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Question Ladders

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Ladders actually don’t have much to do with questions, but our house is full of scaffolding again, so at least I can get a catchy title out of it.

How are your pets?

The household is in a bit of a disarray, and all of our animals are weird after being boarded. The cats are very needy. Tuna sits on everyone or in front of everyone and gets her feelings hurt when we move her.

Oliver runs around sporadically and tries to pee in strange places. Yay tile floors – best decision ever. Salem has a thyroid issue and the vomiting issue, as I’ve told you before. We solved the vomiting with very soft food, but her unintentional weight loss plus thyroid issues, which are not quite severe enough for medication according to our vet, are making her always hungry. Every couple of hours she comes and gets us for more food. We are feeding her high calorie pouches, which come in small portions. She can’t have an entire can of cat food in one sitting. Every two hours, “Meeeeow!” and then one clawed foot hooking your leg just in case you missed the shrieking.

Charlie, the French bulldog, must’ve barked himself hoarse, because his bark is a lot deeper now. He is mostly pouting. Nykie is clingy. By the way, Nykie was sold to Kid 1 as a cross between Shih Tzu and a Dachshund. It kind of made sense when you look at her. She is the black one. I always thought it was Dachshund and Scottish Terrier.

We did a doggie DNA test. Umm. There is poodle in there, and some other random things, but the key take away and her largest traceable percentage is pit bull. She is 40% pit bull.

I want a retest. I do not see any pitbull in there.

Sookie, the big bulldog, refuses to come inside despite the 100 degree heat. It’s not good for her short nose, but she loves it. It must feel good on her old joints. She is partially deaf now and doesn’t see that well, so picture me trudging around the property in 105 degree summer going, “Soookie! Who is a good girl? Sookie is a good girl! There you are. Bring your simple butt inside. Mosey over here. Mosey faster. Don’t make me go and get you. OMG, dog.”

So yeah, boarding, not fun for anybody.

Art by the incomparable Luisa Preissler

For animal mages like Cornelius, will the animals to which they are strongly bonded live a longer life? Will they live as long as the person to whom they are bonded?

No, all the animals have normal life spans. The great tragedy of the pet bonding is that they will be with us for all of their lives but not for all of ours.

The summoner mages who can pull creatures from the arcane realm, do all the mages pull from the same realm or are the realms unique to each mage? Do the mages grab just whatever they can from the realm or do they picture what they need?

Nobody knows that much about arcane realm. It is the same for all the mages and they all can pull out similar creatures. The exact nature of summoning will have to wait until we write another book. If we ever decide to return to Hidden Legacy.

Are there magic healers in the Hidden Legacy world?

No. That’s why the stakes are so high.

Can Rogan and Nevada speak telepathically? I mean he can pick up her thoughts and project to her. So could Nevada concentrate on a question and then Rogan could project a chalkboard in her mind with the answer written on it?

Rogan’s projecting is weak and vague, and he isn’t 100% in control of it. He can’t send a focused thought or a warning, but he can project a memory of a place or a feeling of it. It works best if there is some deep emotion attached to it.

Is Record Keeper Michael’s magic like Antistasi, only he “eats” magic rather than negate it? Is his magic tied to the Office of the Record Keeper (anyone who works for the Office can have it) or is it his?

Michael, Michael, Michael. Michael. Heh. No. His magic is nothing like that. It is his magic, not the magic of the Office of records. He was born with it. A very rare talent. Unlisted.

What is the explanation for distribution of mass? How does Arabella become a huge Monster of Cologne?

Magic.

If you really must overanalyse it beyond all reasonable points, it helps to view magic as a universal force, like gravity. Magic converts mass into energy and energy into mass via an intermediate state where mass and energy enter a mixed “plasma” proto state. (All the physicists reading this have right now screamed in unison at this nonsense.) Arabella generates magic by simply going about her day. The magic field accumulates energy and when time comes converts it to mass. Then after she transforms back, some of that transformation cost is recouped via reverse mass conversion, however, there is still a deficit, which is why she is exhausted after the transformation and has to wait to transform again until she rebuilds her magic.

