Last night I made a late trip to the bathroom. While I’m in the bathroom, I see a scorpion coming toward me. Because it was late, I was barefoot. I have no weapons nearby except my cell phone. So I try to cautiously move away from the scorpion. I don’t have a lot of space to work with.
Normally bugs avoid you. The scorpion raises its pinchers and charges my foot.
I hop in the shower stall, shut the door, and call Gordon on my cell.
Gordon: Um, honey?
Me: There is a scorpion in the bathroom and I’m barefoot!
So, Sir Gordon appeared with a fly swatter, murdered the aggressive scorpion, and rescued me from the tower, I mean the shower stall.
What the hell, Texas? Is it because we didn’t have any scorpions inside the house this season?
Today we need to write like the wind and then we are probably going to go to Michaels, since I want a fall wreath and being disappointed by online offerings and shipping times, I will likely just make one.
The book is now 94,000 long. And not done yet. Not even close to done. Our agent wants the front of it trimmed significantly, so I’m waiting for those editorial notes. Apparently, it gets grippy but not right away and we need it to be “grab you by the throat” right away.
Honestly, I don’t know what will be happening to Maggie. The original plan was to selfpub, but we might shop it to publishers first. I’m not expecting fireworks there, since it’s an odd book, but we will see.
Meanwhile, I bring you a non-spoilery snippet.
We kept walking, making our way up a narrow winding street. This wasn’t the best part of town. Here and there, the walls were pitted, missing chunks where the mortar had crumbled, causing the stones to fall out. Some were badly patched with whatever was handy. The sturdy doors bore scars. People walked briskly, mostly dock workers, laborers, and a few characters that looked like they might brain you with something heavy for a chance to rifle through your pockets. They glanced at Reynald and kept to themselves.
We had made a wrong turn somewhere. The way to the docks didn’t seem nearly as rundown. We were still moving in the right direction, but the sooner we cleared this neighborhood, the better.
The unbroken line of three-story buildings on our left ended abruptly, and we came to an empty lot. There must have been a house there at some point, but now it was gone, and only the hole remained, like a spot where a missing tooth used to be.
Random refuse had accumulated in the corners of the lot. On the left, soot stained the ground – someone had made a fire. A draft swirling in the gaps between the houses brought the stench of excrement and urine.
In the middle of the lot, a massive statue rose. A huge beast, carved out of wood and sealed with resin, gripped a slab of stone with four enormous, clawed paws. Its body bulged with muscle, powerful and compact, promising sudden explosive power. Scales, as large as my hand, sheathed it, growing into a mane of blades on its thick neck, and their edges were razor-sharp. Its tail split into three long, flexible whips, studded with spur-like protrusions. Two colossal wings thrust out from its shoulders, covered in scales that resembled feathers, and tipped with bone spikes, like the teeth of a bear trap.
The creature’s head, lowered slightly toward us, was a meld of lion and dragon, with square, terrible jaws and a mouth bristling with fangs. Its eyes seemed to stare straight at me, alive with malevolent intelligence and rage.
Someone had thrown paint at it and smeared it with garbage. There were cuts and gouges on its legs. They had tried to destroy it, but all their efforts resulted only in scratches. The great beast stood undaunted.
“A dursan,” Reynald said next to me.
I realized I had stopped.
“This can’t possibly be to scale, can it?”
“I’ve seen bigger.”
Bigger? This thing was dragon size, and it looked like it existed to kill and rip apart.
“How could it possibly fly?”
“Magic,” Reynald said. “Its power isn’t limited to humans. Beasts use it as well. The dursan infest mountain ridges all across the continent. Do you know the story of Ralinbor’s Rebellion?”
“King Sauven’s cousin turned on him and marched onto Kair Toren with his army. He was killed, his rebellion was put down, his wife was brought to the capital in chains, tried, and executed, and his only son is rumored to have died in the fire set by the king’s knights.”
“Ralinbor had an affinity for the dursan. He tamed them, and he called on them in battle.”
The idea was horrifying. “How did he lose with those things on his side?”
