I hope those of you who celebrate had a lovely Thanksgiving. Ours went well, peaceful and happy, with kids and friends.
The Cajun turkey was predictably amazing. You are supposed to warm it up on a wire rack with the liquid juices it came with. Instead I poured some apple juice into the pan, and after the turkey warmed up – and was cooked a bit, because I am paranoid – the drippings made absolutely the best base for stuffing and gravy.
Kid 1 made her patented mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, and mac and cheese, all of which was ridiculously good. Also, she and I attempted our first custard for banana cream pie, and we got it on the first try. There will be custard in my future.
We had way too much food, and it was all utterly delicious. After the meal, it was packed up and sent home with the children to their respective houses. All we have left is some turkey and lamb. I have planned the Thanksgiving leftover menu for what’s left. Yes, it involved turkey soft tacos. We’re in Texas, leave me alone.
The house is halfway decorated for Christmas, and I’ve wrapped the first gift the day before Thanksgiving. We are babysitting 2 small dogs today, so the house is full of furry creatures running back and forth.
It’s back to the edits today. I am getting a little bit discouraged, because as usual with the edits, the more I edit, the more I become convinced that the book is no good. I start the edits up-beat, and by the end, I’m convinced that the whole things was a colossal waste of time. It’s Chapter 4, and I’m already worn out. I needed to edit the description of a little muddy island and I rephrased it like 8 times. Also shrubby is, apparently, a word.
I need to get through the edits so the book can go to the beta team and be edited. Then it will be time for other projects.
Time for another cup of tea. Once more into the breach for Harry, England, and Saint George.
Dear Ilona, Gordon, ModR and all extended family, including the entire BDH,
Thank you all for being such a wonderful part of my life. You are all such an amazing gift for which I’m thankful.
And, happy day after your birthday to ModR!
❤️ and ditto.
+1
+1 🥰
+1
I am thankful for the positivity of this blog and the people who visit it. House Andrews and the BDH are awesome.
+1
+1
+12345
1-the humor here
2-the genuine empathy here
3-your tolerance of horde antics
4-the snippets, oh the snippets that we enjoy and drool for more about
5-the amazing writing!
I’m sorry you are having challenges with the edits. I anticipate we would read all 8 versions and wonder what you thought was wrong…
May they become less painful as you advance. I’m sure the new ‘genre’ of this book adds oodles of stress.
Enjoy the shrubbery. 🤪
Unhelpful autocorrect… shrubby.
Thank you Ruth!
Same to you, everyone at House Andrews and all my fellow members of the BDH. 🤩
+1M
I am blessed enough to have several communities/villages in my life and I count HA and the BDH as one of the best. Thank you all for adding so much to my life!!
+1
Right back at you (and I totally agree!) 😁
+1
Happy Friday! Hope the edits are conquered in time for a relaxing weekend.
Happy Thanksgiving. I promise the book is not rubbish, and I am very smart. 😉
I’m so glad your Thanksgiving went well. It all sounds delicious. I will be on the lookout for the word shrubby!
Well, I don’t know about Harry, England and Saint George, but I certainly appreciate all your effort. I surely am looking forward to meeting Maggie and crew in depth.
Very glad your T-day was lovely and turkey tacos sound amazing.
Enjoy your tea. Thank you for all you do!!!
Glad you had a lovely holiday. Ours was really good too. As for the edits – just remember how you felt about Maud’s story – I adore that book! And so did the BDH. I still remember your comment that Maud’s book sold “shockingly well”.
+1
Hear, hear, since we referenced England and all that, lol. I hope I used that correctly 😆
I really like saying turkey tacos. 😂😂 They also sound yummy. The book is ALL THE GOOD. I promise. Would I lie to you? About your book? Absolutely not. It is all the awesome and I can’t wait.
My Dad has always maintained that editing is easier than composition, but at the moment (because I am also editing a project), I am not so sure about that. It’s a task! Wishing you strength to plow on through the rest of the editing phase with ease so that you can heave that parcel off of your load. It will be brilliant. The horde will love it!
