It has been one week since the typing ban and my joints and knuckles are one hundred percent better. My fingertips still hurt like all get out. ::sigh:: I tried some experimental typing and ow. Ow.
I am so tired. So tired. We’re at 22K on Diamond Fire and it’s time for the exciting finish. I am zombified. Dictating is a completely different animal then writing. I don’t even know if what we are writing is good or bad anymore. It just needs to die. Finish, finish, finish. Finish. Finish and give the thing to Erika and be done. OMG.
Gordon, looking over my shoulder at the Love Nikki game: Mermaid suit?
Me: Yes, but it costs a ton of diamonds. I would have to spend real money on this game.
Gordon, in a seductive voice: If we finish Diamond Fire today, you can have the mermaid suit.
Finish, finish, finish.
L writes,
“I feel like this is a dumb question but I have to ask in order to prepare my self for for Magic Triumphs, also because I’m trying to be optimistic. I know that everywhere on here says that Kate Daniels will consist of 10 books and Magic Triumphs will be the 10th book. I just want to know if it will be the final book in the series. I honestly need to go into this book knowing if I have say good bye to these characters. No idea if I’ll get an answer or when I’ll get an answer but thank you in advance!!”
We’ve answered this before, but here it is again just in case anyone missed it. Kate and Curran deserve their HEA. They worked very hard for Happily Ever After. However, we are not leaving the world behind. There will still be 2 books in Iron Covenant, which will feature side characters from KD world. There will likely be shorter works, like novellas, or possibly a series with some side characters. It is likely that this will be self-published or, if it will be with a publisher, it will be in the future.
We are exhausted. We are six months into the year. We finished 2 full length books. We have at least 30K on the Sweep of the Blade and Diamond Fire will likely clock at 25K plus. We will have to do a book tour for Magic Triumphs. There is no way out of it. And we still will need to write the first Catalina book. We need a break. So we are going to be careful about planning future releases. 🙂 I can’t promise you that we will write more Kate novels, but I can’t promise you that if inspiration hits, there won’t be a surprise side novella or Curran POV. But the main series arc concludes with Magic Triumphs. You will have closure.
Ok, have to go write Diamond Fire. Finish, finish, finish.
Very glad to hear that your hands are improving, and yes, I find talking the book out to be a very different animal, too. Sympathies.
(Gordon, you seducer, you. . . .)
Deep breaths and a good break in the schedule for you guys, after a few of these are out the door! Or so I hope. Thank you for all the wonderful stories.
No experimental typing! Respect the ban! You do not want to end up hurting yourself more and be given an even longer ban.
And, yes, make sure you guys plan a real vacation for yourselves. I realize this is a business and continued promotion and exposure is part of that, but don’t destroy your hands, your fingers, and your overall health in the process.
Kapow…whip cracking… As much as I love your books, I don’t want you to burn out. I just finished Iron and Magic. It took me awhile to get myself to read it because I hadn’t forgiven him for his role in torturing Kate and Aunt Beas death.
You did a masterful job in making me root for him. I eagerly look forward to future books.
I agree completely! Recovery deserves time.
I also had a similar experience with Iron and Magic! I am … not surprised … wowed … that’s it! Wowed at the realistic transformation that Hugh went through. I don’t think it would have been possible with anyone other than Alara. He still has the roughness but more of the compassion that he demonstrated with Renee is coming out. Great work developing a complex characters!
Here’s a plan, ALs…Have someone stock the house with goodies; put the word out that one of the kids will be house-sitting for a couple of weeks, so, neighbors, don’t worry about any noise you hear or lights you see; Make a big show of driving off, then sneak back home, and vege out by your gorgeous pool in your great home and do nothing but what you want. Answer the door only for goodie deliveries. Cheers! ?
Please rest your hands at least for two weeks! No relapses. A vacation is a great idea. All work and no play is not a good thing.
Kill the book! Then, ahhhh rest. And mermaid suits. And more not typing.
Respectfully appropriate supportive hugs.
I’ve known Kate 10 was the last for a long time. I still hate reading that. However, I worry for your health. I’m glad to hear about the hand improvement. So, at least you know that remedy will work. Between you and Gordon, I’m sure you will finish your current projects. I agree you need a break, and a real vacation. I hope you get both very soon.
We love your work, but burnout is too real. Please pull back. Take care of yourselves.
Hugs.