What did Augustine learn from Melvin Rider and did he found out who killed his father? Did he kill Melvin?

Do you want me to tell you or do you want to read about this one day?

Will we find out who “claimed” Augustine?

Maybe. You would have to stop fussing at us first about all the other things you want to read. Such a demanding Horde. Heh.

Will there be more Arabella, Leon, Augustine, Michael, Cornelius etc etc after Ruby Fever?

Probably. But right now hands are full. We have this small issue of space pirates, you see.

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Comments

  3. Thank you for everything you guys do for us. I look forward to anything and everything you write. I love the Baylors but I will happily follow these space pirates first! Haha

    • I definitely see dachshund and possibly some kind of small terrier but I don’t see pitbull. Not even if I squint.

      • My understanding is that they haven’t got enough examples of each dog breed fully analysed at this point to be able to accurately say what mix any dog is. So there is variation within each breed that they haven’t got enough samples to identify, and obviously also a lot of overlap between all breeds that give dogs their essential dogginess.

        Again just my understanding, but the same is true of quite a lot of the human analyses as most of the people getting their DNA analysed are from rich countries, so there are huge gaps in coverage. There is a group that is trying to widen the coverage, but they’ve only started that fairly recently.

  5. Hooray for the updates and info on hidden legacy! Thank you !
    I feel your pain about your pets, and I didn’t have to leave town to do so. I had double vomiting yesterday as apparently our San Diego weather got warm enough for them to be shedding so much that they can’t keep up with the hair balls. I combed one afterward and probably got enough cat hair to spin some yarn. ????

  6. What a nice surprise when I took a break 🙂
    Our pets are something else, aren’t they? Gotta love them (and then clean up after them)
    Good luck w the continuing adventures with scaffolding!

  7. “Magic converts mass into energy and energy into mass via an intermediate state where mass and energy enter a mixed “plasma” proto state. (All the physicists reading this have right now screamed at unison at this nonsense.)”

    This caused me to laugh uncontrollably; thank you. Physics is possibly my least favorite branch of science but it was in solidarity with geeks in general.

    • I want to know why the physicists screamed. Screamed in excitement about a topic they love, or screamed because you did the physicist equivalent of writing ‘their’ instead of ‘they’re’?

      (I’m assuming the former, because you guys are great at research.)

      • I’m a physicist. When I read that section, I just closed my eyes, shook my head a little and moved on. ???? No screaming. It’s an alternate universe fantasy world. The laws of physics are somewhat suspended.
        HA, you guys are so great. Thank you for being you!

  9. You can stick with the space pirates for as long as it takes to finish Sweep of the Heart. Which is increasingly marvelous, by the way – also, a hoot.

    I do hope you eventually write Arabella’s trilogy. She’s my favorite of the Baylor sisters. And at least a short story featuring Leon and/or Bug.

  10. I watch my brother’s dog when he goes away. He loves me, tries to stick by me at other times, gets excited when my name is mentioned, doesn’t feel bothered at all staying with me.
    But when my brother takes him back after going away he sulks anyway and just generally lets him know that he’s not happy to have been left behind – even though he had a great time with me. Dogs know how to get the point across ????

    • Maybe he is really sulking because he was taken from you, his favourit auntie? And not because your brother left him (with you)?

      • Shhssh, they already get annoyed when they visit that he listens to me more than them ????????

  11. My now 15 year old tiger tabby was boarded for a week when he was around 3 yrs old….never again. He was so nervous and made himself sick….now my parents’ 22 yr old Burmese loved the vet & being boarded…..Cats!

    Thank for the post!

  12. I only have the two cats and a stint at the groomer / boarding kennel gets me a couple of days of huffy and a week or more of “I shall sit on you! Provide a lap. Now.”

