The tour began on March 31 at BN in Arboretum at 5:00 pm. We came in a little early, were led to the back room, and shortly after they brought us out. We follow the nice bookseller to the signing space and see 200 people. And they all go, “Yay!” except that there is 200 of them and it sounds more like, “Rawr!”
We have a short Q&A, we got to signing, and we sign until 10:30 or so. Author math: 1 new book plus 3 books from home = 4 signatures x 200 = 800 signatures. 500 signatures is about 3 hours. We have an awesome time, and then the readers leave and we stay and sign stock. And more stock. And more stock.
We finally get through it and call our Uber, and it takes us home. We land, eat something – I am very proud of myself for ordering takeout to be delivered with perfect timing – it was left by the door by the time we arrived but it did not sit long enough for racoons to steal it. We eat, finish packing in a tired stupor, and pass out for about 4 hours.
We get up at 5:00 am, and by 5:30 am we are on the way to the airport with our bags and our airline apps. We get there, check in the bags, go through TSA Precheck and they send me right back. My TSA precheck is not there. It turned out that there was a typo in my KTN, the frequent flier number. Now that I know about it, I manually fix it everywhere.
We grab some kind of weird breakfast – airport food is always a little sus – and get on a plane. We land in Minneapolis at 12:30 pm. We get to the hotel, which is amazing. It’s called the Graduate and it is straight out of a Dark Academia novel. It’s right by University of Minnesota and there are lounge spaces and long, ancient looking tables everywhere. The students use it as a secondary Student Center. I stole pictures for you from their website.
It would be an amazing event space. Like I want to write a dark academia novel so we can have the book release party there.
We drop our bags off and get an Uber to Tropes and Trifles. The city is under siege. Every house and business along the road has signs ICE OUT and WE LOVE OUR NEIGHBORS. Minneapolis’ community game is strong. Deepest respect.
I will say that if you would like to visit, do not hesitate. We felt safe, and Tropes and Trifles takes great care of their visitors.
We arrive to the store about 2:45 pm and we are shown to the table filled with books. We keep signing but somehow the boxes keep coming.
We also meet a very good boy.
We presign the books until about 5:00 pm, when we get a little break to grab a bite. The only options around Tropes and Trifles were a BBQ restaurant and a bakery, so we grab an uber back to the hotel and eat at their restaurant. Nothing wrong with a BBQ, but for a signing event, you want something light.
We eat quickly, grab an uber, and arrive to the signing venue, which takes place in this amazing church. Except that there is no table. Usually there is a table, but this time, there are only chairs.
I have a pantsuit that only looks good when I am standing or half hidden behind the table. Had I know this, I would’ve worn a dress. I went with the suit because an ice storm was coming and it was cold. More on that later.
The signing starts and again, there are many people. We do a short Q&A and at some point, I do a Vanna White impression with a giant cover. Except I am not quite that fabulous, hehe. The session goes well, we switch to the signing, and we sign. And sign. Tropes and Trifles has a 6 book limit, so the presigned hardcover plus up to 6 books from home.
It takes a little bit, and we get everyone through, and arrive to the hotel around 11:00 pm. We grab a little sleep, get up at 5:00 am, and by 6:20 am, we are at the airport. We are due to fly to Chicago, where we need to catch a connecting flight to Lexington.
Remember the ice storm? It is spreading across the Midwest. Chicago is not accepting planes. The flight is delayed. We sit. We wait. We board. We sit. We wait. We deplane with our bags. We sit. We wait.
At this point I call Jocelyn, who is Tor’s publicist, and explain that there is no way we are connecting in Chicago. She magically manages to rebook us on a later flight. We should be getting into Charlotte at 5:00 pm now. The signing is at 7:00 pm. Plenty of time.
We sit. We wait.
We board. The plane is de-iced. We wait. We wait.
We finally take off.
We land in Chicago, speed march to the right gate, and stop. The domino effect is in full force. Our connecting flight is now delayed by two hours.