I am just curious to know if the doc thought you could get any help from a parrafin wax bath. I have Rheumatoid Disease and when my hands act up, parrafin wax dips really help.
I also wear compression gloves to help with swelling and knuckle aches.
I do both of these things and they really help. Get your bath with a lot so all you need to do is plug in. Compression gloves are $8.95 from Amazon. Also they have a muscle rub oil from weleda and mix it with drops of CBD oil before gloves helps too. PS that would be LID.
When it was really bad, icing hands helped.
I have to ice my heels,,, and I agree, it really helps. I have one of those wrap around thingies that you keep in the freezer, and Velcro around the back of the heels,,, I’m betting the drugstore probably has one for hands as well.
Just finished Iron and Magic and it did not disappoint.? only you guys cod makee like a bad guy. I know you said you might have more stories in the Kate Daniels world, will you have anymore with Julie and Derick or Andrea and Raphael?
I agree with all the comments so far, most importantly that 7 does not equal 14. Don’t rush it despite the frustrations, please. And you need to build vacations into your schedule! Real ones of at least a week. (nagging from fans , who knew?)
Several authors I follow are talking about burnout or health issues from their workload and needing to make real changes to their schedules. And not one of them has your output either. So do not feel the slightest bit guilty in doing whatever you need to for yourselves. We will still be out here waiting for your next gem. And rereading our favorites while we wait! Thanks for your blog, by the way. So nice of you to take the time to keep the fans updated.
+1 to this entire post.
So so glad that your hands are doing better! I can’t imagine how hard it must be to dictate instead of type, so I really feel for you. I’m sad to leave Kate, but as a devoted fan, I’ll honestly read whatever you write. I’m convinced that even your grocery list must be a great read. ? Needless to say, I’ll be patiently waiting to gobble up whatever I can get. Thank you for all you do!
…and Iron and Magic was awesome! I wasn’t sure I could see Hugh as a hero, but it was silly of me to worry. Just loved it!
Just a note of thanks for all of your hard work that results in magic for your readers! This is your business, and as such you know it better and it is really none of mine. That said … I can’t help but throw my hat in with your other devoted and concerned fans and say I hope you follow doctor’s orders Ilona and rest your hands as prescribed, and I hope you both take some time off as soon as you are able. You have had a lot happening on the home front as well as business wise, more than enough to drive a sane person a bit crazy. I love, love, love all your works, and I can wait as long as it takes for your next book, novella, whatever. I hope that you are able to create a schedule that works well for you, and doesn’t force your health (and or sanity) to suffer as a result of it.
Thank you once again for all the many hours of tremendous enjoyment you have brought me with your creativity, talent, hard work, sense of humor, sarcasm, sense of morality, romance, and wit. You two are incredibly gifted, make a fiercely talented writing team, and are incredibly generous with your fans. I hope that all that good karma returns to you a hundredfold! ?
+1
++1 to what Marianne so eloquently said.
Marianne has given a comprehensive and accurate list of qualities that your writing shows but I would add two more: maturity and wisdom. I could give many examples where your main protagonists have modelled mature behaviour/ wise reaction to a challenge that I would hope the young people in my life would follow if faced with a similar situation. I’ll content myself with one example: in “Wildfire” you avoided the usual plot device of using “ the big misunderstanding” to separate Nevada and Connor and actually had your characters have an argument (Nevada and Connor) or a conversation (Nevada and Rynda) to clear the air.
I also admire your decision to complete the Kate vs Roland story arc at book 10. Kate and Curran ( and Andrea and Raphael and George and Eduardo) have worked hard for, and earned, their HEAs.
I am hoping inspiration strikes you and you choose to revisit the world of Kate Daniels. Ascanio is maturing into an interesting young man so perhaps one day there’ll be another April Fool’s day joke which morphs into a novella. I, like so many others, am gobsmacked at your skill in writing the perfect woman (Elara) to complement, match and manage Hugh. I’d love to read the book where Ascanio meets his romantic fate.
I hope that you hands and arms continue to improve. Thankyou again for sharing the gift of your writing with us.
100% Agree!
+1
Okay. We all have favorite characters..favorite books.
But. You are two of my favorite authors.
Listen when your body says “Enough for awhile” .
Let your characters loose. .They will not die as you rest.
In fact, They may indeed be up to more mischief.