    I don’t see pitty in Nyke, but that doesn’t really matter. Other genes could be dominant to the “pit bull” looks.
    My son has a Staffordshire terrier – think a 32 pound pit bull – who is the sweetest dog ever. She wants to play with every dog or child she spots. Alas, she is none too bright and my cats bully her when comes for a visit. I could see some Staffy in the mix, but dachshund is obviously the big appearance winner.
    That said, 40 % seems high…

    Thanks for your patience with the BDH and our obsessive needs for “just a little more info”. You must be tired of answering the same questions for those of us who missed the first answer because they got tired of reading the comments when they had read several hundred of them.

    We should tell you thanks more often. You two are very good to us.
    Thank you again.

  16. I loved the picture of Gordon with his arms folded, and Tuna looking at him like “what are you going to do now, huh?”

    When I was an undergraduate if I was trying to read one of my textbooks and ignoring my male cat, Luke, he would literally put a paw either under the book or on top of the book and yank the book out of my hands. Then I would get looked at like “aren’t you going to pet me now?” I would laugh at him, pet him, and up went the book to read. He also pulled on me what Tuna did to Gordon. 🙂

  17. Heee! and Yes! Thanks for the info and pet review. Sorry that boarding them stresses them out so much. Love that picture of Tuna/Gordon stare off. True love!

  18. Thank you for answering these questions 🙂 Wa are really demanding, aren’t we? ???? Have a lovely day, full of pets and love????

  19. Thank you for taking the time to answer questions! Good luck with all the renovations, writing, and pet issues! ????

  21. We are a need bunch, aren’t we? But you love us anyways, right? ^_^

    Michael, Michael, Michael…man of mystery.

  22. My cats were so stressed after being in the car 4 days straight I can’t imagine the wreck if I was forced to board them. It’s been two months and they are finally squared up again.

  23. Loved the reminder of Cerise calling her Ropey when she hides. From the Edges series (loved all the books)

    I’m going to have to re-read … again

    Thank you for the refreshers

  24. Our daughter is on a cruise this week. She lives at home with her 2 dogs, five horses and cat. We also have two dogs, two cats and three parrots. I have moved into her room for the duration so they can all sleep at night. They spend the day listening for her car to come home from work and are giving me the evil eye.

  25. “A very rare talent. Unlisted.”

    Oooooh.

    Now, if only there was a potential herione with a potential trilogy where he could star as a potential love interest…

    • If only…like a beloved younger sister of a beastly disposition? The Horde can dream ????

    • I read that “unlisted” and thought oooooooh, as well. Ok, that’s a great image! Oh please, feed me, says the horde (roflmao).

  27. Zero issues w Space pirates first. The Baylors will be there when you’re ready to enjoy them. I feel like they’re still a sore spot.

  28. Lol, they must have mixed up that doggie dna test. I’ve had 5 dachshunds and if that dog is 40% something it’s a wiener, not a pit bull ????

  31. I have been looooving all sorts of sci fi lately, so the possibility of some House Andrews space pirates is beyond thrilling

  33. Hi Mod R,
    I was wondering if you could answer a (hopefully) quick question.
    So I was looking through the old discussions and I can across a thread about how about 30k got cut from Magic Bites and that’s why the Crest plot line was a little abrupt. I was wondering if you know if the same thing happened to Nataraja? Because he just suddenly disappeared from the books and I don’t remember any explanation being given. I might have missed something but the whole thing just seemed really bout of nowhere. Could you please clarify?
    Thank you so much!

      • I seem to remember Kate theorizing that Nataraja was a rakshasa and the madness had something to do with what happened to the rakshasa gang in the third book. That amused me. The timing worked out too. It was never confirmed though, which I appreciate (some mystery is always good).

  35. Is Nike the inspiration for Shadow? Seems like an obvious “yes”, but I have learned not to assume where you get your inspirations …

  37. Also – I thought Michael was the assistant to the Records Keeper, not the records keeper himself. I thought the gathering darkness was magic of the Record Keeper and Michael’s magic was the blue electrical energy?