More texting to Jocelyn, who connects to Joseph-Beth, and the store graciously agrees to move the event to 8:30 pm. We had an unprecedented level of support for this. Thank you so much to everyone involved.
I check the email, and see a message from Mod R, which says, “Everything is fine,” which is usually a code for “The sky has fallen, but Mod R picked it up and put it back.” The website had crashed, and she had to contact the host support, who got it fixed in record time. I thank her and ask her to post the delay announcement.
We sit. We wait. We talk to other people who are sitting and waiting. We look for some place to charge things. We sit.
Finally we board and fly to Lexington. We land at 8:10 pm, grab our bags, and call an Uber, except the uber driver is 12 miles away. What? So, we cancel the uber and grab a taxi, and it takes us to Joseph-Beth. We are reasonably sure that everyone has likely left by now.
We make it to the store at 8:30 pm. Joseph-Beth – a beautiful store, by the way, and if you have a chance, you absolutely should visit – has two floors of books. As we are riding the escalator up in our travel clothes with our bags, we hear the “Yay-Rawr!”
Nobody left. We go straight into Q&A, and there are pictures of us with readers where Gordon looks amazing, because he always does, and I am wearing upscale sweatpants and a T-shirt that says “Easily Distracted By Dogs.” Sorry. It couldn’t be helped.
We get through the line – one person flew in from Germany, omg – and by that point it’s 11:30 pm and there is a lot of stock. The store graciously offers to stay with us until we sign it all, but we feel bad about keeping everyone late, so we agree to come back in the morning.
We get to Origin hotel, which is also gorgeous, fall on our faces, and fall asleep.
We are up at 6:00 am, we grab breakfast. Breakfast at the Origin in Lexington is a religious experience. Like it is so delicious, and it looks like one of those highly edited food shots. It was perfect. By 7:30 am we are in an uber and on the way to the store.
We get there, we are let in, and we sign stock. And we sign. And we sign. At 9:15 am, we had to leave for the airport, but we got through all of This Kingdom stock and we will be sending bookplates to Joseph-Beth for the rest.
We get to the airport, and the plane is delayed. We wait, we wait, we wait, we we board the plane, and then we are finally in Baltimore. As we are going to get our bags, Jeaniene Frost, who is co-signing with us, is texting me wanting to know if we are alive. I confirm that we are alive and we agree to meet for dinner. It is Gordon’s birthday.
We end up at a Brazilian steakhouse. But this point I am so tired of eating highly fried and rich food, that I find some marinated eggplant on the salad bar and I eat it like there is no tomorrow. Midway through dinner, a woman comes over and gives us this hesitant look.
Me: Hello.
She: ILOVEYOURBOOKS.
We took lovely pictures, chatted, and it was a very cute moment. She couldn’t get a ticket to the signing because it was sold out and ended up at the restaurant by pure chance. Serendipity. On tour all of our time belongs to the readers and book stores, and all of us are very glad that we were able to meet her.
The next day, we make a quick excursion to Collector Corner and Black Sheep Yarn Store, where I buy yarn I do not need. Black Sheep Yarn store is lovely and they tried very hard to explain their return policy to me. Returning yarn. Heh.
We meet with Jeaniene and her sister for a quick brunch, get back to the hotel, change clothes and arrive to the BN. We are welcomed, led to the back room, and then brought out.
No table. Oh, and it’s worse. It’s not chairs. It’s tall bar stools. Note to self: dresses next time.
We have a ton of people again, everyone is asking questions, I scroll through Maggie 2 to prove that it existed. Jeaniene Frost is MC’ing like there is no tomorrow, and then we all transition to the signing.
There were some heavy moments at this signing and some happy moments. At one point someone accidentally grabbed my phone instead of theirs, and somehow took a bunch of pictures – I must’ve happened to unlock it just before – and then apologized profusely. I texted the pictures back and took a photo for posterity. Hehe.
