ILONA ANDREWS

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Sweep of the Heart Questions

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Dushegubs? Love the name, literally means soul killers/strangelers in Russian. Curious, how often do you guys use foreign language words to name an alien species?

Juliana

We do it quite a bit, because the inns are international. They are located all over the planet. Some species, like the koo-ko, have easily pronounceable names and some, like the Quillonians, do not. In cases where the names are too difficult for a human mouth to replicate, the innkeepers resort to nicknames. Whoever first encounters the species, gets to name it. Some species have nicknames in more than one language. It would be unrealistic if all the nicknames were of English origin.

Did you know that there is a Yurok Tribe?

No, we didn’t. Thank you to people who pointed it out. That was unfortunate word choice coincidence on our part. We changed it. We never want to name any alien species after an actual nation.

Normally something like this would be caught during the editing process, but because you are reading the first draft – and that particular scene was literally written Friday morning – this slipped through. No worries, we should be back on schedule with our CE, so hopefully, we will mess up less in the future.

Will 300 guests boost the Inn a lot? And will it help that so many of them will be seeing the parents portrait?

It would be really good for the inn. Gertrude Hunt needs the energy. No worries about the portrait. We are getting closer to solving the mystery. Wait and you will see.

Dina swore not to let any guest come to harm. And now she’s planning to kill one?

I can see how it can be read that way, but it’s an acknowledgment of an inevitable turn of events rather than a threat. It would be like, “The dog has knocked the leftovers off the counter and ate them. We will have to clean up vomit today.” You don’t wish for vomit. You just absolutely sure it will happen.

While the safety of the guests is paramount to innkeepers, and it’s a really bad mark against the inn when one of the guests dies due to unnatural causes, in reality, every inn of significant prominence had lost a guest before.

The Inn is also a tree of sorts, grown from a seed. Will the Dushegubs affect it? Will we see inter-tree interactions?

The inn is a very special tree. A dog has more in common with a wolf than a human, but he will attack the wolf without hesitation on human’s behalf. Gertrude Hunt’s first loyalty is to Dina. The inn loves her the way Artha loves Kid 2.

Gertrude Hunt is hungry for resources, will it be able to absorb the Dushegubs as wood?

Waste not, want not.

Will we see a female Quinllonian sous-chef for an Orro HEA?

Right now there are no plans for that but who knows?

Will they advertise for chef assistants in Baha Char or with the other Inns?

I am sure Chef Adri would be of help. ::insert smiley winky face:: You can see how it turned out in Chapter 7.

How is Gorvar doing?

You will see in the next installment.

What about the female werewolf we just left in Baha Char?

No worries, we didn’t forget her.

The Sovereign “getting hurt in any way”- does that include minor things like stubbing his toe or getting a paper cut?

The Assembly means significant harm rather than a paper cut.

But it’s not a problem for Chef Adri or the Academy to support or help Orro since he lost his Red Cleaver designation?

While Orro had been stripped of his certification, nobody can take away his cleaver, meaning once a Red Cleaver chef, always a Red Cleaver chef. He wasn’t the one who poisoned the soup, he is endorsed by Chef Adri, and this is a very high profile event. The Academy didn’t force anyone to volunteer. The students did that on their own. Besides, it’s probably time for Orro to get reinstated, don’t you think? ::insert winky face::

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Reader Interactions

Comments

    • Wow Tink, we need to wait for Mod R but I think you’re first ☺️

      Also thanks to HA for answering our questions ????

    • I was wondering that too. I kinda had it in my head that they would torch a member as soon as the delegation arrived. Not judging though…if that’s what it took to get a species to pay attention, then here’s a match.

  5. Thanks for the answers. Orro being reinstated as a Red Clever chef? Everyone will never hear the end of it. ????????????

  6. It’s interesting to me that people assume Orro & aliens in general are heterosexual. However I don’t think there have been any prominent LQBTQAi+ characters in the Innkeeper series. There is a one page of interpretation gender in One Fell Sweep.

    • Halima, heterosexuality/homosexuality, etc, is a human concept. It’s probably not applicable to someone like medamophs, who are hermaphrodites or koo-ko who switch gender throughout their lifetime.

      Sexuality should come into place if it is necessary to the storyline. None of the storylines thus far explored it.

      • I like that. It’s comforting to see stories where it isn’t necessary to point out who has what parts and who likes what parts. The atmosphere becomes one of acceptance because the characters don’t make a fuss about it one way or the other.

        Thank you for the insight into how you make aliens! They are all so nuanced and intriguing.

      • Thomas and Robert lonesco in Kate Daniels series were a good example, Barrabás and Christopher.
        Patricia and her wife…
        There are representation.
        Well put and fluid.
        Is awful when authors put characters that not fit only for looking good.
        I prefer more subtle and that fits seamlessly on the history.

