ILONA ANDREWS

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author

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Cats, Books, and Chaos

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I don’t do well in chaos.

My workspace is relatively organized, my clothes are usually folded and put away, and my house is clean. Not holiday clean, but if unexpected visitors showed up, I wouldn’t be embarassed.

And then comes the last third of the book.

I have this little yarn corner by my side of the couch in the living room. It has reached horrifying proportions of messy. I received a yarn organizer bag for Christmas. I need to use it. I’m pretty sure the clean laundry in the hamper is several days old. My bookshelf to the right of me is…

Picture of a terrifying messy bookshelf

Switches for my custom keyboards. Surprise yarn gift from Gordon. Empty glasses wipes box. Full glasses wipes box. I don’t wear even glasses anymore except for close up things. Random notebooks. Random books. Why is Emerald Blaze out?

Mmmggghghg.

How did we even get here? Tuna clearly disapproves.

Big orange cat sleeping. Because he has no deadlines and doesn't have to earn money.

I have got to get this under control today. We start work at 10:00. I have 20 minutes. Surely I can at least get some of this sorted out.

Oh, the test mug from with one of the Inheritance interior images came.

Picture of the mug showing the final fight scene from Inheritance.
Picture of the mug showing the final fight scene from Inheritance.

When Candice painted these, they were to a very specific format for the blog. They work remarkably well for mugs, but the resolution is medium-high rather than high. We are under 300 dpi.

I have to tell you, I love this mug. It’s not pixelated at all, so I will be tossing this one and other Inheritance scenes out there when we reopen on Friday.

We also received a small box of This Kingdom hardcovers, so there will be a giveaway in the near future. Probably next week. This week is too full.

Must clean. Must organize. Must not live in chaos.

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Comments

      • I so understand that as a Grandmother to 3 cats. For some reason, the cats fight for my lap instead of their servants.

    • What would you have done if this was one of the non-joy-giving days? I ask this as someone who had her most loving and cuddly kitty cat screaming her head off this morning because she was bored and I was sleeping in.

    • Cats are awesome! We have twin three-year-siblings (a boy and a girl)that are pure white with light blue (almost silver) eyes. I fell in love with them the moment I saw them at the cat rescue.
      We’ve had them two years now, and they still act like very active, rambunctious and curious (to the point of being nosy) kittens! But they are above all else very, very sweet. They have brought us great joy, a ton of smiles and laughter, and more than a few grey hairs! 😂

      PS: since it’s almost 2/14, I want to wish HA and Mod R a very Happy Valentine’s Day!!! The BDH loves you!!!!! 💕💕💕

  2. Glad to know Tuna stays! Mine are often moved several times during the de-messifying process (it’s not really cleaning, more…mess reduction). But how exciting to hear that the last third of the book is in progress, and that there might be giveaways! So chalant. All the p*tience for next week.

  7. decluttering is really hard 😉

    I only hear about future give aways, but I don’t think it will come our way as I’m from the north of the border 🙁

    Happy Wednesday

  9. Lovely keyboard! You are having Spring Cleaning jitters. My sister -in-law has started talking about her windows and the stuff she couldn’t”to get to before the holidays! It is getting more light out and I must clean my own stuff up. I am working on pastel baby quilts and little bonnets. Fabric everywhere. It is only clutter but it all does add up. I usually start with putting away 3 things to start with. Maybe more will happen but it gets the ball rolling. Dust bunnies are my current enemy!

  10. Never mind Tuna – who is gorgeous- tell us more about the surprise yarn gift. Please show and tell the yarn

  11. au courage! I was up until 1 this morning, taking care of a years-old stash of piles and bags o’ stuff under my lovely sideboard in my bedroom. Very happy today.

  12. Best of luck with the organizing! You got this! I live with 4 children so I’ve learned to embrace a bit of the chaos but I definitely have a tipping point.

  13. Having an organized space gives me joy as well. I have pockets of mess and when they start to grow, I am frustrated and angry with them.
    I hope you have a successful by your own standards day and feel good at the end.

  14. Some days I’m the Queen of Chaos. Not saying that’s a good thing, but it’s a thing. One dog and five cats. I keep trying. I would be distracted by the yarn goodies. Hang in there!

  18. I notice the flip flops lol I wish could be wearing flip flops right now but we’re on the umpteenth day of stupid freezing temps and snow and ice. Last night driving home I realized the world had turned black and white due to all the salt and the overcast sky.