We signed until just after 9:00 pm, and as soon as we finished, the lights went out, and we had to go. We got back to the hotel, fell on our faces, and slept until 4:00 am, at which point the uber came to pick us up so we can be at the airport in time. We got there at 5:00, gave them our bags, somehow dragged ourselves through the security and to our gate, waited again, got on a plane, flew, landed, ubered, and at noon walked through the door of our house.
We put the bags aside, changed clothes, sat on the couch, and fell asleep until 4:00 pm, when it was time to pick up the dogs from boarding.
It was an amazing tour! We got to meet so many people. Thank you for all of the smiles and the old, well-loved books. It was our privilege to spend time with you!
And now I have the grand announcement. Ta-da!
Here we go:
- #9 New York Times Bestseller in Hardcover and Ebook
- #10 New Times Bestseller in Hardcover
- #14 USA Today Bestseller (We have #14 bestselling book out all books in US)
- #2 Sunday Times Bestseller in UK – huge thank you to Waterstones
- #6 Independent Books Store Bestseller
And we have regional lists:
- #13 North California Independent Bookstore Alliance
- #14 Southern Independent Bookstore Alliance
- #7 Mountains and Plains Independent Bookseller Association
- #8 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association
- #9 Great Lakes Independent Bookseller Association
We haven’t had a true hardcover edition since Magic Triumphs. Hidden Legacy had very tiny hardcover runs, primarily aimed at libraries. We are coming back from an almost 4 year traditional hiatus (Ruby Fever came out in 08/2022.)
I love Maggie, but I also understand that it is a dense book with a lot of worldbuilding. It is not a YA/NA, it is not that spicy, and it is in a genre largely unknown to Western audiences. Books like that don’t usually hit the lists unless they have a film or TV tie ins. Tor had gone above and beyond to promote it, but between the long break in our publishing career, the hardcover price, and writing in a different genre, I didn’t expect any fireworks.
This is unbelievably amazing. I was shocked. Absolutely shocked. How did this even happen?
We worked so hard on this book, and right now all of it seems worth it.
Thank you.
You are the best.
Clever, devious plotting, intricate , Fabulous book.
Felicitation …
Tkank you
Murielle (Québec-Canada)
I love how Amazon has listed it as an Editors’ Picks: Best Science Fiction & Fantasy books of April! Congrats!
It is the first book I have ever finished and felt like i needed to pick it up and read it again right of way. so much world building. I just know there are little hidden gems that will only be revealed on a second read!
Congratulations! Maggie is such a special book I’m so happy it’s done so well!
Congratulations on all the accolades for This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me.
This schedule sounds brutal even without the weather.
I still hope the book success would bring an European book tour. Pretty please? 🙂
“Yay-Rawr!”
The BDH
(idea for a shirt 😂, but no, seriously, I would buy it)
I’d wear that, lol.
Wow, I got dizzy just reading about how busy that was! I think a LOT of naps should be penciled into schedule for at least a week to recover… Also, that sweatshirt sounds AWESOME! I would have shamelessly begged for a selfie lol. Maggie was amazing. I was enthralled. I saw a video on Facebook with a person who had a pet Russian Sable and it made me think of Sushi. It was adorable, fierce, bouncy, and tons of attitude lololol
YAYYYYYYYYY Congratulations! Awesome and so very well deserved! Awesome book, fantastic covers, love love love the extra artwork!!
I am so bummed that I missed out on meeting you at 1 if the events. But…
I got the audiobook and the actual book – which just arrived today – I been listening to the book in the car while driving and while working around the house. I’ve had many conversations with Maggie. Many, many conversations with Maggie. one of which was yes, you go girl keep it up.
Congratulations! You both deserve it! And thank you all the enjoyment you’ve given me for the last 17 years or so and continue to do so with Maggie.
I think you two are established enough that you can negotiate a slower paced tour going forward.
Congrats on the success.
