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ILONA ANDREWS

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author

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Bribes and OB-GYN

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As you probably know, print book stores are seeing reduced business during this pandemic. A couple of them were very kind to host our tour, promote our release, and generally help us, so in an effort to support them, we are resorting to bribes.

Here are the links to order signed* print books from the stores of our virtual tour.

*By signed we mean that we have signed a bookplate, a decorative sticker, which will be then placed in the book in the place of actual signature since we can’t physically travel to the store.

If you order a dead tree book from one of these stores, you will get a link to a very short story from Arabella’s point of view, which will show you the birth of Rogan and Nevada’s baby and what happens after. If you have read an ARC, you know how the book ends. You will want to read this short story.

This short story will be posted on the day of EMERALD BLAZE release.

Not a minute earlier, because some of you have no self control. You will go and read it first and ruin the book for yourselves. We worked too hard to let you do that! Too hard, I tell you.

The rest of you will also get access to the short story, but not until a few weeks after the book’s release.

If you already bought the print book, the link will be sent to your email.

Also, if anybody is an OB-GYN, we could really use help with the birth scene, because the last time I gave birth was twenty two years ago, and I don’t remember most of it. Please email us. Pick any technical issue in the form.

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Comments

  1. Ordered!! =) I flipped a coin and Malaprops won. Will they be sending you a list of emails, or how will we receive the short story link? I know you have a plan, I’m just wondering about the details. =) Oh, and thank you for the bribe!

    • I was going to order from Malaprops, too but they spelled misspelled “receive” as “recieve” twice in their blog notice. I went with Bank Square Books in MA. Now I’ll feel guilty all day for my choice.

    • Its me, I have no shelf control lol. Will be ordering after typing this. And yoh sound like my mom. She often says please dont ask her birth stories her last baby is 37 and her oldest grandbaby will be 18 in a few months. ???? Nevermind she was in the room with 3 of the 8 grandkids even spent the night with us lol.
      Good luck finding the OBGYN looking forward to the story.

    • Hey, I would love to read the short story and would buy the book if I could but I live in the UAE so there is no way to get the book shipped here without it costing an arm and a leg if possible.

      I usually order your books through Kobo and read it on the app. How Would international readers like myself (who would buy the book if they could from the list provided) get access to the short story, if at all possible. Added my do to make you smile ;)Thank you

      • Ilona said the rest of us will get to read the short story a few weeks after the book release, so it’s only a matter of building our patience muscles a little stronger. 😉

    • Please can you do the same deal for a uk bookstore I nominate murderone.co.uk. I would’ve ordered from the US but the $35 shipping is too much….

  2. This is fantastic, I’ve been trying to think of where to buy EB the last few weeks. Amazon never delivers it on the day it releases and I prefer to support small bookstores whenever possible. The only question I have is when those bookstores may plan to ship the books, the day it comes out or a couple days before so we can have it by the release date? Just curious, appreciate the extra bribe and support for small bookstores!

    • I don’t know. You might want to ask the stores. Most of the time they try to ship a bit earlier, but everything is weird right now.

      • I’ll definitely reach out, too true on everything being fairly hard to predict right now. Hope you and your family have been able to take it easy after a particularly rough July.

    • I buy both: Kindle and print… because if Kindle dies, I must have my favorite books!
      Also then I get my kindle book at midnight!

    • Give in like me and read digital release before dead tree arrives for second read and to complete the shelf.

  3. Sorry can’t help with books as I live in Australia. Would have liked to because they have been so generous to you.

    • Malaprops does ship to australia for $37.90.

      I bought the whole series so over the 6 books it doesn’t seem so bad.

      You gotta have print copies of your favorites incase there is an apocalypse and we don’t have access to the electricity and an ereader.

  4. I shall order my dead tree book in Europe so I shall not be turned destitute by the shipping fees – even if a signed copy has me salivating.
    I appreciate the bribe and shall patiently wait a few more weeks 🙂

  5. The whole reason more babies are born is the ability of the mother to forget most of the actual event.

    • YES, absolutely. If I had remembered vividly everything from my first I don’t think I would have had my second. It’s also amazing how fast the details fade.

      • In the throes of post delivery, I apparently left a message on my bff’s answering machine thay said something like “I hear moms forget. Don’t you forget! Don’t let me do this thing again.” She didn’t. I didn’t. Only child!