My mom and grandson #3 loved baking together. And his favorite was banana cream pie! One Thanksgiving, they made two and those were the first empty pie tins!
Turkey tacos sound amazing, especially with Cajun turkey!
I have strawberry rhubarb pie, and maybe a salad is in order after yesterday’s feasting….
The BDH is entirely aware that the worse you say something is, the better it is likely to be when released to our greedy little hands.
Breathe, Ilona. It helps. Go have a cup of tea – that will help, too.
What she said :-D.
You are amazingly talented and we appreciate every anxty inch of you.
+1000. It’s one of the sure markers.
It is cold comfort, but editing for me is the same whether it is computer code, fiction, or nonfiction- what you have is fine or even great, but you are just mentally worn out after a while. It resembles the end stage of moving. Like moving, you just keep proceeding in the correct direction until you have it all done. So “Carry On, and Keep Editing.”
Here’s hoping that you will not close the wall up with English dead!
The more you hate the edits, Ilona, the more the Horde will cheer you on. The more you say you hate what you’ve written. the Horde will tell you it’s not bad. The more you dread the book, the more the Horde will love it.
As you go into the breach with Harry, England, and Saint George, you’ll also go into it with the Horde cheering you on. 😊
I appreciate all the work that goes on. Glad you had turkey tacos. I have a lot of leftover beef tenderloin. It’s going to make great sandwiches with the dinner rolls I didn’t put in the oven yesterday. 😂🤪
+1
+1000 I’m sorry that editing is hard and no doubt a pain, but I also doubt that HA is even capable of writing something bad. Hang in there Ilona, it will all be over soon, and the BDH will still be here cheering you on! 😁
Shrubby in northern New England: just about 10 ft. high bushes with just enough leaves to obscure any forward vision, your clothes get stuck on everything, branches try to poke you in the eye, mosquitoes and mud. Then you have to tromp around a beaver pond.
I don’t remember the name you gave it, but it was something meaning the God of Self Doubt (I think? I’m paraphrasing here). Don’t let it win! You and Gordon are very talented. Have faith in your work! I think that most of us struggle with being too critical of ourselves and/or our own work.
Maybe you just need a break after the writing and the holiday before you tackle the edits? Could it seem better on Monday? If you can’t take a break today, maybe some extra strength tea and a snack can help you power through.
The snippets of Maggie have been wonderful and I’m sure the finished work will be as well. You got this! ((Hugs))
Well said!
(And you were very very close, it’s the God of Coming Short https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/the-god-of-falling-short/)
Thanks Mod R! I probably should’ve looked up the name before posting, but you knew what I meant. 🤗
Always :D. You were super close!
Tacos plus tamales are always in season here in Texas!
I’m making Ukranian lamb plov tomorrow with some leftovers. Open face turkey sandwiches today. Leftovers are wonderful.
Pretty please, could we have the recipe for the banana cream pie custard?
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/12151/banana-cream-pie-i/
For anyone who can understand US/UK differences, is this basically an egg custard tart with bananas? (I lke hot custard, I like bananas, I loathe egg custard tart).
I don’t think so, more like a rich vanilla pudding (think Angel’s Delight or Doctor Oetker) or creme patissiere like one would encounter in a choux, eclair or mille feuilles. Egg custard tarts don’t usually have 1) a thickener like this has flour and b) only 2 egg yolks. I’ve never found a recipe with less than 6 yolks for that quantity of milk.
So much less eggy, and with a different texture. Plus, no yucky nutmeg.
Btw, I also loathe egg custard tarts, but have you tried the Portuguese Pastel de Nata vanilla custard with puff pastry? They currently have them at Pret https://www.pret.co.uk/en-GB/products/UK020016/pastel-de-nata?category=Sweet%20and%20savoury%20snacks. Divine!
I ordered vanilla tarts once expecting the Portuguese type and got the egg stuff. Nearly cried lol.
