ILONA ANDREWS

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author

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Live Q&A Twitch Session

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Baby Artha

LIVE Q&A, When Are Y’all Free?

Hey guys, Brandi here. I’ve been on standby and answering all of your questions and emails, but now I have a question for y’all. Ilona Andrews will be hosting a live Q&A session on the streaming platform Twitch. What date is this awesome event happening? That’s where you come in. I am currently designating this week to setting the account up, which has a very easy sign up process that you can skip by connecting through Facebook. Twitch lets users stream live videos for free, while others can not only just watch these streams but also interact with the streamer through a live chat. I will be moderating the chat, and letting Ilona Andrews hear all of your questions so they can respond to you on video. The hope here is that this can be a fun interactive experience that I don’t want anyone to miss out on.

 

So what day this weekend works for everyone, and what time? Let me hear your suggestions.

 

 

Brandi Out.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

    • Can we see Q & A repeat at anytime during that week. I am Australia and we are totally on different time zone. Could we send couple questions in so they could be answered. Love to be able to catch up and hear everything going on. Thanks Beth

  2. For those of us in the Northwest that work full time, I would request after 5:30 Pacific if it’s during the week. Weekends anytime.

  3. Evening. After 8pm central time if possible. So most of the kids are in bed and I can actually FOCUS. Lol Not Saturday.

    I appreciate all your hard work. And all of theirs.

  4. Ditto on hoping for after 5:30 Pacific on weekdays, and weekends are all good, but heck – pick any time and I will make it available!

  5. Would there be a chance of publishing the session after for those of us who won’t make the live chat?

  6. Anything after 6pm DST – except Sunday. Sunday I am tied up until after 8pm. I would love to watch, but I really want to finish the book. Erratic scheduling is not leaving me much reading time this week. I was planning to finish and then reread on Saturday.

    Can you find some way to tape the session and replay it for any who miss the original?

  7. Since I can’t do a live chat, is there any chance you could sneak in the following question?
    “Do you both enjoy writing as much since you’ve started putting sex scenes in every book?”

    • Yes, we love it. We believe that sex is an integral part of being human.
      Sometimes people ask this question because they think sex is icky and makes the books girly or dirty. I usually suggest that it’s good time for them to ask themselves why they are okay with cannibalism and having people violently murdered on page, but reading about two people giving pleasure to each other makes them uncomfortable. To this day none of them explain why pain and murder is okay, but pleasure isn’t. Puritanism really did a number on US.

      • Ilona, you are the BEST!!! Hugh is scum, but Elara will make him behave. I like how Roland reacts to her. Will she and Kate be friends?

      • Applies to films as well. It’s OK to show people being shot, run over, beaten up, etc – even in PG-13 films. But show too much sex and the ban-hammer comes down and it’s an R-rating (and possibly even cuts demanded). It’s the same over here in the UK by the way, it’s not just you guys that have to suffer the ridiculousness of it. And yeah, looks like the Puritans have a lot to answer for. And the Catholic church – sorry if I offend any Catholics but a lot of people have been taught that sex is “dirty” and a sin.

      • I’m from Singapore and it’s not likely that I’ll be able to join the live chat either.. I had a burning question, but didn’t manage to post it on the IA Addicts on goodreads and it’s been bugging me ever since.. I’m fairly certain it’s spoilery but why does Christopher not retain his prior navigation powers?

        Also thank you very much for Hugh and Elara and Bucky, and Matilda and Arland and Ilemina. It’s the favorite part of the weekends.. <3

      • THANK YOU SO……….MUCH! So true and so real. Why are we ok with murder but not sex.

        I think everyone would want their children to grow up to have a healthy sexual relationship within the bounds of their belief system (married etc.) but no one wants their kids to grow up to be murderers.

        • I like what you said about “within the bounds of their belief system”. As a Catholic I’m okay with sex. But sex is about love AND about being open to life. Hence, we are encouraged to engage in sex within marriage. Pregnancy doesn’t always happen but don’t be shocked if you discover that you’re expecting with a baby too.
          As for reading, you can always skip the parts that don’t appeal to you regardless of what those parts are.
          And that’s me… Agree or disagree, everyone is entitled to their own opinion 🙂

          • There’s a lot I could say about established religions and belief systems – none of it complimentary. But this is not the place for it. I skirted the line on the rules here bringing religion up in the first place.