        • I was tricked! Fooled! Befuddled. My son was so easy! Easy pregnancy, birth, the whole thing.
          *Looks at 9-month-old daughter* She was not. Never again.

          • Now you got me thinking 2nd thoughts. LOL.my son turned 2 last May. Easy pregnancy..easy birth…we are thinking about a 2nd baby..hopefully a girl. LOL wish me luck.

            • American hospitals have started to re-introduce nitrous oxide (laughing gas). That helped so much… it made the pain for my second go to *almost* tolerable levels :p

  7. I figured the picture on this page is supposed to be some representation of the person who delivered the baby. I say this because of the way they are holding their hands. If that is a picture depicting the birth then it looks kind of like a Rosemary’s Baby situation. I certainly want to read it now to see what happens(:
    I can’t wait for the book!!

    • Now that you mention it. I can picture this “baby”, after being born, going Poof: boom, there goes the equipment. Poof: there goes the room. Hahahah, let’s do that again. Poof, there goes another room.

    • Spend enough time in an OR/ trauma bay/ procedure room and that look is no longer so odd. Sometimes as you peel off the top layer of gloves (usual practice is ‘double gloving’) the under gloves are the only thing that looks remotely clean (gloves are sometimes changed during a procedure). Everyone always thinks of the docs and nurses scrubbing up before procedures. There are cases where you want to scrub and shower afterwards, add some mint oil under your nose, etc., despite all the PPE.

    • I would like to recommend MamadoctorJones for an ob-gym. She has a YouTube channel under that name and she is absolutely awesome. Even if you don’t reach out to her for a consult check out her channel it is awsome)))))
      I’m sorry if volunteering other people is supper annoying, but she is my favorite youtuber!!!

  10. None of those are Canadian indie bookstores. *sigh* I will have to wait patiently but I do have the e-book on pre-order so there is that.

  11. I pre-ordered the soft copy from Amazon, but I’ll cancel that and order from one of those bookstores instead. Even if they don’t send the book on the release date, I’m getting the Kindle edition at midnight so I’ll be done by about 4:00am Tuesday morning. The paperback will be the second read, after I get a bit of sleep (already scheduled that day off from work). 😛

  13. If you don’t get any OB-GYN responses let me know. My sister is an OB-GYN trained neonatal intensive care nurse. I can ask her if she’d be willing. No guarantees.

  14. Done!!! I bought it from Bank Square books since their name comes up last, so I want to make sure the got some of the love too. Thanks for the bribe, would have done it without the bribe, but with is so much better.

    • Let me guess… Your last name begins with a letter low in the alphabet so you empathize with those at the bottom of lists. ????

  15. would love to order but the shipping fees for international shipping (I am in Canada) are really to expensive.

    • Me too! I would love to support a bookstore wherever located and don’t mind paying reasonable shipping costs, but I just can’t justify what they are charging, especially since the cost of the book falls below the duty free limit.

    • Tried repeatedly to order from Asheville. Keeps asking for the same info, over and over and over……

  16. *choke* snort giggle. Thought you were going to make an announcement of pending grandparenthood or even another bundle of joy of your own.

  17. Sorry, little confused. Just want to make sure I understand right. I preordered the book from Amazon already. So i will be able to read the short story because on the day the book is released it will be posted on the blog? Am i reading that right? And if i order from those bookstores, i get it earlier? Or is it you only get it if you order from those stores? Just wanna make sure I don’t miss an opportunity to read the extra story! ????

    • No, the people that order from the three listed book stores will get their chance to read the short story on the publication day. This is the bribe to support the stores.

      General publication of the short story will be “a few weeks after the book’s release.” (See above, just under the toddler’s picture.)

      Thank you for helping the stores out. They were having a hard time even before this COVID mess.
      Also, many thanks for the story. I have the feeling Connor will not handle the birth any better than he did the announcement.

      I had already ordered mine from Blue Willow to get the autographed bookplate. (I can drive by and pick up my book, since i live in Houston.) I am lucking out, basically by accident.