“They have magic and they’re powerful, but they are still creatures of bone and blood. They can be killed. The Fatefire can cut one. So can the Rageglow.” Reynald shrugged. “Ralinbor of the Wilds didn’t lose his war on the battlefield. He lost it weeks before, when he failed to adequately equip his troops, neglected to put together a functioning supply chain, and chose the wrong place and time to engage his enemy. He counted too much on the dursan, but they are just animals. No matter how powerful a magical beast is, it’s no substitute for proper planning and strategy.”
We looked at the statue some more.
“Why is it here?”
“This statue was commissioned by Bors’ father, Sagred,” Reynald said. “He’d managed to kill one during the conflict, and he was very proud of it. He presented this monstrosity to Sauven on the first anniversary of the battle. ‘Behold the might enemy we vanquished.’”
“But Sauven didn’t want a reminder of his dead cousin, whom he used to consider his closest friend and brother,” I guessed.
“So Sagred Bors found out,” Reynald said. “Sauven didn’t deem it prudent to offend the Bors Family by setting it on fire, but he never wanted to lay eyes on it again. It was carted off and must’ve ended up here. I’ve never seen it before. I only heard the story. This was before my time.”
The dursan glared at us, scarred, covered in paint, reeking of garbage, and yet defiant. I had the strangest feeling. A kind of vague anxiety, as if I were looking at a sign of things to come.
“Let’s go home,” I said, and it sounded almost like a request.
“That would be best,” Reynald said.
First!
Sir Gordon to the rescue!
Thank you for the Friday snippet. 🙂
+1 😊
Now I WANT a Dursan.
Aaaaaaahhhh!!!!!!! Me too!!! Me too!!!!!
*frantically waves hand in air*
Better than the scorpion, right?
Am I second? Don’t listen to those agents! Write a big book!
Exactly, listen to Mod R, write 150k words! I always wanted to be one of those little demons on someone’s shoulder 😀
😂😂😂😂
Mod R (in a tempting voice): just a few more words. That’s it. Just a few more, few more. Almost. almost. Just a few more
Ilona: Am I writing a book or War and Peace?
Mod R: Um, I don’t know what you’re talking about. 🤭
Like demon Kronk in the Emperor’s New Groove: “I’m going to lead you down the path that ROCKS!” hehehe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RseLZ9LqQv0&t=21s
Behold Mod R, the IA whisperer.
“If you write it they will buy it”
that movie is severely underrated!
Write the words – write ALL the words! I think the BDH has proved we enjoy reading even the edits. Thanks for the Friday snippet!
Mod R’s reply back should be: Don’t be silly! W&P is over 550K words, so you’ve got a while to go yet. 😉
It needs to be you because the whole BDH will NOT fit. 🙂
Plus me!!
If people can handle The Priory of the Orange Tree at 225,000 words, I’m prrrreeeety sure handle an Andrew’s book at 94,000…just saying lol
Yes, Ilona! Listen to your wonderful Mod R! She would never steer you wrong! The BDH will read it all!!!
Here for it! You know we will buy it. Some of us will buy multiple editions and/or multiple gift copies.
Right there with you, Lisa! Even if I have to buy one of those sturdy wooden book stands that take up a third of our living room to put it on!
Voice of reason : but people will leave negative reviews that there’s too much description, blah blah blah too many words ..
Voice(s) of BDH: We stay up all night binge reading devouring all the precious wordses …
Big book slows down the devouring lol … maybe.
Thank you for the snippet. It just gets better and better.
I hope you have nice a weekend, and any crises are easily fixed! Is Batty still around??
And nice snippet!!!
Thank you for the Friday snippet. I like it.
Scorpions attacking bare feet in the middle of the night deserve death.
Thank you for the snippet!
So grateful that we have no scorpions in Colorado. 😳
Clearly “Clan Scorpion” is demanding a mention in your next book. But the Sir Gordon blog mention was hilarious 😂 😃 😄.
Oops! it already happened…”Its tail split into three long, flexible whips, studded with spur-like protrusions…”
Very nice snippet!