      • I’m asexual, so my answer to why I don’t like reading sex scenes is that I read fictional violence like an exhibition fight – real-world risk is kept to a minimum. The blood is just syrup with red food coloring, and at the end all the dead people get up and clap each other on the back for a scene well played, and they’ll be back in action any time I want to re-read. I enjoy participating in real-world martial arts, as well. Plus, it’s part of an emotional roller coaster, victory, defeat, pain, sorrow, healing, celebration… emotions that I relate to and the reason that I seek the fiction that I do. And when it’s non-fiction, the violence may be very uncomfortable to watch or read, especially if it is about something that happened recently or is ongoing.

        With sex… whether it’s people actually having sex or people pretending to have sex, my reaction is the same: I would rather not Share the experience. In book form, I can skim to the end of the scene and hopefully nothing important happened. I’m an adult. I’m not totally sex-repulsed. I can turn to the next page and move on with my life. But that’s the difference between violence and sex for me:

        Violence, specifically the fictional kind, is something that I willingly participate in, while sex is something that mildly repulses me… but others believe they have the right to demand that I enjoy. The “integral part of being human” comment always kind of hurts my feelings because, does that mean I am not human? And I know that isn’t what was meant in this case! But people have been implying since I was 11 or 12 that something must be terribly wrong with me because I’m not interested in sex.

        There’s nothing wrong with sex. There’s nothing wrong with sex between consenting individuals. I just don’t personally want to participate or watch… even if it’s just fiction.

        • As far as the “integral part of being human” thing goes, I personally think it means whatever you’re into or *not into* in terms of sexuality is an integral part of your human experience. Would you agree? The non-ace just say sex instead of sexuality because for us it is the same thing. le shrug for lazy language 🙂

          • As I said, I understand what is meant… more of an “integral to humankind” or to the continuation of life; but the particular phrasing makes me sigh and wish a different phrase was chosen.

        • Emily, “sex” encompasses being asexual, being homosexual, heterosexual, bi, choosing to have sex without a partner, and so on. Sexuality, whatever form it takes, is an integral part of being human. It’s important to all of us and one of the metrics we choose to identify ourselves. There is nothing wrong with you. Roughly 1% of people are asexual. It’s just another way to be.

          As to the sex scenes, the good ones are like fight scenes – they are about emotion and are important to character development. But every reader has their personal comfort level. Some skip gore, some skip sex, and so on. I prefer not to read about rape, especially when it’s done as a cheap way to ratchet angst in the character’s past. I will actively avoid books that use it as that trope. We all have different levels of tolerance.

          I simply don’t like when people take a stance that sex somehow cheapens the writing. Great sex is difficult to write. It’s a moment when the characters are at their most vulnerable. And let me tell you, if sex doesn’t work for me, I will skip it. I’ve just read a historical romance where sex took ridiculously long – over 10 pages – and was filled with ridiculously flowery imagery.

  8. I’m from the U.K., so understandably will bow to US timings- just please when you DO pick the time, can you post it not only in East/West US time but also the U.K. and Australia etc equivalents? Thank you!

  10. For everyone asking to watch a recorded version afterwards, Twitch automatically saves past streams, youll just need to find their channel.

    • You know you are getting older when you no longer recognize that names of popular social networking sites…/sigh
      What happened to places like MySpace?

      • Ended about 12 years ago I want to say? Apparently everything is on instagram and Snapchat now…not that I use either.

  11. Either Saturday or Sunday works fine. Evening would be best, 7 pm or later EST simply because I can have dinner finished and children settling down for the evening. I love the idea of posting the video afterward for any of us who are unable to attend. I’m very much looking forward to this! Thank you for arranging it!

  12. After 8pm PDT would be awesome so that kiddo can be in bed. I’d prefer to avoid Sat or Tues myself.

  14. I’m from Romania and those late times meen 3-4-5 AM… Could it be earlier? Like 1 pr 2 PM PST?

  16. If the authorlords are willing to do an evening, that would be awesome. I think Friday or Saturday would be best for the international attendees, since it is still weekend for them.

  17. In the App Store is this Twitch Events or Twitch (entertainment)?
    I will listen at Ilona and Gordon’ts convenience! They are GREAT! Like Tony the Tiger great!