  18. Not an OB, but I am set to deliver a baby in 2 weeks (which may be too late for you) and my husband wants to record it on VR….so that i can experience what its like from another point of view (or the baby can experience their own birth when older) Sigh, he is a filmmaker and techie, i knew this going in

    • Would love to order from one of these 3 stores, but i’m from Germany… i’m going to wait patently till you post the story here…

      • They will, but one charges $28 for shipping to Canada, one charges $30, and the third one has an order form that won’t list Canadian provinces so you can’t get any further, although it does list Canada as a delivery option.

        • Its the poops! Someday i will either fly out with my books for a signing and meet and greet! Or ill mail one with return postage! Get a john henry that way? Ive never had a signed book before. I think itd feel amazing! Im canadian too so shipping cut my throat, im sorry!

        • Updated to add Bank Square’s cheapest shipping rate to Canada is $20 which is around what the US post office would charge.

  21. Done! Since I no longer collect print books, this just proves I’m willing to pay $16.98 (book plus shipping) for an IA SHORT STORY!!
    I’ll be turning this over to Goodwill so some other lucky person can discover the delight that is IAs work.

    • But.. but…
      It’s a signed copy. That alone should be worth at least $15.99. When they get famous, it might be worth a lot more.

      By the way, I had a signed Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb book and didn’t pay attention when I put Remember When/Big Jack in the Goodwill box.

    • You should consider donating it to a library. That way lots of people can read it, and some libraries provide charitable donation tax receipts for Books if they are less than a year old. I almost exclusively read e-books now, but before that I almost always donated my books. Less for the tax receipt, more for an appreciation of the importance of libraries, but the receipts were nice too.

  22. I’ve already ordered it from Murder By the Book. I don’t want to cancel with them. I’ll just wait for the link to be public.

  23. I already ordered and paid for a hardcover copy from Murder by the Book here in Houston. I think I’ll just keep it with them. They are a great local bookstore too and I know you all will be back to do signings with them when you can.

    It’s lovely that you are making the story available to all after a short delay.

    Thank you for all you do for our independent bookstores!

  24. I like the image from this post, that alone is a great bribe 🙂

    In the UK. So will miss out on orders from the US sellers, though as someone else said, the possibilities of signed copies is really tempting.

    Had been thinking about ordering some books for the gaps in my physical IA books library at some point…. may have to look up some good independent ones near me as a response to your bribe, as we’ll all benift wherever we are, a few weeks after, so will try to pass on the love sooner.

  25. Yeah, I ordered kindle and am waiting for the audio to order that too. We don’t have the space for real books anymore.

    Very excited ???? looking forward to the book

  26. This short story will be posted on the day of EMERALD BLAZE release.
    Not a minute earlier, because some of you have no self control.

    LOL! I love you. I just love you. And you are so right.

  30. I don’t pretend to know what you want an OBGYN to consult over but I just want to opine about L&D nurses being jack of all trades savvy with plenty of them being undercover angels/saints who buffer women from… crappiness. I’ve had several kids, and the OBGYNs are… really smart clueless people for the birthing process — the last two times the Docs ran in to catch the baby, and only because the L&D nurses were interceding on my behalf.

    Also, I credit chiropractic Webster technique and the Spinning Babies information for giving me what I needed to achieve the amazing L&D I dreamed was possible.

  32. I’m one of those who can’t figure out why so-called “spoilers” spoil anything. Knowing what happens when I re-read something has never hurt my enjoyment of the story.

    On the other hand, the only one of your books I have ever bought hard-copy is Gunmetal Magic (I was reading library copies until then) – Derek and Julie may be my favorites among your secondary characters in the Kate Daniels books, but I am also mightily fond of Andrea.

    That was when I realized you folks were a serious addiction, said to hell with it, and bought everything but your Edge books for my Kindle.

  33. I’ve had two babies. The first one was 31 hours of the hardest work I’ve ever done in my life and didn’t hurt a bit. The second was 3 hours of agony.

    My sister went through the 3 hours of agony with both of hers. That’s the only thing I’ve ever in my life felt sorry for her about.

  34. Would absolutely support the book shops you’ve mentioned- even having pre-ordered the kindle version already. However the $37 international shipping is a little much for my small purse I’m really sorry.

    Is there somewhere I could donate to a chosen charity instead for the ‘bribe’?