Congratulations on a wonderful release! I’m Australian so I will not make it to a tour – but can I say that sounds exhausting and all I could think was “your poor hands” from all the signing. Much sympathy on your efforts but hope you get a rest now before writing anymore – that sounds like A LOT!
Sounds like a whirlwind book tour! Fun and exhausting…the Horde loves you! Rawr!
So happy for the books success…of course we all knew it would be fabulous. Congrats!
So glad to hear you survived the tour and the book is doing so well.
My suggestion is to convince one of your author friends to write that dark academia book and have a release party at Graduate. then you can attend without handwork/silly
I have seen several social media posts in fantasy book channels talking about This Kingdom and inevitably a few of the BDH find the thread to welcome them to the horde. Your audience is growing with this book. I also recommended it to my staff and my sister, so doing my part. hehe
I don’t know why I have tears in my eyes as I read this. BDH, new & old, this is our magic
+1
Next tour, come to Omaha. We can take a tour if Mishmar!
WOO! CONGRATULATIONS! Both on the best seller and on surviving the tour. oh my gods. I would have died in Chicago.
It was lovely to meet y’all in Austin.
Thank YOU for writing the worlds that drag us in and keep us enthralled. Y’all deserve ALLLLL the accolades!!!
Congratulations on the accolades for Maggie (so not surprised) and having a great tour! I’m in the middle of a re-read – such a great world and characters. You two are amazing authors and you just keep getting better with each book.
Happy Belated Birthday to Gordon! 🎂
It is so well deserved. I’m in my 50’s, have been an avid reader all my life. I can honestly say that you guys are the only authors that I buy books unseen, knowing nothing about them, and know that they will be fantastic. I have never been disappointed. I can’t wait for the next one! (official member of the BDH)
I absolutely love it.
Merch idea: ereader covers that look like the real book cover.
What a wonderful recounting of an amazing tour – thank you! It sounds like you had lots of fun, even with the weather, the Ubers and what sounds like a truly astonishing amount of book signings!
I was SO happy to meet you at Barnes and Nobles! I was the last one in line that night and felt so bad for you guys that you had to stay so late. And then I stepped away and the bookstore brought out even more books for you to sign. I can’t believe how little sleep you’ve had over the past week. Hopefully you get some days of well deserved rest to catch up on sleep now that it’s all over! And then I would love to hear all about Maggie #2. : )
Congratulations. I’m glad I could help.
Congratulations.
The hoard is mighty in its reach and great devourer of all things written by House Andrews. We rawr and spread word far so more might come and rawr with us.
Wow that tour schedule sounds full but fun. It was great to meet three of my favorite authors. And please forgive those of us like me who have switched to reading ebooks. So even though I brought my favorite couple books to get signed that I have read 10 time for Sweep of the Blade and 5 time for The Inheritance. It might not of seemed like if with the new looking physical copies. 🙃 Also loved the proof of Maggie to with the at least 30,000 words to go hehe.
high fantasy is like Russian literature to me if it’s well done. complex, confusing, so very very rich and complex. but like Russian literature, i just dive in and if it’s good, it’ll carry me along. you did such an amazing job of world building. you always have but you just keep coming up with the most amazing worlds.
Congratulations! What an adventure the book tour was. It is wonderful your vision and hard work created an incredible story. Rawr!
No YOU are the best!!
Absolutely amazing!
Thank you for sharing your amazing combined talent.
This is a new to me genre and I’m probably missing a lot of nuance, but it doesn’t matter, it’s fabulous
YAY! YAY! YAY!!!! Love our Ilona Andrews books. You ROCK! Thank you for the amazing reads!
I was in a massive reading slump before Maggie came out, and not only have you given me a new favourite, but have reignited my reading passion again, so thankyou! The book was so much fun. Congratulations on what sounds like an epic tour.
As an Australian though I do have a question – is it normal in the US for authors to sign so many extra books or are House Andrews that generous? If you turn up to a signing in Australia you bring the new book to be signed and that’s it!
