How?
We have company coming. Gordon’s cousin is arriving to help out with the release and merch store. Frantic cleaning has occurred.
We had added website log to all the designs in the merch store because there was a string of comments wanting it and now we decided against it. It doesn’t fit into the designs and it seems like too much. So today my mission is to remove the logo from all 250 products in the store.
…
I hate the store. But the new designs actually do look like regular cute clothes. We still have very obvious merch, but we have this too.
I love this shirt. I don’t know, something something, childhood? I think I used to have a shirt like this. Anyway no matter how much we’ve tried, and we got creative with it, adding logo to this is just silly. It sticks out like a sore thumb no matter what color and font. So no logos. If you see ilona-andrews.com on there anyway, don’t buy it and let us know.
You will note some funky pricing. Some stuff is strategically priced at $16.99 or some nonsense, but a lot of times, we just figure out that we need to make at least $5 on a T-shirt to recoup store and designer costs, so you end up with something like $16.21 because that’s how much it cost to make the shirt plus whatever fee we stuck onto it.
The shipping is horrible. There is no way around it. It went up across the board and it is per item. We have a small discount section this time.
I know a lot of you like the Read Everything Award and requested it to be available in the store. We cannot do awards, but we can do small Christmas ornaments that look almost like medals. Would you like those instead?
::deep breath::
In other news, Maggie is official. It has been announced in the Publishers Marketplace.
Short and sweet.
In celebration of the announcement, I bring you Clover.
The day had barely started, but the market was already bustling. Early shoppers hurried among the stalls, still fuzzy with sleep and looking for specific bargains. Some merchants were setting up, others were already haggling with customers. Delivery people pushed their carts, transporting goods before the mid-morning rush. Beasts of burden were banned in the market, probably because nobody wanted to step in animal poop. Instead, wagons unloaded at the outer warehouses, and from there the goods were delivered by hand carts to the stalls.
Clover and I moved through it, she with a purpose in mind and I trying not to gawk. Redacted hovered over us, scanning the early morning crowd for incoming threats.
Most successful merchants self-organized by the type of goods they offered. Those who sold clothes rented a spot at the Clothes Row, those who made weapons and armor set up at the Smith Row, and so on.
We went to Clothes Row first. As Clover had laid it out before, the safest option was to hide in plain sight by pretending to be an ordinary household. I would be the “lady,” she would be the head maid, and Redacted would oversee security. We needed the right camouflage to pull this off. In Kair Toren, clothes weren’t just a fashion statement. They indicated rank and social position, and our current outfits were severely lacking.
Clover stopped by the merchant stall and picked up several squares of fabric in different colors. She looked at me, looked at the fabric, and held up a green square to my face. The merchant, a man in his mid-thirties, watched us. Clover frowned, held up a peach square to my face, then a burgundy, and went back to green.
“Green?” she said.
“Definitely green,” the merchant agreed.
Clover raised her brows at Redacted.
“Green suits you, my lady,” he told me.
“I’m going to need a bolt of green, a matching bolt of shade-down, with a half a bolt of complimentary brown,” Clover declared. “Three small bolts of the matching cord. And the notions.”
What was the shade-down?
The merchant nodded. “Two nomas and thirty dens.”
Clover opened her eyes wide and leaned slightly forward.
“It’s Julatian linen,” the merchant pointed out.
“Exactly. Why are trying to sell it to me at silk prices?”
“Silk?!”
They squared off like two duelists. I drifted a couple of steps away, to stand closer to Redacted before I got cut by verbal shrapnel. I had no idea if I was good or bad at haggling. I didn’t exactly have a lot of opportunities to haggle back home. Grocery prices were set. Utility bills were set too. Since the local indie store went out of business, books either came as files or were purchased at the local B&N by the Cheesecake Factory. No haggling opportunities there. Sometimes I made it to the Farmer’s Market, but I just paid whatever the posted prices were. Growing things took a lot of effort. It didn’t seem right to nickel and dime people over small jars of honey and heirloom tomatoes.