  35. Birth story!? I’ve got one! I had third degree burns when I was 8. I spent 66 days in the hospital then went on to Childrens Hospital four hours away for skin grafting. Fun times. So, when it came time to give birth you couldn’t have hog tied me and gotten me to the hospital. NOT HAPPENING.

    So I studied hard, had a counselor and gave birth at home. My husband was driving truck at that time. He left on Tuesday saying “don’t have the baby until I get back. I gave birth the next day with my mom acted as midwife. She had five kids, she knew the score.

    I was in labor for 2 hours and 20 minutes and while it wasn’t a breeze, it wasn’t awful. I spent most of that 2 hours and 20 minutes sitting on the toilet because it was the most comfortable place to sit. My mom kept saying “if you drop that baby in the toilet your father will never forgive you.”

    • LMAO!!!! Omg this made my night!!! Thank you so much ???????? what an awesome story! And such an excellent way to embaress your child, especially when they bring home a date! Did you know so and so nearly arrived in the toilet?! Lol as a mom i fully appreciate this and thanks for sharing!!!
      Cheers!

      • Sitting on the toilet did work awesomely during contractions.
        (Despite the februari cold and not easily being able to leave the toilet, because… contractions)
        I thought I was the only one :’D

        Giving birth at home is still quite regular in the Netherlands. I had both the hospital and home experience.

  37. I’m sure I’m just being clueless but I don’t know what “ARC” means. Advanced released copy? Of which book?

    Thanks!

    • Advance Reader Copy – a not completely edited but almost final version of a book. Some publishers (Baen, for example) let you buy these ahead of the publishing date. Some get sent out to Lucky People for early reviews.

  38. Is it time for the old ‘I’m not a gynecologist but I’ll take a look’ joke? Totally helpful comment, I know.

    • A college friend’s husband had this comment after his first internship rotation in OB-GYN: “after the first 36 hours on call for OB-GYN, nobody was giggling over female anatomy – it was about as sexy as treating 36 hours of elbows”.

  39. Lol the title of this post gave pause. We do discuss some fascinating off topic topics sometimes but I really doubted “just life “ category would be re the OB-GYN. You guys are great. Good luck with the research and thanks for the bribe ????

    • omg, Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT is my old favorite indie book store from when I was single, so many years ago. I used to walk down there, get a book on my meager paycheck ( I worked at the Aquarium then)….I would get a book, go the Green Marble coffee shop and read and drink coffee and wait for my true love to walk by and say hello. 🙂 I was just talking about that book shop yesterday. It’s fate, I must buy your book.

      (P.S. I did find my true love, he worked at the Aquarium too…and has helped me MOVE my books multiple times.)

  42. You should try and contact mama doctor Jones for the obgyn perspective, she’s a YouTuber and she’s pretty awesome

  44. Confused

    confused. So we can’t buy a ebook on this series? unfortunately I can’t read print books anymore. low vision. I guess I usually buy audibles anyway! good luck!

    • You can buy the ebook. 🙂

      We are trying to support the stores that sell paper books and so we are offering people who buy from them a chance to read a short BONUS story before everybody else.

  45. I’d already preordered the kindle ebook version but the bribe was too good to resist, so I just preorder the dead tree version from Bank Square ???? Now I’m just waiting for the link to the short story!

  47. Hm… I already pre-ordered on Amazon in Germany. I guess I’ll have to wait for the weeks after… ^^;;

  48. I agree, I ordered the kindle version but decided to order the paperback version as well from Malaprop’s. This was actually made easier by the fact that American Express refunds $5.00 back to you as part of their “Shop Small” promotion.

    Cool. Win-win-win.

  49. Wow I’m in the uk so would be a little too spendy for me, I was so excited last year when you were tentatively booked for Rare London devastated you couldn’t attend but if you do something similar with a uk store I will be the 1st in line xx

  50. I ordered the full Hidden Legacy Series from Bank Square Books. 🙂

    Why yes, you CAN, bribe me. 🙂

  51. Hello,
    I’m a family doctor in Denver, CO and I’ve completed a Maternal-Child Health Fellowship, which means I can deliver babies and do cesarean sections. And I teach new resident doctors in Family Medicine how to take care of moms and babies. We all have stories–both the battles and the blessings. 🙂 I tried to email but it didn’t seem to go through. (probably because I failed to answer the Roses are red correctly, as I only remember the snarky ones). I’d be happy to help if you still need it.
    Thanks!
    Melissa

  52. Sadly (for me), I am a neurologist, not an OB-GYN, so I can’t help out with the medical stuff. If you ever need a brain or nerves question answered, I’m your doc. 🙂

    I did order a paper version of Emerald Blaze from Bank Square Books, though. 🙂

  53. Book ordered from Houston store (glad to have a local store to support). Loved the baby gif. I understand how you and she feel.