I am glad Gordon was able to assist. Scorpions are no fun, especially when you can’t leave and lack long handled weapons…
Totally worth the wait to read while the blog was fixed 🤭 Happy Friday everyone. Sorry the scorpion got testy with you, Ilona; at least Gordon was home to save you!
Glad you were rescued from the scorpion attack (after getting yourself to a safe place while awaiting rescue.) Bugs freak me out, and we don’t have too many really nasty ones in Maryland. Right now we have lots of little bees coming in the house and we haven’t been able to figure out how they are getting in. If alive, we’ll put them back outside. Sadly, we don’t see many of them until they’ve died. No idea where they are coming in.
Thanks again for your writing. I was a bit unsettled this morning because I need to take the cat to the vet for a check, and I think I hate it more than they do. So I started re-reading Sweep of the Blade, which calmed me right down.
***Snippet Dance*** Shake Shake Shake… (Here is my inner child) I wanna Dursan! Can I keep him? Come on Mom. Plllleeeaaassseee! I promise to feed it, walk it and clean up after it. No no no it won’t scratch the furniture. I promise! Plllleeeaaassseee!
More Maggie! More! More!
I already find this interesting just from the snippets, so even if you weren’t on “automatic buy”, I’d still get it. As for scorpions, there’s a reason I live in Wisconsin. We have horrible winters, but the wildlife doesn’t try to kill you.
lol I live in Montana, we have horrible winters, and some of the wildlife will definitely try to kill you (especially in the winter). But at least we don’t have scorpions! It’s easier to see and avoid a bear than a scorpion.
Our Texas drought has brought in all the nasties. FWIW, a wildlife biologist said to treat the attic because that is mostly likely where the beasties get in the house. Scorpions be evil.
I like big books because there is more to savor! Thanks for the Friday treat, and for some reason I was waiting for the statue to come to life :O)
Cheers and have a great weekend!
started to read your comment and my brain went
‘I like big books and I can not lie’ 🤣🤣🤣
Eek! Boo, to scorpions and yay to being saved!
Thank you for the snippet- oh it’s a nice respite from a yucky day.
This snippet grabbed me right away. It it has a foreboding of “exciting” events that may be coming up and had me imagining what may happen even though I don’t know the full context of the situation. Looking forward to this novel, all the snippets (even the ones that were very preliminary) have been interesting.
Thank you so much for the snippet today. It’s been kind of a grey week, starting with the remnants of a tropical storm last Friday, continuing throughSunday with water dripping briefly from the ceiling, and there really hasn’t been much sun since. State fair food yesterday was the high point until now. This is a wonderful respite.
The snippet was lovely. Though that may not be the best word considering the description of that statue.
I repeat: you have a firm hold on your editing. You will know exactly how correct the changes are for moving the story forward once you go over them – and the BDH is very well aware that you are only going to do what will make the story better.
Send the publisher to the blog. Show them the blood heir #s. We will buy it!
Scorpions…that would be the end of me!!! I always call my hubby to come catch spiders that end up in our house no matter where he is or what he’s doing (or for that matter how big or small the spider is!!!!)
Thanks for the snippet..I am so looking forward to reading the whole book!!! 😁
Longer books are fine. it just means I stay awake longer to read it.
Here in Colorado, reinforced in the suburbs of Seattle, I was taught to not go barefoot. Junipers & their relations cast off spur bits(owie!), are in many landscapes, Slugs in the Seattle areas(Pop! Eeewwhh, yuck!), and pets track in stick pieces. Might I suggest some ‘mypillow all-season slippers’? Supposed to be indoor/outdoor soled(would get if I could fit into our budget). Our hero Saint Gordon!! Thank you for the snippet!
SNIPPET! When I saw the title and blog photo, I realized how long it has been since a lovely, beautiful snippet has crossed our paths. I was wondering how rude it’d be to hint for one, lol. But being wise and benevolent overlords, House Andrews has delivered to the starving masses.
……More please? 🥺
+100!
And we horde go 🤤.