An older woman in an expensive dark purple gown strode down the street, flanked by two bodyguards. Her crest hung off her waist on a braided silver cord, an oval of lacquered wood with an image of silver antlers wrapped in a green vine on a field of deep purple. No clue who she was.
The bodyguards and Redacted looked at each other. They kept walking.
“Why are we here?” Redacted asked quietly.
“To buy bolts of fabric and matching cord, apparently.”
“I know why Clover is here. I’m asking why you are.”
I glanced up at him. “You had a point about the Treasury.”
“Mhm.”
“We need a trade. A product to sell,” I murmured. “I might have one. Also…”
“Yes?”
“I need some supplies for our next lucrative venture.” I put a bit of emphasis on lucrative.
“Same buyer?” he asked.
I nodded.
He leaned toward me slightly. “These are dangerous people, Maggie.”
Oh, he didn’t have to warn me. Solentine’s night visit was branded in my memory. He could’ve slit my throat without any effort at all. Worse, he could’ve fought Redacted, and nothing good would come from that. If he killed Redacted, Redacted would be dead. If Redacted killed him, the Shears would massacre everyone in the house in retaliation.
But we needed money. Serious money. And Solentine had a lot of money and a problem he couldn’t solve.
“That’s why I have a deadly blademaster on my side.”
Clover broke away from the stall. “Two nomas and thirty dens. He must think I was born yesterday.”
“How much did you settle on?” I asked.
“Eighty dens.” She snorted. “Come, my lady. We need to get some dresses and shoes.”
And that’s it. Wish me luck. I have a horribly busy weekend ahead.
Yay
Thank you for the immense detail on the merch store. It seems to be a giant labor of love for the BDH, and it is terribly appreciated. Looking forward to the Zooms next week.
What Fern said!!!
We so appreciate the store and opportunity for Merch! When I wear/use the merch, I always get intrigued questions from people I meet. Just doing my part to build the BDH! (Plus the designs are fun!)
Awesome start to my weekend, Thank you. And I wish you enjoyment of the moment when it’s all behind you because you’ve got this!
Will the merch store be for the US only? I’m in Canada, I understand if you do not do international shipping, it’s pricey.
The merch store is open for US, Canada, UK, EU, Australia. You can also do international shipping, although that ofc will cost extra 🙂 Here is a post that explains how to select the correct region 🙂 https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/the-merch-store-is-open/
I absolutely LOVE the concept of Maggie the Undying! Also, really like the Christmas ornament idea 😀
yes forgot to say a Christmas ornament would work. or even pin badges off that were something that would work
I thought it was Barsa, Barsa, Barsa. Maybe the r in the shirt looks like a p? or they modified it so no one could just copy the picture?
It’s just the font, it is a curly “r” 🙂
i got confused by this at first too!
A “p” in that font would have its tail below the other letters 🙂. It is an “r”.
the r definitely looks like a p to me too
AHA! Enlightenment. I am/was most confused.
Thank you for the snippet. And putting up with the merch store for us!
The ornament is a cute idea. I have one from another author, its paper but sturdy enough that its been 5 years and still looks good on the tree.
Thanks for the merch and the snippet!
GUESS WHAT? I bought the kindle Magic Gifts for Kindle Completeness and discovered I HAD NEVER READ IT!
I got a whole new Kate & Curran story when she was just starting Cutting Edge and before she came more fully into her power.
Thank you a million times! It is so good! For other horders, I wish you the same good luck!
Enthusiastically,
Claire
Yay! Secret treasure is the best treasure! 🥳
Barsa, barpa, whatever, I gotta get me one of them snail shirts! Happy Friday to one and all.
Thank you
Thank you, and may you have all the luck and enough hours in the day!
Thank you for the store. Also, thank you for the Clover snippet. I know you had to redact the name of the one with Maggie, but I laughed when reading the snippet.
