I met Kim Harrison, author of The Hollows book series, last night.  This series, featuring the bounty hunter witch Rachel Morgan and set in a Cincinnati suburb with characters that include vampires, witches, humans, weres, pixies, elves, and insurance agents, was mentioned on my “Favorite Books” post.

Harrison gave a reading at a nearby Borders bookstore.  Since I will be interviewing her soon, I welcomed the opportunity to hear her speak and to introduce myself in person.  My review copy of her newest novel, The Outlaw Demon Wails, conveniently arrived via UPS from HarperCollins publishers just a few hours before the reading.

Kim was engaging and unpretentious, welcoming questions and providing frank answers and insights into her story development and the writing process.  The sense of humor so evident in her books was also easily conveyed through her personal interactions with the group.

She began the evening by inviting all those who wore “Outlaw Tour” t-shirts up for a “family photo.”  As everyone turned with their backs toward the camera to feature the t-shirt design, she prompted everyone to “smile.”

During the Q&A portion of the evening, she was asked to pronounce demon Big Al’s summoning name.  She paused for a moment as if nervous, then uttered “Algaliarept,” before quickly ducking and checking behind her to make sure he had not just appeared to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting bookstore patrons.

For those of you new to Kim Harrison’s creative world of the Hollows, I’d recommend starting with her first book, Dead Witch Walking.  While she does a fine job of succinctly summarizing the plotline in each novel, you will enjoy the depth of her unusual characters and the fast-paced adventures of the story more if you have read all of the background and escapades provided in each book of the series.  Her short stories also complement the character development, highlighting valuable insight into the characters’ true natures.

Kim provides essays, additional tidbits, and even character-inspired recipes on her website.  She has a blog-like link that she refers to as her “Drama Box.”

I will be posting the review of her latest book along with an article featuring her interview here on the Damian Daily and in Blogcritics magazine.  I may do a Hollows series review for another magazine as well.  Be sure to keep an eye out for follow up posts within the next couple of weeks.