        Go house Andrews!!!
        You are the best!!
        Me loving it.
        ????????????????

    • I understand where you are coming from, and I also like Ilona’s reaction, but my first tought when reading the question about Orro’s HEA, was why people need to be coupled up to be happy?

  7. I have been thinking about the murdering trees, of course that turns to plants that many people don’t like such as broccoli. Broccoli branches looks similar to a tree and I’m one who likes broccoli as long as it has a sauce with plenty of garlic, lemon, robust olive oil and salt to taste to spice it up. Let’s run those trees through a soothing bath made up of that sauce and eat’em up.

    • I was going to say they could deal with it the way they did with Audrey 2, the venus flytrap, in The Little Shop of Horrors, but I actually couldn’t remember what happened, so I looked it up. In the movie, the plant was defeated, but apparently in the original source material it eats Seymour and Audrey 1 and ravaged the world. We don’t want that outcome, so let’s make sure we stick with the movie ending.

  8. Thank you for the answers!
    And thank you for all the winking… looking forward to how they all come out in the future chapters! The BDH is going to have such a fun time speculating… looking forward to reading those comments too!

  9. Thank you for the answers, some to questions that I didn’t think to ask but, I am happy to have the information. Also thank you for making Friday emails a thing to look forward to.

  10. As we read the blog, is this the entire story/scene? When the book is published will there be additional parts to the scenes already seen in the blog?

    • It differs from serial to serial, but usually there are very minimal edits more linked to flow of the story rather than adding scenes before it is published ????

  18. Will we ever get a Sean POV? I would like to know how he feels being an Inkeeper, does he like it? Does it feel strange being able to arrange the inn by just a single thought? I love Sean so I’m just wondering if you ever consider writing in his POV.

  19. It is so weird. I didn’t think I would like the Innkeeper series for some demented reason but I completely adore it. Can’t wait for the next installment.

  23. I love Fridays, I love Fridays, you always post a wonderful blog for us and often it gives us joy when we have sad moments. I am wondering if Sweep the Heart will be produced by GraphicAudio?
    Moderator R. I am looking for the blog in which Ilona gives the recipe for the foaming hand wash. Can you help me please? Thank you

      • Thank you very much for your quick response, this helps. I really like GraphicAudio it’s (like a movie in your head) like they advertise so hopefully they’ll do Sweep of the Heart. I’m glad to know that Dina will have new answers to find her parents. (No worries about the portrait. We are getting closer to solving the mystery. Wait and you will see) loved that lol lol

  24. Love all of this. Questions and answers. Just read CH 7 and wonder now: Tony had a pretty detailed intro description. Guessing we’ll learn more about the ad-hal (ad-hals?) and will we also see some character development with him? (I love all the characters and always want to know more about them!!)

  25. Thank you for your sensitivity to the issues indigenous people face regarding the appropriation of their names/cultures. Now, if only you could buy a sports team??

  26. On the number of guests tack, I know they’ve been laying in supplies, but I do hope she has enough for all the renovations she’s doing.

    Thabks for answering all these though! We run off on weird rabbit trails of “what this?”, don’t we?

  27. Thank you for these awesome posts… chapter 7, the fixing of the name, the q&a…. All make the reading so much deeper when you know all that goes into names, places, plots… it’s that much more real. And I’m really interested to see how things go with Caldenia… I’ve always liked her character !!

    ????

  28. I am enjoying this so much. I love that Tony will be there. These characters are so well developed you want to be part of their world. Any chance Maud and Arland will show up to help out?

    • I would like them to show up with Klaus In tow.. hehehe since he showed up in Maud book. Wondering about Sean parents also. Hmmmmm

  29. I find Koo-ko much harder to pronounce than Quillonian. I want to say Koo-koo and have to stop myself to pronounce the ko. Quillonian flows.

  30. Omg, I would love to see Orro get reinstated! And I’m tickled that my silly comment got included in this post 🙂

  31. In my head Orro is a cross between Gordon Ramsey and my mother–but more lovable. I know that’s weird but you’d understand if you knew my Mom.

  32. I cannot wait to see what’s coming for the rest of the story. I know I’ve said this several times already, but I will be pre-ordering as soon as it is possible to do so.

  34. Thanks so much for answering questions!

    I love the Innkeeper stories. That’s how I found IA (recommended by my sister’s friend) and had no idea they were a serial until Sweep of the Blade when I finally discovered the blog.

    The slow weekly reveal, the speculations in the comments, the interaction of the BDH & authors makes for such an entertaining and enriching and uplifting experience.

    It is so generous of you to share. Thank you for giving us something to look forward to.

  36. I don’t want the mystery solved yet! I want more Dina and Sean! (Yes, it is all about me ….)

    This is all so fun! Except the impending ending of their series. That’s not fun.