Congratulations on the formal announcement. The Horde can celebrate again!
Silk prices for linen? I agree with Clover, that’s not happening. Even though fabric prices can’t be haggled in the fabric stores, I will wait until sales happen. Then I will see if I can use a coupon on top of the fabric sales. I also do the same thing with thread, notions, and other things a sewer needs. 🙂
Not much longer for Roman! Whoo-hoo!
Haggling – just one of the many issues that I would have if I were ever isekai’d. Sitting at a computer every day doesn’t really translate to very many practical skills. I now feel like I must devote some time to thinking about how I’d survive.
Good luck with your busy weekend. Hope it goes faster and more smoothly than you anticipate. And yes a Read Everything ornament would be great.
thanks for the snippet and I also vote for the Christmas Ornament. It can nestle in with the Breyers, Star Wars, and woodland Critters.
I will go with my blue Postbox and the child. 🙂
love Clover! and her bargaining skills!
Thanks for the snippet and dealing with the merch store for us!
Would love the award as a Xmas ornament!
Good luck with the release!
YES (for the Christmas ornament)- yes-yes-YES!
And Thank You!
The Barsa shirt just cracks me up. As for haggling, I once went with a coworker as she narrowed down her victims, er, car dealers. She pinned one poor unsuspecting guy with “I read the papers. I know you’re hurting. You can stick with your price quote and too many cars or tell your boss you sold a car for $10k less in a CASH deal.” She got her price and car. That was about 30 years ago and I am still in awe.
Excited for next week. Sending you virtual pots of tea.
I continue through pounds of paperwork, filing, and caregiving minutiae. There’s also cleaning, laundry, and grocery shopping to get to. I think I will spend time in my garden today.
I will look and consider everything in the store. On a whim I purchased ten Freaky Shit bags and four BDH cups. It took a week, all the bags except mine are on shoulders in several markets. I constructed a testing stick from ocotillo branches. I could have sold a bunch of them.
I don’t know where my whims will take me this time. I’m looking forward to it.
Best of luck with all. Love the snippet.
Thank you!!!
Thank you for the snippet! Keeping the BDH fed until the end of the month is much appreciated!
And thanks Mod R for the clarification as it really does look like a p and not an r – maybe just angle of photo?
I love this “Floating through the blog, picking up the snippets…”
Now I want a personal shopper and a deadly advisor. 😉 Will wait for Maggie with glee.
Mercha, Mercha, Mercha – love the shirt! Friday snuck up on me too, but the Maggie snippet makes me nostalgic for rabbit-hole reading when I was a teenage – after a trip to the library, with a stack of Sci Fi/ Fantasy books (that’s what we used to call them…) and no other plans for the day. Thank you!!!
👏 so looking forward to Maggie😍
Also, I never considered it until you mentioned an ornament, but I would LOVE an Innkeeper Ornament! I can totally picture a Gertrude Hunt Christmas Ornament 🤩
+1
+1
Ah! Maggie snippet! Happy sigh! Thank you!!
Book and shop next week! Yay!
Ahhhhh – thank you for the snippet. I hate to bargain (I know “they”will think less of me) but I love reading about someone who enjoys it 🙂
And, I’m excited for the merch store. Most of my bibliophileness is in the books and wall art or bookends – but I may branch out.
Enjoy your weekend and the company.
I don’t care one way or the other about the logo, but if people really wanted it on there, you could try placing it on the back of the shirts. It might be cost prohibited, but just a suggestion. That way they could have it on there, but it wouldn’t interfere with the design.
Thanks so much for all the love, care, and work you all put into everything! Looking forward to all the things to come! 🤗
For future, obviously not for this round of the store!
Thank you!!
Also thank you for all your time removing the logo. I am really looking forward to the super cute shirts! Thinking about it brings me a warm snuggly feeling of joy in the midst of my mundane day of chores.
