ILONA ANDREWS

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author

You are here: Home / Blog / Nothing Changed

Nothing Changed

Blog, Just Life POST A COMMENT by

I was looking for something and came across this post from 2009. Literally nothing has changed. I am slightly shocked.

2009

Okay.

I am going to open the document, use my supreme mental powers, and the book will write itself.

Me – knitting.

The book – writing itself.

We’re all clear on everything, right?  Everybody knows what they have to do.

::opens document::

Any time.  Aaaaaaany time now.

Any time.

2020:

I am having the devil of a time getting into RUBY FEVER. I just don’t want to work on it. I don’t want to work on anything right now, period. Also I just started knitting a new crop top for the kids. Not sure who will claim it.

2009

Gordon demanded a hair cut.  Because you know, 1/2 inch of hair is too much.  So now I cut it all off, and he has a high-and-tight.

2020

This morning, only a few minutes ago:

Gordon: I need a haircut.

Me eyeing the 1/2 inch of hair on his head.

Gordon: It’s time to cut it all off.

2009

Jeaniene sent me GODIVA chocolate.  I just want it to be known that I am getting chocolate, yarn, and Book Nook for Christmas.  Clearly, I will be losing no weight the following year.

2020

My life is a loop. O_O

NEVER MISS A BOOK RELEASE

Join 30,000 Subscribers

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO
PUBLISHING NEWS

New book releases, give-aways, and appearances.

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO
BLOG UPDATES

Free fiction, snippets, and funny stories.

Read our Privacy Policy.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Knitting, Chocolate, haircuts, and bestselling books. There are worse loops to be stuck in.

  2. “I am having the devil of a time getting into RUBY FEVER. I just don’t want to work on it. I don’t want to work on anything right now, period” – so don’t. Give yourself some breathing space.

    I know we are all super extra in the BDH but we also know you need to take a breath.

    Merry Christmas, Happy New Year.

  3. My Facebook memories show me the same pictures of my family holiday baking adventures from different years. I love seeing the traditions moving into the future.

  5. My brain has been objecting to getting work done all month. I’m so over it and hoping that entering 2021 will magically fix this for me.

  6. You and Gordon,your books and your family have helped me through some dark times.When my Mother was dying,I would check your blog and the FB page of Orphaned .Wildlifeat the end of a hard day.From 2003 to 2013,Jimbo the Kodiak Bear and
    all of you gave me reason to smile and
    be happy.You still do.The comments are happy making too.Except for a few ratbags,who don’t understand
    good manners towards the host and
    hostess.Thank you Ilona and Gordon
    for making this year brighter????and I
    Wish you,your families and everyone
    who follows you…A VERY MERRY
    CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!
    ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

  7. The shock of seeing what I was doing in 2009 and realising the same was in repeat now. Thanks facebook.

  8. At least your loop doesn’t include anything or anyone being hurt or sad. And I would gladly have chocolate in any loop. Seems a bit slow compared to your books????

  9. Gordon knows that there is no shorter haircut after a straight shave, right? Makes me nervous for the loop of 2019. But chocolate tends to make things right again…

  11. Wasn’t it Steven King’s Tommyknockers(?) that had the typewriter that typed the story as the writer thought it? He wrote that decades ago. Why hasn’t anyone jumped on that idea?

    • Aha! The idea has come to people. They call it “voice recognition” and the computer types whatever you say. Except sometimes, it doesn’t. Heaven help us with homonyms and odd names and words foreign to the language it knows. My sister thinks she’s fooling someone into believing she types her e-mail, but an English Lit with a Doctorate does not confuse “to”, “too”, and “two”, so we all know. Not to “rain, rein, reign” on the parade, but you have to go over everything it types with a fine-toothed comb before you can release it. During a momentary lull in my sister’s dialog with her iPad, her dog barked and the thing obediently typed “f***” (but without the asterisks) because that’s what it heard when the dog barked.