Wow, your book tour sounds completely exhausting. So glad you survived. Does it take days to recover?
Love the dog pic. Is that how you pictured Grendal?
I can’t wait to see if you use the “dark academia” table/hotel lounge in a future book.
Read the kindle, listened to the audiobook. Loved both.
love this recap! you two have been having a hectic time! thank you both for Maggie, I’ve enjoyed every page and every additional glimpse. it’s a really wonderful book, and it gets even more wonderful with rereading. there’s so much more to discover.
“How did this even happen?”
Well, you “worked so hard on this book”. and it’s great! Maggie is a great character in a treasure box of great characters. The world building is tremendous but the pacing is energetic.
And so much humor! “Good. Then we’re on the same page.” He nodded. “I like that turn of phrase. It’s clever.” They are *literally* on the same page, in a book inside a book!
So, it happened because you write good stories and you create community for your readers. The BDH has faith and has never been disappointed.
Ok- I WAS NOT excited about Maggie- for some reason the posts here on HA site about it didn’t grab my interest and I was disappointed actually because I just wanted more Innkeeper content. Dina is the BEST. Love love the other series but def OCD innkeeper groupie here. But I bought Maggie because I buy everything from HA – I love them & support them regardless of my interests. BUT I was so so blown away by Maggie. She is US! Everything we wish we could be & do – and the plots- the delicious twists and threads for more and more amazing people and their own adventures- wow. Wow wow wow. Come to the UK or the Netherlands (currently live in Maastricht:) and I will travel to your book signing! I’m reading Maggie for the 4th time now 😂
Yay-rawr!!!
We are BDH and are all powerful in all things!!
Thanks for the great recap of your signing adventures!!
When is the next book?thank you
Yay! It’s so exciting hearing these results – I was stalking Amazon and it was lovely to see you moving up the charts there as well (although I forgot to check how you were doing in ‘Learn Business English’ this time)
Congratulations 🎉🎉🎉🎉
Yay rawr you deserve every cheer going x Congratulations and hopefully a little quiet time to reset x
It’s an absolutely amazing book! A fantastic world built with rich characters. I read it in a day then went straight back to re-read it the next day (which I have never done for any book & im a prolific reader!) I hardly ever buy hard copies of books anymore (I chew up books for dinner ha!
So mostly read on e-reader) but I will definitely be buying this one. Such a beautiful hard cover edition as well.I love you work guys & have been reading all your work for many years through all series! I am so looking forward to the next instalment in this series! (As well as hoping for Arabella’s series also!) Wishing you a wonderful weekend from Buderim, QLD Australia 😊
Dear HA
Of course you are topping charts everywhere! You are THERE with your faithful BDH! You send newsletters, share snippets, share book serials, and more.
Yes, the BDH is beloved, but you are loved right back!
Congratulations on your well-earned success!
People can spot the difference between an idol phoning it in and one who’s really present, and we all know where you fall in that mix!
It’s an absolutely amazing book! A fantastic world built with rich characters. I read it in a day then went straight back to re-read it the next day (which I have never done for any book & im a prolific reader!) I hardly ever buy hard copies of books anymore (I chew up books for dinner ha!
So mostly read on e-reader) but I will definitely be buying this one. Such a beautiful hard cover edition as well.I love you work guys & have been reading all your work for many years through all series! I am so looking forward to the next instalment in this series! (As well as hoping for Arabella’s series also!) Wishing you a wonderful weekend from Buderim, QLD Australia 😊
I love you and your books, thank you for the hard work! I read Maggie’s book twice already! Respectfully, when is the sequel out????
You must have been zombies when you arrived home.
The book is amazing, and of course I want the next one yesterday :)))))
Loved everything about it, and it’s the only book I am re-reading in 5 years. I think I’ve re-read only 2 books since I started reading (30 years), so that speaks for itself.