I love Clover!
Happy Friday!! Congratulations on Maggie!
Every snippet makes me more eager for Maggie!
Next time you might want to create a tag with the logo and have it sewn on the inside. Cost effective-probably not. A suggestion that may not be feasible.
Would love any and all Xmas ornaments!
Thank you for all of your hard work creating goodies for the BDH!
Yay on it all. I’m sorry for all the craziness. Seeing the Publisher Marketplace call teh book Maggie the Undying, does that mean the name if official?
For now 🙂
Thank you for merchant haggling scene. 🤓
😍 Super thanks on upcoming merchandise store.
Oh my, yes to a Christmas ornament.
Hopefully you get to recharge your health batteries.
Off to deal with annoying real things, grr.
Thank you!
I can already see these characters as Mnahwa drawings in my head. The spunky, younger sidekick and the big, burly older bodyguard. Hehe. Fun
Have a nice weekend and thank you for putting up with the store for BDH.
I love my Consort mug. When I know I will have a tough day ahead I pick it up for my morning tea to have a little happiness boost. <3
Thank you very much!!!
have a great weekend
🙂
Laurence
And I quote: “because in Russia we view pessimism as an Olympic sport”.
Take a deep breath – the BDH is here to keep your spirits up!
Who is this redacted?, and when can we meet him?! Lol
Good luck this weekend. Take alot of tea breaks, after all you need to test the mugs. The tee is so in my cart🥰, I can’t wait for Tuesday!!!!!
We’ll get to meet them in 2026! 😉
Enjoyed the snippet muchos! So so looking forward to when this new series is available. Thanks! And again, so many congratulations!
Deep breathing relieves stress, or so I’ve been told hehehe. I don’t imagine anything will help until after the next week is over and the store closes again. I pretty much don’t buy things with logos if I can help it, so thank you for removing them. And I really think a Christmas ornament will be snapped up! Certainly I want one!
Wishing you all the luck with all the things. Many thanks for the snippet. I might have to name my next pet “Redacted.” 🤔
Please remind me – where did the “barsa, barsa, barsa” come from?
It is from the ending of Sweep of the Heart, Innkeeper Chronicles volume 5 🙂
Muckrats. The ones Dina had to hive her shoe for the Archivarius container. Barsa! 😁😂😂😂😂
give not hive her shoe. Maybe the Muckrats have a shoe hive that we don’t know about? 🤔
It’s not the muckrats, those guys were in One Fell Sweep, Innkeeper Chronicles 3.
The Barsa are the ones who operated the portal to the planet that Wilmos was held captive on. Their whole language is the word ‘Barsa’ over and over. It’s hilarious when Dina speaks their language.
That’s right. After a while everyone runs together especially when tired. 🤦♀️
Hey whatever happened with Wilmos? Did I miss it or forget it? Or has it not been concluded?
I think you may have missed it 🙂. He was saved at the end of Sweep of the Heart in a spectacular and arc-revealing way.
Thank you for asking! Everybody was having a blast and I hardly remember anything about this book. That’s what devouring does to you…I need to reread badly, but it’s hard to find the time.
But today will be good, the whole family will get together and we’re going to watch a Midsummer Night’s Dream in a beautiful outdoor theatre.
O. M. G. A snippet! Thank you😘😘😘😘
Thank you so much for the snippet! ❤️❤️❤️
May I put a question in the queue for potential post topics, since sometimes you reply to questions from the comments? I am wondering if you and/or the horde can help to recommend online yarn shops that would be a good source of solid, worsted weight yarn suitable for making Amigurumi, as the physical yarn store near me closed and my kiddo took up crochet. I searched the blog for yarn, but didn’t find quite the right store, and I’m too chicken to face Reddit 🫢
Because I speak russian, my brain read r p as R since that is how R is in cyrillic so I was fine. For some reason I imagined barsa as goats or am I mis remembering? a friend of mine who designed plushies did end up getting their logo on the inside tags. I have to keep telling myself that no more mugs, my cabinet will not handle them.
