ILONA ANDREWS

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author

You are here: Home / Blog / Rambling Monday: Maps, Names, and Weed Eaters

Rambling Monday: Maps, Names, and Weed Eaters

Blog, Just Life, Work POST A COMMENT by

The edit of Maggie has landed in my Inbox, which means today will be all editing, all the time. What you see above is a work in progress on the map of the city. Becka is ridiculously talented and she has put up with all my insane edits. We are trying to figure out a good way to mark the locations.

Ideally, I would like to hyperlink this map, so when you click on a number, it pops up or switches to the close up of the location with a bit of description. The map itself is ridiculously detailed and zoomable.

Close up of the two tiny bridges and cemetery from the top map

I don’t even know who to hire to code that, though. Like what category of free lancer would this fall under? Web developer? Something to consider for later.

Thank you so much to everyone who suggested the names, and sorry to C for saying that nobody could pronounce Oisín. It was a literary hyperbole and not meant as a slight against 11 million Gaelic-speaking people. I will choose my words better next time.

We have hidden the post so we can sort through all of the suggestions. There are some very good ones and we might use them later in fiction. Thank you again for taking the time to come up with the names and comment.

We are both still very tired. I wanted to tell you a funny about Gordon misreading my online Christmas decorations order, but I better not, since someone would likely get offended and I don’t want to make more work for Mod R. When you are that tired, it’s best to err on the side of caution. I’ve been doing my Christmas decorating in stages. One garland per day. That’s all I have the stamina for. Right now putting up the Christmas tree seems like a climb to Everest’s apex.

The list of things to do before Thanksgiving keeps growing, no matter how hard I try to knock things off it. Today is mowing day, so I loaded the string into the weed eater. My husband is the paladin of landscaping, but to keep things in balance and compensate for his supreme skills, he was cursed with hedge trimmer problems. That man can look at a weed eater, and it will instantly break. So I prep them for him. I can hear him cutting weeds. He hasn’t cursed yet, so fingers crossed.

I did accomplish one thing: I scored the Cajun Turkey from Popeyes. I’m so happy about this. We had it last year and it was amazing. It’s precooked, all you do is warm it up, and since I have other protein to cook as well, this will save us so much time on Thanksgiving.

Things still to do today, besides the edit: sign more copies of collector editions, get the last HEB grocery order in before Thanksgiving, buy the extra crate for Baby.

Well, I’m going to go and do all the things.

PS. The little scene with Augustine has been incredibly well received. We are thinking about what to do with that. We don’t want to promise something and not deliver, but we have heard you loud and clear.

NEVER MISS A BOOK RELEASE

Join 30,000 Subscribers

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO
PUBLISHING NEWS

New book releases, give-aways, and appearances.

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO
BLOG UPDATES

Free fiction, snippets, and funny stories.

Read our Privacy Policy.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Wish you luck on the map it does look beautiful! Popeyes does a Cajun turkey???! I don’t really care for thanksgiving meals but I would eat that! We are doing tamales for Thanksgiving this year since it will be a very small gathering. We loved the snippet and are “patiently” waiting to hear more! Happy Thanksgiving week.

  2. Here’s hoping those garlands Aren’t supremely long and that your & Mod R’s Thanksgiving Day celebrations go well! Thanks!!

  4. What will happen with those of us who prefer the paperback? We will not be able to zoom the map and see. Or will there only be an epub version?
    I didn’t know Popeyes does Cajun turkey either! Probably too late for us next year but I’ll write it down for next time. Happy Thanksgiving!

    • It’s a bit premature to speak about publishing and formats, as House Andrews haven’t yet decided if they’re going traditional or self-pub for Maggie. All will be taken into consideration when time comes 🙂

      • It’s been my impression that Mod’R and household dwell in the UK. Am I mistaken again? Do you choose to accept any good reason for a feast and join us for Thanksgiving?

  5. Happy Monday to you.
    Congratulations on the turkey acquisition! That will certainly make things easier.
    I wouldn’t feel too down about the Oisín bit. I have a GM who keeps calling a character with that name “Ocean,” and I’m certain that most people who read Oisín would say “Oy-sin” instead of “Oh-sheen.” Even after learning Irish for a couple of years I still do a double take when reading certain words. Tráthnóna is easy (tranona), but fáthscéal (fahskEEl) or dathgheal (dah-GH-eal) is not.