    Sorry to be pendantic … just did a re-read of the 5 1/2 HL books and am thinking about — Wildfire, end of chapter 2:
    ” ‘I’m afraid I can’t allow that.’ The Keeper’s eyes turned completely black … Darkness shivered in the alcoves … An ancient primal thing …”

    “Blue fire sheathed Michael’s hands …”

    ” ‘You know the rules Victoria,’ the Keeper said, his voice pure magic …”

    So I guess the slithery darkness could be the Keeper or Michael …

    • Michael is the apprentice of the Record Keeper and both the darkness and the blue fire are his 🙂

      “I glanced over my shoulder. A darkness spread through the restaurant, expanding from the entrance, climbing over the walls, claiming the space. An ancient darkness that took me into its maw and made me still.

      Michael from the Office of Records walked into the restaurant. He still wore the sharp suit and a crisp shirt, blindingly white against his tattooed neck. His hands burned with blue fire.”

      Andrews, Ilona. Wildfire, Hidden Legacy Book 3. Avon HarperCollins, 2017. Kindle Edition, Chapter 11

      In the scene where Michael comes to Takara to deal with Victoria and Nevada intercedes for her, the Keeper is not there, yet both powers are on show. (Michael holds up a phone screen for the Keeper to relay his message :).)

  38. That bit about physicists screaming at the magical nonsense? I wouldn’t put it past a theoretical physicist to look at that explanation and go, “You know? You could be on to something. Now just replace everything with dark energy…”

  39. I like Space Pirates!! 🙂

    I have never left Jesse pup since he was 9 weeks old, and even before, I was there for most of the pre 9 week old days, I was there when he was conceived in surgical AI with 12 yo frozen semen, I was there when he was born. Even so, I visited my sister this past weekend, {where he was born} with Jesse and his brother and now they are upset at being away from their farm. Then I come home to an insane cat. Our other two cats have passed in the last 6 months and she was the only one home {as house pets} except my husband!!! Big freak out.

    I wait daily for my husband to show up with another kitten, or for someone to dump on at the top of the drive which is the way we get most of our cats. We haven’t had just ONE cat in 35 years. It’s weird.

  40. The pictures are amazing! I’m glad critters are adjusting. I’m excited for the Hidden Legacy (and future adventures thereof)!! And I’m trying so hard to hold off the reread until we are closer to the newest book coming out!

    And the issue of Space Pirates! Absolutely a ball! It’s been so lovely to read Sweep of the Heart! (As well as all the fun small snippets from other adventures you are enjoying!)

  41. “… but our house is full of scaffolding again…”
    Is this a subtle nod to the contractor making things right?

    Also love the sweet candid of Gordon & Tuna.

    • Work is going on, it looks incredibly disruptive, I don’t know how House Andrews are writing through it tbh!
      I told them last week if it were me there would be no pillow in the house without a scream in it, let alone be able to focus!

      • The ongoing work is probably a factor in why the poor fur babies are having a tough time re-adjusting to home life after their stay at the kennel.

        Hopefully the contractor is seeking redemption and put an amazing team on the job. I also hope that seeing things improve robustly bouys HA’s spirits.

  42. Love the picture of Gordon and Tuna! Reminds me of the occasional glaring contests between my dad and our childhood cat. Usually, the cat won.

    Nykie might have wire haired dachshund heritage. Don’t see the pitbull. Of course, my sister’s pitbull was supposed to be a terrier mix. (Maybe “terrier adjacent”, as her older “sister” is a bossy terrier mix!!)

    • Since pitties are members of the terrier group, they are totally a terrier mix.

    • “Never try to outstubborn a cat.” – Robert Heinlein

      Much of Heinlein hasn’t aged well, but that one is timeless.

  43. We found our puppy online and were told she was a corgi/black lab oops liter. We did the DNA testing and she is 50% great dane, 22% pit bull, 18% Australian shepherd and 10% supermutt. They absolutely lied to us. She is a year old now and weighs 82 lbs.

  44. I think I like your update blogs as well as your books. You are an interesting and Uber smart duo whose writing makes me look up stuff. Einsteins Bridge was one. Thank you for your works. They’ve entertained me and spoiled me when it comes to other fantasy authors.