Breathe deeply. Love wisely. Sleep and Wake smiling.
Your characters and your readers have your backs.
Much love to you, glad you’re feeling a bit better! Saving I&M for vacation reading, it’s killing me but future me will be so happy ?
Who knew leaning back and putting your feet up while talking out loud would be so very hard to learn? Kinda like books on audio backwards.
But, a helluva lot easier on the hands and fingers.?
Take good care.
You had Gordon where you wanted him and you didn’t negotiate for a cook, a maid and the best yarn. For shame! 🙂 Please don’t hurt yourself any further on our account. Yes once these ones are done you both deserve a long rest.
Glad you are feeling better!!
Take some rest, we can wait 🙂
So glad your hands are better than before. I can say that gloves with or without parrafin baths help, but time and rest help most – without these two the others are at most temporary fixes.
By all means kill the book already!
Know that I (and suspect I am not alone in the BDH) love your books and am delighted to read whatever and whenever you write, and have No Problem at all re-reading and re-reading…. in the interim.
Wishing you both a good weekend, a finished product, and time to yourselves!
Rest is good!
Squee!
Yay recovery!!
Yay mermaid tail!
Yay Gordon for being an awesome husband and co-writer!!
Thank you for sharing so much good news , including the fact you’re so close to actually getting a break soon.
Yay!!
Catalina book??? I must have missed hearing about this before. Please share with an eager fan. Can you back of the book kind of blurb?
This has been discussed before. Go through Ilona’s posts on this website for more information.
We have the same humour, taste in characters, games, and now apps. I wake up and play that game. I spent 180 diamond today to get those mermaid dresses. I’m trying to pace myself. I hope your hands are doing better! Don’t destroy the phalanges!!
Nikki will steal all your money if you’re not careful! All suits come back with the very specific exception of the ranking suits (Eng vers. got 3 before people campaigned heavily against ranked events) so you can always craft it later. It will still cost diamonds but you can save up or spend as you want and not have to pay for all the suits between you and the mermaid. Of course it’s hard to argue against ‘But I want it now~!’ 😉
I’m glad Kate and Curran are getting their HEA. They do deserve it, and there are so many other wonderful characters in the Kate world that it would be great to see more of. Rest up!
I admire your work ethic. You have done amazing work. And an amazing amount of work. The majority appreciates you and knows that you produce a ton of amazing gifts to us. And this year has been A LOT. Please take time for you to heal and then for you to live and enjoy life. We are here for support!
I have no idea how you accomplish so much. You guys are amazing.
I’m so sorry for your hand pain! It sounds awful. 🙁
Good luck getting that mermaid suit! 🙂
+1
Damn those temptresses at LoveNikki! I’ve been trying to be good but they keep releasing these awful (addicting) events with these horrible (beautiful) suits. Bad enough I caved on the unicorn set.
I. Shall. Persevere.
Roar.
Just take it slow and easy. Finish up what you doing if you have too but then take a break and seriously rest those fingers of yours. PLEASE, do not try and rush back into typing. You have to put your health first. I am talking from experence here. more often then I like to remember I had to put my health second to make ends meet, the result, I am 55 and am living on disability and have been now for 7 years and am only making ends meet because I am getting both VA & Social Security. You are a talented story teller, do don’t risk losing the ability to write down your stories by rushing to get better. Has I wrote last week when we was 1st informed about the typing ban. I am more then willing to wait for I know the result will be you in good health and happy and it will show in your work with an awesome story when you do get better. So take it easy and Gorden, you stay on her and make sure she take care of herself.
Catalina book?!?! Lol how did I miss that?! Seriously though, thank you for all of the amazing stories, especially Kate’s. She and Curran do deserve their HEA but I will miss them terribly. Excited to keep up with them though thru Hugh’s series. xo
I don’t know what program your using but google read and write is excellent. If you have a new (ish) computer it even types quickly. Plus the read back is hilarious. Best wishes to everyone!
I’m sad to read that you arent having fun writing.
Please take a break. Take care of yourselves. It’s no fun reading the books if you were miserable while writing them.
Hope you get better soon!
+1 for sure
I would read a book from you guys every day but I’d rather have you healthy and wait longer. Please take a break and get better. In the meantime I reread your phantastic books.
