Oh no, two posts in a row. This is what happens when we are not furiously writing.
It is a very blustery day in Texas. The world is soaking in the downpour, and the thick rain hangs like a pale haze. The fat raindrops bubble up as they strike the ground and drum a steady, comforting hum on the metal roof. It is cozy. The two dogs of Andrews household are sacked out, the cats are sleeping, and the outside critters are hiding from the rain.
We need the rain. I have to say that, or they might kick me out of Texas.
1,000 sets of borderless vellum arrived yesterday, thankfully packaged in plastic and safe from the rain. I am going to finish the customer queries today, the sticker sheets have been printed, and I am excited to get our dining room back.
I also have to mail several packages. And I hope to do little mundane things like cleaning the house.
For those of you who asked what I was knitting – it’s a shawl. I did so much crochet that I needed a palate cleanser. I scored this gorgeous Volcanic Eruption Estrelitta colorway from Miss Babs, and I paired it with S’mores Yummy 2 ply. I thought it might tone down the sparkle.
The joke is on me, because the pattern I picked calls for distinct stripes, and these two yarns blend flawlessly.
I had to frog it, because the narrow stripes the pattern needed faded completely. This is not the right pattern for this yarn, but I started and I am going to keep going. Often wrong but never in doubt!
I decided to call this mess Fireside Ember project.
Some of you noticed that the book linked in the previous post, This Monster of Mine by Shalini Abeysekara, has been dropped by her publisher. When that happens, sometimes people decide to boycott the book. Just in case anyone is considering it, please don’t. Shalini is entitled to royalties, so the best revenge here would be to buy this book, so she can get all the moneys.
Publishing is not for the faint of heart.
We’ve been writing for almost a year, non-stop. Vacation is not in the cards this year, so we will end up doing a staycation, and right now it honestly feels so soothing to just not have the enormous pressure of a past due deadline. People have been asking what’s next, and we don’t know yet. Right now we are going to decompress by filling all these orders, and then we will see.
A small request: please stop making threads and commenting about all of the books we have not written and demanding to know when they will get here. It doesn’t help. It makes more pressure, and more pressure will not make books happen. It will just give me a massive writer’s block, and since it takes two of us to write the books, the HA machine will grind to a halt. To create, we need room to breathe.
Well, it’s almost 10:00 am, and I have a list of things to take care of.
Oh, and those of you who receive the Australian Romance Reader Association newsletter might want to check put the latest issue. There should be a special guest announcement in there.
Ooooh, rainy days! Curl up with your knitting and a cup of tea.
You deserve it.
Have a First! You deserve it🥇
So pretty!
i hope you both have a very restful break!!
Enjoy your well deserved staycation! Sometimes they are better than a vacation. Just don’t let the chores grind you down.
This is the earliest I have ever commented!
Have a good staycation and time away from writing! We all need a break and you certainly deserve it!
The pups are so cute all crashed out.
Have a great relaxing day!
The every day routine is soothing.
I frequently buy material in Civil War themed colors. It is so hard to find the right shades of red and black. Lately I have been getting cheddar and various shades of purple. I love the new colors of yarn in your shawl! I may do a mini quilt next. Enjoy the rain, we have heat index here over 100 and I’m staying in too!
Bless you both. Thank you for all the words. Have a great break and downtime.❤️🙏🏽
Special thank you to Mod R for keeping us out of mischief while you were busy.😍
So happy you’re getting rain and a well deserved break
So glad that you (and my Texas sisters) are getting rain! Sounds like a soothing way to come down from all the stress and travel.
Sorry that Steve has been organizing stress inducing threads. You should be pampered like royalty and all housework and drudgery taken care of so that your creative spirits can flourish! We will w@-@-@it . (sigh)
I clicked the link for the Australian Romance Reader newsletter, but it requires a $15 membership to access the newsletter. I hope you can give us the news soon!
Ah – to relax on a rainy day! I don’t miss driving in Houston when it rains – but staying inside when it rains is soothing. Here’s to new projects and some breathing space.
Now – get off-line and ignore us! You’ll feel better:-)
Happy staycation!
I am loving this rain, except when I need to go out with my dog, apartment living. Oh well, just got a new raincoat that looks like it is actually waterproof. No time like the present to get it tried out.
I love the shawl! Knitting is not for the faint of heart. Have another cup of tea and watch the dogs dream.
Hope you have the most wonderful staycation! You deserve all the good things after all the hard work. Thanks for all of it.
Ilona you should be relaxing, not writing! Please go relax with the adorable cats and dogs, listen to the soothing rain and think of staycations not the next books *hugs*
I love the sparkle yarn BTW – it works beautifully mixed with the other one you chose. Hope you share the finished project with us ^_^
Adding Shalini’s book (ooh it’s dualogy with book 2 out now as well! yay!) to my basket. Her books sound good, plus I want her to get all the monies and prove her publisher wrong.
Take care of yourselves 🤗🤗🤗
Please do take some time away from work, no matter how much the Horde whines – and not just doing “life admin” but actually unwinding and replenishing your reserves. Even if, to start, it is just a cup of tea to the sound of falling rain.
We very much appreciate you and all you do!
Have a peaceful day!! You definitely deserve it!!
