We’ve received many requests and questions about Kid 2’s work and what is it about and when can it be available.
Once in a while, there will be a successful writer who will come out with “My child wrote a book!” and they will use their platform to promote their child’s book. Full power to them. When you have a platform, why not help your child out?
That probably won’t be us. At least in the beginning.
Now don’t get me wrong, we’ll help with advice, we’ll allocate money for ads, and we will use whatever knowledge we have to help her write a good query and sign with a good agent. We are very proud of her.
But people are mean. They will call her a nepo baby, they will say that we wrote the books for her, and they will compare her work to our work, and on and on. Yes, advertising her work here would likely give her a big jump in sales, but at what cost? It is far better for her to launch without the baggage of Ilona Andrews attached.
Thank you so much for your interest. She was very touched that many of you asked, and she sent over a small snippet of an older work, not connected to anything, as a thank you. She says, “This is what I put mom and dad through while in school.”
Yes, she was that bad. Don’t ask me about the time she performed an exorcism.
“Are you mad at me?”
I put my stress ball in my lap and turned to my niece in the chair beside me, staring at her over the brim of my red-tinted shades. “I’m not thrilled.”
She slumped back against her seat, groaning. “Can we just get it out of the way now, please? I hate when you brood.”
“Okay. First of all,” I started. “I don’t brood.”
“I don’t want to fight. I had a really bad day.”
“Oh no! What happened?”
“Nessie. Don’t tease me.”
“This is the second time this month that I have had to drop what I’m doing, rush here from the Circle, and sit in this chair – awaiting to be informed of what a lousy guardian I am.” I straightened my cloak. “You can suffer my teasing.”
“Everybody’s overreacting! It wasn’t that serious!”
“Mhm.
“Nobody here can take a joke,” she grumbled. “Too bad their rich parents can’t buy the kids at this school a sense of humor.”
“Haley.”
“They’re so soft! I have to walk on eggshells around everyone!”
“Haley,” I tried again.
“And for being one of the ‘top performing Arcane Art academies in the world,’ this place is so behind! All the stuff we’re learning right now, you taught me and Griff when we were in freaking pull-ups!”
“Haley.” My stern voice came out. “You chased the headmasters’ son down the hall, with blood dripping from your hands. Whose blood, frankly, I’m scared to ask.”
“It was ketchup.”
“Well, they all thought it was blood. Probably because you were maniacally laughing and chanting, ‘I am blood mage, the madness calls for blood! I am blood-
I saw the lady at the front desk staring, the warmth draining from her face.
Damn it.
I smiled and waved. “Go Vampire Bats!”
She turned away, shaking her head.
“Great,” I hissed under my breath. “Now the front office at your expensive new school thinks I’m a blood mage. Friday’s PTA meeting is going to be a blast.”
“It was just a joke,” Haley muttered. “Everybody didn’t need to freak out.”
“Kiddo, you were frothing at the mouth.”
She threw her hands up, auburn curls bouncing around her freckled face.
“I already told them- it was soap!”
I blinked. “Soap?”
“Hand soap. The foaming kind, from the dispenser in the girl’s restrooms.”
I dragged a sweaty palm down my chin. “You poured soap in your mouth?”
“Sugar Citrus Breeze- blech.” She made a sour face. “Didn’t taste like sugar.”
“No, I don’t imagine that it would.” I sighed. “And you did this, willingly?”
“Yup,” she replied, popping her lips.
“To make it look like you were unhinged?”
“You’re always saying Dad’s problem is he can never commit to anything.” She looked me dead in the eye. “I committed.”
“I’ll be committed, if you keep this up. Between this charming, little stunt you pulled here today, and your brother terrorizing his classroom last week with the reanimated corpse of their beloved pet hamster -“
“It was a bunny.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever, bunny -“
“Sir Hops-a-lot, Duke of Carrotown.”
I sharply inhaled. “I can’t keep doing it, Haley. The Circle has been falling apart at the seams for weeks, now. You got to help me out.”
She looked away, her upper lip quivering. “… Sorry.”
I stared at the stress ball in my lap. Thin, purple fabric, all faded and torn. Yellow, stiff foam seeping out from decades old cracks. It had taken a lot of abuse in the last two months.
“So why’d you do it? “
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m hormonal. Or I really am crazy.”
“Hormonal? Definitely. Crazy? Eh… too early to say.” I would tackle the topic of not calling people crazy another time.
“But I probably am. It runs in the family.” She frowned. “He started it. He’s always calling me a blood mage. Says I’m gonna turn Corrupt. Like Mom.”
Little bastard.
“You won’t.” I draped my arm over her. “I won’t let you. Either of you.”
She rested her head on my chest. “But if I did… would you still love me?”
I held her tight. “Yes. We’d just put a muzzle on you and carry on. We are Cowls. Like you said, it runs in the family.”
I really love this!!!
Respect for your choices.
When kid 2 does publish, could we be informed of publishing period, genre, and form of publishing (e.g. ebook vs KU etc)? kind of a middle ground where the horde hasn’t descended but the worst that happens is a lot of good authors get noticed in a particular time frame? we’d have all sorts of fun speculating in the blog comments too.
I like your stuff and it stands to reason that while kid 2 will have her own voice there will be echoes of you in her writing the same way anybody is influenced by people they admire and work with. i like your voice because of the way you look at people, so I’d like a shot at finding kid 2’s book too.
This was a great bit of writing! I really enjoyed it! Just that snippet sucked me into the story and made me want to read more.
I’m looking forward to being able to read Kid 2’s first novel!