I like nutmeg it’s the excessive eggyness that gets me. Have to admit I’m not crazy about pastel de nata either though mildly preferable to our English egg custard tart. Basically if it’s too eggy I’m out (I will tolerate the occasional runny yolk on a bacon sandwich or to dip chips/waffles in. Or hidden in cake of course. Quiche defeats me and omelette is my nemesis. No egg and soldiers here. And let’s not talk about the many surprise egg elements in Asian food. . . )
You are absolutely right on Mod R! My Dad used to LOVE banana cream pie, and my Mom (who was not a great cook) would use vanilla pudding made from a store-bought mix, put it in a store-bought pie crust (usually crushed graham cracker crust), slice some bananas on top of the pudding, and then top the whole thing with whipped cream (from a can.) Honestly, I learned how to cook from my Grandma (an awesome cook) who always made everything from scratch. This pie is definitely best when all components are homemade….but the store-bought shortcuts also made a very tasty pie! 😋
I’m a transplanted Texan living in Maryland now, and I’m thinking about turkey enchiladas tonight for dinner, so turkey soft tacos sounds reasonable to me!
Hope the edits go well – but I certainly understand going over something that you’ve already done and redoing it. Happens to me sometimes when I’ve done a big tax return and it comes back from the reviewer with tons of review points that I have to address. Ugh. But I work through them one at a time and eventually finish (though not without some muttering, to be sure)
Thank you for the list of T-day goodies at your house … always fun to read (your family sounds like good and adventurous cooks) … I also bought a small lamb roast for after Thanksgiving, which I think I will cook tomorrow.
I was also awarded the turkey carcass from the family dinner at my sister’s (like some weird prize in a contest that I didn’t know I had entered), so the stock pot is on the stove and I should have the base for soup later today.
Roasted bones of any meat makes for great broth. Your family thought they were giving you the booby prize, but they didn’t. 😛
For those who don’t know what a booby prize is, it’s a prize no one wants. Why it’s called that, I don’t know.
Apparently not linked to the type of boobies everyone loves, but with the Spanish “bobo”- the word for “fool”, “silly person”. So it’s the fool’s gift rather than the chesticle prize!
🤣😂🤣
That’s why I put in the disclaimer at the end of my post. I had a feeling everyone would think of that, and wonder “what the heck?!” 🤣🤣🤣🤷♀️
See, my mind went immediately to the blue-footed booby. I wonder whether there’s a Spanish linguistic connection there, since they were quite the maritime adventurers. I will look that up another time though ModR! You have enough to do.
Also … I needed to go look up the date for St Crispin’s Day …. 😀😁
October 25th for those who are curious.
Doing a leftovers dinner with friends tomorrow. Then maybe a little shopping …
Happy Thanksgiving! We smoked a turkey this year and one of our guests said she was getting “emotional” at the incredible taste. It was a pain (I’m the smoker in the family) but it looks like smoked turkey is a new yearly tradition.
Really looking forward to being able to read the new project. And very thankful for your hard work which gives me hours of entertainment, escape and major feels. 😊
Your books Rubbish perish even the thought. Buy chocolate and caffeine for perseverance.
Happy post-thanksgiving!
altho I’d have ended that “for Harry, England and the (BD) hoard!”
sorry. I’ve been writing bad poetry lately. (funny, but bad)
ooooh, turkey soft tacos sounds good… I will be “borrowing” that idea!
I honestly don’t think you could write anything bad. I have been reading your books for many years, over multiple series and you haven’t had any stinkers. I also haven’t lost interest. There is only one other author that I can say that for and I needed a break from their work for a bit. Your characters sound like REAL people. I frankly love it when you let them have inner “p!ssy” moments and they realize they are being p!ssy, because REAL people have those.
I hope you know you have a whole book devouring hoard that will be overjoyed to defend your honor, even to your inner critic.
Also, when you say “shrubby” I can 100% picture that in my head! lol
Sounds like a lovely Thanksgiving time.
Sorry the book edits are sucktastic. I am dedicating the pie I have in the oven to the god of good edits on your behalf. It’s apple-cranberry, BTW. My first effort but I am confident that if there are deficiencies, the ice cream and whipped cream in the fridge will smother them into delicious goodness.
