I absolutely loved the ending solution to MILLION DOLLAR DEMON, so much in fact I was worried how TROUBLE WITH THE CURSED would handle the consequences surrounding Constance. Any hints about where you’ll take us with her next?
Thank you! I’m so pleased that the ending to MILLION DOLLAR DEMON was satisfying. I’ve had to become more inventive when it comes to giving Rachel more powerful antagonists to tackle and yet avoid the temptation to simply kill them off. The quirky solutions she employs is what makes Rachel, Rachel. I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say that the erratic, undead vampire is not gone. She appears in the next book, poised to step into Rachel’s story once more. Just how big a part she will be playing remains to be seen. I have ideas, but until I get them on paper, they are as changeable as the weather.
One question I’ve been dying to ask ever since starting The Hollows series… why tomatoes?!
The Hollows began much more tongue-in-cheek than it is now. Actually, it was a lot more, much of it pruned out before DEAD WITCH WALKING hit the shelf. That a GMO tomato caused humanity’s demise is a salute to my quirky dark humor, one I couldn’t bring myself to part with. But I think it fits. Tomatoes were once thought to be poisonous. They were one of the first fruit/vegetable to land on the grocery store shelf that were genetically modified. Then there’s the move, “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.” But truthfully, I think I chose tomatoes because as hard as I try, I can’t seem to grow the darn things. I have two in my garden right now. All plant. No fruit. I think I’m overwatering.
Politics are always messy, and I love how Rachel and Jenks work to improve interspecies collaborations- or at least a truce even when both parties are avowed enemies. What is your favorite collaboration between foes in the series?
Thank you for noticing! Finding common ground and developing realistic, confident, comfortable co-existence between sworn enemies has been a long-running theme through the series whether it be between individuals or entire species. My hands-down favorite avowed enemy truce is between the elves and demons, and I’m never sure how stable it is from book to book. The wounds there are still fresh despite the millennia, probably because unlike the elves, who have had several generations to forget the atrocities they committed in their genocidal war, the demons are the same individuals who were enslaved, who fought and won their freedom, and who dominated and nearly exterminated the elves in turn. I doubt very much that either species has learned anything over the years. My demon, Algaliarept gives me hope. Al’s initial domineering attitude turned tutor, and the slow, grudging acceptance of Trent as Rachel’s suitor are all good grist for the mill.
No spoilers but TROUBLE WITH THE CURSED made me so happy as a fan! I love so many moments in this book. What was your inspiration for it all?
I’ve been writing these for so long it’s hard to know where the inspiration comes from anymore. There are usually enough minor plot threads when I end one book to fill another, and MILLION DOLLAR DEMON left a lot of plot threads. As Rachel becomes more powerful, her actions have a longer reach. She’s impacting more people, which means the consequences will be more complex. She might not be struggling to make rent anymore, but she’s finding out the hard way that for every action, there is a lawsuit waiting. Rachel wants to prosper. She wants to keep her friends safe. She wants stability. In that way, she is still a lot like her readers despite her world-impacting trials. I guess that’s always been the inspiration behind the books: Rachel’s wants pulled apart by her past choices.
As a comic book fan, I love crossovers. If there were no obvious obstacles, and you could do whatever you wanted, is there any series by another author you wish you could do a crossover with your Hollows characters?
Crossovers are so much fun. Twisting two mythologies into one is like tickling the pages until they giggle in delight, making something both familiar and surprising. That said, I really haven’t given much thought to melding my work with someone else’s. I have to keep the rules of Hollows front and center when I’m writing so I don’t make a mistake, and the idea of trying to fudge them to meld into someone else’s work terrifies me.
If you could only pick one of your books, other than this one, to a romance reader unfamiliar with your work, which one would you pick? And why?
I’m going to go way back on this one and choose A FISTFUL OF CHARMS. The Hollows isn’t really a romance, at least not by my 50+ year old definition. (I’m so glad that has changed because romance readers are the best!) But the Hollows has always been about relationships, and A FISTFUL OF CHARMS is a mess. Rachel and Nick are falling apart. Handsome Marshal is approachable and eager to help. Jenks risks all for the love of his son, and Rachel and Ivy try and fail to create a blood tryst. There is love everywhere, and when things don’t go as planned, it’s heartbreaking even as the love shines through.
Other authors I’ve interviewed have told me that the kinds of books they enjoy reading are different from the kind of books they enjoy writing. What do you like to read? Favorite books? Favorite author?
Oh my… I used to be an avid reader of SF and Fantasy. Urban Fantasy evolved, and I cleaved to it as a lover while it began to grow. Now I tend to read a lot more lightly in my genera as I’m trying to keep from clouding my own vision. I read the occasional UF manuscript for possible cover quotes, but my pleasure reading is generally focused on research—though I’d never call it that. It’s just what interests me. Right now, I’ve got a book on Yaqui myths and legends on my nightstand.
What are you currently working on?
Right now, I am working on about three things, all at different stages. The book after TROUBLE WITH THE CURSED is pretty much done, leaving me jotting down ideas for the next book. My desk is covered in a rewrite for a new series focused on Petra Grady, a young thirty something who picks up the magical waste of her more talented kin. Not surprising, she is more than anyone could ever imagine. I have hopes that she finds her audience, giving me the chance to explore ideas that I never could with Rachel. The two protagonists share a lot of common threads, but Grady? Grady is a lot more…mmmm.
TROUBLE WITH THE CURSED by Kim Harrison
Rachel Morgan, witch-born demon, has one unspoken rule: take chances, but pay for them yourself. With it, she has turned enemies into allies, found her place with her demon kin, and stepped up as the subrosa of Cincinnati—responsible for keeping the paranormal community at peace and in line.
Life is . . . good? Even better, her best friend, Ivy Tamwood, is returning home. Nothing’s simple, though, and Ivy’s not coming alone. The vampires’ ruling council insists she escort one of the long undead, hell-bent on proving that Rachel killed Cincy’s master vampire to take over the city. Which, of course, Rachel totally did not do. She only transformed her a little.
With Rachel’s friends distracted by their own lives and problems, she reaches out to a new ally for help—the demon Hodin. But this trickster has his own agenda. In the end, the only way for Rachel to save herself and the city may be to forge a new understanding with her estranged demon teacher, Al. There’s just one problem: Al would sell his own soul to be rid of her. . . .
Paranormal Romance | Fantasy [Ace, On Sale: June 14, 2022, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593437513 / eISBN: 9780593437513]
TROUBLE WITH THE CURSED won’t disappoint its fans.
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About Kim Harrison
The only girl in a large family of boys, former tomboy Kim Harrison invented the first Brigadier General Barbie in self-defense. She shoots a very bad game of pool and rolls a very good game of dice. When not at her keyboard, she enjoys lounging on the couch with a bowl of popcorn watching action movies with The-Guy-In-The-Leather-Jacket. She plays her Ashiko drum when no one is listening, and is hard to find when the moon is new.
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