My Love Nikki handle is WeisWise
Admittedly I know less than nothing about cycles in the novel writing world, but looking at your production schedule of the last few years and the overall time span on KD, I’d make my vacation a minimum of a month or three. If you’re laughing hysterically at the idea, that’s fine but I stand by this. At the ten year point the best forward thinking companies now offer a 1-3 month sabbatical for this very reason.
Regardless, love you both for all you do and have done. Hoping you’ll take the time for all the healing and renewal it can bring you; body, spirit, mind and soul.
I am genuinely grateful for all of your books, but I would like them to keep coming for a long, long time. Your output over the last few years has been amazing, both quality and quantity. Please take the time you need, both physically and mentally. It’s safe to say you’ll have plenty of us here waiting, whenever you finish the next story.
Glad to read that your fingers and hands are improving. Give yourself more time to heal before starting to type again.
Hope you get that mermaid outfit soon!
Take care and stay beautiful!
Wait, are you using your hands to play lovenikki? I certainly hope not! Glad the rest is beginning to pay off. You can rest now, or rest a lot more later. And how many years have you been typing? Dictating? Did I get the impression you expected a complete transition in one week? I know you guys are ambitious in your work expectations of yourselves, but that seems kind of overly optimistic! Love your books, so please slow down. I selfishly do not want you to get burnout!
Fingers first Maud second, do not discomode (this is a word that apple does not recognise ?) yourself. Love Nikki is terribly addictive so not sure if I should thank you or blame you……. it’s lots of fun so balance thank you
On balance
I was wondering what type of keyboard you’re using? If you’re using a standard, flat keyboard, maybe you’d better off with an ergonomic one. That might be better for your hands, especially with all the typing you do. And, as far as I’m concerned, you shouldn’t worry about being in a rush to bury yourself in Sweep of the Blade (a sentiment that I’m sure will make me VERY unpopular) even though I really miss it. You’re right about you needing a break and I hope you take one.
I’ve forgotten who shared the OrbiTouch Keyboard idea, but I’m still having a great time imagining you learning to write with this keyboard 🙂 or (was it Caroline describing herself) pacing the floor conducting symphonies as you dictate to the Dragon 🙂
It sounds like you need a long spa weekend with the girls, and then a vacation. Somewhere with a beach or a national park with beautiful scenery you can watch and relax.
Please don’t make yourself sick. I, at least, will wait (almost) patiently. Any pouting gets expressed to my DH, not the Authorlords. As it should be.
I’m so glad Ilona’s hands are getting better – what a relief! I’ll add my voice to those urging you both to take a substantive vacation once your immediate contractual obligations are met, where you don’t do ANY authoring and let yourselves be pampered by others, and your only exposure to books is reading good stories written by others 🙂
Remember how good you felt during your last vacation and schedule yourself for another as soon as you kill this book and get past the tour. You guys REALLY deserve it and we care. Burnout would be awful. No one should truly hate their job.
I now have a new addiction: Love Nikki. This is all your fault. 🙂 I’m not sure why it’s so incredibly fun, but I keep eyeing my credit card longingly (gotta be strong). Thank you for sharing it with us.
I see a long vacation in your future. Keep babying those hands and good luck.
Health SCARE; repudiated, check
HANDS Issue; is real, check
KID Home; problem, w i p; fix scheduled, check
Our HOME; W I P?, how’s that going … hmm
Speak your peace, state your case, straighten (metaphorical) sheets of your life; check, check check
Work around on hands; check but fizzling brain;
Theory;
the use of hands massages the brain in producing writing. Doesn’t matter! No means no! Stop picking at the SCAB. It Will Not make it heal faster. Mhmm
Yes, you are an author. NO; U R NOT
A drama queen! Yes you have done an amazing amount of writing. Conceptulized, Created, Plotted, Laid out, Written, Read, Re-read, Edited, Finalized, then FINISHED.
your contractual obligations, your self publishing, your duties to your family AND dealt with All the crap life dumps on people just living their lives. You Rock.
Even as you wind down, realizing you done did all that,
Whoops dere goes the brain; thinking, off on a tangent
Die, Book, Die? Ummn and how would (€&$%¥£) feel, react, deal
B well B blessed, thank you for sharing °¿0
We all so appreciate the sacrifices and pain suffered!
Think positive, know we are all wishing only the best [the nasty threats and ultimatums are the hidden subconscious, and don’t count].
Totally appreciate Kate and Curran deserving their peace and quiet, so long as their world stays alive and contributing ?
