I can’t put up a tree this year, and it’s gnawing at me. There is no point in putting it up, because we are probably moving in less than two weeks. Hoping the contractor will get on with the floors, because we would like to move in before Christmas.
Every contractor I’ve ever hired, with exception of two, has to be prodded. I have gotten to the point when, after reminding them 3 times to do something, I automatically switch to raging bitch mode, and then miraculously they start doing things to placate me. I resent this, because I don’t enjoy being a raging bitch.
I have a mysterious piece of art in progress for you.
What is this, you ask? Nobody knows. Ooo, mystery! We are having to wait while it’s done, and it’s kind of difficult, so now you can be waiting with us. I spread annoyance to the world.
You know what else I’m waiting on? Finishing this novel. We’re about 15-18K from the end, and it’s full steam ahead, and I want it to be done already. We know how it all ends, and Gordon and I just need to vomit it on the screen. I am super stressed out, because Kate is super stressed out. People sometimes ask if the emotions from the characters bleed over. They do. To be able to write emotions convincingly, you have to experience them. So like Kate, I’m super irritated by everything. Kate, at least has an excuse.
I knew the magic was up, because my aunt exploded into our bedroom and roared, “The child is missing!”
I sat bolt upright on the bed. Curran groaned. I realized I was still naked from last night and pulled a blanket over my chest.
“Knocking,” I told her. “Privacy.”
She glared at us. “This is no time to have sex! Your son is missing! I can’t feel him.”
Kill me, somebody. “He isn’t missing. He’s across his street with his other grandmother. You can’t feel him, because I strengthened the ward on George’s house to mask his presence.”
She squinted at me. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I went there yesterday to check on him around one in the morning. I saw him sleeping. Grendel is with him. There is enough werebears in that house to hold off an army.”
Erra considered it. “Very well. Also Redacted and some blond woman are in the car in your driveway, talking. You should probably do something about it.”
She turned and swept down the hallway, right past the remnants of the door she’d broken.
I turned over and bumped my head on Curran’s chest a few times. “Why me?”
I have no excuse. Snarling at the total strangers in the grocery store and internet “because I’m trying to finish my book” isn’t exactly going to win me any friends. So I am going to hide at home today, mourn the lack of Christmas tree, and try to write until I fall over.
Not having a Christmas tree sucks.
O K ‘ Buttercup’, let me just say . . .
Your sweetness & light are a challenge to the dark of our world,
You have overcome the joy & freedom of rampant ‘itchiness & so
You must be tormented until the inner kernel is exposed & they can return
to their knowledge that no one is exempt . . .
Waiting is not an exquisite torment until the moment prior to the reveal
Until then it’s something to look forward to, praise god it Will happen
and the answer to Kate’s query is heart simple, she wanted family
What was she thinking, & what could she possibly remove?
Thanks for sharing your joy
Oh gosh erra! I enjoy her banter with kate alot! Thank you. 🙂
You could get a small one that would fit in a trash bag fully decorated then pop it in and move it when ready. (Been there, done that).
Good suggestion. But might want to use the non- breakable ornaments for this one. (Tiny snicker). Want this tree to help the stress levels, not raise them.
Love the snippet. But what’s amazing is that Kate could talk Erra down by just a couple of reasonable statements. Erra didn’t seem to be in a reasonable mood.
This is exactly what I was thinking! My parents actually had a tree exactly like this, so they wouldn’t have to decorate it every year.
That’s what I was going to suggest, too. I had one like that when I was studying in another city and knew I’d go home for Christmas anyway, so putting up a big Christmas tree in my small flat wouldn’t have made sense. But the small one kept the spirit up. 🙂
Yep. Adjust your standards for 2 weeks. Find a pretty small tree with or w/out ornaments, this can be found, brought home, set up, etc. in 2 hours.
Then finish Kate 10.
Merry Christmas!!!!
Good luck with the move, don’t envy you. Moving is awful at any time, but Christmas? That calls for hard core therapy ?. At least you won’t have to contend with blizzards and frozen pipes and icy roads and furnaces deciding it’s too cold for them to work properly…
That piece of art… The bit on the top right looks just like the flower I have on my Swiss cheese plant (yes, it flowers in Scotland ?). Am I right?
Wow, that looks both alien and tropical! I must do a little digging (ha, see what I did there?) on this one.
Oh, btw, I just assumed the art was a teaser for the next INNKEEPER. *fingers crossed *
It’s a hand drawing a sword. The sword has a face on it. Is it alive?
Ilona, buy a table top tree at Sam’s Club or Costco. Pre-decorated. Put it in your office, so you can smell the green. Take it with you when move, and plant it at your new home. A promise of better things to come. 🙂
Great idea! I need one of these at work.