    • I was amused by the Oisin comment as it is my nephew’s name and I still have to stop and think about to get it right (my 1st thought is always oye-shin 😂).

  7. For your links –
    People who have worked in Front End Development, Technical Writing, or similar should be able to do that link you are asking about. There are common and not so common document tools that allow for an area hyperlink, and/or zoom. I didn’t want to list tools here, lest it be mistaken for product placement. But the largest PDF tool can do much of what you are asking, it may depend on how you want your map to be formatted.

    If you have questions, please reach out. (Mod, this all can be removed if not appropriate to this post.)

  8. Yay to not having to cook more than you have to Ilona. I’m cooking a whole beef tenderloin for Thanksgiving. I saved it from my move to my new place since it was in the freezer in the sealed package. It’s in the refrigerator defrosting. Wednesday I need to salt and pepper it to dry brine for Thursday.

    Take all the time you need to recover from the brain fog and fatigue.

    Mod R, love the gingerbread cookie avatar. The bow on the cookie is cute. At least you’re not upside down! 🙂

      • While you come the right way up, come up slowly so all the blood from your head being upside down for Halloween doesn’t make you dizzy. 😛😊😂

    • The map is amazing!! I’m so excited for Maggie! The magic, the swords and a fancy ball! It sounds beautiful. I love detailed maps though they help me visualize 😁 like when you did maps for Kate and Currens new adventures I read the books while they were pulled up on my computer.
      As for Augustine he’s always been so mysterious and I’d love to learn more about him and how he had to step up to protect his family.

  11. All the maps! Awesome.

    Here’s hoping your Thanksgiving is peaceful. We’re doing the usual potluck at my brother and SILs, so I only have to do green beans, which is about my speed right now.

    I’m just taking a break from leaf-blowing, and now have to go mow before tomorrow’s rain. Weedeaters are not my favorite; I don’t own one, and hope never to need one. But it means tolerating some raggedness around the edges.

    Wishing you lots of chances to recharge this week!

  12. Happy Thanksgiving! In regards to the map, can Kindle (Nook, Kobe, etc.) handle a pop-up or would I have to read it on my tablet? Not a big deal, just curious. I have to read The Innkeeper Chronicles on my tablet because my Kindle doesn’t show the pictures in color. I like the idea of an interactive map.

    • It will all be worked out 🙂, there will be several map pages in the Kindle and paperback formats if not.

    • While it’s black and white, I’ve clicked on images on my Kindle and been able to zoom. I would think an embedded link might work the same way, but 🤷‍♀️. 🤗

  13. I’d probably look for an online game developer. They’d have the focus you want to create graphically driven links with a strong story component. Generic web developers will generally think in terms of a linked-tree style site-map. Either will probably get you there. But a game developer will probably make the journey easier.

  14. My mother’s funeral finally happened. It was a 3-day extravaganza – lots of friends and family. Very popular woman, my mother.

    My firstborn just called. She’s even more wiped out than I am (we only got home around 2:00 yesterday afternoon). We are having a store-bought Thanksgiving this year. She’s going to Costco for their meatloaf, an apple pie, and vegetables to roast. I have an appointment tomorrow and a need for some groceries, so tomorrow among the groceries will be a couple of boxes of 8-count Trader Joe’s bake them frozen miniature croissants.

    The duck for Christmas is ordered and will arrive some time next week. Christmas will probably also feature meatloaf – my grandson loves meatloaf.

  15. I have to admit I gave up somewhat on new decorations each year and bought a plastic (I know) pine branch garland base. I decorate it some years with ribbons and some years with orange slices and cinnamon sticks but it’s the same quick hang base each year.
    All of my decorating energy this year went into making a new tree topper – a needle felted Ghost of Christmas Present from The Muppets Christmas Carol. The problem I’m having is sourcing a decent match for the fabric of his robe, so as it stands he may be going on top of the tree naked.

    The possibilities for how your order was misread are entertaining enough, you can happily spare Mod R for my part.

    Cajun turkey sounds delicious. We’ve (in my little UK town) only just got a Popeyes – I may hurry to check it out quicker.