The barsa used the snail to operate the gate that transported Dina and Sean to rescue Wilmos. The barsa themselves had some goat-like bits. Barsa barsa!
Good luck with the merch store!!
I’m so excited about Maggie…
No-one else has said this so maybe I’m having weird deja vu or something, but did we read a version of this snippet previously? I’m not crazy am I? I feel like I commented on it even. If not then I’m having serious prescient feelings.
We have read a pre-edited version of this 🙂 . Sorry about your fortune teller hopes!
No, I’m relieved! I was a teensy bit freaked out for a minute but I’m glad it really was something I’d seen before. Heck, I was so distracted I forgot to squee over the pretty merch.
Does this mean there’s no dress that needs dyeing anymore? Or is this from a different scene? I was so invested in whether or not the dye would take when that snippet dropped!
Aaaaahhhh Maggie! I squealed and
spun around in my chair at work… and I work in a hospital. I am
so ridiculously excited
Udachi!
The barsa shirt is cute. Thank you. This truly is a labor of love by your guys.
1. After all that cleaning, don’t forget to say, “Please excuse the place; I didn’t have time to clean.”
2. Woohoo, I can’t wait for the merch store to open, but I’m sorry you hate it. But at least it will only be open for just a few days. 🙂
3. Sure! (re: the Christmas ornaments)
4. Thank you for that great snippet. I love Clover’s haggling. Man, I can’t wait until it’s up for sale- I’m so excited to read it!
I just wanted to thank the BDH. It’s been a very long week. I check the blog often and read every single comment. It’s amazing, but I always finish reading the comments with a smile on my face. I grin, I chuckle, I laugh out loud and sometimes I cry. Even though we’ve never met, I feel I’m part of a pretty incredible community. Thank Ilona,Gordon and Mod R for the blog and THANK YOU BDH for making me feel part of an incredible family. Have a great weekend! woohoo a new book to read just hours away!!
😊 You’re welcome!
To me that’s one of the joys of being part of the Horde. 🥰
I feel the same! I love coming here! It’s gotten me thru some bad things and brightens everyday.
I have all those same feelings. It’s so great to hang out wth the BDH!
Agree! 1000%
The snippet is awesome, but I have to say that my poor virus-plagued brain would probably even have been satisfied just with the leading pic about trawling the blog for snippets. I feel like grabbing those pearls and hissing “my preciousssss” every time you share a snippet with us!
And being in Australia, thank you for the efforts you make to source local suppliers for your merch. I have a glorious purple “the consort knows everything” shirt, which did prompt questions one evening in a country pub. Rest assured I extolled the glories of HA!!
Oh, yes, I love that pic! And the caption is great.
Yes on the Christmas ornament! Thank you so much for caring about everything. And for giving us a merch store even though it’s a ridiculous amount of work for you. Seriously, thank you. (And the snippet is wonderful as always!)
I think the ornament-that-is-like-an-award sounds really cool 🙂
Thank you for the snippet. Also for all your work on the store. The amount of effort you put into making your fans happy is amazing. I hope you get some downtime soon.
Since Curran becomes(became?) the Beast Lord this year, there should totally be a 2024 campaign parody mug. I’d buy that in a heart beat.
Thank you for the snippet!!
Is there anywhere you have photos of the stuff in the merch store? I’m in Australia and would love to see what you’ve got.
All the images of what is available will be on the merch store website when it opens next week 🙂. Including the Australia catalogue
Ooh, love the snippet. You guys always have great world-building!
I hope the shade-down will be explained in the book for those of us without much fashion sense. Is it maybe a color that’s a shade different from the first for creating depth in a piece?
Thank you a lot for the many blog posts, snippets,.. and all of your work (incl Mod R)
Best of luck fit the week ahead and thank you both for the snippet and also the opening of the merchant store. I think I need to set an alarm to check for it being open during this week.
