Every year, people ask about signing
etiquette. I've got a great post at the blog, here
http://kimharrison.wordpress.com/signing-etiquette/
Well you have completely shocked and amazed me I can't believe your the same author that wrote both the Truth and Princess series. Mainly because most authors I read no matter how many series they write always seems to have the same
formula, voice, and clichés/archetypes in their books and you didn't.
[ ... ]. Also, since your in the industry and therefore would know, could you tell me if authors writing under different names are
common and if so why do they do it ?
5/27/09 -- [ ... ]You asked
why authors write under pen names? It is EXTREMELY common, but
most don't come out of the closet so the reading public never knows.
The reasons are varied, but the most common is because the author
wants to write more books than their publishing house can market,
and to avoid the legal entanglements of the original contract, it's
easiest to write under a second name when you move to a new
publishing house. That's the original reason I took mine.
A second reason is that big book retailers have a habit of
purchasing only the same number of books that an author sold on
their last release. If it was a bad release, then the store
will only by that many books of the next release, but if it's an
unknown author, the stores will buy more in the hope that it will be
a blockbuster. So you write under a different name, and get a
better shot at selling through your books. (This also figured
into my decision) A third reason an author might take a pen
name is because they are writing for a different audience.
Going from high fantasy to urban fantasy isn't a big jump, but if
the writing style changed dramatically, as you pointed out that mine
had, a pen name might prevent disgruntled readers from leaving the
very author that they enjoyed. A final reason some authors
take pen names is that they have high-powered jobs, and if it were
known that they wrote fiction, it might damage their credibility.
To get around it, they take a pen name. Hope that
helps. --Kim
Hi, Just wondering how many books you
plan on having in this series? chk
5/12/09 -- Hi, Chk. I just
got my contract extended, and we're looking at 12 to 13, my
prerogative. ;-) Whoo-hoo! --Kim
Update 6/2021 - The Hollows has been extended to 17, with no end in sight.
uh hi Mrs. Harrison, I have read almost all of
your books (they seem to be real hard to find in casper, Wyoming) and
I have seen a lot of things in your books that mirror actual pagan
"going ons" (wasn't real sure what word to use) and it spurred my
thoughts. So I was simply wondering if
you were a pagan (in any form of the
word) or not (no matter what I will still read your books they are
wonderful).
5/08/09 -- Thank you! I'm
really pleased that you're enjoying my work. I have heard from the
pagan community before with a similar sentiment. I am not pagan,
and I make everything up out of my head, pulling on my reading as a
child and adding a bit of logic from my formal schooling in the
sciences. I don't have any "magic" books except the one I bought
ages ago to see if I was remotely close. (It was more of a theory
then practical application book.) I was never happy with how
Hollywood portrayed witches, so I hope I've done a service rather
than a hurt. --Kim
Hello My husband and I love your
books! We were wondering if there was any special reason for the
titles of your books matching Clint
Eastwood movies. Movie or book that make
great titles! Thanks C & C
5/07/09 -- Hi, C &C. Thank
you! I'm really glad to hear that you're both enjoying the books.
Why the Clint titles? There is a reason. I've always liked the
characters that Clint Eastwood has played, especially the westerns
where the guy comes in off the plain, able to solve the town's
problems with a bully, but not all that eager to, but after some
persuasion, he does. Not only does he take care of business, but he
does it in a just, not necessarily legal way. I sort of see Rachel
like that, if Clint had a pixy instead of a gun, and a convertible
instead of a horse. Okay, maybe they aren't that much alike, but
the feeling is there. But a more bland aspect is that it was a
marketing decision to help make the books more recognizable. If
someone comes into the book store, looking for the new book about
the witch and the vampire that has a blue cover, they might walk out
with Charlaine' s latest. Not a bad choice, mind you, but if they
add that it has a Clint Eastwood like title, they will walk out with
mine! Besides, how else am I going to get the man to direct the
relax-they-aren't-going-to-make-it Hollows move. ;-) --Kim
Kim,
It's Angel again. But I was wondering about Rachel's & witches
lifespans. If witches are from demons how
come [a witches] lifespan is only about 160 years but demons have
lived well over 5000 years (seeing as
there have been no demon births in that long.) Is it because they are
not in the ever-after more?