    • I’m not sure if it’s quite right (or if it ships to where you are) but there’s a moss green jacquard fabric on Etsy called “Moss Fairy Frost # CM376-MOSS blender fabric From Michael” that looks pretty good. I was going to post the link, but it was 8 pages long and I didn’t want to get in trouble. Maybe that might work? Good luck with your project! 😊

      (If you want the link and Mod R doesn’t mind, I can post it. It’s not my store and I get nothing from it. But you can probably search Etsy with that for it or Google it.)

  16. congrats on scoring the Cajun turkey 🦃. I hope you all have a great time on Thanksgiving day and have relaxing time with your family.

  17. I sure hope you two have designed rest time to your schedules.
    Cause it does us no good if you burn out – just makes you rest longer… So please pretty please really make sure you are making selfcare and rest a priority.
    I know with the Holidays in full swing that is extra hard but still.. this cannot be overlooked.

    Your recuperation needs to come first.

    It is that simple and extremely hard to follow through with.
    I know – I am so much better at pointing this out to you than following my own advice normally. 😉

    This being said I wish to wish (hmmm..) House Andrews with all the 2 legged and 4 legged beings a wonderful wonderful ramp up to & celebration of Thanksgiving.

  18. I guess the “name” post got removed again – bummer.

    I was just going to suggest “Iain or Euan Bastille”

  22. Oh my god I would LOVE and Augustine book. He is a very intriguing character and deserves a story all of his own, just so we could peal back a few of the layers of mystery

  23. Thanks for the word on the naming post. When it wasn’t there today I was worried either something was wrong with my browser or you’d been hacked!

  24. I’m going to try that turkey next year!
    I’m assuming the carcass is good to make soup with?

  25. Good luck with the Christmas decor. I put up outside Christmas today but we didnt take down fall so they are going to coexist together until maybe Thanksgiving weekend
    The Popeyes Turkey is a blessing if you can get them. They are so well seasoned and yummy.

  26. Love the map, and I hope you find the correct person to work e-magic on it. Best of luck with the editing. Putting up garlands already?Sob.

  27. I got my calendar from Luisa today! 🥳 It’s so pretty! I’m not sure my brain will translate the single line calendar days well though, so I’ll just have to enjoy it for looks. 😄

  28. I scored a large bird from HEB when they had the big and ham get 12 lbs of turkey free. Both Thanksgiving and Christmas done!

    I also make all my sides in bulk and freeze them for Christmas. So I’ll cook at ton this week and then almost nothing extra for Christmas.

    Thank you for the Augustine! I am contemplating a reread now!

  29. I haven’t had a Christmas tree in years and don’t miss it. Hope you get all the rest you need and are able to recharge. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

  30. I read entirely on Kindle (or iphone or ipad, depending on where I am), but I would be happy with just a hyperlink back to this web site and having a map I could really pull up and zoom in on. Really like the idea of having the locations called out.

    I have rarely read an ebook with a map that was worth a darn, it would be lovely and novel but probably a PITA to get it working across all the platforms that everyone use.

    • Some maps I can tell would be lovely in dead-tree form, but I’m not sure my eyes were ever good enough to read them when shrunk down to e-reader size. It’s incredibly frustrating. I love maps for orientation and just in general.

  31. good luck all with the name sorting!!

    if/when you update it, be careful if letters overlap with any regular vocab words, I’ve seen quite a few author stories about issues occuring from replacing issues. (example) Ian becomes Sean in the text. The author ended up with funny words like “civilsean” and “librarseans”.

    😁

  32. Happy Thanksgiving all!! And to the peeps that’s just keeping it as a Thursday, happy Thursday! Lol

    I forgot about the Popeyes turkey🤦🏽‍♀️ maybe next year. I bought the Butterball frozen, all done, pop in the oven, one.

    I love maps, I don’t know why. So Im super psyched to chk out Maggie’s world. Re-reading any snippets from the blog, thank you for them!

    It’s a k drama binge day today, before getting the house ready for the ‘horde’ (all my children and their pets) to stay till Sunday.

  33. My husband suggested World Anvil for the interactive map. He dabbled for D&D when making his game play. He says it pretty simple to use. and they have an options for staff help if needed.

    • I’m so goad you mentioned this. I was thinking someone familiar with one of the RPG gaming sites would probably have an idea of how to make the vision come to life.

      Alternatively if a programmer makes it work, they would probably find a warm welcome at one of those companies.

  34. Love maps, always have. Along with house plans. My brain likes the geometry.

    I can’t cook, so I am bringing the veggie tray and hummus to family Thanksgiving.