😆
I’m the entomologist that saves (most of) the insects and arachnids that make it into the house.
Not sure how I’d respond to a scorpion. Probably depends on how big a catching mechanism was at hand!
Glad you are making progress on your current work, and had help with the scorpion. I dearly dislike making the decision to go barefoot on occasion.
We had a scorpion turn up in our bathroom recently. Terrified me, as I’d never seen one in the wild. My husband nonchalantly stepped on it. With his bare foot. No issues. WTH??
Needless to say, I now turn on every light if I need to visit the bathroom in the middle of the night.
I think you need to rig up a flyswatter holster to hang on your back in place of a sword. Wear it everywhere you go, so if you see a scorpion, you’re armed to take it out, even for visits to the bathroom.
Better yet, buy a telescoping baton that you can clip to your belt or waistband. See a scorpion, pluck off that baton, snap the wrist the extend it, then WHAM!
Although a back-holstered flyswatter would be hilarious.
+10 except a flyswatter is too flimsy for me. I want a
backholstered mallet sorta like Mjolnir to take out the threat with one whack.
with a katana handle
My go-to is a size 9 beach sandal attached to an 18 inch long plastic handle. Very effective, 35+years and counting, and it’s shower proof. I think it’s the best $6 I ever spent in college in West Virginia.
Not sure if I am the only one that feels this way but it’s ok if a book doesn’t “grab you by the throat” in the first two pages. A little set up is nice.
I agree, sometimes a slow start can lead to a towering crescendo
I enjoy you posts every week. I also
Liked your short story and hope to see more of it. It makes me want to read what is going to happen next. Thanks so much
We had a scorpion show up in a bowl in our kitchen. Ever since then I shake out my shoes before I put them on.
Love the snippet.
OMG I cannot wait for Maggie’s book!!! I selfishly hope it ends up being self-published because that way we get it so much sooner 🙂 But as always, we want you to do what is best for you and whatever provides the best path for you to keep writing amazing stories for us to read forever and ever!
+1
(And thank you for the snippet, it rocks!)
Can’t wait for this book!
I agree!!! Whatever is best for HA to succeed. Although I do love a long book.
Barefoot! that soooooo sucks, You are better than me, since I wouldn’t have had my phone. I would have to scream for belp.
Love the image of both Gordon the Brave coming to the rescue and the snippet!!
Thanks and have a good weekend.
You are lucky you survived the scorpion onslaught! Nasty buggers. This week after working hard all day with gardening and ranching type stuff, I hopped in the shower for my second shower of the day, got all nice and wet, turned around and there was an eight inch centipede curled up in the corner. GAAAAAH! They aren’t poisonous, but do sting and these suckers are BIG. Of course the hot water was on, keeping it at bay. So I finished my shower, hopped out, called out to husband to bring a giant shoe.
“A what?”
“BRING YOUR BIGGEST SHOE.”
“Oh hell. What now.” Husband grew up in tame Wisconsin. He lived in Texas too and pound for pound, he’s finding it more dangerous here in NM. Several times he has come to find me to ID bugs, spiders and such. And yes dear, that is a black widow. GAH.
It’s been one of those summers. If you really want to freak out, I can tell you the story of a month ago when one of the centipedes WAS IN MY BED and WOKE ME UP. Yup. It’s on the blog. The full and horrific event. It ain’t just Texas that has these kinds of attacks. No, siree. I guess now you won’t be thinking of moving to NM. Drat.
I sense an innkeeper on the future where Dina and the inn has to host scorpions. maybe have them battle the space chickens
Dina.. stupid typo
Fixed 😉
That would be…gah!
oooooh, let’s not 😊
Thank you so much!! Have a great weekend and may you (well Gordon) not have to vanquish any other scorpions!
xoxox
Laurence
TYVM for the snippet. glad you missed the Scorpion attack.
Thank you! I’m looking forward to reading a really LONG story! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise! 😉
Pretty lucky you had your phone with you! Yay, Gordon!
What is Maggie’s book? Where can I find it?