Did you ever consider having a character visiting Australia?
Just think what you could discover … Platypus, wombat, bunyip, wallaby, drop bear, rainbow serpent, yowie, emu, brumby…
The list is almost endless. Ever heard of the yara-ma-yha-who? Or the Murry’s muldjewangk?
Seriously, contemplate the fun that can be had ?
Jai M.
I hope you get the diamond mermaid dress. You totally deserve it. Keep getting healthy!
Readers; Read
A book becomes my universe, leaving a good book i carry remnants & streams that can sustain & succor me.
Shout out to Ayryn Hadley, i tripped over her on ‘ When We Were Kings’, i liked the ride >>> then i stumbled upon
‘One More Day’ coffee houses, artists, tattoo parlours, recovering alcoholics & battling cancer; which tumbled me into ‘Flawed’ gamers & gaming & opioids.
I don’t do genres, say i about myself. Louis L’ Amour lead my charge in grade school, Robert Heinlein in high school gordon dickson & georgette heyer & a host of others filled
in blank spaces. G-d bless harlequin for the lean years when the industry was learning Readers; Read. Thanks to NR for showing that writers write. IA for you i want that defining experience where you realize you write, write well, uplift lives, expand horizons, entertain masses, & what you write sells because you wrote it and Not because it fits where someone thinks it will sell.
Thank you for what you do
Auryn Auryn Auryn Hadley! sorry for typo
I wanted to share your name
Along with the previous commenters I am awed by the talent, dedication and sheer work the two of you have accomplished this year. Thank you. I hope that you truly comprehend how much your creations mean to so many people.
That said, please take care to not overwork yourselves. Life can so easily get away from us and spin out of control. Schedule that me/us break time and be firm with it.
Now to a silly image that has been bugging me. From your comments I’ve gotten the impression that you type as you’re creating and so the physical movements of inputting to the keyboard have become an integral part of the process. So making a switch to strictly verbal dictation must be really uncomfortable, stressful and driving you a bit batty. 🙂 I keep getting a mental picture of you sitting with your fingers “air typing” in front of you while trying to dictate and being distracted by the difference in the rhythm when the words appear as well as odd transcription errors that happen. Must be strange.
While training a new brain/body habit can take a lot of time and effort it seems as though it would be well worth it to have an alternative method to give your poor hands regular breaks in future.
Thank you both again for all the real pleasure that you give your readers.
I actually imagine writing or typing when dictating certain types of reports. I wrote them out for so many years that the physical motions are part of how they are organized in my head and dictating without the paper/screen leaves me very discombobulated.
I pictured the air typing also!
Heh – I was an accountant until I couldn’t sit in a chair any more. I can’t add 2+2 without wiggling my fingers; I need a spreadsheet to double a recipe. How much worse it must be with words!
I am used to there being a year or more between books in a series which is bearable because I read and enjoy many series… have even found a few young adult series I really like. My only problem is my memory… I tend to forget characters and details. Sometimes there are things written that will jog my memory, but I do best when I read a series back to back. Once I catch up though, there’s the wait and time gap between books. Don’t know if there are others with this problem who have suggestions to refresh memory for the best experience with a book… this has happened quite often where I draw a blank on names and what happened and even read an entire book still without a clue which really bothers me. I do find brief reminders/recounts, etc., written in the story help, but I have so many books in my to be read pile that I don’t have time to reread books. I have cut down a little, but still find myself trying another author or series, from time to time. In real life I have trouble with names, but am better with details. Maybe my head is too crowded, but I don’t want to give up any of the established series I love which does include more than one by Ilona Andrews.
Sorry… just looking for help with something that is becoming more and more of a problem! Almost 60 with lots of sleep problems so that doesn’t help. I have seen many comments from people in different posts on this website so believe there may be some good responses from others who read the comments. Finally, someone asking for advice!
I do have ideas that may help with the typing problems besides listening to the doctor! A key… hehe… word is pounding. I know when you are full steam ahead, that things may get intense, fast and hard, but that puts a lot of beating on the fingers! I can understand there may be major adjustments dictating versus typing… a scenario with you using your husband as your personal secretary who you dictate… uh, give dictation to was included! Do not know the dynamics of how you both write together, how each contributes, etc., so not sure how you can both adapt to doing things a bit differently, but even after your hands heal, there do need to be changes so it doesn’t keep happening along with more breaks, time off, rest and maybe deadlines that aren’t so stressful.