Hi there, non native speaker here. May anyone explain “the droped by publisher” issue? I am not sure I understood it correctly. I liked the introduction and was considering buying but without a publisher the book ist not available, right?
And – I can’t wait for rain. Pls enjoy the soothing effects and no stress, enough stories for rereads 😉
Hi Petra 🙂
Being dropped by the publisher means the publisher decided not to continue with the author or publish further books in the series.
It does not mean this particular book is unavailable. This Monster Of Mine by Shalini Abeysekara has already been published and can still be bought. The author is entitled to royalties from those sales, so please do buy it if the introduction appealed to you!
Shalini’s first book was very interesting. I have read it twice and didn’t realize there was a sequel! That is super exciting. Also, Shalini is part of the Horde.
Good grief. Sorry on behalf of the crazy. Hoping you get nice relaxing down time. My part of Texas is just mocking me with clouds that look like rain . . . but no rain right now.
As for “This Monster of Mine,” I originally read the description as a DORK romantasy and thought, “Huh, that’s new . . . I wonder . . . OHHHH. Dark dark romantasy, not dork.
However, if someone wants to write dork romantasy (while HA recuperates and writes other things), I think the BDH speculation titles for Hidden Legacy titles are still available: Turquoise Twinkles, A Dork Romantasy.
I love that volcano yarn. I can’t do anything crafty but I did help my faith grader make soap once so if I’m sucked into my new favorite fantasy series I can at least help out with the cover story. Please rest rejuvenate and bask in the glow of the bdh love.
Fifth grader apparently I can’t type either
That yarn is *gorgeous*. I hope that you find satisfaction in both the process and the result (I personally like the subtle stripes ).
Dear Ilona,
Your second word in this post was erroneously autocorrected to “no” but no worries I corrected it in my mind to “yay!” 😉☺️😊
Rainy days are lovely, especially when they help us to slow down, enjoy some tea, and a cozy hobby.
Enjoy your down time!
You two need some lovely time off. I suggest your list of to dos be things like:
Drink tea
Look at pretty yarn
Watch a mindless show like Bake off or Escape to the Country
Play a beloved video game
If you have to do housework, do it gently 🙂
The beginning of this sounded like a passage from Innkeeper 😊
I, too, shall be staycationing this year, and sometimes that’s a better prospect than the bustle of travel. I hope you enjoy your R&R.
I’m sure it’s mostly new horde members asking about timelines. In their excitement they haven’t yet discovered that everything that comes next will become their new favorites. And they have not been coached in chalantness. They will learn and adapt as all good horders do 😜
Enjoy your space and breathe for a while.
I am in awe of your stamina. I would be napping with animals. Rain does that to me. Also, your books are amazing and I love reading every one of them when or if we get them. Please enjoy your staycation and ignore the ones doing their level best to stop your creative flow. Y’all are so prolific in your writing and I love the variations. Thanks for all you both do for us.
Enjoy your staycation! I hope it lets you recharge a bit. By the way, I adore your furry backdrop for the shawl project. 🙂
I’m glad your area is getting the rain and not the tornado that hit San Antonio this morning. I have a friend who live in New Braunfels. I reached out to her to see if she was ok. She contacted me back, told me that the tornado was 15 minutes from her house, the rain was crazy, and she’s ok.
Anyone living in San Antonio and the surrounding areas, please stay safe. There is a lot of flooding going on down there. 🙂
Enjoy the down time and ignore the Horde.
decompress by filling orders?😢
cleaning?
I know my mom used to say a change is as good as a rest but sometimes work is just more work.
I’m sorry you don’t have a vacation to decompress. The word count of maggie 2 is equal to multiple books. You deserve ALL the vacations.
In the meantime you’ve give us over 30 books (not counting novellas) to re-read, all of which stand up to multiple re-reads.
I’m a little envious of the new fans that have just discovered the treasure trove of your blacklist. what riches!
hope the only that is next is lots of rest and recovery.
The shawl may not be what you intended but it is soooo pretty!
I am glad you guys are getting a break. Gotta let the brain rest and rejuvenate. If your mana gets too low we don’t get goodies lol.
Thank you for the pics of the sleepy fur babies. It has been a rough week here and that jolt of oxytocin helped lol
Mmmm rainy cozy days. May the biggest dilemma of the day be what tea to choose.
Seriously – we got Maggie THIS year. We got Pancakes! It’s JULY.
We get Maggie next year! And we’ve already gotten snippets!
We get vellum and stickers and maps!!!
We get quizzes and blog posts and STEVE!
We get all the Graphic Audio! (which I realize is not House Andrews – but the BDH lives up to the name)
IA are my comfort re-reads and every year the list gets longer. It will get longer next year too. With a book that is YUGE.
I don’t even care what’s next. I’m just so dang excited and so grateful for it all.
Y’all are the best.
Both of Shalini’s books are on Audible.
I live in TX too, but am from CO originally. Still have family there and I wish I could send 1/2 the rain we’ve been getting in the Houston area to CO. and further west to help combat the fires. 🙁
I am happy House Andrews is getting some downtime!
I read Maggie and just finished listening to it. I am so glad I did that, because there were all kinds of things I missed. Will be doing a reread to probably catch more.
I love rainy days with my animals. Just missing a cup of tea. I am currently listening to This Kingdom and the audio is flawless so far.