Before anything else: MAGIC TRIUMPHS is out from Graphic Audio today. Yay!
Gordon’s surgery went well. We got home safe yesterday and today he is in the home gym, working the shoulder as the doctor instructed. The doctor was pleased and saw no additional need to do anything beyond the expected scope of the surgery. Gordon was very put out yesterday because they did a nerve block and he couldn’t move the arm.
The first thing my husband did when I pulled into the garage is squint at the trashcans on the curb, left there since Monday was the trash day. I told him that I would take care of the trashcans, so I got out and headed for the recycling bin. I pulled it back behind the wall and here is my husband dragging the other trashcan back.
I made him coffee and bought yummy Krispy Creme doughnuts and got him a strawberry shake because his throat hurt. He did things like pick up the dog and pick up packages. Apparently, “a man has to do things” instead of sitting on the couch resting his arm in a sling like he is supposed to.
I stressed out a lot about the surgery. We came in at 7:00 am, as instructed, at 9:45 am they took him away, and I went into the waiting room, where the patients were represented by numbers on the screen. Each number had a color code that informed you what stage of the surgery the patient was at. It was supposed to be a short surgery. When I got there, his name had a green code meaning that he was in surgery. 10, 11, 11:30… Then I get a text. Surgery is starting. By 1:00 pm I was kind of a basket case and I bought some yarn I shouldn’t have bought in a moment of stress. I need to block Wendy’s Wonders.
Anyway, we are home and it’s back to the writing. And admin. So much admin.
I have a fun challenge for you. This is a rough sketch of an actual intersection in a major US city courtesy of Candice Slater. Some creative liberties were taken with the height of the building, but other than that, it is right out of Google Maps. It’s an interesting intersection, because there is a pancake restaurant in that red building on the left and an IHOP over there under the blue roof.
There are some clues in The Inheritance as the the general location. More clues will be give in the upcoming installment. The first person to recognize this intersection and name the cross street will get a character named after them in The Inheritance. The character maybe a hero or a villain. Comments on the blog only, please. Have fun!
Edit Mod R: Winners have found the answer, in approximately 15 seconds! Congratulations, JoAnne and Anton, sharing the prize! The Horde is unmatched, Interpol should either hire us or watch us, not sure hehe.
Glad all is well! Hope Gordon’s recovery is smooth sailing!
I am so glad they got rid of the RICE protocol for injuries. They used to have you do not much for such a long time. After all that sitting around, rehab was somewhere between really hard and impossible. That said, I don’t think they were thinking of dragging trash cans…
He has a frozen shoulder with some other stuff, so the point of the surgery was to get him moving. RE trashcans: agreed. So agreed.
At least they are empty trashcans. You know he would have dragged full ones if it was trash night.
I don’t swear and never at my authorlords, and I never tell people what to do… but GD it. Gordon you need to take CARE of yourself and not over stress or you will wind up with great regrets, from a person with a semi chronic issue caused by not recovering correctly.
Agree completely with Oona. Don’t push too hard. After getting plates and screws in a broken and dislocated ankle, I thought I could just walk around in my moon boot, keep up my London commute without crutches getting in the way, overdo it in all regards basically, ended up with an infected screw from inflammation, back to surgery, and I now have a 50% loss of mobility (was 70% but twenty years of working at it). When doctors say to heal some particular way now, I do exactly what I’m told.
I’m so glad the surgery went well! I hope you have successfully unclenched as well.
Ooh, a scavenger hunt. Sorta. How fun! You are very good to us.
Is this in Pittsburgh? Liberty Ave?
I don’t really know what cross street means…argh…seventh ave?
Being support for someone in surgery is the pits. Glad both of you survived.
This sure reminds me of the IHOP on Halsted and Broadway in Chicago. I used to live near there and passed it all the time. I don’t remember any hints in The Inheritance however, so probably not the same place. 😉
Winner, winner, chicken dinner! Well done, so impressive, JoAnne guild member currently loading!
Congratulations, JoAnne K!
Congratulations to JoAnne and Ilona Andrews! 🎉I’m glad you got a JoAnne! Not that I knew the answer but I definitely knew they didn’t need another Jennifer.
I didn’t see this until today. I recognized Halstead. Chicago doesn’t change very often… 🙂
Can we get a clue for the puzzle? Is this the outside of the portal Ada went into? Or another location we haven’t seen yet but was mentioned somewhere?