Obtain some of those plastic headbands that go over the head from ear to ear, some green and red pipe cleaners, some christmas tree star decorations, afix star decorations to headbands with pipe cleaners (take care how you twist the pipe cleaners, you don’t want the ends digging into your scalps). Obtain some silver tinsel and wrap it around some sort of either christmassy top, or one that’s green, and afix it with appropriate clips. (I have a white t-shirt with ‘Hugs! Hugs! Hugs!’ written in red on it that is usually worn during christmas celebrations).
Hey Presto! You *ARE* the christmas tree.
If you really miss the smell, find the nearest pine tree on public land. Attempt to climb it. I think it unlikely you’ll succeed, but the attempt should give the grazed knuckles that handling any pine trees usually results in, which should rid you of the desire to be around pine trees.
The headbands might be too much trouble. I can see hairs getting caught up in it. An alternate is just to look for some pre-made christmas themed hair thingimajigs. I saw some christmas pudding hair ties on a web page somewhere…
Or, another alternative, buy a miniature pot plant/tree (cactus maybe?), stick it in the middle of the kitchen table. Hey Presto! Miniature, portable christmas tree!! (With little to no clean up!) Try to only look at it from the side of your eye and rely on your belief that it is, indeed, a christmas tree.
PS. That wasn’t Roland wearing an illusion of Erra, to which Kate just told the location of her son to, was it?
Hopefully not because, ugh, breast-flashing your dad … (shudder).
If you don’t like a small desktop tree then perhaps you have an outdoor tree you can decorate? They have all sorts of decorations of food stuff for critters so you won’t have to “undecorate” it when you move.
I have’t had a tree since I moved out on my own 30 years ago. Apartment living does not provide adequate storage space for decorations that are only used 1 month of the year. I do like going to Christmas Markets for the holiday spirit – especially the ones in Europe where you can wander around drinking hot mulled wine at night with all the lights on. The one at the Vienna town hall (Rathaus) is my favorite so far.
https://www.austria.info/uk/things-to-do/skiing-and-winter/christmas-markets/christmas-markets-in-vienna
Enjoyed the scene with kate, you could buy a small potted Christmas tree or they sell rosemary cut into christmas tree shapes this time off year.Walmart sells tiny artificial trees and ornaments for desks that would also work.
Go to Michaels, or Walmart, or Target and buy a small 2 or 3 foot Christmas tree and decorate it. It is amazing how much better you will feel. I have 8 of them all over my office at work.
After all the suggestions about decorations I won’t touch that, except to say I hope you end up doing something and feeling better!
As for the contractors and raging bitchiness – if that is what it takes to get something done, go with it! I know you said you don’t enjoy being a raging bitch but try to use those times when the contractors force you into it as a relief from all the stress you are under. I also agree with the comment that you should only give 1 try before going to the raging bitch mode. You already know through experience you are going to have to go there and you will save time and some added stress.
I hope whatever happens you are able to make the move before Christmas. I also hope you and Gordon have a wonderful Christmas with family and friends!
The picture is of an armored wrist & hand holding a cool sword with a wicked face on it. Some of you may not be able to make out details depending on the device you are using to look at it. I am suitably intrigued and will be anxiously awaiting further information regarding this. My imagination went right to the Innkeeper series as well as some others did.
As always, thank you for the snippet. I LOVE Erra and her interactions with Kate!!
My Christmas wish for you is for you to be in your new home (with new flooring complete) by Christmas so you and your family and friends can begin the first in hopefully a long tradition of happy holidays together there. I also hope the peace and hope at the core of the meaning of Christmas is able to help soothe some of the stress (a massage from Gordon wouldn’t hurt! ?). Hugs ??♀️
Could you get a small easily moveable Christmas tree instead?
I would like you to meet Bobby, our Christmas tree this year. We are moving exactly 2 weeks from today (what!!) so I feel your pain. The kids pulled him off my MIL’s gorgeous tree, named him, stuck him in a vase and each put a decoration on him. My kids are definitely rolling with it better than I am. ?
Get a small tree for the table. Be happier!
I don’t have my Christmas tree up yet either. Divorce sucks and I have been too depressed. Also, one grammar error from the snippet:
Yes. I went there yesterday to check on him around one in the morning. I saw him sleeping. Grendel is with him. There is enough werebears in that house to hold off an army
Should be “There are enough…”
Thanks for the snippet—it made my day!!
I love the Kate Daniels books so much!!! I don’t know what I will do when I am done reading them all. 🙁
I enclosed my cat’s christmas tree photo.
Thanks, Melissa
Cheap and easy alternative for the tree. Easy to make, easy to undo.
And pretty…..
Love that idea!!!