    Anyway!! Tuna is so darn huggable. Hope you got things sorted 🙂 and yay to all the mugs

  19. Gah, the never-ending battle. Wishing you much luck in the organizational effort and much calm, happy productivity.

    Speaking of organizing – Mod R, could you perhaps organize an eligibility post of Andrews 2025 works that could be nominated for the upcoming award season (Nebula, Hugos, etc) – like The Inheritance? I have my little list, but I always worry that I’m forgetting something or that I’ve gotten the category wrong (novel length? novella?), and the season is upon us. Others might find it useful too.

  20. I am retiring and facing closing my office. I have forty years of accumulated stuff. Already sent six trash barrels to shred. All records are digital now. Nobody wants old traditional office furniture. Mostly giving it away for free on Facebook Marketplace.

    I feel the pain on cleaning up clutter.

  21. “Why is Emerald Blaze out”? Giveaway, chaos…..so much to unpack here. Good luck – it is amazing what one can accomplish in 20 min.

  22. My 8 month old kitten (so cat with questionable decision skills) fell into the bathtub after my son got out but before it was drained yesterday.

    I was not home, but reports are that my daughter (who is chaos’s bestie) immediately swooped the bedragled skinny shivering mess into a towel and managed to get her dry without bleeding.

    I think it’s just February. January lasts forever and February is this crazy splat of everything suddenly moving forward again.

  23. Flip flops are our friend in Texas with temperatures in the 70s and in some spots 80s (like Fort Worth earlier in the week).

    Glad Tuna gets to stay and chill out in the office.

    The yarn chaos…I hear you on that. I think yarn multiplies when no one is looking.

  25. Love your writing guardians!! 📚

    My decor theme is chaos, sometimes referred to as “Victorian on Steroids”!!

    Marie Kondo would be one of the things I would remove. Just sayin’….

  26. Oh chaos and yarn chaos. Today’s discovery is that our beloved rescue dog, who has has back teeth that scissor rather than just meet – she can cut a good quality lead in half in a couple of seconds, for some reason used them on a hat that my now deceased mother-in-law knitted my husband. Sad husband, BUT it’s only a small cut, and my MiL gave me the ends of the hanks she used to make everything she knitted for him, so I can repair hat IF I can find those hanks. *weak laughter*

  28. I have chaos tolerance until I don’t. I don’t really know when I’m approaching that line, but as soon as I cross it my brain starts to scream: CAN’T…TOO MUCH…CAN’T…FIX THIS… until I’ve at least tidied the piles. Good luck!! Brain screaming is not conducive to finishing anything! I know…I’ve tried.

  29. I am not sure I know how to survive in anything BUT chaos. I used to be Miss Organized. Dad used to call me “Little Miss Idea,” usually in the sentence, “Now don’t go turning into “Little Miss Idea,” followed by exactly how he wanted me to herd the cows into a certain corral. I am now Chaos Witch. You can call me Chaos or Witch. If you’re looking at me through the Chaos, I’ll know who you mean!

    • Chaos Witch! Thanks, you have finally given me the title I need for the post-retirement period of my life. While I was working, I was the Last of the Red-Hot Generalists, but that no longer fits.

  30. I love the keyboard ❤️ Do you have a reference for it ? I remembered an old post about custom keyboard.

  31. I love your giant mouse pad mat. It’s so pretty.
    Keep breathing, friend. You got this. We are so happy you’re well enough to keep going.

  32. Work is definitely easier when the environment is organized. “Clean off desk” has been on my to do list since Fern arrived, on the theory that I would have lots of time indoors to do that task. Too bad when I come in from shoveling or even from walking in that kind of cold, recovery period of hot drinks and reading is extended. Tomorrow is another day, so maybe after the truck gets aligned and the grocery run is done. It could happen.

    Cheering you on from the MidAtlantic: Make that chaos your bitch!

  33. Hey, you have good intentions! I do see the Sprayway “World’s Best” glass cleaner. I too use that brand and sometimes leave it whereever it may land, with all good intentions 😉.

    I am unfortunately OCD, I have to try and not ; put away, clean, shut the lights off, behind my family members. Who knew it drives them crazy🤷🏽‍♀️

    I once cleaned my sis-in-law’s kitchen because I was restless and she kicked me out, true story. I now leave if the urge is going to take me over. Personal boundaries is a bitch sometimes.

