m working on the copy edit right now, so we’re right on track for the November 22 release.

I also have a picture of the T’s that go along with this book, not so much a tour T as I won’t be going out for this one, but more of a statement of feeling of Peri’s world, her strength in who she is with all her imperfections. Broken can be beautiful. Broken is where our strength is, our individuality shows, and our courage is born. So don’t fix the broken, celebrate it.

You can get your own shirt at Bedoshirts