Monday, October 3, 2011

Interview: Kim Harrington, author of Clarity

Click here to be taken to the Helluva Halloween Main Page!

Awhile back, someone recommended Clarity to me because it reminded them of Veronica Mars, and on the basis of that, I bought it the same day... thank you, whoever recommended it!  Anywho, I am pleased as punch to be able to welcome Kim Harrington to Helluva Halloween today for the first interview of the event!
Thanks for stopping by, Kim!
And all of you, make sure you stop by tomorrow for my review of Clarity! :)


Where did the initial idea for Clarity come from? How much has it changed from that initial idea?
The idea came from one line, in my head, said in a sarcastic voice. I started to wonder who would say that and why. And that’s when I came up with my main character and her unusual family. I knew the setting right away because a tourist town would work well for their family business and I’m most familiar with Cape Cod. After I had the characters and the setting down, I created the plot by basically torturing them. ;) The line that started it all is now the last sentence of chapter two.

Book 2, Perception, comes out next year (on my bday - woot!) - how long do you envision this series being?
I’d love to write more CLARITY books, but only two have sold for now. So we’ll have to wait and see! I’m crossing my fingers.

Aside from the Clarity books, do you intend to keep writing mysteries, or are there other types of stories you want to try your hand at?
I think there will always be a mystery element in everything I write, but sometimes I’ll add in something supernatural or fantastical and sometimes not. In Summer 2012, I have a middle grade trilogy releasing that’s straight-up mystery—no paranormal elements. And in Fall 2012, I’ll have a standalone YA that’s both a ghost story and a murder mystery. All of these are coming from Scholastic and I’ll be able to share titles and more info soon!

You've said Clarity was your 4th book to have written but 1st to be published - any plans to revisit any of the older works, or have you "moved on"?
No, I’ve moved on. The first two were just plain not good enough. I did love the third one at the time, but I have no desire to go back to it. Too much time has passed and I have too many other Shiny New Ideas that I’m itching to work on.

Can you tell us a little bit about your standalone ghost story scheduled for release next year?
I am so excited about this book! Horror was my first love and I’ve always wanted to write a ‘haunted house book’ so this is a dream come true in many ways. It’s about a teenage girl who discovers that the house her family just moved into is haunted, and she must solve the mystery of the ghost girl’s death.

Silly Random Quickfire:

If you could have one supernatural ability, what would it be? - Any foreseeable drawbacks to that ability?
I’d love to be able to manipulate time. Fast forward through boring days, slow down awesome days. Foreseeable drawbacks would be that I would overuse it or miss something that I should have experienced.

Chocolate or chips?
I love both, but chocolate always wins.

Most frequently occurring dream/nightmare?
The idea that I might be late for something gives me anxiety. So I battle this by always being early. I get to the movies way early. I turn my books in to my editor waaaay early. Etc. So, of course, I have nightmares about being late. I have one where I’m at the airport and can’t find my gate and I’m going to miss my plane. I have one where I’m leaving a hotel and trying to pack, but the more I pack the more stuff I find that needs to be packed, and I’m going to miss my plane. I even have school ones! I have a college one where I’m running around campus and I know class is about to start, but I can’t find my building. And a high school one where I lost my schedule and can’t remember where I’m supposed to go next and I’m running around the halls trying to figure out which is my classroom.

Top 5 songs on Clare's iPod?
1. Army of Me by Bjork
2. Cannonball by Damien Rice
3. How Soon is Now? by The Smiths
4. Running Up That Hill by Placebo
5. Closer by Kings of Leon


5 comments:

  1. I am soooo ashamed that I have yet to read Clarity! I TOTALLY need to before Perception comes out!!

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  2. Haha, yeah, that'd probably be advisable. ;)
    (I think you'll like it!)

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  3. I have picked this book up so many times with the intentions of reading it, but for some reason I get sidetracked. It does sound good. I had no idea it is a series. Probably would have known that if I had read the book.

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  4. Love the interview! Can't wait to read this book!

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