  37. I’ve always found your serial stories delightful, but this commentary really made me chuckle today. Thank you!

  40. YAY! We can help Orro be reinstated! He is amazing and I don’t think he will EVER leave Dina and the Inn.

  42. <3 <3 <3 Orro fan club for reinstatement and possible imaginary HEA! I'm so excited to see where this all goes! Thank you again for being so thoughtful in your works!

  44. The killer trees make me remember the ucorns from Tolkien.
    Nice touch.
    You can give all the honor’s to Otro, but please, don’t take him away!
    He is so sweet ????

  46. The extremely large and two smaller dining rooms and humongous kitchen with plating area must be one off the largest known. The serving is probably done by the Gertrude Hunt. That serving will be as rapid as the plating.

    I can imagine one of the dushibags or the murdering trees taking a chomp out of that root coming around their shoulder with a plate. Oh what fun in that coming food fight.

  48. How are the finances going for Getrude Hunt? It seems like only George has been a paying guest and supposedly Dina ended up using a large chunk of that money already.

    • Hi wingednike,

      I’m so confused as to how you arrived at George out of everyone ????.
      Caldenia is a paying guest, the Koshai too, the Drifen, the Koo-Ko, the Medamoth idem, we can go even further back into One Fell Sweep if you want ????.
      Why just George? I don’t know if I’m quite understanding what you’re saying.

      • Ah, got it. I focused on George because he’s the only one I remember where Dina saw money go into an account. I guess the post-script about apple trees made it stick out ????

  49. Can Gertrude Hunt do anything cool with the wood of the sapient murdertree? What properties would wood that has to move fast have? Could you make superlative bows? Wood clothing? Golems?

  50. Perhaps the wood will be stored for future use, there might be a race of intelligent giant termites in tnnkeeperverse and Orro will need to produce rare and scented woods for them…just a thought, if you can have space chickens, why not space termites?

  51. Lovely BDH persons interpretation of Dushegubs:

    Dushegubs? Love the name, literally means soul killers/strangelers in Russian.

    Me and my hillbilly brain:Dushegub translated into Douchebags. If the tree fits and all. Thanks now their soul sucking douches. Lol!

  52. Reading your blog and posts give me happiness .. . every single time. I am sorry to hear about the scorpion . . . I chose to move from El Paso directly after three baby scorpions crawled from my daughter’s bucket of lion king figures. I was done, too.

  53. “Gertrude Hunt is hungry for resources, will it be able to absorb the Dushegubs as wood?

    Waste not, want not.”

    HAHAHAHAH Lol

  54. I collect hand-carved wooden eating spoons (as opposed to mixing or serving spoons) and I choose the spoon for my morning tea to match what qualities I think I’ll need that day: willow if I feel like I’m going to need to flexible, hickory for tough resilience, maple to be pretty, etc.

    I kinda want a Dushegub spoon now, for those days when I want to be a soulness murder machine.

  56. Gertrude Hunt is already somewhat sentient & has consistently demonstrated it has feelings & emotions (which the Dushegubs lack).

    If Gertrude Hunt absorbs the Dushegubs as wood (waste not, want not), would absorbing a deceased sentient tree as wood/food alter Gertrude Hunt in any way? i.e. would absorbing the deceased Dushegubs allow Gertrude Hunt to evolve it’s level of sentience or maybe alter how it communicates with Dina, Sean, Caldenia, Orro, and other beings (such as guests, staff, innkeepers, Ad Hals, Dina & Sean’s families)?

    Or if Gertrude Hunt doesn’t directly absorb the bodies, will we see Caldenia enjoying using the deceased Dushegubs as firewood in one of Gertrude Hunt’s fireplaces or in the fire pit that Sean built in the 1st book? Would Orro, or Sean, using the Dushegubs as fuel for a smoker to make ribs for Caldenia break Dina’s rules about cooking/serving sentient beings?

  57. All this talk of Gertrude Hunt needing resources has me wondering. I know Gertrude Hunt prefers core wood but, could she make use of recycled paper and cardboard, or would there be too much chemical contamination?

  59. Orro should be named “HEART OF THE KITCHEN”. I know most won’t recognize that but it is supposed to be an almost mystical level of chef/cooking. Just a personal out of left field observation.
    Plus if I may, quiet hugs of support.

  60. I’m trying to find the links to order the Kinsman book, but can’t find it. I’ve read back through the blogs all the way until when you mentioned bringing the 2 books out in print again and still can’t find it. Help please.

    Sorry to be off topic.

    • Hi Mary,

      I will be doing an update on the Kinsmen and Small Magics PODs in the next couple of weeks.
      The project was slightly delayed by the pandemic, but we are looking at March as of now and there will be links on the blog!

  61. Was there a short story about How Gerald DeMille saved an inn keeper and then become stranded in time?

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