I hope you get some time to breathe and relax this weekend.
Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrated. I’m sure the book will be as successful as Agincourt though since you’ve aligned yourself with England I hope it won’t be a hundred years war for you.
When you feel the editing is tough going it’s better to remember that every vegetable has it’s season.
The book is great! I am firmly convinced of this. I bet the BDH will agree with this.
And I’m so happy your Thanksgiving was yummy and fun. Onward!
Happy belated Bday, Mod R! Hope you had fun, too!
Will there be any more Julie and Derek books or Hugh?
✨✨✨
Both Blood Heir and Iron and Magic will have sequels, yes 🙂. In fact, after Maggie edits finish, a certain warlord and his harpy wife might get the authors’ attention https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/what-is-it/
And the Horde applause and cheers! 🥳🎉
I’m doing a happy dance even though I’m not feeling well. 😁🤧🤒
Having decided as a family that we would be non-traditional this year; we chose to make a beef brisket instead of turkey. For the record, leftovers are always the best part of a feast. I wish I was close enough to trade some of the extra rum cake for some of the goodies mentioned.
In my opinion, (well aware that I have no vote) I believe that favorite creative types should be encouraged well and often. Deep breath please? Has your BDH failed to share how we love your work when finished? Have we failed to express how much we love your art?
Perhaps we can help you move forward by suggesting fun places for a celebratory vacation when you two have completed this one? Private “Wrap Party” sound like an incentive?
Madeira Island, Portugal
Anyone else want to suggest a good place to run away to?
I favor New Zealand (Picton or Nelson) , but I am a winer.
+100!
The cerulean waters of Queen Charlotte Sound and surrounding hills are soothing to the soul! Not to mention the excellent local wines and Moana kai (seafood)
I imagine editing for hours at a time can be exhausting. It will make us appreciate Maggie all the more!
The problem with eating holiday dinner at a friends home is limited leftovers. Today I made a turkey sandwich (with fresh cranberry relish, yum!) and immediately had all 4 cats in my face saying gimmie. I had to share of course.
So I am making my own turkey next week.
I might make that creme pie too, yum!
I made enchiladas with leftover turkey. they turned out really good.
Glad you had a wonderful thanksgiving- on the edits: I am utterly convinced even without edits the book would be awesome. You guys are just amazing. And I am envious that with all this going on in your life you managed to kick off Christmas decorations – I wish I was that organized. Have a wonderful weekend x
Thank you and all the best for the upcoming festive season💜
The thing about editing your own work is that you can always, always find something that you could improve. This goes across the board for almost every creative endeavor. I wrote nonfiction professionally and at some point you have to pull the plug and say it’s done. Professional fine artist friends have told me the same thing about their paintings. Every time you look at your own work, you want to tweak some detail to make it better. It’s a compulsion.
This is not telling you anything you don’t know, just reminding you. You don’t owe anything to the God of Coming Short.
Of course it took me at least ten minutes to polish the above to my own satisfaction. And I made two revisions to the previous sentence.
And had I kept going, I would have removed the word “me” from the first sentence of the second post.
Glad to hear your Thanksgiving went well! I’ve never been in the US during Thanksgiving so I haven’t had a chance to experience it, but all the food sounds yummy. Enjoy the leftovers and hope you have some strong tea to get you through revisions!
You can do it! Your care with the writing and edits is what makes your work so outstanding. As a recovering perfectionist myself I understand the compulsion to get it right, but rest assured you do, every time. And readers, like knit gift recipients, see the wonderful creation rather than the flaws its creator perceived.
Undergrowth, dense underbrush… Rudyard Kipling has some good descriptive language for jungles.
Happy belated birthday Mod R. May you have an awesome year!
The book will be amazing.
I’m glad you had a wonderful thanksgiving, wishing you all (including the BDH) a beautiful holiday season.
Talking about Thanksgiving leftovers reminds me of the time I decided to get some mole sauce to use on the Turkey leftovers. We were eating at a Tex-Mex place and I asked for some mole sauce to go. When I got home I opened the container and found they had given me guacamole sauce. This is Texas, they should have known better.