5/07/09 -- Hi, Angel. Demons
have that same 160 year lifespan, too, or near enough to not matter,
but the magic is what keeps them alive for so long. Rachel has done
at least one demon curse that reset her biological clock. It's not
a stretch to imagine that demons do the same thing occasionally. --Kim
Ummm....hi. :D Ok...dumb
question ahead. I already checked FAQs (I had to use the ctrl + f
function for fear of seeing spoilers because I still haven't read the
last two books, so I could have missed this), but what is magnetic chalk? No one knows what I'm talking about and the internet hasn't shown me
anything other than links to "magnetic chalk boards". Does it really
exist?
5/05/09 -- That is not a dumb
question at all, and I'm going to move it to the FAQs. Magnetic
chalk . . . I've no earthly idea. I made it up, but in my mind, it
is chalk that has an element of steel, iron, or other metallic metal
that helps link the circle to the ley lines. --Kim
Hi kim, I was wondering how you deal with writes block if/when you get it. I have had writes block for almost a week and I am looking for help
5/05/09 -- Oh, ouch! That's a tough one. When I get
stuck, it's usually because I'm either trying to make a character do something
that I know he or she wouldn't do, or I've not given enough thought as to what
comes next. My advice would be to take a day or two and sit down with
several pieces of blank paper and just write out freehand what you'd like to
see happen, all the way to the end. Once you have an end in sight, it's
easier to avoid writer's block. Good luck! --Kim
I'm a little confused. I'm reading White Witch, Black Curse right now and the situation regarding
Kisten has got me stumped. Is this the first mention of him being dead for the second time or have I missed a book somewhere. I really don't want to go any
further into the book if I have miss one - I don't really like to read out of sequence.
Thanks
Helen
San Jon, NM
5/05/09 -- Hi, Helen. Ahh, I've got a list of the order to
read the books and novellas/shorts on THE BOOKS page. That might help. It sounds like you missed one. --Kim
Hi Kim. Any chance Marguerite Gavin might narrate The Outlaw Demon Wails? I have listened to the first 5 books and the change of Narrator on book 6, it's just not the same.
Love the books :) SAJ
5/03/09 -- Hi, SAJ. You know, I think that is an excellent
idea. My fingers are totally crossed. It's not up to me, though. We
do have a commitment that she will read the rest of the series, though.
Yay!
I'm glad you enjoyed the books. Thanks! --Kim
I keep forgetting to ask you this one - About how long does it take you to get one of your novels released? From the time you sit down to write the first notes/outlines/whatever (I don't really know what you do first?), to the time the publisher releases it?
5/03/09 -- It takes me about four months to write one, another
month to rewrite it, and about another month to rewrite it for my editor, and
a handful of weeks to copy edit it along with a professional copyeditor.
There's a lot of downtime where I'm working on the next book between rewrites,
so in all, it takes me a little less than two years from first notes to last
edit. (It sits about a year between rough draft and when I start working
on it again.) It takes about a year for a book to become published once
I deliver it to my publisher. It's possible to do one faster, but it
costs a lot more. --Kim
Kim, I noticed that you will a short story book ,"Unbound", released in August. What's your short story about? I couldn't find any info and I thought you could give us a brief description. Thank you. Liz
5/03/09 -- Hi, Liz. That would be LEY LINE DRIFTER, and it
is a Bis/Jenks short. More than that, I don't want to say! --Kim
Quick comment - I've read all your Hollows books (love them) and found them
original and entertaining. Question: Have you considered maybe writing a
prequel to cover the first year that Rachel and Ivy worked together at the I.S.? Liz
I’ve been asked before if I’m going to write a prequel about Rachel and Ivy’s first year, and the answer is, sort of. :-) The graphic novel (Blood Work, published Summer 2011) takes place in that time. –Kim
Kim: I LOVE your series! [...] I do have a question for you: In
ODW at the end when Rachel, Trent, Newt, Al, Dali and Minius were all in
Dali's courtroom; Rachel had her mark from Newt removed. Then a few pages
later she noticed that she had a shadow on her arm where Trent's demon mark
was (p448). However, in WWBC Rachel had the demon mark on her foot again...did
I miss something? Why is the mark from Newt on her foot again/still? Angela -
MN
5/01/09 -- Hi, Angela. Thank you! I'm really pleased that you're
enjoying the Hollows so much. ;-) Especially as you say you read so
much. I'm sorry about Kisten, but it really had to happen. What happened
at Dali's court was that Al bought ownership of Newt's mark so that Rachel
would owe Al the favor, not Newt. Thus the mark never left her. Al was
supposed to nullify it after Rachel gave Al his name back, but he's being
kind of slow about living up to the last part of the deal. I hope that
helps. --Kim
Are we going to find out the secret behind the blue butterflies in Book 8
or book 9? i can't wait that loongggg!!!!!!!!!! :(((((( --Julia MI
4/30/09 -- Hi, Julia. I sure hope so.