  14. It could be worse. Though the writing issue would be a problem if I didn’t know how many books etc. you and you partner in crime have written in the last 11 years.

  16. ‘What goes around comes around’ … my mum used to say.

    I don’t mind if thats chocolates .. weekly dose will do, thank you . ????

    Merry Christmas & may family love & joy fill your house this season. ???????? ???? ????

  17. And a nice loop it is except for the book writing itself! Take some time off and enjoy Christmas! Looking forward to reading your new book in January.

  18. Last year at this time I was working in Hangzhou; it was a regular class day, and we had been warned not to talk about Christmas in class or display any Christmasy things in our office. I put Frosty the gdmd snowman on my door hehehe. It’s a political town and most of my students were connected as well as the admin (except my boss, who was American). This year, I just came back to the other side of the world after the door closed for 10 months and I taught online. I have been teaching 60+ hours a week since last February. I’m done. I totally hear you Ilona. So the question is, do you program in good down time on a regular basis? I think that I need to figure out better how to do it (the workload is too heavy here, but I’m figuring out a way to lessen it) and to adhere strongly. Remember the Yin/Yang symbol? The tadpoles blend into each other, and there’s no yang (strong vibrant energy) without a good dose of nurturing and relaxing yin… Now to go lie on the floor for about a week. Grading done. Semester over (now on a Murican schedule even though still in China).

  20. Life is circles. Circles, circles, circles. But hey, if you’re happy and get good chocolate, does it really matter? ????????‍♀️

    (I may be having a very apathetic day….)

  22. Y’all have a peaceful, laughing and loving holiday. Put the book away for a bit. Eat the chocolate. Knit. Watch movies. Take a breath. I will be rereading your books which removes me from the present world for a bit. Thank you for that relief.

  24. You’re probably right, but it was a good year, right?
    Better than this one certainly. 🙂
    The best thing about looping from 2009 is that all the days are the same.
    Christmas is on Friday, just like it was in 2009. LOL

  25. The more things change, the more they stay the same. I’m reading Steel’s Edge today, and counting the days until your next book comes out. I can’t wait. ❤️

  29. Hey IA
    Take a break
    Have fun
    Enjoy the holidays
    No need to do something you don’t want to
    Let’s take a breather ????

  31. Sounds about normal to me. Will it break your deadline to let the book go for a week or ten days?

    Merry Christmas! And may 2021 be everything you hope for.

  33. Here is something charmingly different for our esteemed authors and the BDH to view:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiRZPSX4QCY

    I have no association with the creators or benefits from recommending the short film; I just adore the story and the characters. I hope they make you smile too.

    Happy Holidays and a Re-Freshing New Year!

  35. My husband does the exact same thing as Gordon, only he goes a full inch, and down to bald. And I HATE it. He doesn’t have the right skull shape for clean shaved. Sometimes I can convince him to let it get as long as 1 1/4” before he starts talking about how it’s time to buy round eyeglasses and tie-dye shirts because he’s such a hippie.

  36. I too am reliving the past. I read all the KD books, via the library. Now I am reading them again. Only difference is this time I bought them.

  37. This is way too funny! I feel like this whenever a “revisit this day 5 [10… 15…] years ago” photo pops up in my notifications. HAHAHA.

  38. It’s not a loop, it’s New Game +. You still have all your skills, but the storyline remains unchanged except for the newly unlocked hidden bosses.

  39. You can’t write Ruby Fever with all the stuff going on right now, no matter how dedicated you are to getting it into motion. We’ve got Covid, we’ve got vaccines that may or may not work, we’ve got holidays where most of us will spend the days alone, and Gordon’s long hair is impeding his thinking process.