    Thx for coordinating this for their fans!

    • Omg I feel so old. I’d assumed it would be a website since it’s a streaming platform for gamers which, in my outdated view, meant desktop. Never even considered an app.

    • I was trying to figure out how I was going to sneak downstairs to my office where my desktop was with a newborn and two older kiddos under 5 yo. An app and headphones solves all my problems. I’m down for whenever ?

  18. Do you have to use a Facebook account, or can you create an account in Twitch? I don’t have a FB account (and don’t want one).

  19. Hmmm. This weekend? How about Saturday, from 8am to 8pm, PDT or Sunday, 8am to 8pm, PDT. Thanks.

  21. Definitely after the kids are sleep. 8-9 EST and not on Friday or Saturday if possible.

  22. Hi Brandi

    I am in Australia so your Sat eve would be our Sunday morning but if you’re going to post afterward it really won’t matter. If I can I will attend in person though.

    Thanks for always thinking about how to include and make things interesting for us.

  24. Living in France, Whatever time is going to be difficult. I hope to log in since I have a twitch account! Just let me know and I’ll try to be there!

  26. A lot of people have been requesting late evening. But us Europeans read the books too and are part of the BDH. I’m in the UK – 8pm your time would be 3am in the morning over here. That’s not a problem for me personally because I seldom go to bed before 2am anyway. Time difference is 6 hours based on the timestamp shown on my posts on the Innkeepter chapters.

    • I think the best balance would be something like 3pm on a Saturday or Sunday. It would be early morning for any aussies and late evening for europeans. If i’ve got it right – timezones mess with my brain! 😉

  28. Any day would be good for me. Since I’m moderating for a group on Twitch, I’m there pretty much everyday anyway. Bigger issue would be time-wise. For people from europe, around noon CDT would probably work well. That’s around 8 or 9 pm for most people around central europe, which seems to work well.

  29. I work evenings during the week so afternoons on the weekends are best. I stream on Twitch and am so excited to hear that you’re using this platform to take questions! The only day I have off is Tuesday July 3rd. So any time that day would be awesome.

  30. I’m a free adult with no kids at home and will MAKE time whenever this weekend!! Thank you for doing this and thank you, Brandi, for pulling us all together!!

  31. Love the book.
    Reading it for the second time and I am going to Google for any reference I don’t understand.
    You don’t just give us great books, you also open up areas of interest I did not know existed!
    Thank you for sharing such a broader world.

  32. Saturday or Sunday, or after 6 PDT if on Friday, please. I can’t really do this while at work! If on Saturday or Sunday, I’ll try to make myself available any time.

  33. Anytime on Sunday and late afternoon/evening (Eastern Daylight Sav.) on Saturday. Having it on tape, so we can watch it if we can’t participate, would be fantastic!

  35. Twitch is a nice platform did you can run ads.. for the new litter of bunny kittens or black market wolvesbane and/or for the upcoming show pad live?… sometimes my gallows humor is lost except those also working the night shift..

  37. What is Twitch? And can you explain how to connect to twitch.And PDT? Saturday or Sunday night EST is best for Me , but I will try to be available whenever is convenient.
    Problem is that you have fans everywhere, which is great but scheduling time for everyone is not possible.And I am always curious about names . How did you decide on Kate, Dina etc? I remember you wanted Nevada started out as something different, was it Isabel? But there was a conflict.
    Thanks Brandi, for the juggling you have to do to keep TheBDH happy. Love the happy ?.

    • If you go to twitch.tv it’s a live streaming platform that allows people to create content and broadcast it without requiring a massive set up. You’ll need to create a log in, but they have a relatively easy to navigate website (and there is an FAQ page). You do not need a Facebook log in. If you are on a smartphone, you can use an app from your App Store (both iTunes and android have Twitch apps). Hope this helps.
      (PDT- Pacific Daylight Time)

  38. Any time during the weekend its okay, and during the week maybe around noon.

    Thank you!!!!

  40. Whenever you guys do it I will try to be there. If the stars align tech will work for me! ?

  41. Brandi, I think that it will be almost impossible to pick a good time for all of us fans. If it is possible, having a recording available for those of us that may not be able to join the live session would be great. Thank-you for working on this.