  34. Emerald Blaze is out because it’s a wonderful book. It wants to be remembered and subtlely hint for more attention to that world even thought it knows you told the horde that it’s done.

  36. they look great I don’t buy mugs that can shatter. Just too clumsy for that. I have a friend I might buy that for

  37. I don’t like chaos, either, but I’m not great at avoiding it, so we have cleaners come once a month. In order for them to clean, I have to pick up all the clutter that just sort of sprouts on horizontal surfaces, so the chaos is (mostly) contained every four weeks. 🙂

  38. Good luck with all that, it’ll get clean eventually! My place is messier if that helps :).
    omg, a giveaway next week, squeeeeeee🎉

  39. I saw a sign once that said:

    laundry
    wash: 40 minutes
    dry: 60 minutes
    put away: 7 to 10 business days

    the amount of time it takes for clean clothes to make it from the basket to the closet is the most accurate indicator of how busy/hectic my life is and correspondingly, the state of my mental health.

    if it’s same day: life is awesome

    if everyone is dressing out of the laundry basket and it never gets put away: survival mode.

    at least there are clean clothes. we must celebrate the small wins

    setting a timer for chores when I’m overwhelmed is helpful. I can do anything for 10 minutes!

    happy cleaning, happy writing.

    • Y’all dress out of the laundry basket? We dress out of the dryer, preferably after a quick spin so the clothes r nice and warm. I highly recommend, especially on cold days. So, anyway, good news for u is that it could b worse!

      For my husband’s birthday he got a pair of flannel pj/lounge pants and the last section of the kitchen island cleaned off. He seemed happy.

      For our anniversary, we decided early on to pick a present/activity together and never buy separate anniversary gifts for each other. At 30+ yrs, it’s been great. If we don’t have extra money, we do something cheap. If we do have extra money we do something expensive. If we’re sick/tired/stressed/whatever, we stay home and exchange a kiss and happy anniversary wishes. And no one ever gets in trouble for forgetting it since discussing what we want to do is required. One rough year, we had a short conversation a couple wks later w belated wishes, as there was too much RL stuff we were dealing with. This way it’s always what we need it to b. Or: doing it this way brings us joy, so we’ll keep it.

      Tuna doesn’t look like he is expending enough energy to b disapproving. But I’m not sure you’d have much luck should u try to get rid of him, anyway, so it’s good u think it’s your idea to keep him.

      (Hugs)

  40. Would be happy to take any of the books on your desk off your hands . . See.? Helping .No other motive …

  41. I don’t know if this is a weird question, but is that The Book from Hungry Minds on your shelf and if it is, is it more like a very fancy and artistic encyclopaedia? Like a more artful and expensive version of the ones they used to do in slim multi volumes that maybe had some very minimal drawings in them ‘back in the day’.

    Because all I see are gushing and enthusiastic reviews and not a clear description other than it’s a guide to rebuilding civilisation and has many facts in it.

    I hope I’m not being offensive, it’s just I have an Amazon wishlist I keep open for my family with nonfiction books they can gift me, and my brother just added it there after Christmas and I’m not sure if it’s really for me?

    For context most of my wishlist is and has been architecture, maps, natural history and a touch of classical literature/philosophy.

    I loved receiving the LCC Bomb Damage Maps and Booth’s London Poverty Maps as big coffee table books so I’m not against that style of thing. And I have had art books too, but normally botanical, Japanese, Escher, fantasy.

    But at that price I don’t want him to buy me it and I don’t even like it. But I also don’t want to just take it out the list when he’s trying to be thoughtful and I can’t even find anything clear about it on Goodreads and the library doesn’t have it and no-one’s even heard of it so maybe it is a great book with information you can’t get elsewhere and worth £100. Or maybe not. I don’t know.

    Basically I’m rambling a lot, but if anyone else even knows about this book that would be good too because it’s been a month now and I still can’t quite figure out if this is a proper reference book, a serious art book or something you buy a man of a certain age (or in my case, woman) when you’re trying to be unique and thoughtful (which is nice but often not as nice as buying the book they put in the wishlist themselves).

    Did this make sense?

    • I also have The Book – from a Kickstarter. It’s ok. Art is steam punky, supposed to be a guide to be able to rebuild the world’s tech. It’s nice for coffee table…..I do t think I’d pack it in my Zombie Apocalypse Go Bag

    • I also have The Book – from a Kickstarter. It’s ok. Art is steam punky, supposed to be a guide to be able to rebuild the world’s tech. It’s nice for coffee table…..I don’t think I’d pack it in my Zombie Apocalypse Go Bag.