Thank you for being amazing writers.
….does House Andrews not realize that we would buy a Zamboni operating manual if they wrote one?
I find it hilarious and touching that you are shocked that any book you write is doing well.
I’ve been reading for 66 years and have read thousands of books. I read or listen to at least one a day. I say this not to brag but to illustrate that I know where of I speak. House Andrews are some of the finest Storytellers ever. In my opinion, you rank with Andre Norton, Mercedes Lackey, Anne McCaffrey, Elizabeth Moon, Faith Hunter, Heather G. Harris (Newcomer but so good,) B. R. Kingsolver, Nalini Singh, Patricia Briggs, J. R. R. Tolkien, Robert Heinlein, Charles de Lint, Guy Gavriel Kay, C. S. Lewis, Yasmine Galenorn, Suzanne Wright… all of these authors draw you in and you BELIEVE.
You never disappoint, your characters are relatable, your worlds and your “magic” systems are believable, your non-humans unique- even the so-called normal ones, your dialogue- inner and otherwise- masterful.
Thank you for taking with you on some of my favorite vacations from life.
BDH! Hoorah!!
Katy
Yay, I’m so glad you were able to make it to Minneapolis! As a Minnesotan, I am so proud of my state; especially the Twin Cities and how everyone has banded together. And thank you for encouraging people to visit because it is a wonderful city and a wonderful state. I’m so sad that I wasn’t able to attend the book signing but I’m very happy that you came.
The way, if the two of you ever make it back to Minneapolis, you may want to visit the Museum of Russian Art, which is really wonderful!
One more thing, I don’t know why you’re surprised at getting all those awards! I read a lot (several hundred books a year) and your writing really is a gift.
I haven’t started Maggie yet. I’m leaving for Seattle next week, and I’m waiting until then so I have something really good to read on the flight and while I’m there in the evening. But I fully expect it to be well worth every award. I can’t wait!
Your restraint is amazing! Happy reading!
Yay-rawr! Glad you are safe and sound.
Did any other BDH members look at the Bestseller list, think “We can do better then that. I haven’t bought my X copy and I have three friends I could gift it to, too?” 🤣
We are a care-full Horde. We love our authors.
Making it through that travel marathon is very impressive. Not the least bit surprised that it’s on all the bestsellers list. But what boggles the mind is return policy on yarn? Who returns yarn? Never heard of such a thing. Can’t fathom how there would be someone who would want to do that.
Good things do happen to good people- you are so talented and so deserving. Big standing ovation from this fan!!! Can’t wait to see you in Columbus!!! Yea
What a lot of work touring is, I had no idea! I am not surprised at the amount of fans. Congrats on such an amazing release of this novel. I know that I loved it, just as I do everything you write—thank you for that!
It happened because your books are amazing. You never disappoint or fall to exhausted troupes. Even when you “tongue-in-cheek” a troupe you add HA flair. I do go, on but I mean it. I love your books and am sorry I missed you in baltimore. Get some sleep.
You deserve all the accolades! I’ve never been disappointed in a single book you’ve written! Apparently I’m not alone. I was lucky enough to attend the Baltimore signing. Lovely event! Thank you for all the wonderful stories ♥️
Because Mod R released the Kraken. I mean, Horde! Just kidding! The reason is you two continue to polish your skills, and just keep getting better and better, and your Horde is deeply devoted and goes out to share the love with an almost religious fervor! Truly, we are thrilled with your words and stories that always have so much heart. And even on a FB group that is more male-oriented and traditional old-school, in both posting and recs, there have been guys on there, multiple times, asking, “Who is Ilona Andrews? I’m seeing this book (TKWNKM) recc’d everywhere–is it good? Should I read it?” To which I and several others start working the Horde magic. We Barsa the heck out of them! ILONA ANDREWS, we salute you! We who will read, salute you!