    • Yes a recording would be great for me as well, especially one that can be accessed through your website. I’’m not on any of the social sites like Facebook, Twitter or Twitch and don’t really want to be.
      I would suggest a written version of the event, but that would be too time consuming for y’all. I’m sure a link to a video recorded version of the event would be the earliest, maybe YouTube, you don’t need a membership for that , right??
      For people who can’t attend the event, can they submit a question through your contact email, here on the website or would we overwhelm y’all. Didn’t y’all say there were about 18,000 of us (when you were re-registering all of us a few weeks ago).

  43. I will make time for this!! What a wonderful event, and thank you so much Brandi for organizing it!! Please just let us know when it is, and if possible directions on how to connect to it (for nontechies like me!?). Thank you Brandi, and thank you Ilona and Gordon for doing this!! So excited!!! ?

    • It is fairly simple to do. Twitch is simply like youtube but based around the idea of live content. You can even watch on your phone.

  44. If you don’t mind setting aside more then an hour you could do an extra early morning or after lunch central time AMA (between 11-12 or 1-2 PM Central since they live in Texas) for those living in Europe.

    I don’t live in Europe so any time after 7 PM EST/8 PM Central works for me.

    If you’re serious about this Brandi make sure everything is test run ahead of time to work out kinks! Streams never go right and twitch can be terrible at times if you’re not prepared; especially the past broadcast recording aspect. It helps to be thorough! Good luck.

  46. I trust my pals in the BDH to come up with enough interesting questions to fill several hours, so I’m not worried about not being able to participate live. But here is the problem. I don’t do social media or smart phone. Can you just replay it on your site, the way you insert videos into your blog? Or can you just go to Twitch like you go to Youtube and watch from your computer without joining? I use youtube for instructional videos all the time. If not, do you just sign up at Twitch and then just log in when you want to and watch stuff? I don’t have a clue how people would ask you a question, live. Do they type it in?
    Anyway, it is really kind of you to want to want to interact with your fanatic BDH from all over the world. Thanks.?

  48. Just copied/pasted from Amazon….Yeah!!!

    Iron and Magic (The Iron Covenant Book 1) Kindle Edition
    by Ilona Andrews (Author)
    4.9 out of 5 stars 244 customer reviews
    #1 Best Sellerin Paranormal Romance

    • The book deserves the great rating but I have a little rant. There’s one one star rating by some technologically challenged individual who can’t get the book to download. Rather than contacting Amazon s/he left a one star review of a book s/he hadn’t even read. The responses to that review are far more gracious than the reviewer deserves. Early on the 1 star review was showing up. Now that there are 244 reviews the 1 star reviews are at 0% so unless you click on the 1 star icon you don’t even know it is there. That well deserved oblivion for that reviewer makes me happy.

  49. I’m reading the comments and here’s what I think- you’re not going to be able to make everyone happy. People from all over the world read Ilona Andrews. So….pick whatever time works for the authorlords and do it then. Those who can join in will, and those who can’t can enjoy it at their convenience at a later time. And everyone should have the attitude that this is a gift of time from the authorlords and be glad that it is happening (and afterwards has happened) and not complain if the time chosen doesn’t work for any given individual. That’s my .02 about when it should happen!

  50. Just a shout out for the German shepherd photo–I love when she gets included on the blog.

  51. Dear Brandy,
    This really isn’t a note about the question-and-answer session‘s, it’s a note about feeling absolutely terrible for the writers who have worked so hard. To receive notes like the last one that was shown on the blog, well, it made my heart hurt. To see that people feel free to say such things online they would never say in person. Ilona and Andrew are amazing writers and we value every book they write, And sometimes It’s true we long to read every single series over again just to get a fix, but to write a letter like that is unconscionable and so we, my family want to send our very best because we are all fans. My daughters are the same age as theirs and I know all the stuff that goes on in life, with children, offices, work, injuries, flooding (my personal phobia) And everything else that is part of living a rich life. Our lives have been made more rich by the whole Andrews team and so we would like to say thank you. Could you please pass this on?

    Pamela Ecker, on behalf of Cedae, Ceili and Robb.

  52. June 28, 2018,
    I am sending blessings to you both for whenever you receive this. Nothing is required in return. I am grateful for being able to receive your gifts and talents. Thank you! Hang in there for what you want and believe.

