Author Are Rockstars Tour: Kim Harrington

I'm so UNBELIEVABLY excited to be a part of the Authors Are Rockstars tour being put on by the ultra-awesome Fiktshun and Two Chicks on Books!! And I'm even more excited to be hosting the fabulous, fantastic, super talented Kim Harrington!!

As a huge fan of both music and books, I'll be the first to agree that authors most certainly are Rockstars! And as a huge fan of books featuring mystery, romance, humor, and kick-butt protagonists, it's no surprise that Kim Harrington is one of my favorites! Her books Clarity and Perception are some of my top mystery picks for ANYONE!

Clarity's heroine, Clare Fern, is a normal teenage girl...except, you know, she's psychic. In Clarity, she uses her extra sense to try and help the police solve a murder, bringing danger, murderers, and potential love to her doorstep.

I haven't read Kim's series for kids, Sleuth or Dare, but they look absolutely fantastic, as does her upcoming YA title, The Dead and Buried! I can't wait to read it!

For a book to really hold my attention and gain my absolute adoration, the author has to be really awesome at mixing action-packed adventures that make my heart race, mysteries and questions that make me think, humor that keeps me giggling, and yes, a good-sized dose of romance--and Kim, I feel, has found the perfect balance!

In case I haven't gushed enough here, be sure to check out my reviews of Clarity and Perception!

Now, without further ado, I'm very pleased to introduce you to Kim Harrington and present an interview with her!

About Kim: 

Kim Harrington is the author of the Clarity series for teens and the Sleuth or Dare series for kids. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and son. When not writing, she's most likely reading, watching one of her favorite TV shows, or fantasizing about her next vacation. Her first book, Clarity, received a starred review from Publisher's Weekly, was a 2012 ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, sold to nine countries, and was optioned for television by Warner Brothers.

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Interview

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Q. What was your inspiration for becoming an author? Have you always wanted to write or is it a passion that developed later? And what was the first story you’ve ever written about?

I’ve always wanted to be a writer, ever since I could read. The first works I remember creating as a little girl were a poem about my dog and a story about a house that swallowed children who walked by. The main character in the story was named Shelly because I was looking around my room trying to think of a name and saw a seashell on my desk. It was far from genius. But I was seven, so there’s that. ;)

[Mag says: THAT SOUNDS LIKE SUCH A COOL STORY (:D)]

Q. What is your favorite part about being a writer? Is it creating the characters or world? Is it being able to get lost in your imagination? Or is it something else?

I love writing a first draft. Getting lost in the setting, daydreaming about the characters. That’s my favorite part of writing. I also love, love, love getting emails from readers. Sometimes it can turn a terrible day into a wonderful one.

Q. Both your Clarity series and your Sleuth or Dare series mix mystery with the paranormal/supernatural. And your upcoming title, The Dead and Buried also seems to incorporate both. What is it you most like writing about these types of stories? What do you find challenging about adding the paranormal/supernatural into your books?

I might not always write paranormal—Sleuth or Dare has none—but there will always be a mystery element to everything I write. However, whether it’s psychics (Clarity) or ghosts (The Dead and Buried), I find the paranormal intriguing and fun to write. What’s challenging is balancing out the supernatural with the rest of the plot. Especially when paranormal abilities are involved. I want them to be keys to solving the mysteries, but I don’t want them to be cheats. I still want limitations, hard work, and regular brainpower to come into play.

Q. You mention on your website that both you and Clare share a few quirks and both of you enjoy sarcasm. Would you mind sharing what those similarities are? And what traits of Clare’s are all her own?

Clare’s food likes and dislikes are basically mine. I don’t eat seafood, like Clare, and it’s strange to grow up in Massachusetts and admit that you’ve never tried lobster, clams, shrimp, etc. Also, I love horror movies like she does. And we both love our family LIKE WHOA. For differences, while we’re both sarcastic, Clare actually says the things that pop into her mind. I keep most of it inside. She’s also much braver than me.

Q. Your upcoming book, The Dead and Buried is due out in January. How would you best describe it in 10 words or less? And is there anything you can reveal about the book now?

A haunted house, a buried mystery, and a very angry ghost.

(That’s 11 words, but I didn’t want to cut the “very.” Because, yeah, she’s very angry.)