Al first showed then in the short story with him and Ceri at the end of the
mass market of ODW, and then they showed up in WWBC, and I honestly don't
know for sure what they mean to Al, but they mean something. Sometimes, I don't entirely
understand what things are when I put them in the book, but since we've seen
them twice, they are clearly important to my subconscious, and they will be
back. --Kim
Hi Kim from sunny Scotland ;o) Have tried looking for this but can't find
it, so thought I'd ask here. Why was the UK release of The Outlaw. . renamed
to Where Demons Dare? Apologies if this has been dealt with before. Donald in
Glasgow
4/29/09 -- Hi, Donald. The UK publisher thought that the movie, Where
Eagles Dare (that had a British military guy) would be more recognizable to
the British public than the movie The Outlaw Josie Wales. They were also
concerned about the Wales/Wails issue. (shrug) That's all it was. --Kim
ohh a great idea for a side project make the vampire dating guide i would love to see what is in that book
and that page that that guy told Rachel to look at^^ -Raven
4/28/09 -- Hi, Raven. Oh, dude. No way am I going to make up
the vampire dating guide. It is really, really nasty. But I might
pull out and develop an excerpt from it. --Kim
Thanks so much for your wonderful stories! Just a quick question, Jenks is one of my favorite characters and he seemed to be in rare form in WWBC, I'm dying to know what the rest of the 12 days of
[pixy] Christmas were. Will we ever find out? All the Best. - Joe from Clermont, FL
4/28/09 -- Hi, Joe. Thank you! Bringing the Hollows to you has
been my pleasure. (grin) Funny you should ask about the 12 days of
Pixy Christmas. I finished it up and it is included in the Hollows world guide, THE HOLLOWS INSIDER. --Kim
Hi Kim! I know I probably shouldn't ask this, but many authors don't answer back, so maybe you could enlighten me? Why are so many authors jumping to hardback books halfway through a series? I find I'm having a hard time jumping to 7.99 to 25.99, and it's cutting out on the books I can afford to read, which is unfortunate because I'm a book junkie and there are so many great series out there. I know your series did this a couple of years ago, and was wondering what brings that change? Thanks so much! *^^*Rebecca from Grand Lake, OK
4/28/09 -- Hi, Rebecca. This is a marketing decision that the
publisher makes, not the author. The way I understand it, paperbacks are
cheaper to make than to ship, so if a case of paperbacks don't sell, the store
is instructed to rip the cover off and send it back as proof of destruction.
The store then gets credit for the books destroyed, and can use that credit to
purchase more. Hardcovers not sold are sent back to the publisher and
are resold as "remainders" which is often what shows up at discount chains or
bargain prices on Amazon. (It's a used book, shelved, but not read.) As a
rule, the publisher makes more money per unit on hardcover, so as soon as an
author can make the jump, they do it. The author gets a big boost of
confidence and status among his or her peers, but the reason the publishers do
it is . . . money. And I don't have a problem with that, because if
publishers don't make money, then they can't take chances on new talent, like
me five years ago, and all we'd have on the shelf is Nora Roberts and John
Grisham. --Kim
Hey, Kim, I've got a quick two for you. Pixies and elves keep such an unusual sleep schedule, how did you come up with the idea for that? And, what kind of schedule do you keep?
4/28/09 -- I wanted to have someone awake 24/7 (in regards to witches and
pixies) for defensive reasons. That's why the split schedule.
I'm up with the sun, and down with it as well. I guess I've got a human
schedule. (grin) --Kim
Ello Miss Kim. Quick question. When Rachel made Jenks big did that extend
his life???
Yes. --Kim