We had one of those 4′ $40 pre-lit trees made for outside as our main tree last year because we moved 2 days before Christmas. We set it up on a box of books and put our full sized treeskirt around the box. I think it came out really cute and took maybe 15 minutes (we put a few of our favorite family ornaments on it). Good luck with the move! We thought it was the best present ever to have our new house for Christmas and was totally worth the extra effort. 🙂
Put up a tree now! It can be a Second Advent Sunday Tree…That’s what I would do…and eat cookies and drink hot chocolate under it while growling at the book to write itself faster. No need to wait until Christmas when you can enjoy your tree now 😉
We put up Christmas tree on the Christmas Eve and it keeps up till the Three Kings 6th of January. I can’t see a reason to put it up earlier, because it looses it’s magic with every day.
It would be a sad world if the magic was dependent on a specific date… Magic is where you find it – for one of our palliative care patients we once put up a Christmas tree in july – and it was the greatest christmas ever celebrated.
If you follow your snarl in the grocery store with “I’m Ilona and working on the last Kate Daniels book,” it will TOTALLY win you friends 😀 😀 😀
That art! (if you don’t already know how to enlarge your screen view hit CTRL and then + several times in a row) Oh my gosh. Awesomest sword EVAH! I hope it’s sentient.
Dragon. The unknown picture, I mean. Though your energy when confronting contractors could apply to that word as well. So, not a raging bitch but a forceful dragon getting things done. ??
I’m so excited to read about Erra and Conlan! And I think the sword is a vampire sword of some kind
You need a ceramic lighted Christmas tree.
https://m.bedbathandbeyond.com/m/product/ceramic-led-vintage-christmas-tree/1061260450?keyword=ceramic%20christmas%20tree
?
I literally NEED this book! I’m so excited to see what happens. It’s the last book in the series isn’t it?
B&N has a link to pre-order and a blurb about what to expect in the Magic Triumphs…https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/magic-triumphs-ilona-andrews/1126974320?ean=9780425270714#/
— hang in there!
YAY!!! It’s so good to hear from Erra! I was wondering if we’d see Erra in this book. I had no reason to think we wouldn’t, but she hadn’t shown up in any snippets yet. While I can’t wait to read Magic Triumphs, I will be here waiting for it no matter how long it takes. Thank you for the snippet, I needed that 🙂
Think of it this way:
You don’t have to clean up after the Christmas tree!
Or you can do a Charlie Brown Christmas tree….
Thanks for the snippet!
Wait, wait! I know who that is in your picture!
Channel your inner Azrael, and then, you’ll feel better having gained something for your troubles.
I hope your transition goes better. -C.
Ooh, ooh, ooh! I want to make a guess on the picture! It’s an arm and hand grasping a blade with what looks like a living being on the knife/sword. Could be Erra, or an artist’s rendering of Sarrat. The outline and placement suggests a Russian sickle/scythe. We do know from the first book that Kate was meant to be her father’s gift. She could also be the embodiment of death if the ancient enemy has returned. There is detailing on the sleeve of the arm suggesting three things: armor, overlapping scales, and a pupa representing growth, change, and rebirth.
I feel your frustration. We are moving into our first home next Wednesday. My spouse informed me we will not be getting a tree because of all the house things we have to do. My first Xmas without a teee in over 25 years. The husband is not my fav person right now. Grrr. Thank you for sharing the snippet.
Good luck on your move! Hope everything gets done in time for you to be in your new home by Christmas.
Annnnnd super stoked for this book! Bittersweet eagerness for its arrival. Thank you for the snippet
So, are the strangers in the car Nick and Desandra?
One year we couldn’t put our tree up for multiple reasons: my friend’s Lab puppy was staying with us while she and her family moved into their new house (let me just say Lab tails and trees are not a good combo), a not quite 1 year old who could, and would, climb anything she thought was climbable, and our own moving date of Dec 27. I was so bummed and depressed that I decided to get creative. I pulled out a couple of boxes of ornaments, went and bought some green garland (I didn’t own any garland), and some 3M hooks. I hung the garland from the 3M hooks all around my living room and hung the ornaments from the garland. It was quick, I could still enjoy my favorite ornaments, the dog and child couldn’t reach them, and it was so quick to pack up afterwards when we moved.
Hi, thank you for the snippet!
I have a question, somewhat random to this post, but not sure where else to ask.
Where did Grendel live after Andrea and Raphael got together but while Kate was still at the keep? I searched, and he is only mentioned once in all of Magic Breaks (when Curran says Grendel can anoint people with his vomit). So, since today is an awful day and reading about puppies is the only silver lining, I wanted to ask you.
Thank you so much! Reading your books makes me very happy and in fact, I am currently re-reading the whole KD series because it makes me feel better about, just about, everything.
Ohhh! Nice suspense there! And I feel your pain on the no Christmas tree this year. I’m in the same boat. 🙁
Is Erra getting more powerful?? Since when does she break doors? Wouldn’t she just appear out of thin air? And why specify ‘other’ grandmother? Martha is the only grandmother, isn’t she? Hhmmmm…
The torture! The joy! The anticipation!
I’m in the same boat. My moving van leaves the 22nd and doesn’t deliver to the new house until the 28th. I can tell my youngest is really disappointed.