I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, is having a Happy Hanukkah or will have a Happy Kwanzaa this holiday season. I feel very blessed. It’s been years since I’ve had this much time off, much less Christmas off —- a hazard of being a copy editor.

However, I haven’t been bored once. I’ve been visiting friends (including the fab writer/editor Mary Ann DeSantis), traveling (Philadelphia, where I saw former colleague Jaime), spending time with my family and rebooting my yoga practice during my break. Tomorrow, I’m going to a Tweetup (a Twitter meetup). Then, on Jan. 3, I can officially claim my new title of “Associate Editor.”

Life is good, truly.

For starters, she sent a nice e-mail reply and wrote on her Drama Box (blog) about it being published:

I had a lovely interview with Sherry while on the road. She actually remembers me visiting [Daytona Beach] in 2006 for a romance conference, and it made for a nice chat.

I thanked her again in a comment (by Sherry) to her next post, where she talks about the chilly Michigan weather. (If you missed my previous post about the not included Q&A about her move, here that is: http://sherrymims.com/2011/03/21/kimharrisonqa/.)

I’ve always said it’s much more rewarding for me to write things people enjoy and thank you for writing — that’s why I became a features writer in the first place. Now that I’m a copy editor, I don’t get as many of those opportunities, but I’ll seize them when I can. (So, boss, if you’re reading this, please give me more “writing” days — as long as I can pick the topic!)

I could go on all day, but she is an amazing person to interview. Her answers were clear and concise. I really didn’t have to change much at all for the online version. (The print version had to be trimmed to fit the space.)

Here’s a taste of the article, which you can read unabridged.

The best urban-fantasy novels take readers to cities in a world much like our own — except vampires, demons and witches exist there, too. And no one writes it better than New York Times best-selling author Kim Harrison, who wrote “Pale Demon,” the ninth and best book, so far, in a planned 12- to 13-part series about witch and bounty hunter Rachel Morgan.

Rachel, who dabbled in black magic to protect the people she cared about, must get to a convention witches are holding in San Francisco, where she will be tried for using black magic. Roommates Ivy, a living vampire, and Jenks, a pixy, accompany her, as does Trent Kalamack, a sometimes criminally minded elf, who has his own reasons for heading west.

For my lovely, loyal readers, here’s a question and answer that didn’t make it in either the print or online version (it really didn’t fit in with anything else I asked):

Did I read that you had moved from Rock Hill, S.C., to Michigan? How are you coping with the weather?
We’ve had a nasty winter in Michigan. But I’m from Michigan, so I’m eager to see some snow. It’s been 13 years since I’ve had a real, solid cold winter. Fortunately, since my job takes place at home, I don’t have to get out, you know, and shovel the snow off my car every morning. If I did, I’m not sure I’d be appreciating the snow quite as much as I do. [Laugh]

Having said that, I am so ready for this winter to be over, it’s not funny. It had better be gone by the time I get back from this tour. I want to play in the dirt again.

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If you didn’t read the full version, above, go to http://www.go386.com/culture/2011/03/-the-best-urban-fantasy.html, and better yet, buy the book, too!

I have to admit: Kim Harrison had me worried with “White Witch, Black Curse” that her series was losing its sparkle, but she’s back with style in “Black Magic Sanction.”

Here’s my review:

Kim Harrison regains momentum with her fast paced eighth novel “Black Magic Sanction,” which finds bounty hunter and witch Rachel Morgan working to remove her shunning from the magical community. Like the majority of the series, the title is a takeoff of spaghetti Western titles.

Read more at go386.com.

Speaking of reviewing books, my book review on “White Witch, Black Curse” by Kim Harrison published on Sunday. I really enjoy doing book reviews, especially since I can use my downtime at work constructively.