  53. This is going to be amazing! Chatting with creative minds, unfortunately I’m unable to join. Is there a chance you could ask a question for me so I can watch later? If so here’s the question.: How do you remember/save ideas for current writing projects and future ones. Do you have a notebook you that is attached to your hip, amazing memory or another system setup?

  54. My daughter just asked if we should cosplay for the chat…..????‍♂️??????‍♂️???‍???‍♀️??‍♂️??????⚒⛏….?‍♀️

  55. Brandi, I just read the post above this one, and I felt sick. I just want to say something to Ilona and Gordon. Can i borrow this space for just a moment? I haven’t commented here in years despite the fact that I read the blog every day but I feel moved to say something today. If you feel it’s inappropriate to write this in the space so free to delete it but I do hope you’ll share it first. Dear Ilona and Gordon. Im sorry you are having to deal with this. You should be celebrating the baddest ass example of turning a villain into a hero that I’ve ever seen. Thank you for making a hilarious April fools joke into one of the best books in this genre I’ve ever read. Thank you for all the amazing books that you’ve written that I have reread over and over. In fact I just re-read three of the Edge books in the last three days. I’m going to a tough time and your books for some reason are always able to take me out of my head and into a much more interesting world. I am so grateful for your generosity, and for your unbelievable work ethic. I don’t know how anyone could’ve written that comment, it just shows such a massive sense of entitlement and a lack of regard for your generosity. I tend to operate on the assumption that 3 to 5% of any community is going to be a jerk. I call it the A-hole quotient. Unfortunately it’s not that easy to weed them out. So all I can ask of you is that you will understand that 95-98%of us stand in awe And gratitude for your amazing contributions to our lives. That most of us do respect your boundaries, and appreciate everything that you do for us. The free fiction is a gift. From you and your husband to us your most loyal fans.For people to start thinking that they are entitled to gifts says Everything about them. Please do not lump us all together. I know It is human nature, thatyou can have 1000 positive comments and the one that you’ll remember is the negative one but please try to remember all the thousand positive comments that were so heartfelt sent your way instead And try to ignore the 3% quotient. Please take care of yourself, please take your time, heal. You have to take care of your hands. Take a break And celebrate! Because Iron and Magic is baddass. And I know a lot of your readers were never really huge Hugh fans but I always knew there was a possibility to redeem that guy(I’ll Admit it I’ve always secretly had a disturbing crush on Hugh) i just didn’t know how you were going to possibly do it and you blew my doors off. I’m just dying to know what’s going to happen next and not just the series but everything you write. And I hope that you stay healthy and can write and choose to write for us for a very long time.Thank you! With gratitude and devotion, one of your long time and biggest fans.

  56. You deserve to celebrate! I have to wear gloves at night to keep my finger tips well moisturized. Otherwise cuts just don’t heal right. I get a lot of them with numb fingers. Every night bury them in greasy stuff and wear gloves. What I can’t believe is that you finished a book like that.

    If you got nastygrams, they are good for starting fires with. 🙂 Let it float right back and stick to them. Not you. I write return to sender on such things and burn them. Sometimes I write a list of whats bugging me and torch that. Then I move on and go do something useful to occupy my mind so I can let go. I trust the Universe to take care of the rest. It has a multitude of dieties (angels) to be its hands and feet. I just have to let go of the problem once I turn it over. I keep catching myself dwelling on it. Letting go is hard. So I do chores till something else nice happens and I am free to go play. All my chores are done. 🙂

    I am shopping later tonight when I wake up. I want to buy stuff to make queso. I found a recipe. Any suggestions? I know how to roast peppers, and I don’t see many in this. I will keep looking.

    Chili con Queso
    Ingredients
    5 large fresh or 1 cup frozen, defrosted or canned, chopped hatch chiles, drained, squeezed dry.

    ??? I am up near the Canadian border, I will get a mix of what is available in green peppers.
    3 tablespoons unsalted butter.
    2 tablespoons grated onion.
    3 garlic cloves finely grated using a microplane.
    1/2 teaspoon kosher salt.
    2 tablespoons all-purpose flour.
    1/2 teaspoon ground cumin. (I grind my own, dedicated coffee grinder. for fresh ground cumin.)

    More items…
    Hatch Chile con Queso Dip recipe | Epicurious.com
    https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/hatch-chile-con-queso-dip-51253410

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