N Halsted and N Broadway in Chicago.
Oh that’s it exactly – my compliments to Candice Slater that’s immediately recognizable as soon as I clicked into the google maps street view!
Accidentally posted it in the last blog post with the hint first, thanks for crediting it anyways!
Congrats! 🙂
Don’t think it’s this but awfully similiar in general appearance to Seattle’s Pioneer Square Flatiron Building – Pike Place, 1st Ave and Pine Street. Of course I haven’t been back for over 2 decades which may be why it looks similiar to my fuzzy memory.
That nerve block was the oddest feeling when I had wrist surgery done. It was like the whole arm was gone on that side, I could move it with the other arm but felt nothing.
Lots of positive healing vibes.
Yep — I also thought the Triangle building near Seattle’s Pioneer Square … but the buildings on either side are not even close … solid construction zones. Sadly no IHOP there …
Best wishes to Gordon for uncomplicated recovery and steady progress through prescribed PT. Best hope to Ilona to maintain your sanity through the process.
Are you in Chicago? Otherwise, it looks like Greenwich NY.
Glad Every thing went well with Gordon’s surgery, and I have to agree that the person waiting suffers the anxiety of the unknown as time drags as a snail 🐌 crawls.
wow, that was fast! congratulations JoAnne!
I have a husband like that. It will probably hit him tomorrow and be more tired, hopefully he will rest more then x
No clue on the junction, sort of looks like the flat iron bldg.
It’s in Chicago, the Halsted location at Halsted/Grace/Broadway near Wrigley.
oh gdi, I didn’t scroll through the comments first :sob:
I’ve been listening to Magic Triumphs today while doing admin (right now: doing my fellowship registrations for cardiology to start in about a month). I’m just about at the spot where Erra started sulking in the dagger. Poor Kate.
I love how Derek recovers his sense of humor just in time for Kate to regret wishing for just this eventuality (the fire interruption).
Ha, on two subsequent occasions!
I just listened to that part, too. I was laughing right along Derek. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
HEHE. This is like that video where you’re supposed to count how many times the basketball goes back and forth on the court, and you totally miss the guy in the gorilla suit. Is no one going to mention the monster eating the building? I take it the portal is going to break, or at least leak a little.
Glad everyone is doing okay. Can’t wait until Friday.
Many years ago, my then-husband had same day surgery on his shoulder (work related) and the process started at 6 am. Surgery went well, when he was settled in recovery I went home to walk the dog and feed the dog and the cat, and then back to the hospital to wait for discharge instructions. Got out of there around 9 pm – not bad for orthopedic surgery in the 1990’s. Pets were ecstatic to have their daddy home, even though he smelled like he’d been to the vet, which concerned them. They were very enthusiastic babysitters for the next few days, which meant sleeping on the hide-a-bed couch with daddy.
Glad Gordon is feeling better – even though the docs probably wouldn’t recommend it on the day of procedure – bet the dog was glad to be picked up and get a chance to personally check on daddy!!
Deep breaths, lots of tea, sending hugs!!
Buying yarn is therapeutic!!
So many congrats are in order – Gordon’s out of surgery and back at home, Magic Triumph dropped on GA, and Joanne has a well-deserved new job with the guild!!! I live in the Chicago area, have driven through this intersection more than once, and didn’t recognize it. Shameful.
I also wondered if the creepy critter on the building is a stalker, but it’s 2+ stories tall. Maybe the dragon escaped…
Glad to hear that Gordon’s surgery went smoothly, let’s hope that he’ll take it easy on his arm in the meantime! In a very manly way, of course 🤞💪😅
I’ve already started listening to the GA drop. So, so good!!!
Congrats on a successful surgery and the GA release! May his recovery be complete and timely! 🤗
Mod R, if Interpol has something they really need to solve, all they have to do is promise an IA reward and it’ll happen! 😄 Big, tough, cold case? Get them a bonus snippet, an ARC, or even just mention by IA and watch how quickly it gets solved! 😄
Glad to hear the surgery went well, now I hope the recovery goes swimmingly too!
So glad the surgery went well and hope the recovery is speedy!
Congrats to the 2 winners – I’ll be looking for your names!
