Jeaniene Frost I wanted to be a writer since I was eleven. I began with poetry, and moved onto novels around age thirteen, but I could never stick with an idea long enough to finish an entire book. My first inkling that I had talent was my senior year in high school, when a friend
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The Facebook Cake
Two things are true: I cannot decorate cakes and I cannot post pics without paying the recipe tax. This is not a humble brag. The cake below represents all the skills I have. Piping and I are not friends. Also this is just a box cake that’s been doctored up, because when Gordon eats cake,
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SANCTUARY: A Winter Gift
This has been a tough year. To celebrate all of us making it through it together, SANCTUARY is free in our store until New Year. Join our favorite Evil Priest as he tries to navigate the holiday season, irritated Slavic gods, and his family. If you considered trying the Kate Daniels world but didn’t know
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The Chimney and the Plague
Today I bring you a laugh at my expense. Normally our life is boring. Writing Maggie is very consuming, and having a set routine really helps. I’m not going to bore you with our daily schedule. Most of it revolves around writing the sequel to This Kingdom and signing the tip sheets. The never ending
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The Moment Everything Changed: Part 1
Every writer has a moment when the world shifted. For me, it happened when I was 14 years old. Once the Iron Curtain fell, Russia was flooded with bootleg translations. I had plenty of exposure to hard science fiction, but what I got after Perestroika was fantasy, sword and sorcery, sword and planet, and light
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Merchandise: B. A. Bookish Boutique
Dear BDH, We know you love merchandise. It’s fun. You know we hate doing merchandise. It takes a long time and a lot of effort, and it’s stressful. We don’t have the time or the bandwidth to deal with the merchandise this year, although we may reopen briefly for broken mug replacement. (To put things
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Turkey, Cooking, and BDH questions
There will not be a traditional Thanksgiving post this year, because I’m not hosting a Thanksgiving. Instead, Kid 1 will be stepping in and hosting at her house, because her boyfriend’s family will be joining us, and their house is a convenient midway point for everyone. This is, however, your reminder that if you want
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Entomologist/Biologist
Thank you, expert found! Dear BDH, I’m looking for an insect expert for some brainstorming regarding research for the book involving imaginary oversized insect monsters. If you are reading this and happen to be an entomologist who doesn’t mind answering a few questions, please email me at ilona@ilona-andrews.com. Dear BDH, please do not volunteer your
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Characters: Stories and Descriptions
You do such a wonderful job describing people so that we can almost visually see them, the little details that just make a person come alive in our imaginations. How do you keep from everyone blending together? Do you search for images? Do you just imagine that person? Do you people watch and think, that
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Friday Snippet
It’s Friday. How did that happen? We haven’t had a snippet for a bit, so here is Augustine being impersonating an impressive business owner. Augustine’s office lay on the seventeenth floor. He’d chosen that location precisely because it was just under the top two floors. The eighteenth floor held a private training space. The penthouse
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Trad Publishing: Editing and Production Glossary
I heavily debated posting this. I might still take it down, because I’ve long ago decided that the internet doesn’t need my “wisdom.” Also, I am bitter and jaded. However, we keep getting repeated questions and there is some weird erroneous stuff floating out there. With that caveat, here is the basic primer on who
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Cover Sensibilities
It is Monday, and I’m armed with Russian Country tea and a list of BDH questions. The process of creating the Maggie cover through traditional publishing. How did everyone decide on the theme, covers, etc? Were there other drafts or ideas? Why is the UK cover slightly different in color? We have now worked with
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