Maggie is a project House Andrews are currently working on. It’s not finished or published, so you cannot find it anywhere yet 🙂
I recently learned that scorpions floresce under black light. maybe you can get a black light flashlight for nocturnal bathroom visits. I wish I had known that for my last visit to the hill country where they were in the house.
Who wants to bet that maggie will be a new anchor series and draw in a bunch of readers from other corners of the fantasy genre?
Needle nose pliers for Alabama scorpions. I’m sure Texas grows them bigger though. Here it works like a charm…
Am I the only one that keeps a fly swatter in the bathroom? Of course I live alone so I have to be prepared to deal with whatever myself. Although I have to say my cats deal with most bugs, flies, etc. So glad you had Gordon to the rescue!
Don’t be bullied into edits you are not comfortable with please! We will buy it esp if it’s long!
Wheeeeee! Thankyou for the snippet! I don’t care how long the book is, I. Will. Buy. It!!!
At 94000 words I don’t think it will be as long as Atlas Shrugged or other long Sci-fi novels. And from what little you have given us to read will be Fabutastic.
Omg, that was fun! I do so wish this was already on pre-order, can hardly wait!
Gordon to the rescue!!
If it makes you feel any better it is now Palmetto Bug migration, from outside to inside, season here in the Foothills of South Carolina. While not venomous, they are big buggers.
Palmetto bugs. Ick, ick, ick, ick!! My toes just curled in my shoes!
There are reasons to grumble about the weather up north, especially in the winter – snow, ice, sleet, etc., but no palmetto bugs. Or scorpions. Oy!!
My brother gave me a present for a new house. It has a clear 2″ by 12″ tube, a small fan with an on/off button and a cap. It is a bug sucker. Turned out to be the most useful percent ever. I can get rid of all sorts of creepy bugs safely and from a distance. t
Take off th cap, turn on the fan, suck up th bug and put on the cap (with the fan running). Definitely cuts down on the ick factor.
1) I love the dynamics between the two of you Gordan and Ilona, because it makes me happy that I/he are not the only ones who call on the other to carry out spiders/mice/snakes and to kill scorpions. 🙂
2) ANY snippet is always a wonderful bump in energy!!!!!
Loved the snippet, end of a long week with middle schoolers.
Bring on the *odd* book!! In jr. high I read my mother’s poetry books from her graduate classes in English Literature. Nineteen century/early twentieth century poets – not the usual reading material for 7th & 8th graders. Also Ray Bradbury science fiction, despite not liking scary stories at all. So I’m an *odd* reader from way back!!
“no substitute for proper planning and strategy.”
Philosophy to live by
Yikes! I wouldn’t have needed a phone to summon Gordon, my screaming would’ve done it, ha ha.
Love the snippet, cannot wait to read more. Oh, and dursans are very cool.
Thank you for the smile on what has been an awful day. I lost my 17 yr old Maine coon, Murphy. He was orange and white and beautiful like Tuna. The house is very quiet and lonely.
So sorry about Murphy.😢
I am so sorry for your loss.
So sorry to hear about Murphy. Maine Coon cats are fantastic.
I should tell my brother and his family to watch out for scorpions. The little bugs that swarm the lights are creepy but at least not venomous.
Cut – cut the book? Sacrilege! Says the woman who read the uncut version of The Count of Monte Cristo several times.
I cannot wait for this book… I’m sure your edits will grab us by the throat!
I wouldn’t have needed the cell phone because the screaming would have been epic and blood curdling. (Shudders in horror)
Eerm – you take your phone to the bathroom? For late night visits? And turn on lights? I totter out in the dark, have my visit and totter back – if anything’s lurking it continues to lurk in peace. Anyhow, hubby’s phone lives on his desk, or his man-bag, or the car, or….. never by the bed. Mind you – we don’t get a lot of scorpions in middle-England – if we did, I suppose habits might change!
Scorpions are evil, quite possibly the pinnacle of evil. Glad your knight slayed the beast.
Until you live in Texas, you don’t know. Once you know, you know.