  47. Zooterkins! Space Pirates! Are they any match for Space Chickens? Chortle
    Thank you; this was fun.

  49. One of two cats is always on the keyboard, in front of the monitor, cosying up to whatever I am holding in my hands, fighting with my gym mat (or my hair) during a workout etc.. I think the list has no end. You have to love them.

  50. Sorry if it’s been asked, but what’s this about Augustine being ‘claimed’?

    • The fans are eeeeever so slightly obsessed with Augustine Montgomery, including his potential HEA, and House Andrews hinted before that there is someone already for him but he doesn’t realise it ????.
      So the BDH has been trying to extract the info ever since. I believe the main guesses are Cornelius’ sister Diana or Lina, his receptionist at MII.

      • My first thought was Lina.

        Space pirates are good, especially when they get their just obliteration.

      • Thanks for the explanation. I thought I missed some detail in the books and was going to go back and reread the series again (no hardship there ????).

        One thought I had was that Augustine and Arabella could end up together: they both hide themselves in someway from the world and they are both devoted to their families. I know there’s an age gap, but after Arabella has grown up some and been through (the previously mentioned) relationships…

  51. Why is my cat Micha sitting behind Gordon’s keyboard? And how did he get from Oregon to Texas anyway? If cats can teleport, it would explain SO MUCH!

    Back to cleaning. My company arrives in about two hours.

  52. Nykie reminds me of my precious Rosie. She is a dachshund and poodle mix, also known as doxie poo.

  53. I always enjoy your Q&As so thank you. And I for one would prefer to wait for the book. :)Also, I’m excited to read about the space pirates, good luck with the writing!

  54. Potentially interesting dog fact; a curly haired dog ie poodle mixed with a smooth haired dog ie pit bull will create a wire haired coat ie Nykie a percentage of the time. It throws a lot of people off when they are guessing breed parentage because they think a wire cost must be descended from a wire coat.

  55. Hmmmm, Nykie might actually have some pit bull after all. Check out the picture I used for this comment. It’s a crappy photo of my parents’ pittie mix but the structure of his face looks VERY similar. Either way, he’s a cutie!

    • Thanks for posting this picture! I don’t have a picture to post, but I used to have a really sweet rescue dog that looked almost exactly like this (except he had white on his booper and chest) and he was also part pittie. Gentlest, most submissive, most adorable dog I’ve ever met. I always use him as an example of why we should never pre-judge breeds. ????

  56. I adopted a kitten 2 weeks ago. Calico. Today we had our first emergency vet appointment. Eye conjunctivitis. She’s 3 months old.

    I have pet insurance. Starts in 30 days.

    I Had to tell the people from who I adopted her. They foster. Currently they have 20 kittens to adopt out – story for another time.

    Emergency vet was fantastic if you are ever in Elk Grove Ca I recommend them. Reasonable price for an emergency, in my opinion.

  57. It depends on what DNA test company you use, in terms of results. The dog breeders use either Wisdom Panel or Embark. As a result, these companies have a LOT of dog DNA on file from lots of different breeds. (The reason dog breeders do DNA testing is to find out if their potential breeding dog has any of the known deleterious health traits.)

  58. Heh heh very effective tactic – we will leave you to sort out the space pirates, and then hopefully (very hopefully) we’ll get to revisit others worlds, all in good order

  59. I was rereading the KD series and came across Maggie! Christopher’s dog gifted to him by Barabas. Yay!! I couldn’t remember that before, but poof, it popped up.

  60. Thanks for the Q & A! I especially loved hearing about how the pets are doing 🙂

  61. A physicist would not scream at your handwaving explanation. We are screamed-out looking at the papers that appear in the arxiv.

    Also, I know who won the staring contest in the picture, and it wasn’t the human.

  62. Hope the pets will be okay!
    Thank you for this Q&A session I didn’t know I needed ❤️

  65. I had doubts about Alessandro’s magic.
    Is he a dual? Is summoning weapons part of the Antistasi magic?
    Is he magically proficient in those weapons (like Leon with his guns o Catalina with her blades) or does he need to practice to get good at using them?
    Why can he jump from high buildings and land intact?