“Barsa the heck out of them” absolutely made me snort tea up my nose 😀 😀 😀
Phewww!!! And that was just two stops! I hope your yarn allows for many removals from where it’s kept to ponder projects while your hands rest.
Thank you both for being caring, courageous and extraordinarily talented. And Mod R is the bee’s knees too!
Here’s to delicious tea and cozy re-reads! This time I’m taking notes💜.
Four stops 🙂
Austin, Kentucky, Minnesota and Baltimore .
I sense a new BDH stick figure drawing yelling ‘YAY-RAWR’ in the near future 😆 the tour sounds exhausting, thank you so much for all you do for the Horde. Are all the editions out yet? I’m itching to order the hardcover hehe.
Good morning- Regarding-“understand that it is a dense book with a lot of worldbuilding. It is not a YA/NA, it is not that spicy”…. I appreciated the character development and worldbuilding, and am disappointed by authors who use”spice” to sell books. Thank you so much for your wonderful book and I cannot wait to see where Maggie’s adventure takes us.
Yay! I am so happy everything is going so well with Maggie. Also, I include myself a little bit in the Waterstones’ efforts: as a spaniard who loves beautiful books, I bought my copy from them. It is actually in a place of honour in my bookcase.
Congratulations!
PS: So Maggie #2 release… When?When! When?!!
I have to be honest I was really worried about you guys being so stressed out writing the second Maggie book right after doing the first one. I wanted you guys to be able to relax and enjoy life for a bit. Recenter and do the oooom thing However, the minute I finished this amazing imaginative story I was thrilled that the next one was almost done -just saying. I really am part of the book devouring hoard. Hehehe
Congratulations!! You are both truly amazing and you put in so much work and care that you deserve only the best. YAY-RAWR!
Also happy belated birthday to Gordon; that is true dedication to your craft to spend your birthday travelling and sitting in airports!
I loved Maggie, as I do all your books, and it’s clear that not only are you talented, but you put in the hard work and grit to make your own success. I’m so grateful that we live at a time that we get to enjoy your writing, but also be part of this bigger community of the BDH that you have inspired and nurtured.
Also Mod R is the BEST and we would be so lost without her, thank you Mod R!
Quick question – and I apologize if it was already listed and I missed it – but is there a page that explains the different hardcover editions and especially the signed copies, if any are still available? (I’m in Canada, if that helps to narrow things down) I’ll keep looking myself, but just wondered if someone could point me in the right direction.
Also I fully support any heist plan that involves Steve and the ferrets – I’m sure Sushi would make a great addition 🙂
Hi Dee, please see here 🙂 https://ilona-andrews.com/maggie-the-undying-2/#special
Thank you Mod R! (proof that you are indeed the greatest of mods!)
I’m amazed how you were able to stay awake and alert after all you went through and all that signing……your hands and wrists must have been so sore.
I saw you in St Paul and loved you interacting with your fans and willing to sign so many books (I brought four but before leaving I bought 3 more books). We hit that awful weather driving back to Des Moines and worried about your flight. I guess going north is going to be more limited to summer and fall.
Tell Gordon happy belated birthday. Mine was the 7th 🙂
I finished the Kingdom book in record time and thoroughly enjoyed it! I can’t wait for the next one.
Mind you, I am still waiting for more Hugh and Elara (hint hint…lol)
Glad you had a good trip and not too many delays. We got 8″ or more snow on my birthday (c’mon spring, you’re a month late) and that was a big enough storm to ground flights so I’m happy you didn’t hit it. But speaking of that, are you two ever going to do some signing in Canada?!?! You have fans here and we ARE right next door. It’s not like you have to cross oceans to get to us! 🙂
“I want to write a dark academia novel”
Now you’ve done it. There’ll be frothing masses
*reads the comments*
yep, there they go.
Congratulations on a terrific release! I have to w*it for the special edition I bought. I got the audiobook to tide me over.
We’re so getting a dark academia story at some point- and I’m SO here for it!