Wonderful snippet! I’m enjoying the dynamic between Maggie and Reynald so far. And dursans sound excitingly brutal and good fun for reading. I’ll read whether you self-publish or traditional publish. Although I must put a pause on reading snippets if you decide to go traditional publishing as I know that can be a wait. And I can’t take the waiting.
You do what’s best for you though. I can wait… I CAN wait.
Thanks for the snippet. So sorry about those gangsta scorpions. They have a death wish. Thanks again Gordon for you knight in shining armor services. Hope evrything works out the way you want it to with publishing.
Long is good! I don’t need my throat grabbed right away either. Give me something I can work into. As long it is interesting (and all your books have interesting beginnings) I don’t particularly care how long it takes to get “grippy”.
BDH: 🎵 We like big books and we can not lie, you other readers can’t deny. When a book shows up with a really great plot and a cool character you get hooked. 🎵
*with apologies to Sir-Mix-A-Lot*
In my experience here in Texas if you see one Scorpion there is another one close by. I used to always wear thick socks, they saved my feet a few times.
understand that at any length your book will be DEVOURED. editors want a quick grab but if you just write what you want and it’s already been stated that it’s interesting and grabbing. so I don’t agree with the editorial staff write a long book we would all love it. btw thanks for this snippet I have been genuinely looking forward to this book ever since you released the first set of snippets. have a great week.
I think it’s time to invest in color coordinating flyswatters in all the rooms, just in case!
Love
Best Birthday present!! Love this so much !
Down with all scorpions.
Thanks for the latest snippet. I really enjoy All of IA short stories. I go online and read them over and over.
I would enjoy a 500k book by IA, since I’ve loved everything they’ve put out. It is puzzling to me why a publisher would be so determined to cut the word count. It doesn’t make sense when the authors are top selling writers. At least not to me.
I like longer books, I get to spend more time reading them.
So if possible, keep them as long as you can.
All the best to Mod R, HA, Sir Gordon and the Tower of the Tub
Just came home from hospital yesterday. Abdominal surgery, at 76 years old, we weren’t entirely sure I would wake up, the priest did that thing they do not call last rights. But 3 week of recovery later , the surgeons say I am in the best shape I have been in for 15 years and that they would get back to me in 15 more to check on new adhesions. Which is pretty optimistic considering my Emphysema. My point is, as I have heard here before, one of the the things I lay thinking about was what you guys were going to do with Maggie, really looking forward to the break on this. And I truly hope the world gives you a shot at tying up loose ends at hidden legacy. In case I don’t make it through next adventure, thank you for countless hours of entertainment
Hang in, Joe!! Prayers.
And “Last Rites”is now called “the Sacrament of the Sick”. They think it makes you feel better?!?!?! Ha!
Sorry, I seem to have missed several episodes of this serial,,but just who is Maggie.?
You have not missed a serial 🙂, no worries.
It’s a snippet of the new project House Andrews are working on, tentatively entitled Maggie. It is not linked to any of the current series or worlds.
We don’t know too much about Maggie yet, but you can find some previously shared snippets of it:
https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/maggie-maggie-maggie/ and
https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/bdh-the-best-fandom-ever-and-snippet/ and
https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/busy-week/ and
https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/meow-meow-is-okay/
Is she Cornelius daughter?
Maggie is a completely new project in the world by House Andrews, it has no link or crossover with any of the existing series 🙂
💚 Sir Gordon to the Rescue 🤭
I think it is okay if Maggie is a little longer than other IA novels. Everything else has been urban fantasy or romance or both. All of previous subgenres are typically shorter and often episodic pieces of fiction. An isekai with high fantasy leanings and significant world building (right?) should be expected to be longer in length. I’m not saying it needs to be longer, but don’t fixate on word count if you’re only benchmarking against your previous works. This is the probably the third blog post hinting at word count anxiety. Don’t let mostly arbitrary targets stop you from telling your best story. It’s gonna be great whenever it is ready!
I’m so excited for this new story! Thank you for the snippet
Don’t listen to the agents, your words are gold!!!