Sounds like a great TG. I am a brit but spent last TG at Lake Monticello in Va with friends.- did my masters at UVA. Whilst living in Charlottesville I introduced many people to the delights of trifle! So if you are now into custard making I highly recommend giving trifle a go!
These edits, too, shall pass. (This may have to be cross stitched) 🙂 Hang in there.
For our family, the day after Thanksgiving has become almost more popular than Thanksgiving. It’s become a family tradition to make turkey enchiladas (green sauce from scratch).
I’m taking the rest of the day off and designing a Ferret Heist quilt… just because it makes me happy (and makes the rest of the family wonder what I’m chuckling about) Hope House Andrews, House MOD R, and the rest of the BDH carve out a little important ‘me’ time during the holidays.
It’s just a muddy little island. It doesn’t deserve admirable description. Sometimes there’s nothing more to say! 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you for plowing through. We will love the book.
Yes, but then there is a thing and she is running from it and wooded island doesn’t work, because clearly it couldn’t slither through the trees so it must be a combo of weeds and bushes…
I will go now.
[gives Ilona a hug, hands her a nice cup of tea and some yummy cookies, and points her to a cozy sofa where she can take a little break.]
It will be ok…you got this!
💕💕💕
Shrubby, brushy, trappy. That’s all I got right now.
Happy Thanksgiving leftovers day!
Thank you for your hard work. I appreciate it, truly, multiple times per book as I have read them all at least three times.
Recently, I was re-reading the Hidden Legacy short story about the wedding, with the sister freaking out about Pink and Blue together in the bouquet and I was reminded of the phrase my Grandmother used to say to my Mum. ‘Pink and Green will suit a queen. Pink and Blue will never do’
I am also pup sitting, and our youngest visitor is named Ilona. One of her brother’s is Inigo.
(I practically had a fit on my first read through of the siblings’ names. Two practically named for me! How did my friend know?)
I always forget how much work the adolescent set is … my two have firmly parked it in geriatricville.
Foodwise, the four-footers are partaking of the leftover turkey, while we two-footers soup it.
I am listening to ALL the Kate and Innkeeper series thanks to my library. I had a canine health scare this week (our vet visit produced a sigh of relief heard round the world this morning), and IA are my comforting solace in times of bliss and of stress. Thank you for the ease this last week!
May your turkey tacos hit the spot, may your visiting furry zoomers bring you joy, and may the angsty edits fly past.
I’m very glad that we were able to provide a bit of comfort. 🙂
“I had a canine health scare this week”
Same. Sookie has done something to her paw. We are pretty sure she stepped on a scorpion, because we found a flattened one on the patio, right in the path she takes to the grass. Over Thanksgiving, the paw swelled up to ridiculous size and we could only get an appointment this morning. Walked into the vet office, and the paw pad ruptured, with blood everywhere. Thankfully, there is no foreign body lodged in it, according to the X rays.
We were very lucky, because Sookie is already on medication for her arthritis pain and it happened to be really good for swelling. Now there are antibiotics and bedrest.
Oh poor Sookie! 😢
I wish her all the speedy recovery.
Yikes! So happy she’s recovering well. The older ones tolerate bedrest better, but then it becomes harder for them to get up, so it’s kind of a draw.
In my head I heard “shrubbery” instead of shrubby.
And now I can’t get Monty Python out of my head.
For the rest of the day I’m just going to be randomly yelling “NI”
Same which is why I’ve added a Ni t-shirt to my Christmas wishlist.
You always try to come up with an interesting blog post despite juggling a hundred pages things, so thank you! And to Mod R too for making this such a fluffy lovely space!!
P.s. how many chapters is Maggie?
24 plus epilogue
Not sure how much it means for the final product, since developmental, beta and copy edits are still pending, but Maggie is currently 24 Chapters, a prologue and an epilogue. Around 128k words, I believe 🙂 , enough for the Horde to feast on!