    Here’s to happy gatherings of family and friends! Hope there is some time for rest and downtime as well.

    • LOL, I just tore myself away from a house plan site. Geometry is the branch of math that makes the most sense to me, and the only one I considered fun in school.

  35. For the map, It sounds like the things my spouse describes doing as part of her GIS (Geographic Information Science) job. However, I’m not sure if someone in GIS would be able to do this with a map from a fantasy world or just from the real world.

    • i think they can since alot of what needs to be done is

      A) put it online
      B) plug in the data & make it interactive.

    • +1
      Came here to say this.
      I recently did a short tutorial from ArcGIS so I could find my way around someone else’s workflow for a project I’m working on. From the Why GIS? introduction, this seems like exactly the type of thing GIS is great at! Interactive maps with additional info

  37. That’s very exciting news about Maggie and I’m impressed with how organised you are with Christmas decorations, as I’m one of those people who starts sorting out her decorations two days before Christmas.

    I was sorry to see that the blog post asking for suggestions for the character name had been taken down, as I was planning to submit my suggestion today. I would have suggested Henric/Henrick for the name (both spellings appear on the list of Medieval Dutch names), as it’s a name that I associate with medieval knights – so suitable for a bad-ass sorcerer. It’s also a name that’s easy to
    pronounce whilst having a spelling that is still unusual enough that one would not associate it with contemporary fiction or real-life persons, so would fit a fantasy world inspired by medieval Europe. Maybe a suitable name for some character in the next book of the series… :p

  38. Happy thanksgiving to all. I will be going to a local restaurant with friends. No muss, no fuss. Bought leeks today for a leek, Gruyère quiche to take to a dinner on Saturday where people bring leftovers to combine for dinner (the only cooking I will do). It’s a great way to get rid of the excess food before you can’t stand to look at it anymore.

    Best wishes to the Andrews clan, ModR, and the BDH.

  39. I love the map. I loved the snippet too. While we don’t do Thanksgiving in Australia, I do wish you all the very best for the holiday.

  41. The maps look very cool! I hope you’re able to find a way to make it work.
    Thanks again for the snippet and not surprised it was well received – we are YOUR horde after all. 😄

  42. Question about the edits – I was curious about your process – do you go in and start at the beginning and work through them in order or do you go through them and do the easy ones first and then go back and start on the harder ones?
    (Curious because it depends on my mood and when I get my comments on financial reports! Sometimes I need to feel like I am actually getting somewhere so knocking off the easier ones first helps that ha!)

  43. I like your 1 garland at a time plan, and will gleefully borrow the idea. I will, of course, properly attribute it to the author lol!
    I love you sharing little bits of your life. My hunny has the same issue with weed eaters. He got a Super-Duper switcheroo weed eater thingy that has actual blade attachments. He loves it and so far has all his toes. He doesn’t cuss it hardly ever. There MIGHT be some evil laughter when he cuts down stuff that defied the old weedeater.

    • I bought one of those many years ago, and my husband did love it. I was bummed because I couldn’t use the thing myself for longer than about five minutes at a time. It was too heavy for me, and I’m no fragile flower. I should check; maybe they’ve refined the design by now.

  44. Sorry to hear you’re both still in the tired doldrums. Heres hoping that the holiday will be spirit lifting at least, since it certainly sounds like the work is still piling up. The map is going to be cool. And I’m very happy to hear the Augustine snippet may yet evolve. So many questions raised!

    Happy Thanksgiving to all!

  45. I love, love, love books with maps. I’d love your books even without maps but maps are a fantastic addition. Thank you. Happy Thanksgiving.

    • I am right here with you! My favourite fantasy books had maps, some of which I’ve kept through all the moves and purges because they’re still so fantastic.

      I have a couple of cloth maps from video games based on a D&D world, too. It feels a bit silly sometimes, but they contain so many places from books, so many D&D campaigns, the Baldur’s Gate games and so on, I just can’t quite part with them.

      Then there’s our big piece from work, where we re-created Revolutionary Paris through our company’s history department combined with as many old maps and journals as we could get our hands on, then building up from there. Even though some of it gets lost later, when Marketing and PR get their hands on a project, at least they start off very carefully and as historically accurate as a fictional video game is going to let us be 😅

      Basically, I have maps everywhere, and in my books/on my e-reader are just even more places they belong, and oh it brings such joy.