    Looking forward to all copies of this book. I now am getting 3 versions and will use all of them in time as I cycle through all of the ones I have on a quarterly basis. Also looking forward to Arabella’s stories.

  54. Ilona, every birth is different. No two alike. Take your best guess and go with it. Some are easy, some are difficult, all are more than worth going through. My first was a nightmare of a baby born with the cord around her neck and coming into this world almost black from lack of oxygen. I had an OB who was as old as the hills, seen it all, done it all, he hauled her out alive and cleared her airways and got her breathing with no damage done to her. My second was face up until the nurse pushed him back in, rolled him over, and I pushed him out myself because there was no fetal distress. Totally different, both worth doing, and I remember every bit of both births. Face it — we’d all do pretty much anything for our children, and that includes labor and delivery.

    I can’t wait to read Arabella’s take on how it went. Arabella makes me laugh.

  55. Ordered yours and Jeaniene Frost’s book. Two of my most favorite authors! Happy early birthday to me! Wooo!

  56. Already preordered on Kindle but happy to help out small businesses! I went with Malprop’s since they were the closest and I’d already signed up for the Q&A.

  57. Bribe worked ordered paper from the Malaprops…pre ordered ebook from barnes and noble and the audio from audible so set. Lol don’t have an OB to send your way, so no help there. I know I didn’t need to buy for bribe but use to live in book stores don’t have one close to me anymore. Miss the ability to browse books to find new authors that interest me…now I only have recommendations, which have found ones from this blog helpful. Use to read a book or two daily, worked night shifts over 20 yrs at a motel so between bought and libraries books had a wide range of reading interest and time.

  60. I’m slightly confused. The recommended order of reading is emerald blaze then the short story?
    Thanks jo

      • OoOoOoooooo you said no worries … now you just need to advance to no wuzzas and you’ll be able to pass for Aussie!! 😀 😀 😀

  63. I had to go all-digital because there are just WAY too many books to fit in my house, so I will have to wait WEEKS to get the short story— torture, torture, I say! 🙂

    Actually, I’m just happy that such a story exists! What fun!

  64. I don’t have kids…
    And I don’t remember my birth, so sorry can’t help you guys..

  65. I am a french midwife and would be happy to help you. I did 10 years in birth rooms and assisted hundreds of delivery ( in France, midwives asssist 60% of births without doctors if everything goes well) i m sorry to reply in the comments but didn’t anage to send a technical difficulties form…

  66. Hi I’m an OBGYN.. you can contact me with any questions. Huge fan!!! Love the whole series..

  67. Alas this post shows that you all know us (BDH) all too well!(snicker)
    Appreciating your hard work in advance.

  69. Totally pre-ordered even though I’m in the UK and the postage is way more than the book ????‍♀️ totally worth it! ????

  70. I feel like I am missing something.
    You have Bank Square Books Listed as Lexington, MA but the link says they are Mystic, CT.
    I swear I am not trying to be nit picky, I just want to make sure my order goes to a participating book store.

    • I think it is because the virtual event host is Cary Memorial Library which is in Lexington, MA; but the bookseller for this event is Bank Square Books which is in Mystic, CT

  72. If think it would be important to ask not just an OB-GYN, but a midwife, too.
    Midwives, especially ones who do home births, often have very valuable insights, many of which are overlooked in way too many hospitals.

    I am a passionate believer in modern medicine, but I think childbirth is one of the very few areas that modern medicine gets very wrong. (I had both hospital and home births and I very much prefer the latter).

    While it is of course true that every birth is different, I think it is very important that the wisdom and knowledge of midwives is also respected and widely used – to make chilbirth safer and easier for everyone.

  73. Is there somewhere where we can buy all the Hidden Legacy books signed? Because I’d be happy to order them all from a brick and mortar store.