A different keyboard that has a comfortable wrist rest and set up in such a way that there is speed without pounding, though that may need to be a habit to break so it doesn’t break you, could do wonders! It is worth searching, going to stores and trying different things to find the perfect match.
I have a job with lots of repetitive motions… when my wrist starts to get twinges, I do things a little differently and that has helped me avoid pain and advanced carpal tunnel. Consider ways to do that with your fingers. Continue to give the speech to text a try… it does take time to adapt to something that different. I know most of my creative process is in my head, not verbal, and feel more comfortable expressing things on paper, typed or written, versus spoken. Things could be proofread, changed, etc., and with time it could become a more comfortable way of doing things, not only in the physical sense, but that may involve time.
In the meantime, finding a keyboard or different way of typing is an option. Right now I have been typing on my iPad which does not involve the same force as a computer keyboard, but I also saw some nice keyboards, even good for gaming along with writing, on Amazon, though stores where you can actually try it out has advantages.
Again I’m sorry, this time since this advice was not solicited unlike mine! LOL!
Anyway, I hope you do find something helpful to make the needed changes so you will be all right physically, emotionally and with every other aspect of your life! Also consider that secretary scenario with your husband! Hahahahaha!
DHA/EPA Fish Oil, 2-4 gms/day. May be good for memory, inflammation, skin/hair quality. DHA is the largest component of myelin which insulates nerves/brain. Quite lovely.
Where do you find this? Sounds like something my husband would also benefit using. He actually gets confused along with forgetting, though I keep urging him to see a doctor. Thanks, Michelle!
It’s just concentrated fish oil in a supplement. There is a prescription version but it’s very expensive and probably has no advantages over the highly concentrated over the counter fish oil. You just have to be careful about reading the labels and doing the math.
Google the DHA/EPA, there are a lot of interesting studies out there.
Susan, please please please, see a neurologist? There are a couple of dozen things that it could be that have easy fixes, but there are 3 or 4 that MUST have early intervention. For Parkinson’s dementia, for example, there are meds that will stop you from losing memory and function, but none that can give it back once it’s gone. I so desperately wish I’d known this before my grandpa lost everything that happened after 1994.
On the “it’s just life” side, do you use a Kindle? I’ve found that, with “denser” books, I type notes all through the book like “story of Roland starts here” that I can view notes, find, and re-read just that part. Literal example, for the Hidden Legacy novels, I put lists of character names, relationships, houses, magic type, etc on the first few words of each book. Easy to “go to beginning”, check the note, go back to reading. And for the last book (so far), I put story date/time and basic scenes of each chapter on the word “chapter” because so much happened in so short a “time” and there was a mystery to solve. Keep trying, you’ll find what works for you! But make that appointment ASAP!
I am due for an annual complete physical so I will mention my memory issues, though I know sleep deprivation, stress and other things can also be factors, plus I do read many series! Yes, I do have a kindle, but that is only for certain series… mostly I buy in print and/or have on audio. I have both with the books/series I really love like Ilona Andrews, J.R. Ward, Nalini Singh, Patricia Briggs, Cassandra Clare, Gena Showalter, Robin D. Owens, Karen Marie Moning, Becky Chambers, Iris Johansen, Tess Gerritsen, Lara Adrian, Jeaniene Frost, Kresley Cole, Eileen Wilks and a few more. Maybe I need to take notes like you do that can be reviewed before reading the next book to get more out of it and refresh my memory. With George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series, writing a book would be needed to accomplish that! LOL! Thanks for responding, Shannon!
You’re welcome. Thanks for the list of authors to try!
So not to be a total punk, but I would love to read Curran’s story when he rescued Saiman from Roland’s tower and ate the divine tiger. Just saying.
Or the texts!
“Hey Jim Devine tigers are awesome. You gotta try one.”
Also
A picture of Saimans face from the tower filthy and surprised and miserable. No words. Just the image.
Hahahahaha!
+1 I too would love to read that POV, especially since Gordon would be the IA team member writing the Curran POV and Ilona can sit back, offer unsolicited advice and commentary, and when he growls
” Well if that’s what you think, you write it! “
she can wriggle her fingers and say ” Not allowed to type. Doctor’s orders!”
You deserve a real mermaid suit!