Event Recap: Clarity Launch Party

Books waiting to be signed!

This past Saturday I had the great joy of attending Kim Harrington's launch party for her debut novel, Clarity. I arrived early and picked up a copy of the book (good thing too since the store sold out of all 80 copies!) and then met some friends (Ariane, Dani B, Dani J, Jen & Nikki) for lunch at Chipolte. While there Jen and I broke out into the Narwal song...and introduced Dani J and Nikki to it since they've never heard it before. We then headed back to Tatnuc where Kim was already there meeting and greeting everyone and just glowed with happiness. Tatnuc has a great event room where Kim's launch was held and we all spent some time meeting and greeting various bloggers and local authors who showed up.

Kim Harrington with Leigh Fallon (Carrier of the Mark, Sep 2011) & Karsten Knight (Wildefire, July 2011)

I think that Kim, Leigh and Karsten had a good 7 or 8 people taking their picture at this moment...it was a real paparazzi moment and the first of many. It was fun talking books with them all and listening to Leigh's accent (she's a native of Ireland). Kim's editor, Aimee Friedman (author of Sea Change, The Year My Sister Got Lucky & others) also made the trip up from New York for the event. I've chatted with Aimee numerous times on Twitter and it was really great getting to meet her in person.

Aimee Friedman & Kim Harrington

 We were then all called to order and told to pipe down (although in a much nicer way) and Kim was introduced by Nikki Mutch, who is the local sales rep for Scholastic.

Nikki introducing Kim

Kim then took the podium and told the crowd (and there was a crowd - there was standing room only!!) a little bit about her journey to being a published author. Starting out from a young age with a real love of books as shown by a picture her parents had blown up. They had wanted to have it on display the entire time while she was signing...but she nixed that idea. But she did show it off to the room and I managed to grab a photo.

Kim showing off a pic of little Kim

Then Kim talked a bit about her childhood and her interests (including a strange obsession with sharks) and how she channeled that love into writing. She also talked about her journey to getting published (and all its ups and downs)...she had the audience laughing one more than one occasion and you can hear it all in the video below.

For those who view via a reader that strips out the video you can click here to see on YouTube or copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJTlHUHJU7M

Kim then did a short reading from Clarity which can be seen here:

For those who view via a reader that strips out the video you can click here to see on YouTube or copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEfUY0DWfGk

After the reading there was a Q&A session which I've done my best to capture below. As always any errors in the text are entirely my own.

What's the inside joke? (This is the result of something Kim said while reading)

The girl who was murdered had a hard last name to pronounce in the original version of the story and so it needed to be changed. She was going over possible names with her good friend Susan. When Susan said "Kill me!" So Kim did, by using her friends name. 

How did you learn to write a book?

You learn by trying and doing & you just keep writing. Some agents will help develop story/craft. Kim read as much as she could about writing since she didn't go to school for it. Kim also read a lot of books to see things she liked and what didn't work for her in stories. In the end though it just comes down to lots & lots of practice writing.

Are you ever going to release those short stories you wrote? 

Probably not gonna release the short stories as they are all horrifically violent. 

Who is your favorite author?

YA - Aimee Friedman, Kimberly Derting, Lisa McMann, and John Green
Adult - Harlon Coban (he is a  master of pacing) and Lisa Unger

How much of Clarity is Kim?

People who know Kim well will recognise her sarcasm in Clare and how she hates smell of seafood but that's about it. Until someone yelled from the back about drinks coke for breakfast. To which Kim laughed, agree and said...ok so also all of Clare's poor eating habits were also hers.

Did anything major change from first draft to the finished version?

Kim did a round of edits for her agent who wanted to see more about what Clare's life was like in school. Which then were taken out on the request of her editor. The reason for the crime also changed and in the original draft she had burned down Clare's house. 

What book that's out now did you wish was available when you were a teen?  

Would have loved Hunger Games as it would have appealed to her violent side. Kim also admitted to reading a lot of Steven King while growing up.

Who is the first to read a book when your done?

Mike (her husband) or susan are first to read when finish 1st draft. But only after she finishes it.

Is there any particular song that represents Clarity? 

For darker scenes Closer by Kings of Leon
Army of Me by Bjork

Kim mentioned a few others but I wasn't able to transcribe them in time. She said she had a full playlist which she would eventually put up on her website.

What are you working on now?
Right now she is working on the edits of Perception which is the sequel to Clarity (out March 2012) and she's also working on a standalone ghost story that will be out in the Fall of 2012.

Where the three books before Clarity YA? 

One was YA, one was college and one was adult

How long does it take you to write?

It took her 9 months to write Clarity, and about the same for Perception as she was working on Clarity edits as she wrote it. Now she's writing her new book while working on Perception edits and thinks it will take roughly the same amount of time.

When you got you editorial letter where there any changes you didn't like? 

Always. But before she does anything she reads it over and then let's it sit becuase first reactions can be strong. Sometimes she realizes that her editor is right and makes the changes. While other times she'll try something different to accomplish goal with similar result to what was suggested.

The last question came from Kim's son who didn't think it was fair that he has to wait until he is 12 to read Clarity. To which Kim pointed out that Scholastic rated it 14+ and so he should feel lucky that she was only making him wait until 12. This made him pout and the rest of us laugh. Later on while I was talking to him he may have let slip what he knew about Perception's cover....although not plot details...Kim's husband when asked was also not very helpful on that front. Since the son seems easier to crack I may have to  try and bribe him with cupcakes and teach him some hacking skills so he can email me a copy.  A blogger can hope, right?

After the Q&A Kim sat down and started to sign....the line never seemed to end either!! 

But no one seemed to mind the wait because there was cake (along with coffee & hot chocolate):

Along with tarot card readings

Along with lots of great conversations to keep everyone entertained. It was a really fun event and I had a great time. Here are some more pictures from the day:

Karsten Knight getting a book signed

Kim signing a book

Dani J of Overflowing Bookshelf getting her book signed

Author Erin Dionne getting her book signed

Nikki of Wicked Awesome Books

Dani B of Frenzy of Noise

You know you are a rock star when you sign someone's shirt

Some of us had some shirts made up to support Kim's launch...this is a group shot

Kim and I

Now that I've you've made it this far in the post I have a treat for you...because while the store did sell out of books I was able to get one signed by Kim before they did and I am going to give this copy to one of you. To enter just

FILL OUT THIS FORM

Contest is open internationally and will end on on 27 March 2011 at midnight EST. Good luck to all who enter!