The full cover and synopsis are up on my site! http://www.kimharringtonbooks.com/Books.html#Dead

This or That questions

Disneyland or Disney World? Disney World! I’ve been to Walt Disney World seventeen times, but I’ve never been to Disneyland.

Lost: Jack or Sawyer? Jack. I almost always go for the “good” guy.

Pizza: By the slice or the whole pie? THE WHOLE THING. Nom nom nom. Pizza is my favorite food.

[Mag says: Pizza is the greatest food that was ever invented. And chocolate.] 

Write at night or write during the day? During the day. My brain is fried by nighttime.

Write in silence or write with music? Silence, though sometimes I can write with instrumental music on. I love Explosions in the Sky. They’re great writing music.

Write by hand or write by computer? Mostly by computer, though I write by hand sometimes when I get stuck. For some reason, it helps me get unstuck. ;)

Yellow cake with whipped frosting or chocolate cake with traditional icing? Neither. Yellow cake with traditional icing!!!

Happily ever after or happily never after? Happily ever after. :)

Thanks for having me!

[Mag says: Thanks so much for stopping by!!!!]

website - www.kimharringtonbooks.com

facebook - www.facebook.com/kimharringtonauthor

twitter - www.twitter.com/kim_harrington

blog - http://kimharrington.blogspot.com/

So there you have it, folks! Kim Harrington is awesome, supercool, and a TOTAL ROCKSTAR!! If you haven't yet, be sure to check out her books! You won't be disappointed!

Thank you so much to Kim for stopping by my blog, and to Fiktshun and Two Chicks on Books for putting this whole thing together!!

Also, don't forget to check out the other stops on the tour!! There are so many great authors and bloggers participating!

(:D)

~Mag

Review: Perception by Kim Harrington

I absolutely loved, loved, loved, LOVED Clarity, so the wait for Perception was AGONIZING! Finally, finally, though, my library got it, and I was the first person to get it! (Having put a hold on it the instant it appeared in the database ;D)


[Remember, because this review is for a sequel, there might be some slight Clarity spoilers in it! Read at your own risk!]

Perception by Kim Harrington 

When you can see things others can't, what do you do when someone's watching you?

Everybody knows about Clarity "Clare" Fern. She's the psychic girl in school, the one who can place her hands on something and see hidden visions from the past.

Only Clare would rather not be a celebrity. She prefers hanging back, observing. Her gift is not a game to her.

But then someone starts playing with her head . . . and heart. Messages and gifts from a secret admirer crop up everywhere Clare turns. Could they be from Gabriel, the gorgeous boy who gets Clare's pulse racing? Or from Justin, Clare's hopeful ex-boyfriend who'd do anything to win her back?

One thing is certain. Clare needs to solve this mystery, and soon. Because the messages are becoming sinister, and a girl in town has suddenly disappeared. 

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The beginning of Perception is like the beginning of Clarity: we start with a flash of the ending, but we don't stay there long before we're sucked back to now, dying to know what on earth is going on in that little preview. But that feeling doesn't last long, because it turns out "now" is just as interesting as "later."


After the events of Clarity, Clare is getting lots of attention...but that isn't necessarily a good thing. Everyone at school is suddenly interested in what she can do and what she has to say, and even the "popular" girls are suddenly her "friends." The thing is, Clare wants nothing more than to be in the background. Her gift isn't something she wants to broadcast, no matter how much the kids at school want her to use it for them.


There's more attention coming Clare's way; both from Justin and Gabriel. Clare's still confused about her feelings for Justin. Yeah, he hurt and betrayed her, but he also saved her life, risking his in the process. Then there's Gabriel, who is so different than Justin, who understands her like Justin just...can't. She has confusing feelings about him, too.


Finally, the last kind of attention--the kind that may be good or bad. Clare has a secret admirer, but when things go from sweet to creepy, Clare starts to wonder if the right word for him is admirer...or stalker.


To make Clare's life more complicated, a girl from her school is missing, but her mom refuses to let her help the police with the case after what happened last time. Perry's still reeling from the fallout of the last case, as well. Almost going to prison can do that to a guy. 


All mixed together, you have a choice between two great guys, "popular" jerks to deal with, a brother who is a shell of his former self, a newly overprotective mother, a creepy admirer, and to top it off, a possible murder case. Clare's life is not exactly easy, but of course, she's not going to shy away from the hard parts. 


(The next thing I'm going to talk about is super dee duper spoilery, so PLEASE do yourself a favor and don't highlight if you haven't read Perception!)