Glad to hear his surgery went well 🙂 About 20 years ago I escorted a close friend to the hospital in another city. I sat in the waiting room for about 12 hours. After about 4 hours I had lunch. I was interrupted half way through by a nurse who asked me to come to a room where an administrator and what appeared to some other people waiting for me. My heart racing I asked what was wrong. They informed me my friend had passed away. I was shell shocked for hours afterwards. For some reason I did not feel like doing anything and kind of zoned out for about 6 hours.
Later that evening still wondering around the hospital I had dinner and as I was working up my nerve to start contacting friends and family and give them the news a nurse or some hospital admin walked up and asked me my name. They informed me my friend was in recovery and it had been touch and go. She had apparently passed away on the table more than once. I found her in recovery and she was not lucid and needed a few days to recover before going home.
Later that night I posted online about her being in recovery with photo’s to friends and family. That was very nerve wracking. I told her about it once she got home. The hospital later denied every talking to me scolding her for showing up alone. It was a confusing mess. But she is better now and living her life well.
What an emotional rollercoaster! Glad it all ended well!
Glad the surgery went well. Congrats to the winners! Cool they reconized it from Real Life. 😀
Congratulations on getting through Gordon’s surgery. I’m glad it went well.
I wondered if it was the Chicago area because of the mention of Elmwood Park in earlier chapters! There is also an Elmwood, IL further south near Peoria as well. Cool to see a Midwest setting!
Wait, what city is it??
Wow. The Horde astoundeth.
Speedy recovery to Gordon! And congratulations to the winners. That was super fast!
While we are talking Inheritance locations, is Elmwood a real or fictional place? I’m from Australia, so I didn’t immediately recognise it, and Google didn’t give a definitive answer. I was trying to get a rough idea of where “2,119 miles away from Elmwood” would be. Still inside the US? Somewhere north or south in Canada or Mexico? Maybe the final story could have a state listed for Elmwood at least. 🙂
Elmwood is real and they were still in the US 🙂
I had spinal surgery in 2009. It was supposed to take 4 hours. It was 8 hours before the surgeon came out and my then-husband was a complete wreck, certain I was dead or paralyzed in some fashion. The surgeon told my husband all about the wonderful new equipment the hospital had that he had been able to use. When I heard the story, my response was “so he was four hours playing with me and the new toys.”
Sometimes surgeons can be a bit less than understanding. :/
So happy everything went well. Wishing Gordon a speedy, uneventful, and complete healing.
it looks like the hotel on the corner in John Wick 🙂
So glad all went well with Gordon’s surgery!
All the best for a speedy recovery.
Also, so, so many of us have been there re: buying yarn while stressed. ♡
So glad that the surgery went well.
pop culture reference: media circus?
Your post made me think of it. This house was voted the worst for having to shovel snow but I also love it because it’s its own little island!
https://www.google.com/maps/place/5308+23+Ave+NW,+Calgary,+AB+T3B+1A3/@51.081427,-114.1625806,184m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x53716ee3a5500b65:0x98a733e5412ae9b5!8m2!3d51.0812777!4d-114.1624395!16s%2Fg%2F11c12j02vl?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDIxMi4wIKXMDSoJLDEwMjExNDU1SAFQAw%3D%3D
Glad to hear Gordon is doing well. I remember doing the waiting room thing and it is probably good that I couldn’t do on-line shopping. I would have bought out Amazon.
As to the street, have no idea except for the fact that if it is in Georgia it is either Peachtree or Peachtree crosses it.
Liberty Avenue, Seventh Avenue, and Smithfield Street in Pittsburg. #latetotheparty
Why not share where this location actually is?
Hi Kathryn, the location will be part of a future chapter of The Inheritance serial https://ilona-andrews.com/category/the-inheritance/
You can also read it in several comments, it is Chicago, intersection of Broadway and Grace street 🙂. It’s a game, and we still want readers to have fun playing.
Well it’s got red brick buildings which are eastern US plus in chapter 1 Ana talks about working up and down the east coast and American Elms were an east coast species (forester). That’s as far as I will go now except to my guess will be from Maryland south knowing our southern author team 😃
Thanks for updating us on the surgery!
Best wishes on corralling Gordon as he heals. I guess you could always threaten him with the BDH — “I swear I will call in the BDH to sit on you . . .”