As I said though, draft days. Much can change still.
Whoa! No wonder the edits are a slog.
*Backs silently away.*
I don’t even know what book you are referencing and my first thought was “yipppeeeee!”. I felt compelled to leave a comment because you mentioned “ I’m convinced that the whole things was a colossal waste of time. …” – far from it! I spend way too many hours dealing with corporate and healthcare work which has its own blessings but to know a new story is “cooking like your turkey” (thanksgiving pun intended!) lol is a joy. Don’t worry , you won’t disappoint. Believe in yourself as your readers do. We absorb each word as it builds a story and we are so lucky to have you to do so. Plod forward through the challenging part of your journey as do your characters and readers in each of our days quests….. lol (yes wine may have been drank prior to this message – but it is sincere). So happy to look forward to your end result. You won’t disappoint- believe a fan if not yourself.
Happy thanksgiving,
Kimberlee
Maggie is the new project House Andrews are working on, a romantasy in a brand new world, unconnected to previous series 🙂. For more details: https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/what-is-it/
It’s gonna be fine. It always is. You made custard! Now make yourself a taco and have a little nap. All will be well. You know we would read your shopping list and be happy. A little dismayed but happy.
Dismayed? Somewhat. Jealous! Mostly jealous.
We’re all grateful for House Andrews. Shrubby is definitely a Monty Python worthy word.
We are our own worst critics.
It was my first time cooking the Family Thanksgiving Turkey and I was convinced I’d overcooked the turkey and that the holiday was Ruined.
The turkey came out great, the in-laws and Husband had nothing but praise. My husband insists I must make this turkey again.
All will be well. Mod R, back me up! 😬
Go you! Good job on the turkey!
Thank you!
And may the God of Small Happiness bless you while you edit!
“MONTJOY The day is yours.
KING HENRY
Praised be God, and not our strength, for it!
What is this castle called that stands hard by?
MONTJOY They call it Agincourt.”
May your Agincourt be soon, and less bloody than Harry’s!
have you seen the Monty Python sketch about shrubberies? It came to mind when you mentioned shrubby….. not quite the same thing…but some light relief from edits perhaps!
https://youtu.be/RZvsGdJP3ng?si=piG4fFB6mzcDUTnE
Hi, getting to this one late (as is the way for me! Being in Australia also doesn’t help…)
Just wondering if there is an opportunity to apply to be on the beta team? Is there an application process?
Hi Olivia, a general call for betas does go out on the blog for books usually, announcing how to apply etc. So “keep an eye on the blog” is the advice 🙂
For Maggie however, a bit more expertise was required so the betas were selected privately.
Hugs for words like shrubby. I’ve lost track of the number of words I’ve Googled lately because Spellcheck flagged them as Wrong. For example, complexion vs complection. Choice one is modern, choice 2 is an older spelling.
Love the news & the stock photo. Many would give a lot to live just off that road in the fall! Green is good when surrounded by snowcapped mountains, lots of evergreen trees and for color, one native maple and lots of Japanese maple trees. There is a shrub called Heavenly Bamboo (it isn’t a bamboo-just part of the name). In the cooler months the leaves on some varieties turn beautifully red. But I do miss seeing the trees in the East US that just burn with color in the fall. If you live close enough it is a good excuse for a ‘road trip’!
Ilona and Gordon there is nothing small about your magics you weave your worlds and your characters with great skill and I am an absolute aficionado. I live almost at the bottom of the world in wonderful New Zealand Aotearoa. your seasons that you describe now are so unlike ours at this time of year.El Nino is headed our way so that means our summer climate will be hotter and in some cases wetter than we are normally used to. we will be in the high 20s to low 30s for our Christmas Day Sunshine beaches and fun. wishing you and your whole support crew and family the best Christmas the happiest and safest of times. Miriam
PS. like all your fans and readers just waiting for that new book to come out because we know it’s going to be damn fine.
Is there a way to get the recipes for kid 1 patented mac and cheese and green bean casserole? I’ve been scouring the site. Because you mention them every year. But never with a recipe.