    It’s ok if this comment doesn’t get an answer from the authors, I understand you’re busy ^^

    • Hey Cristina,

      House Andrews have expanded on Alessandro’s magic here https://ilona-andrews.com/2021/back-to-life-back-to-reality-2/

      “Alessandro’s passive field is survival based. If Alessandro falls off a roof, his magic will try to compensate by creating a shield. If he is being drowned, his magic will attempt to push him to the surface. If a mental mage attacks him, his magic will shield his mind. He doesn’t need to strain for this to occur. It’s instinctive. The passive field also accelerates his healing. He is very hard to kill.

      Alessandro’s active field produces weapons on demand and reinforces his mind. In active state, Alessandro is practically impenetrable to a direct mental attack from a mental combat mage such as truthseeker, mind cutter, psionic, etc. The passive field gives him some protection, but when he concentrates, that protection becomes even stronger. That does not mean that he cancels out illusions by strolling by. Illusions are not direct attacks on the mind. They are just altered sensory input.”

      Another metaphor they used in the past for his power is an armadillo shell. Like all magic talents, Alessandro’s Antistasi is geared for his protection and survival- it’s just a bit more high-core at it. Whatever he needs to be kept safe in the context, the magic will try to provide. Be it weapon or heightened mental protection etc.
      He does need to train with the weapons however, we get several references to it in the text ????.

      Hope this helped!

  66. “If we ever decide to return to Hidden Legacy.”

    Nooooooo! The horde can be blackmailed! We will send you pretty things and yarn and other things. And money and Home Depot gift cards to buy paint. Nooooooooo.

  67. Hi all! I just reread the series again. because I love it and missed Hugh, and remembered there was something i never figured out. In “Magic Triumphs” Hugh tells Elara he will help IF Elara eats a whole chicken…. What is this about? To eat a whole chicken-why? What will happen to Elara?

    • The chicken mystery has been taunting the BDH for years hehe. All attempts to draw it out of House Andrews have been thwarted, there is no direct answer.

  69. Hmmm … if summoner mages can pull from the arcane realm, can inhabits of the arcane realm pull summoner mages??

    Hope the scaffolding comes down quickly and the walls are all better!

  70. Thank you for the fur baby update.

    We chose to not board ours and drove them to TX in June and back to TN in July. Bane, AKA Abigail’s Bane, does not handle this well, and less so on this trip. He had one kitty accident on the way, and then two on the way back. Cat urine is pungent enough that we just pull over and begin the cage wipe out and cat wipe up immediately. On the way back, we stopped in a cemetery and found this cool tree, with a dragon-face emerging–

    Until we move back permanently, this is the last trip like this. Poor Bane. Abigail is a champ, but the big guy suffers. He hates being boarded as well, so not sure what we will do. They did ok when we flew them from Bahrain, but car trips appear to be a no go.

    • Try a house sitter. I used to do that, the pets were usually moping for the first day or two and then back to normal. There are companies that provide this service, I was word of mouth. You can get sitters who come by a couple a times a day to walk, clean feed, spend time or someone like me, who lived at the house.

      When I was doing this, I lived with my parents and my Mom watched my cat. My cat learned that if clothing was hanging on the door knob or my suitcase was out, I was leaving, so she started spraying the clothes and the suitcase.

      • +1 My sister and I both house-sat back in the day, as did my kids when they were young adults. We always get a house-sitter for vacation. So much less stressful for the animals.

  71. ???? Gordon has a very definite “If you want to eat, you gotta let me work.” look going. Good luck with needy animals!

  72. whooop! space pirates win the debate! Please, go forth and write about the space pirates. I love space opera, it’s often unbelievably funny and most of my reading these days is escapism!

    Glad to hear the horrible painting is being rectified, even tho that means you have to live with yet another mess.