  46. it’s not too bad to set hyperlink areas in pdfs that link to elsewhere. I do it with Bluebeam occasionally at work, and my programs that spit “architectural” drawings into Bluebeam do it as well. it’s a huge sanity saver sometimes.

    I do not know how to do it in forms that are not pdf or word doc though…

  47. My hubby is a programmer. For the map he says you need a front end developer. He says it’s not a huge difficult job.

  48. *lol* I completely missed that post, or I would have suggested something like Garrick. Sorry about that, I let my emails build up past 300. I think I may have missed a few, what is the map of?

    It’s awesome. Just finished listening to the latest KD Graphic Audio release by the way. It was absolutely fantastic! Now, I just need the next Inn Keeper, I’ve already pre-ordered it.

  49. Some thoughts: our (well, MY) rule of the house is no Christmas decor until the Macy’s Santa crosses the finish line. That helps keep the tinsel at bay and somehow makes the holidays last longer.
    Aaand Augustine is a mystery man hottie, so even a snippet is a blast. Happy Thanksgiving and House Andrews is one of the items on my list of things to be thankful for! Gobble, gobble, y’all!

  50. Hope you get some rest. Where do you want to put the map? on the web site? Then you need a web dev to do it. Should be really easy to do. Have a great holiday!

  51. yay 😁😁😁 so happy any time you want to dive back into your book worlds I will buy that you write.

  54. That’s a gorgeous looking map. Can’t wait for Maggie. Just entered a super busy period of life for the next six months or so (already exhausted!) and it’s nice to have things to look forward to.

  55. Have you considered hiring someone to put your tree up and decorate it? It might simplify your life.

  56. I was all set to have my living room clean, carpet shampooed, by Thursday so I can decorate & put up the tree.
    Then my Christmas present to me, a sock machine, was delivered. It turns out you can’t just set up and knit. LOTS of bugs to be worked out. Hours & days later, still dropping stitches, but it’s better…
    Ok, tomorrow, I promise myself, I’ll clean, and Weds shampoo the carpet.
    I HAVE to get this done because next week I’m having eyelid surgery and can’t lift, stoop, etc for ?2 weeks.
    I would rather be knitting…
    Listening to the Innkeeper series while I do various crafts. Thank you House Andrews!

    • Buy electric
      Green works has good battery powered products. Their lawnmower is good for somewhat hilly spots. Great hedge trimmer too. Chain saw is only so-so. Good for honeysuckle but not really for anything bigger around than my arm.

      Or Worx for an extension corded version. Love the chainsaw. Takes down the dead trees at church no problem.

  58. I often send people into Orro’s Offended Woods when I’m tired too. My husband also struggles with the weed wacker, but you’re a better wife than I because I just make suggestions and then go into the house when he doesn’t listen haha. Hope you guys get some rest and have a stress free Thanksgiving!

  59. I get the weed whacker thing. My husband has passed his lawn mower destroying gene on to his son’s. I mowed the lawn and since my back issues, we hire someone.

  60. Yup, picked up my Cajun Turkey yesterday!
    I only had it once about 5 years ago and I often thought about it so I was glad to remember to buy one this year. It’s 14 pounds and cost $71. Is that the standard at all Popeyes?

    • I paid $50 for 8lbs of mashed potatoes from local Busch’s because they are delicious and I cannot stand the thought of trying to make them myself this year.

      I call it money well spent in relation to my time but I also feel incredibly guilty about it so 🤷‍♀️

      • You are putting money into the local economy. That’s a good thing. Time is money, and if you have more money than time, it’s well-spent. Plus really good mashed potatoes are worth whatever it takes.

        I heard a story on the radio recently about a woman who got tired of making them from scratch and started buying a frozen variety, microwaving it, and putting it into a nice bowl. The only family members who knew were her son and his wife. This was the status for about six years until they ran out one year.

        The son snagged a couple of packages out of the freezer and microwaved them. His sister came into the kitchen and caught him in the act. She was outraged and demanded to know where the real potatoes were. He said they ran out and this was all he could find. She complained about it all through the meal.

        No one who was in on the secret ever clued her in, but they made sure to erase all traces of the packaging from the kitchen in future years. That sister still talks about the year her brother gave them microwave potatoes instead of their mother’s authentic ones, even as she unwittingly eats the microwave ones.