    I love signed books and this series. 🙂

  74. Tried repeatedly to order from Asheville. Keeps asking for the same info, over and over and over……

  75. It’s so funny to hear everyone’s birth stories. Everyone always seems to have one that is either super crazy or super relaxed. A coworker of mine is currently pregnant with her first baby and I recently gave birth to my second baby. The nurses for both of my children were incredibly surprised that I did it all completely naturally without a single curse word or even a harsh word spoken. My husband likes to joke that the nurses warned him not to believe anything I said in the delivery room but all I told him while in labor and delivering our sons was that I loved him so he will joke that maybe I don’t love him lol. But everyone’s experience is so different and every single baby is so different. I have 2 sons and my labor and delivery experiences with both of them was practically night and day. 🙂 I am SO looking forward to the new book and the story of Nevada and Rogan’s baby being born!

  76. I already preordered a copy from another retailer, I can’t afford to buy another at this time. 🙁 I prefer paper copies for books I plan to read several times.

  77. Thanks for supporting print book stores! And for providing links to order from them; I tried to order when the notice of your virtual book tour was posted but couldn’t find the right page.

  79. Ordered! Speaking of books and bookstores, are any of the Kate books or first HL trilogy floating around in hardback? My daughter and are collecting dead tree versions of all our favorite series. Paperback works, but we’re book snobs and prefer hardback wherever possible.

    • Look for the “library binding”, which often means hardback. I have at least 2 or 3 books that I was resigned to getting a paperback and my local bookstore got me the library binding –
      Voila! Hardback book!

      Also, some book clubs have hardback copies of titles released in softcover first.

  80. Already ordered for kindle and would order in book form but international postage costs too much to UK – can’t wait for your latest book and really enjoyed snippets of Ryder – already ordered ‘Dark Heir’ for kindle
    You two are stars – thanks for all your hard work

  81. Bank Square is my local bookstore back home! So much love for them, even though I live in Maryland now. Every time I visit my hometown I make a special trip down to Bank Square – they never disappoint. I’m glad to help support them during the pandemic.

  82. What about those that aren’t in the USA? I wouldn’t mind having at least one signed books from you, but ordering from the USA is kind of complicated right now. Having a signed signet or something would be awesome too, since having one disabled arm is making it hard to read a real book versus a tablet.

    • Becaused I tried and its like 25$ at the least to get them up here in canada, I love your books, but that is way too much from my book budget, even if I like to encourage the book industry.

  83. I bought your paperback (had already pre-ordered the ebook) & bookplate from the Blue Willow Bookshop & will be attending the FB Live Event.

    I also bought Jeaniene Frost’s paperback (already have & read the ebook) & bookplate from Malaprops Bookstore & Cafe & will be attending that Event via Crowdcast.

    This put me past my book budget but I wanted to support 3 of my favorite authors & support brick & mortar bookshops. ????

  84. Thanks for the links and short story. Can’t really help with the birth scene as it has been almost 21 years for my youngest. One funny tidbit is my brother jokingly told me I needed to deliver before the Start of the 5:00 Raider football game. Sarah arrived at 4:20. ????

  87. The bribe worked, but it was a bit hard, as the shipping is more than the book, but I guess the positive is, I can look at it as payment for all the awesome free stuff that we do get.????

  88. I think that is a wonderfully creative way to support the book stores. I love it! I also love the little girl stomp. ????

  89. I ordered the book from Bank Square hopefully I get to read it before I give birth 🙂 I’m due around the same time as the book.

  90. My mother is a retired OB/GYN Nurse and Lamaze instructor (you cannot imagine our dinner conversations growing up). If she doesn’t know, she could find someone who does.

  91. Im sorry i burst out laughing when you said you gave birth 22 yrs ago and dont remember it. As a mom i can totally relate and hope my humour at that doesnt offend you.

  92. Sorry, I only have my honourary Doctorates in Egyptian Antiquities and Genetic Archaeology. I’m not a doctor but I play one on the interwebs. I would have suggested my father contact you as he originally started in obstetrics and had to stay up to date on current practice but sadly he passed away about 15 years ago. My own daughter was born 30 years ago today so most of what I remember is a blur as well.

  93. I pre-ordered the book from Amazon back in January. Would I get the story or do I cancel Amazon and order from one of the three sellers?