Wow. I’ll be reading her, too. She definitely inherited the Andrews’ dark humor, which I LOVE
this snippet has got me SO excited for her launch, whenever and however it comes!
That was great! Thank you for sharing! I would definitely like to read more of this.
That was a very enjoyable snippet. Thanks for sharing.
umn, this was awesomeness… probably not the right place to beg for more? 😘
Oh my goodness I love it kid 2 did a great job
That was funny and interesting. I liked it. If her published work is remotely written in that style I would read it … now: how to figure out which out of the many many many books coming out it will be in the future? I am more and more just reading things recommended to me – how can your daughters book be recommended to me if not by you? I do understand your reasons though and applaud them … I still wanna read the book at some point. Can you do something like: tell us like half a year later or so? (just wondering ….) 😉 But tell her to continue writing – the world needs good writers with a sense of humour.
I already want to know about blood mages, the circle, and everything else. Congratulations Kid 2. Hopefully I’ll come across your book organically. Good luck
I heard you Ilona, (here is the But)
Can we just know her nom de plume”
Awesome snippet! I would definitely read more.
Thanks for sharing.
I loved it. Would read it in a heartbeat! Here’s hoping for a hint when Kid#2 publishes. Need fresh blood.
Love it!
she is gonna do just fine
thanks to kid 2 for the snippet!
Yup … I’d read that one! So far I’m very interested
Well, drat it. Now I want to read that! Thank you Kid 2
Well, that was super fun! I would love to read more of that story. And it doesn’t read like an Ilona Andrew’s story – definitely has its own voice.
I hope someone leaks the title of Kid 2’s first book, I am interested to read it.
yes, I would like to read more of this story, please.
thank you
Hi. I just discovered this site in December and have been hooked with the Roman serial. That said, I loved the snippet. It’s so hard to find good story lines with humor in the genre. That’s why I keep rereading. Please, do give us some sort of hint or heads up when Kid 2 gets her debut! We can still make a choice to read or not. Thank you for all your writing.
Thank you Thank you. I so enjoyed that snippet, it made me laugh. Go Kid2 Go.
I really liked this. I need!! Gimmie more!!!
I would definitely read that! Rock on, Kid 2!!
That book sounds delightful!! I would love to read it. Sign me up for a copy!
That was a fun read. With your mentoring and her talent she should do well. Looking forward to stumbling upon her books in the future.
Would definitely buy whatever she publishes – based on her writing style, not because she is Kid2.
Also very curious to read about the time she performed an excorcism 😁.
Please keep writing and start publishing, Kid2!
Thanks Kid 2, I enjoyed that snippet & would like to read more!
WOW! This apple did not roll far from the tree. Most Excellent lead in for an impressive new Author! MORE! MORE!!!
Gosh! That was excellent!!
Ok. The kids story sounds awesome. Can’t wait to see the one the kid finished, in print.
omgeee! I love it so much! Such a perfect blend of wit and content!!!!!
I like it! And I also like your reasoning & process about assisting your kid. Makes sense to me and I wish her all the luck in eventually having a successful debut! Her style definitely has some of the flavors of yours, but it’s like she is making her own recipe. I’m excited to see where her literary baking goes from here.
I read a lot! My main problem with good writers are that I can read their yearly production in a week.
Do you know how hard it is to find good writers who fit my interests and have a OK quality? You need to buy and read trough so much muck!
This here «bad» work is way better than some om what I have been reading the last year. I know she is young, and I don’t expect the HA routine and finer touch, but I hate the tought of knowing that her work will be out there, and I need to go trough a pile of debutant books to try to find her! Help me out here, please! Can’t you at least get me on her mailing list?
I think she will be a really good writer!
agreed. At least let us know how to find her – drop us a breadcrumb please!!
And I want to read more (sighs). I hope I stumble across her book when it releases because I like how Kid 2 writes. I understand why she’s doing it on her own and can see why it’s a better option. I think she has “it”, whatever “it” is and I need more good books in my life.
Love this!!! Go Kid #2 gooo!
Love it- would love to know her pen name to check out her writing! Or if she has a blog
Love it! will look for their work!
yes it does run in the family.. prime ranking for kid 2.. 🏆
I loved the writing..it flows.. hooks the interest of the reader and keeps it there and when I finished reading, the reaction in my head was “noooo.. I want the whole thing:((”
so go ahead and promote her work…it’s worth promoting from the sample.. signed and attested from me a self proclaimed book worm🤓
Oh, I loved it! Now I wanna read it more!
Awesome!!! OMG! I can’t wait for Kid 2’s book. It truly does run in the family!!!
“Yes. We’d just put a muzzle on you and carry on.”
That’s the spirit!!!
I remember reading Anne McCaffrey’s autobiography and she said that one time she went into a bookstore looking for a specific new author and the clerk tried selling her some Anne McCaffrey books, knowing who she was, and then demanded to know why she was trying to buy a first work by a nobody author.
“He’s my son.”
ok. sign me up to whatever it takes to finish reading this. i need more details. this looks like a very promising line of pranks, and punishments, thats gonna have me in stitches, and scare the beeswax out of everyone i dont know….. lol.
Love it! Great job!
Kid 2’s work is awesome. Tell her the readers do not care about their family background. We just care about the stories. Kid 2 brings delight and happiness in a world that needs magic
The snippet was really good, I would definitely like to read more of Kid 2’s work. I wish her all the best for her debut!
Thank you for the much needed laughs. I enjoyed this and it made my own problems seem paler. Wishing her the best and that I stumble across her work once it is published.
Cheers.
I’d just have to say, I’d read this book!