    We had an old dachsie male who also apparently spent his boarding times barking continuously, heh. Nykie looks like a dachsie mix. I fail to see any pit bull characteristics. Of course I also see zero shih tzu, so…. Have a friend who sent her heinz 57’s dna off for testing. The results pretty much had all of us thinking it was a waste of money. Supposedly her pup was mostly pit bull, too, which if you saw the dog you’d all say not a chance in hell. Zero pit bull characteristics in form or personality. She has the conformation of a setter, though her muzzle is pointier and she’s too small and too skinny. And she has some of the personality of a herding dog, heh. Truthfully, she looks like a red longhaired dachshund on stilts, hehe.

    Just finished re-reading Sweep of the Heart chapters and must say thanks yet again. So darn enjoyable.

  73. This blog is always the highlight of my day! I love you, House Andrews! Never change!

  74. Oooh, questions.

    Speaking of which: I was listening to the Graphic Audio adaptation of Clean Sweep this week when I realized that drunken (nor sober) Arland never did get around to saying more about his cousin whose stepbrother married a woman from Earth. Will we ever know what he’d intended to say while under the influence of coffee?

    Karat raises the subject in Sweep of the Blade and says the earth-born woman is an entomologist, but I suspect that wasn’t quite what Arland was fixated on. 😉

  75. Do the second DNA with a different test brand. I did wisdom panel on my two girls. One I believed (the first generation beagle/basset mix who I thought was dachshund/basset but beagle also made sense) and one I didn’t that said my short girl I thought was jack russel/basset was mostly pit with a great-great grand doxie on one side. I did embark on her and she came back 39% doxie (one side was almost all doxie with one great-grand likely a min-pin) and the other side a mix of pit and staffie. That made a lot more sense.

  76. Heh, I know a number of people who have done the DNA thing for their dogs. Including one person who has a dog who she knows the breeding of. This person had a Border Collie and got back results that said he had St. Bernard and Dachshund in fairly larger percentages – and no Border Collie at all. The DNA results for what breeds make up your dog don’t seem work.

    I wonder if it is because all the modern dog breeds all descended from grey wolves and therefore they all have the same options, genetically, but it depends on what is “switched on or off”……..heh, sorry, genetics are interesting.

    Anyhow, in my opinion, I wouldn’t bother with a retest. I don’t think you are going to get any better results. GRIN. I think your guess about Nykie’s breed make-up is likely to be right. Regardless, Nykie is a cutie!

  77. Thank you! Btw, I really love your explanations that combine magic and science. When I occasionally start getting a teensy bit lost (probably because I’m not ‘sciencey’ enough, because the explanations are always very clear and easy to understand) I can always fall back on my go-to explanation that always works: “because Ilona said so!” Works for me every time! ????

  78. I hear you with the pets. We have two cats who just turned 13 and they both have cancer. She is on chemo and her brother on steroids to help lengthen his life. Last year we found two newborn kittens abandoned on the porch. Bottle-feeding and a year and a half later, these brothers are large, very active cats. Two months ago a colony cat dropped a kitten off in our yard. She was about 2 months old. After dosing her with flea medication, she is now at least 3 months old in our house adapting from Feral life. As far as the rest of your message goes, I figured you know what you’re doing and we will find out or we won’t as the writer wills.

  79. So many mysteries, large and small. August is getting closer. How many questions will be answered? How many new ones will arise?

  80. “Do you want me to tell you or do you want to read about this one day?” Read about it one day! Duh! Augustine is one of my favorites. He’s so interesting!! I love the whole HL series, and I can’t wait for Ruby Fever! 🙂

  81. The other option for magic and mass conundrum is “more than drempt of in your philosophy.” Our science is not advanced enough to explain it therefore it just is. I am sure the space chickens would have fun debating whether something is real if we don’t understand how it works.

  82. Pets! Beautiful thought and true: they are with us for all their lives but only for a part of ours.

    I use an in-home pet/house sitter (currently two golden retrievers): my girls are more settled when I return, the familiarity of place is important although they are still irate with me for going away. But I see less needy/clinginess. In-home boarding at someone else’s house is a close second.