        Moral of the story: It’s a freaking holiday. Serve what tastes good and keeps you sane.

    • That’s a bit over $5 a pound, which is pretty fair considering somebody else did all the work and didn’t tie up your oven for roughly 4.5 hours.

  61. To make the map interactive you need a person with GIS (Geographic Information System) skills. I am sure I cannot be the only GISy fan out there.

  62. Augustine!!!! Hehehe Even the possible *hint* of a well received! Yay! (He’s my favorite! So mysterious.)

    Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you have time to rest!

  63. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone at House Andrews.

    And the website A Couple of Cooks has a Potato Pancake recipe from leftover mashed potatoes. Big Yumm on that one.

  64. Thank you for the comment on the turkey. I’ve noticed the advertisement for those when we go through the drive-thru. We normally buy a turkey from a local BBQ place. We’re always happy with it, but I wouldn’t mind a change. We’re not having Thanksgiving food this year. It’s just us so we’re going in another direction. But, we will probably have all that stuff at Christmas. It hope the Maggie edits go well.

    • It’s been just the two of us for a while now but that turkey will work for a couple of dinners and sandwiches. Hmmmm, reminds me that I need to pick up some cranberry sauce 🙂

  65. There are some world building tools out there for D&D people who homebrew their own worlds that can do maps with links that might be another avenue to check. Legend Keeper (not ‘of Keepers’) and World Anvil are the two that I have seen people use.

  67. Lucky, lucky on Cajun chicken…we are all sold out up here…so have to do a “normal” one! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Still waiting…much love to you all!

  68. A web developer should be able to do what you want with the map. I only give this advice because I am a web developer and have done interactive maps for work before, but I started with file which told me all the borders for a country, state, county etc and then used a free javascript app called d3 and went from there. Google is failing to provide any decent examples. But it is more country map with borders (link just to provide an example map picture, this is not mine) https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/getting-started-with-d3-js-maps-e721ba6d8560

    The ability to have hovers over points of interest, zoom, show and hide things, etc are very doable and not all that hard with something like d3. Though I am less familiar with adding buildings and such.

    That said there also is probably a way to take an image and scale and allow all the same zoom and hover ability. Also, something a web developer would be able to do. But working with images, I am less familiar with.

  69. Was the name port from yesterday the most that received a comment? the last I saw it had over 2,000. If it wasn’t which one has the record?

          • Oh. No, serial chapters have 1,500- over 2k comments regularly.
            I remember a Ruby Fever snippet that broke the server and the comments weren’t even notified anymore because it went over some insane thousand limit 🙂

    • I saw it was over 2300 the last time I checked before it was hidden, so thanks for asking, I was so curious too! lol

  70. The map looks stunning! I’d love a interactive map, I would actually look it up a lot more during reading, if I could look at all this details and if I would be positive, that it’s absolutly approved by you and not just added by a publisher (and only *mostly* right) or something like that.

    If it’s so detailed, would we be able to retrace someone walking trough the streets from A to B and actually realize details they are encountering in the book on the map? I’m thinking the bridges, special types of buildings, a park or a merchant. That would be amazing!

    Even if it would probably be overkill 😀 😀

  71. Thanks so much for essaying the map. I am very spatially oriented, so miss them terribly when they aren’t included.

    I know or the Cajun turkey and will go for it when hosting T-day, but am visiting my sister-in-law (and brother) this year and she is totally into doing her spectacular cooking.

    Thanks. So much for the snippet. Now I will for more.

  72. For the interactive map, you might want to consider someone in Interaction Design. That is my daughter’s field and they concentrate on UX– user experience, and UI– user interface. That may serve your needs. Happy Thanksgiving! We had ours in October and the fall colours were great. I hope yours is as beautiful.

  73. Love love love the idea of a online map that I can zoom in on! Regardless of whether I read on paper or ebook, I’d still love to see the map online. I’d probably use a computer (rather than a phone) to view it because I like the BIG view 🙂
    I’m pretty lousy at imagining maps in my head so this would be wonderful. I hope you can find a way to do it!

    • +1

      Augustine seemed like such a *CENSORED* at first in the series but as we got to know him better, I started to like him. The more I found out, the more I liked. More on Augustine would be great.