I’m going to love Maggie! I just know it!
Horde Member feeling ravenous at the thought of waiting so long….
“Raaawwwrgh!”
Glad you are getting help, sorry it created more work for you!
So, the t shirt. I don’t understand – Barsa barsa etc. from Innkeepers I assume. So why does the t shirt say ‘Bapsa’?
Love the snippet. It goes well with the merch pics. Definitely want the BDH T. The “bapsa” t-shirt design is cute, but what does bapsa mean? I’ve found several acronyms, including Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association (BAPSA), Babson Asian Pacific Student Association, Board of Addiction Professionals South Africa, and Bangladesh Association for Prevention of Septic Abortion. I’m guessing there must be another meaning — one I’ve not found. My curiosity is aroused.
Read the other posts. This is clearly a reference to “Barsa, Barsa, Barsa!” I knew there had to be something other than what the Internet was dishing up.
I’m looking forward to the merch! I’m 65 and use a cane, but I need one of your shirts! LOL And yes to the Christmas ornament.
Unfortunately for House Andrews they will have to make Christmas Ornaments available from the Merch Store.
The Horde will be waiting patiently.
May you find great music to keep you motivated through the cleaning / merch store / pre-release craziness.
Maggie is official. Such sweet words. Sweet sweet sweet. Happ me!
IA, Thank you for the store. I understand what a pain it is. But the connection it gives us to you guys thru the day is immeasurable. I get such a big smile whenever I decide it’s a great day for a ferret heist. As I did today. 🙂
Hang in there! If there’s anything we can do to help, just holler!!!
Such exciting news! Many thanks for the unexpected snippet 🙂
I am very glad that my local B&N does not have a Cheesecake factory next to it, or might wind up weighing 300 pounds!
Congrats on Maggie being official! (I don’t care how reliable the other party is, things can still happen…)
I am looking forward to the merch store. I’m so sorry you don’t, but I am selfish that way. (I try to make up for it with patience about other things, but doubt it really helps.)
Totally off subject – I am getting very antsy for “Sanctuary”. Thank you for the story. I will probably start reading as soon as it hits my iPad. I hope I can sleep late the next morning!
I think I know what you’re going through. We have our two year old granddaughter visiting and she deigned to bring her parents and their pet parrots. Great times ahead!
so excited for the store to open! the snippet was amazing! 2026 seems far way, but will be worth the wait! ty ty ty
Good luck! May all your To Do list items be successful.
Luck to you and all around you!
Is there a link somewhere to the merch store?
The merch store is currently closed 🙂. It will not open until next Tuesday, when it will be announced on the blog.
The link won’t help much atm, I’m afraid https://houseandrewsmerch.com/
Good luck with all the prep for the book launch! And thank you for the snippet.☺️ Reminds me of the haggling scene in Silent Blade
Sorry about the rework of unbranding, but sooooo happy store is nearly open! Barsa shirt is cute & ‘under the radar’.
SQUEEEE! & CONGRATULATIONS ON MAGGIE!
Love the snippet! my Clover is a six month old baby menace, in the form of a Bernedoodle who we swear is also part cat. Can’t wait for merch, my stickers from last time being me great joy 😊
Frantic cleaning is the worse type of cleaning.
thank you for the snippet!
the read everything ornament sounds like an interesting idea!
much love to the BDH, i always love reading all the comments.
much sympathies with the frantic cleaning. sometimes that seems to be the only way my cleaning gets done.
good luck with the sanctuary release and merch store opening. hope it doesnt get too crazy.
It’s probably too late now, but you could put the logo on the back just under the collar thee way Life Is Good t-shirts do.
REDACTED is my new favorite character ever.
I’m behind on reading posts because of the Olympics. I of course found time to buy and read Sanctuary. Love the merch, love the sneak peek, and love the new novel. You guys are killing it! Hang in there ❤️