    My daughter is 41 and the only thing I truly remember is the feeling she was trying to come out of my back. Not the right place. ouchie

  94. Kinda sorta unrelated, but is there anywhere I can buy signed copies of the Innkeeper books? (My all-time favs❤️).
    And not an OB, but currently very pregnant lol

  95. Ordered! I’M SO EXCITED!!!! I live in Corpus Christi so really happy I got to support a “local” bookstore! Houston is pretty close in Texas standards!

  96. Cool! I’m an OB/GYN, and I would be honored to be of assistance!
    I sent an email as instructed.

  97. I would very much like to support one of these bookstores, but the cost of shipping Emerald Blaze to Australia is more than four times the price of the book…!

  98. Joining the chorus of “overseas and don’t have a firstborn child to sell for postage”. I truly do appreciate what you’re doing for these book stores though, especially given the state of the world lately, so I’m not going to whine.

    It’ll get posted here eventually. I can do patience.

    After all, I’m still waiting for Hugh 2.0. *ducks and runs*

  99. I just ordered it from Blue Willow. So I will have a print version and a kindle version of the book.

  100. Pretty awesome! Unfortunately I’m working/living in China, and getting things through the mail can be iffy… So, I’ll just have to live with the e-book… and the audiobook. I still think y’all are great!

  101. Since I’m all the way from Singapore and the shipping costs more than the book itself, decided to gift it to my friend in NY, who has never read an IA book. Heh.

    I have no discipline, I know I will die waiting for that short story to be made available to others.

  102. Very cool! I saw that you had at least 2 ob-gyn’s volunteer, which is great ????. You may consider protracted labor if you want to draw out the experience in the book. I’ve given birth 3 times in the last 6 years and I find that it’s not uncommon. I was in abnormally long labor with my first child for 8 days (yes, with no breaks) between 4 and 10 minutes apart because it just took that long. It was frustrating and hilarious, we’d come dragging in because I’d been having notably painful contractions (wake you up and have to breath through them every 4.5 minutes all day and all night and they’d keep us for a few hours say “it’s labor but you’re not progressing (dilation and effacement barely changing much) go home and come back when things are exactly the same but… um… a little more intense. After a week my husband told the doctor that at this rate my body would be too run down to complete labor. The Dr was a very kind and tiny woman who said “I agree… non-progressing labor aside, if you’re in again during this shift I’ll admit her and do an epidural. We were in again at 4 the next morning and she was like “this is just too much for a body” (I LOVE her, everybody else didn’t take note). She admitted me and gave me an eidural, I get asleep really fast because I’d only slept for a few minutes for a week (of course the sleeping aids they prescribed when they sent me home didn’t help me sleep through labor pains) and then I progressed and our son was born at exsctly 5pm that night. The Dr said she sees that sometimes, that women are in so much pain and it makes them too tense to dilate until they get an epidural, or their body is too exhausted to labor effectively until they can get some sleep. I love that lady.

    It was funny though that week, I’d be at the store or at church, or at the movies or whatever and everybody would be giving us the side-eye and telling my husband to get me to a hospital ????. All week ^_^. I’d have to breath through a contraction at the grocery store and tell connected people who talked to me about it “don’t worry, we were there this morning and they sent us home, it’s labor but it’s non-progressing.” They’d look at me with big eyes and tell me that was then and this is now and they’ve seen labor and that’s it. I just started smiling and nodding and say “probably later today” because they meant well, but I’d been in to the hospital several times in the past few days and it was the same as then ^_^. It was a surprisingly positive experience, despite painful and exhausting, and I kind of enjoyed when we’d go in and tell them our story and the nurse would talk about false labor or braxton-hicks contractions in a superior but kind way, then they’d see a contraction and they’d be like 0_0 oh, you’re in real labor… it’s been like this all WEEK 0_0… how do you sleep (I don’t, I’m in labor) Wow, um let me get a doctor. It gets tiring being ignored, so I enjoyed when they finally got it :). I still love that doctor although she’s retired, and we were very happy to welcome our first child into the world ????.