    • Yes! Can you imagine Augustine trusting someone enough to let them see what he actually looks like without any illusions? That would be an amazing reveal.

  75. Your map\zooming needs would be done by a Front End Web or UI Developer. I’m not sure of the possibilities of that inside an eReader – but a nice detailed map with a link to website with zoomable would definitely work there. This could be done purely with CSS I believe so no hard core coding would be required.

    **I’m a former back end web dev (about 20 years before I moved to Consulting and designing large Application implementations). I didn’t design the shiny, I made the shiny do things LOL.

  76. Good morning,

    Here are a couple of unasked for thoughts:

    1) The map could be coded with interactive links on a web page and work very well. or;
    2) Create a PDF of the map and add the links there.

    Either way is a good solution. The small advantage of the PDF version is a) you won’t need a skilled web programmer. You can even do it yourself if you have Acrobat Pro and the final PDF is easily portable, ie. email, text, etc.

    Tell Gordon to look into a walk behind weed eater. BEST tool I ever bought to keep the weeds under control on my little 6 acre place. LOL, sometimes it seemed like the post return of magic the way the weeds outpaced by best efforts. Not only is the walk behind weed eater better at cutting down even the worst of the black berries, it is easy to string, way easier to operate for a long time than the shoulder carrying version (senior lady here much, much, easier) . . . .and mine always started on first pull (after the first start in the spring.)

    Before I go. I want to thank both you and Gordon for the literally hours of enjoyment I have with each and every one of your books. You guys are both “Rock Stars.”

  77. A guy I knew once bolted a circular saw blade to a weed eater to clear some blackberries. When I freaked out, he acted like I was the one being unreasonable. His point was it worked really good. I felt like he wasn’t seeing the bigger picture…

  78. I absolutely LOVE the idea of an interactive map with story links! I hope you’re about to work that out.

    I spend a lot of time flipping back to and enlarging maps on my Kindle, so I can visualize what’s going on and where.

    Sometimes I get obsessive enough to bring it up on my huge computer monitor to see details. The zoom-ability of this mail looks like a big improvement already. Can’t wait!

  81. Hello

    just wondering who’s Baby?

    “buy the extra crate for Baby”

    I tried searching the site but too many articles came up. Is she/he a new addition or am i missing/forgetting someone?

    • Ops, just saw Mod R answered it, its the a Shih Tzu Beast is sort of based on

      Must be the middle of the week, i’m all thought out

  82. I love the details on those maps that Becka has produced. and the idea to (if possible) hyperlink to them is great. if that doesn’t work with the electronic jiggery pokery would it be too disruptive to have them as images throughout, so that when you click on the image in kindle (or app of your choice) it opens bigger?

  83. Oisin reminds me of the French word for neighbor (voisin). I wouldn’t think it that hard to pronounce (wa sin?). I’m sure the BDH could deal. Regardless when one reads it’s a silent process happening in your head, so for me whatever twist I give the pronunciation works. Woiks? Yea, verily, it woiks.

    But it’s your story, so whatever gives you the warm and fuzzies, and reduces stress, woiks for me.

    Once a tale is released… well, a twisted tail ensues colored by the reader’s psyche. We’re all nuts anyway. Might as well revel in it.

  85. I enjoys the Augustine snippet, as well as the Augustine (well all of the) Inn interview(s). Perhaps Augustine (and Diana, and Bug, and, and, and) side-stories can be in an Arabella book? If you feel like writing that story …
    I am fascinated to learn how she got her advanced degree without most of the family figuring out what she was doing …
    Happy holiday season, and please post your T-day menu … always a treat to read that.

  86. You and Gordon are going to be SO tired of Maggie and the two of us are SO looking forward to meeting her.

  88. Happy Birthday Mod R! May you have a wonderful day full of whatever makes you happiest! 🥳

    Happy Thanksgiving to all those that celebrate it! 🦃

  91. Hope you and Gordon had a relaxing turkey day. You need a cartographer and/or GIS professonal for your map work – here is a helpful link for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and it includes mapping tools. Hope this helps! 🙂

    tpwd.texas.gov/gis/

  92. There is an interesting article on the Smithsonian website about an American lion fossil discovered in the Mississippi river due to low water levels.

  93. Having been somewhat absent of late due to circumstances the Augustine snippet was a wonderful breath of fresh air. I am glad to have read it even if we never get a book.

Skip to content