I loved the ending! I really loved the way there was no way of knowing which boy Clare picked until she said his name. I loved everything about the revelation, and of course I loved her choice (loved him from the beginning ;D). I really loved the last two paragraphs, as well! They were a very real, yet hopeful look on life, and they made me laugh. (See how I still haven't mentioned which boy she picked? I'm sneaky like that. Anyway, if you've read it, you know which one, and I refuse to spoil it for others, even in highlighted text ;D)


So what I really want to know is if there's going to be another book in the series. It seemed to me like everything was KIND OF wrapped up, but I would love nothing more than to see more of Clare and her family and friends in the future :)


Anyway, Perception definitely gets <*><*><*><*><*>


(:D)
~Mag

Review: Clarity by Kim Harrington

Clarity by Kim Harrington was one of many books I discovered on my "Recommendations" page when I first got a Goodreads account. Apparently, Goodreads knows what it's talking about, because Clarity ROCKS.

 

Clarity by Kim Harrington
When you can see things others can't, where do you look for the truth? This paranormal murder mystery will have teens reading on the edge of their seats. 

Clarity "Clare" Fern sees things. Things no one else can see. Things like stolen kisses and long-buried secrets. All she has to do is touch a certain object, and the visions come to her. It's a gift. 

And a curse. 


When a teenage girl is found murdered, Clare's ex-boyfriend wants her to help solve the case - but Clare is still furious at the cheating jerk. Then Clare's brother - who has supernatural gifts of his own - becomes the prime suspect, and Clare can no longer look away. Teaming up with Gabriel, the smoldering son of the new detective, Clare must venture into the depths of fear, revenge, and lust in order to track the killer. But will her sight fail her just when she needs it most?

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When I first heard about this book, I was worried it was going to be pretty much exactly like Tempus by Tyra Lynn. You know what I mean: Girl has special power, touches objects and gets flashes of the past. I mean, c'mon, the love interest's name is GABRIEL, same as Tempus. (Actually, I just checked and, to be fair, Clarity was published first. Just so you know.)

The good news is, I was pleasantly surprised. Despite Clare and Jessie's similar powers, and the names of their love interests, these books could not be more different. But this review is about Clarity, so I won't go into the reasons now. (Maybe another time.)

First off, can I just say I LOVED this book. I don't usually seek out mysteries, but oftentimes when I read them I absolutely adore them. From the moment I read the first chapter of Clarity (which, to me, actually seemed more like a preface/prologue than a first chapter), I was hooked and dying to know what would happen. I totally thought that I knew who had committed the crimes and how everything matched up, but it turned out in the end that I was dead wrong. But, in my defense, when I went through my paranoid suspect-everyone phase of reading, I TOTALLY considered the right person. Briefly. (Actually, the whole thing kind of reminded me of watching that movie Red Riding Hood with Amanda Seyfried. I TOTALLY did not see the end of that one coming. And I was mad at myself about it afterward.) Anyway, so the mystery/murder part was really satisfying for me.

I was, however, kind of disappointed at how the romance aspect ended up. Not the romance "in the book", mind you. There was definitely some good romance, and I pretty much fell in love with Gabriel. The disappointment for me was what changed and was left unresolved at the end. During the last couple pages, all I could think was, I really hope there's going to be a sequel, because I am needing closure badly. (And I was relieved to find there is. Perception is coming out March 1st, and I am excited. See the pretty widget over there? ---->)

There were also a few minor characters in Clarity that I really liked. Nate, for one, wasn't a huge character, but I thought he was fun. I dunno, I just did. Also, call me crazy, but I really liked Madame Maslov. She intrigued me. I'm not sure why. I'm holding out hope she makes an appearance in Perception.

More things I liked:

-Gabriel. But of course that goes without saying. The boy is FANTASTIC.

-The Fern's psychic business. I would SO be a recurring customer. That is just SO COOL! Except I probably would book an appointment with just Clare, or just Clare and Perry, because I sooo don't want Starla digging around in my brain.

-Clare working with the police. It had a very "Psych" feel to it. Except for the fact that Clare is a legit psychic and Shawn Spencer is full of crap.

-Yummy's. That's just the best name for a diner I've ever heard. 'Nuff said.

All things considered, I give Clarity <*><*><*><*><*>

(:D)

~Mag