  103. Sometime in post pandemic times would be wonderful if you could do an event with Politics and Prose bookstore in DC…

  105. I was planning to order a book until I saw that the shipping to me in NC from a store in NC was equal to the price of the book. 🙁 so I’ll pre-order the kindle version (I have all of your books – many in print as well as e-book) and wait for the short story. This isn’t meant as a snarky comment – just to keep you informed.

  107. Just read this . Decided to buy book at one of the book stores you mentioned. Tried Bank square but phone number didn’t work. So called Blue willow, spoke with Kimberly and ordered both paperback and hardcover. She was very nice .Will read paperback and pet hardcover. Last year I did the same with Sapphire flames. I like to hold a book and turn the pages.
    I try to buy books at independent bookstores.
    So excited for you.
    And I am happily waiting.

  108. Do any of the stores ship internationally? ???? I would love to get a signed copy and access to the short story, but I’m in Brazil 🙁

  109. I truly love you guys to the moon and back but there is *NO way that I can afford/budget $45.00+ CAD for a paperback book. ($26.90 USD shipping??!!)

    Are there any plans to provide your international fans a way to participate so we too can read the short story?

    I am so broken over this. *weeps softly*

    • No worries, the short story will be posted a few weeks after the release. everyone will get to read it. It’s very short anyway.

  110. I’ve already pre-ordered the ebook of Emerald Blaze, but I was going to order a paper copy from our local genre book store here in San Diego, Mysterious Galaxy. Although I am sad that I will have to wait for the short story, I am still going to do that, because I don’t want my favorite bookstore to have to close down due to this stupid virus. I think we should all try to support our local businesses that are being impacted by this pandemic.

  111. So I pre-ordered a digital copy from Kobo a Canadian site. I’m a little sad that I’ll have to wait a few weeks. I miss Rogan and Nevada. I re-read the series in anticipation of Emerald Blaze and they still are some of my favourite all time characters. Besides the Kate universe of course.

  112. I did not get my dead tree version from these stores, but it arrived today thanks to Indigo Chapters. I wonder if they got the release date wrong? No spoilers coming from me in any case.

  113. I could not decide, it seemed unfair to order from just one, so I order Emerald from one and a book that I wanted from the other two.

  114. OMG. Can you imagine the stress of a truth prime during labor or Rogan’s?
    I don’t know if his private hospital has enough structural reinforcements
    And Nevada’s talents would scare everyone bound by HIPPA rules and regulations.
    It should be one h*** of an event, probably Montgomery will be there taking notes. LMAO

  116. I ordered the book from Bank Square books, and this is the email I recieved from them today: “Your order number https://www.banksquarebooks.com/user/7131/orders/9164 at Bank Square Books/Savoy Bookshop & Café has been updated. Because of the high volume of orders we’ve been receiving, there may be a delay in processing this order. We will let you know as soon as your order is ready for pickup or has been shipped out.”

    Figured that means that you have sold a lot of books!!

  117. Okay first book store purchase in years, chose Blue Willow in Texas since it’s close to Colorado. I’d already pre-ordered the ebook for Kindle, but couldn’t resist Arabella’s story, and well, I have no patience.

  118. Please consider releasing this short story to all when Emerald Blaze releases. I am a loyal fan and pre-ordered your book months ago.

  119. I pre-ordered today from my local bookstore Malaprops:) I am EXCITED that y’all will be in Asheville to support the book, but bummed because all seats and wait list FULL so I will not get to be there.

    Just finished all posted chapters of Blood Heir and enjoying it more than Kate series if that is possible. The transformation of a character we have known for years into this new magical badder ass still carrying a torch for her man. OMG! There is another pre-order in my future.

    Thank y’all for writing some of my most favorite books ever.

  121. We’d happily support the lovely bookstores who are helping promote the book, so we tried to order a ‘signed’ hard copy from Blue Willow. (We had already pre-ordered the kobo version, but it would be lovely to have a signed bookplate one). While filling out the form, though, I realised that shipping our new book to Cambridge UK would cost 4x the book itself! And in addition to dead trees, adds to CO2 emissions. Drat. Hmm – back to drawing board.
    Could we maybe help convince a local British bookstore (Heffers?) to promote your signed works too, or send the link to buys books to all our friends in the UK, or anything else that could still help from afar? (Yes, desperate to read the special story of Nevada and Rogan’s baby, though not quite past the point of moving to Texas yet…)

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