KIM HARRINGTON INTERVIEW AND BOOK GIVEAWAY

First, I’m going to announce the winner of DOGSLED DREAMS By Terry Johnson. The winner is:

JOANNE FRITZ

Congrats! E-mail me your address so that I can have your book mailed to you.

Today I’m interviewing Kim Harrington. Her debut YA novel CLARITY came out March 1, 2011.

Hi Kim. Thanks so much for joining us.

1. Can you tell us a little about yourself and your book?

CLARITY is a paranormal mystery set in a tourist town in Massachusetts. There’s murder, psychics and romance. I’m from Massachusetts, but I’m not psychic and don’t solve murders. ;)

2. How long did it take you to write CLARITY? Was this the first book you wrote? First one you queried?

It took around nine months. CLARITY was my fourth book. I signed with my agent for my third book, which did not sell.

3. That must have been hard when book three didn’t sell. But it’s awesome that you didn’t give up. How long did you query before you were offered representation? What was the process like?

Honestly, I don’t remember! It was a long time, though. Months. But I was used to that after querying the prior books. Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment, but I found the query process exciting.

4. I hope I have such a good attitude on the query process when I start doing it. How did it feel when you found out Scholastic wanted your book?

When my agent first told me, I wanted to remain calm and professional on the phone. So I took notes and said a lot of, “Okay, okay, okay.” After I got off the phone with him, though, I lost my cool and there were a lot of screams and happy tears.

5. How have you marketed your book? Were there any specific blogs or other marketing tools you found especially helpful?

I don’t think I came up with anything amazingly new or creative, but I’ve blogged and done contests to increase awareness of the book. I’m on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads almost every day. I’ve had bookmarks and bookplates made. I did a ton of interviews. I don’t think anyone knows for sure what works and what doesn’t, so I just focus on doing what I don’t mind doing—if that makes any sense.

6. I know there’s a sequel to CLARITY. Where are you at in writing it? Did you know the whole story when you wrote CLARITY?

It’s done! Written, edited, copyedited, done. I’m really happy with it. I did know some plot points about book two when I wrote book one, but not all of them.

7. Are you working on any other projects?

Yes, I’m also working on a standalone novel—a ghost story—that will come out from Scholastic in Fall 2012.

Thanks for having me!

Good luck with your debut Kim. You can visit Kim at her blog and her website.

I really enjoyed reading CLARITY. I loved that it was a mystery and Kim does an excellent job sucking you into the story on the first page. I’m giving away one copy of CLARITY. All you need to do is be a follower (just click the follow button if you’re not a follower) and leave a comment by midnight on April 9th. I’ll announce the winner on April 11th. International entries are welcome.

I’d like to shout out about a new Writer Spotlight that Paula McLaughlin is starting on Mondays. She’s spotlighting authors who have a finished manuscript and are seeking representation. You can read her first interview with Faith Elizabeth Hough here. She’s looking for other authors to interview. Her criteria are that you have read-ready, polished manuscript you want to pitch, are seeking representation and that you have some form of online presence (blog, fb, twitter acct). If you’re interested, contact her. What a great idea!

And don’t forget the WriteOnCon live query event with Roseanne Wells from Marianne Strong Literary tonight at 8:00 pm EST. You can find out details here.

Next Monday I’ll be interviewing Judith Engracia at Judith Dawson Associates. She’s a brand new agent looking for submissions. She’ll be giving you the scoop on what she’s looking for so be sure to stop by.