  42. I think that you need to read the fairly plain brown mug with words on it shown in the second photograph. Good luck with the tidy up. It looks achievable apart from the laundry maybe.

  44. We not only use the same brand of glasses lens wipes, but we have the same Paperblanks notebook (the Poetry in Bloom one). I wrote half of my PhD thesis in that notebook! My life is made.

  46. Love the chaos, because when its cleaned you feel a moment of accomplishment. Also, love the mug as the inheritance is my new goto re-listen in the car, not sure I pictured Ada’s butt quite so bodacious as she is now leaner form the trials she faced. Just saying. – Dianne

  47. I feel you. I recently took a three day weekend to rest and get my house back in order. I’ve been so busy at work that my organized chaos tipped to the chaos side. I ended up sleeping and resting all three days. I feel much better, but still need to get to my house. It’s fine. It’s all fine. It will all be fine.

    Have you ever tried a low profile keyboard? Or an economic keyboard. Or the amazing mix of two that I just found last week? I’ve been typing on an ergonomic keyboard with high profile keys like yours for years and my fingers began to hurt all the time over the last several months. I’d wake up in the middle of the night in pain.
    Had to travel for work for a few weeks and used my laptop during that time. And my finger stopped hurting.

    I got an economic, low profile key keyboard last week, and my fingers feel great.
    I would have never believed that typing on a regular keyboard was overworking all the tendons and muscles in my fingers. I thought I was just getting old and had arthritis. But this one change has made all the difference in the world.
    Take care and get some rest.

  48. Speaking of Inheritance, my favorite quote is “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.” It reminds me to breathe and not try to start everything at once (particularly like at the start of the school year when there is a lot of small things to do).

  49. I am the only neatnik in a house with two adult hoarders and a young adult who is indifferent to her environment (spooky, that one…). Anyway, I am but one person who cares, so my house is never, ever clean. I fantasize about having my own clean, beautiful space. Lucky for them (maybe?), I love my family, and I won’t ever give them up. My point is, I’ve learned (mostly) to ignore the chaos, just can’t bring myself to embrace it. I wish you the joy of clean and organized space, but don’t sweat it if it can’t happen now. Sending you comfort and understanding, since you already have tea and beautiful mugs!

    • The Inheritance quote is “What does it mean to be Sadrin” 🙂

      It’s not meant to be “scared”.

  53. I feel your pain. I repainted a spare bedroom and ordered a cupboard built to put in it and store my canning jars. all of what was in the bedroom has been sitting in my living room for 2 weeks. I am sooo ready to organize it all!

  54. Is the link to the blog with the keyboard specs still up? I’m trying to find a new one as well and I’ve gone through 4 already. I remember thinking hers sounded nice and am wanting to grab the specs. Thank you!

  55. It took me a minute to understand Gordon’s comment. Ha! And I’ve read the Sparking Joy book! Shows how much it was absorbed.

    I’m not sure how people, especially busy people, keep so tidy and organized, so apparently naturally. I applaud all of you who manage it so well. For me, it tends to be a sudden realization of chaos (Can’t Have Anyone Over) that kicks me into action.

    Thanks for the peek at your work area Ilona! Fun to see & relate. The aura of deep creativity glows over your space. Happy writing!

  56. Forgot the “Syndrome” at the end of Can’t Have Anyone Over – LOL.
    Just another example of chaoticness!

    • For what it’s worth, if anything, I also saw it and wanted it and then a friend let me browse theirs. I am interested in actual in-depth knowledge and having reference material – it didn’t do the trick for me.

  58. I’m a dog person from necessity because I am allergic to cats. However, even I know the cat must stay. If you keep up this amazing writing and growing fandom, you may need situational blindness. It’s a bit like the situational deafness that children and husbands ( sorry Gordon) practice. Or, a cleaning person may need to be considered. I dream of having a cleaning person, but I am the type that would clean before I could have them in my home.
    I am excited for your shop opening and the giveaway. Thank you

  59. once upon a time I had chaos yarn too then I organized it and realized I needed more yarn….then life smacked me in the face and yarn crafts were put away. sadness. as for cats all 5 of mine thrive in chaos in fact they like to add to it, often tossing things from where they lay. once you get organized you will never be able to find what you need too. lol. good luck

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