  84. Hello. Quick question about self publishing. Another author I like went to self publishing and stopped printing books. All her new material is on e-book. I was kinda mad at her because I have a series of books that stops midway into the story, there are at least 5 more e-books but they are not paper published. I love to have series on my bookshelf even if I will have e-books on my phone for when I go away. Are you also going toward an electronic publishing model? I hope that you will still publish series in progress as mass market paperback. Thanks

    • House Andrews always strive to make the books accessible in as many formats as possible.
      The pandemic, supply chains and further strikes are affecting the publishing industry enormously. This and other marketing considerations means that the prices for POD (print on demand) are unavoidably higher, but there is no intention to stop physical copies being available.

  85. “…all the animals have normal life spans. The great tragedy of the pet bonding is that they will be with us for all of their lives but not for all of ours.”

    From Squire, by Tamora Pierce, while burying a pet:

    ““It’s the only bad thing about animals,” [Kel] told Cleon. “Most don’t live as long as we do.”
    “I know, sweet, Cleon said… “But think how bleak life would be without them.””

  86. So much good stuff in this post… but I’ll just say I love Record Keeper Michael. That is all.

  87. My current burning question: are all Merchants Lees? Initially my impression was that no, anyone who fits the description in Clean Sweep could be named a Merchant: wealthy, large fleet, many large transactions. But some of the details in SotH & I think Sweep in Peace make me think that they can only be of the Lees people. Or maybe that’s just merchants who call themselves Clan x?

  88. This sounds weird, but we had cats with thyroid/kidney issues. They threw up a lot less when we switched to bottled instead of tap water. Might be worth a try?

  90. Love the photos. Seeing keyboard, person and cat reminds me of the standing, clear plastic keyboard cover I had when my cat was alive. She would sit on it while I worked. It was about six inches high so hands could fit underneath while she stretched out on top. I’m pretty sure it was from Amazon, maybe a bathroom shelf. It’s been over 20 years, so not sure.

  92. Thank you, Ilona Andrews for the post.

    Regarding the dna test, just because her dna shows 40% pit bull doesn’t mean she looks like one or acts like one. It depends on genetic expression.

    Ie Titan looks like a yellow lab and 90% of time acts like goofy Labrador. I did dna test as he was a rescue puppy. He is 52% lab and 40% Rhodesian ridgeback. When he thinks I am threatened the goofy lovable knucklehead lunatic Labrador vanishes to be replaced by an unstoppable lethal killer. The point to this is train the puppy like you would a German shepherd puppy not a lap dog puppy And love it.

  93. Dog DNA testing with dogs where parents are mixed breeds can be problematic. Our two monsters are littermates but half siblings ( different fathers,same mom, same litter). First test we tried showed American bull Staffordshire and some other breeds that made no sense (wisdom panel).

    We did embark and the results made sense, the percentages and types matched that they are half siblings. Embark is run by researchers at Cornell and they have I believe one of the largest dog DNA libraries around. I highly recommend them, they also are good with potential health issues

    If the dog isn’t Heinz 57, then any of them likely will work well,but for real mixes,I think embark is better.

    Love the picture of Gordon and Tuna, looks more like the cat is saying ‘You had a cat do that in the last thing you wrote? On penalty of furball on the keyboard and pee on your sneakers,I demand you change that offending text’

  95. I love to hear about your menagerie! We had to put down our beloved dog on July 4th–treasure every neurotic moment that you get, their lives are so short.
    On the story front, I have read and will continue to read everything you offer–in whatever order you care to produce them. Thank you for every new world you have created for us.

  98. I have a 2 old son named Oliver and his situation is similar to your Oliver!

  100. Pets are sooo demanding:) About Nykie, maybe that magical mass theory applies & there IS a pit bull lurking behind that sweet, innocent looking exterior. Doggie metamorphic magical creature!!! There must be times when Nykie is not in your sight. Who knows what happens when you aren’t looking? Mwahaha!

  101. “If we ever decide to return to Hidden Legacy.”

    What? It could be over? This does not make me happy. ;-(

  102. We got our dog Porter as a half Pitt/Husky. I did the doggy DNA to. She’s actually 1/3 black lab, 1/4 pit and no husky. ????

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