    When you announced that Blood Heir was done and packed off to the publisher, I told you to take the time until after January 1 to recharge. Blood Heir came out fast because you had taken YEARS to consider what may have happened to Julie when she rode off with Kate’s grandmother. Ruby Fever has to tie up a lot of loose ends in Catalina’s life, and it will take a lot of consideration to do that, so don’t try to write it until it has had time to gel into something worth writing in your head. I would personally love to read the finale to Catalina’s story, but you have to write things that are on your mind. Suddenly, your mind is clear of Julie, other than to wonder if it will sell. It will. And after you take some time off, you will turn back and Ruby Fever will write itself and you can put it into a file and that will sell, too.

    Now everybody should keep this in mind for future reference: When you get old, you can’t eat the things you love any more. Your body rebels, and all that weight you think you need to lose will fall off your body because food will lose its appeal. I got sick, and it happened to me, and I am desperately trying to regain some weight as I make clothes to fit my new scrawny body just in case I never get that 45 pounds back. My doctors warned me that my organs would stop functioning if I didn’t start feeding them, so my diet differs from your weight loss diet, but it’s a special diet, just the same. Eat the chocolates. Feast on holidays. Sleep as much as you can.

    Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. said it well. “Death tugs at my ear and says, ‘Live. I am coming.'”

  42. I totally related to your post in regards to wanting to get of this merry go round ???? except for the knitting I’munable to knitting to painful unfortunately. As such I do more reading I am looking forward to Ruby Fever but hey if you need to take a break from writing, better for you to rest and relax ????, Hope you and your family have a lovely Christmas & New Year with thanks
    Sincerely

  43. That is absolutely the funniest post yet!! Take the holidays to relax, decompress, knit and enjoy your family. You deserve it. Have a Happy Holidays to you and your family. May your New Year be more peaceful and have many books that write themselves!!

  45. Enjoy the sameness. Especially if its chocolate and yarn and a book nook.
    Does Gordon also complain about his head being cold after the hair cut. Hubby has been in the USMC 18 yrs now and half inch bothers him too. But even though he run hot, he will complain about hisnhead being cold after his weekly cut and even sleep with a his uniform fleece watch cap.

  46. 2009. My twins were 2. I would drive them 30 min to Wimberley so they would fall asleep, then sit in the parking lot of a quilt store and read Kate Daniels (or Nalini Singh) until they started to wake up. Then drove back home (30 more minutes of quiet, yay!).

    When they entered elementary school I drifted away from reading. This year they are 13, and home ALL THE TIME, and I discovered there were 5 more books in KD I hadn’t read. And the Innkeeper Series! And Nevada!1 And Catalina!11!

    So you have saved me. More than once. I do not mind at all if you repeat your awesomeness of 2009.

    Also, Catalina seems like the type to enjoy letting someone else take the spotlight. Let her have a break, let Jules take the pressure off, enjoy the moments of peace available to you. It’s not like we’re going to love the next book LESS if it takes longer!

    Put your own mask on first. Also, eat your favorite chocolates first. And have a lovely holiday.

  48. Savour the similarity and enjoy the chocolate. There is not enough chocolate in the world right now.
    Sadly I’ve got no similarities happening right now. I’ve certainly never had a Christmas where after watching the news we get worried that no fresh goods will be available due to France blocking our border and 500 freight lorries trapped at Dover. Not to mention there will be zero Christmas family visits due to London being in tier 4 restrictions.
    And I really hope I never have a similar time again. I’d rather read history than live it. I currently know four people with confirmed covid19, 2 of those are really sick, one doesn’t even feel slightly unwell, the fourth is just mildly ugh, and a further three other people I know have got symptoms and taken tests but have no results yet. It’s scary times we live in. We should all appreciate the things we’ve got and remember those we’ve lost and send love to the those we still have.
    Keep safe everybody and enjoy the holidays.

  49. Have you tried Neuhaus chocolates? Years ago they had a store in a very upscale mall in Orange County, CA and it was literally the best chocolate I’ve ever had. Amazon sells it now, if it hasn’t changed I HIGHLY recommend. The hazelnut chocolates, drool..

Skip to content