It was so amazing to see you/meet you in Baltimore, and now after hearing how the rest of the tour went, I’m even more amazed at how entertaining and gracious you both were! Also pretty amazed that you got out by 9, I left at 8:15 and the line was still very long.
Wow! The glamorous life of authors!! Ha, ha! Congratulations! Glad you found some good food and some yarn!
Absolutely loved the book! I finished it in three days and had to go back for a reread. I can’t wait to see what you write next.
Everyone is out of the signed copies. i know, I tried. My DH said “you mean it isn’t autopen”? Thank the Divines for you and all of your effort to connect with the Horde.
Q: How did this even happen?
A: That is what happens when you write a great story that is engaging and fast paced with good character portrayal. Hated the cliff hanger at the end but full marks on the suspense. Now eagerly awaiting Maggie 2.
As has been mentioned above, I think YAY-RAWR should be a new merch phrase.
Have been really sucked in into the characters and the layers woven into the story. Am already on my 3rd re-read of entire book. I can only imagine how much went into the choices about what/how much to reveal throughout the story that I’m still discovering new things / connections on multiple re-reads.
Would love to get a larger map that delineates each dukedom etc. & neighboring countries. Can’t wait for the notebook merch.
It’s because you are the best! And also have enough previously published material that a new fan (like moi) can read it all while waiting for new books! Hope you get some rest, sorry I missed you both in Minneapolis.
Congrats! I loved the book – the characters, the world-building, the twists and surprises (there was so much I didn’t see coming!). The way you describe places, the love interests, the “found-family” and community. I enjoyed it all immensely. I’m not familiar with isekai, but that obviously isn’t at all necessary to have a wonderful time reading Maggie.
Thanks for the recap- what a tour!
Yay-rawr! Congratulations, but I’m not at all surprised. I loved Maggie and had to re-read as soon as I was done with the first read.
I’m smiling and almost crying from happiness for you. Having read your blog entries where you were so worried about the book’s success, and now seeing the amazing welcome it had, it’s so moving. You’re both amazing writers and deserve every bit of love This Kingdom is getting <3
Yay-roar!
You give us the best book gifts. Thank you and you deserve every bit of this!
You absolutely deserve all the accolades , the book is amazing, glad you’re back home and…. that dog is soooo cute!!
Wow, what a trip indeed! So very happy for you both! Maggie is an amazing story and you deserve all the accolades.
Okay this is an embarrassing question but I have to ask…. Is the dog pic a real dog or a craft project at the yarn store? Because I can totally see Ilona creating that dog for Kid 1 or 2. Seriously – I could go either way on this!
Glad you are home safe! I wish I could come to one of those someday but it will never happen.
If we are the best it is because we have great taste and love amazing Authors!!
You deserve all the wonderful things, just ask Orro he will explain
House Andrews is amazing!
This is why you have many Horde minions. We are here to serve and shamelessly promote you.
I LOVE THE NEW BOOK!! I have read it, listened to the audio book.and im.thibking of starting to read it again. I think my little longing heart is telling me.that if I just keep reading it the second book will be there when im done….ah well, soon….
an amazing world, easy to read, and fun and action packed!
thank you for all your amazing imagination and skill and creativity and most of all commitment.
thank you. 🙏
and congratulations on hitting all the lists!!!!
Loving Maggie and the world. So glad this is a hit. When all the hype these days seems to revolve around “spice” -which does not replace good storytelling or world building- it makes me cherish your work even more.
Lovely summary 🙂 I also have a question. if serendipity were ever to strike me one day, if we ever spot you in the wild, are you both okay with readers saying hi, or would you prefer privacy? Completely understand either way, just thought I would ask!
Readers can say hi 🥰
Flying is a nightmare! So glad you survived, but sounds like you should stipulate chairs reg size & table.
Great reward for so much hard work!
The book is a huge success because you write phantastic stories. Even your travel and book signing story is super entertaining (just saying)
An exhausting journey but thank you so much. Your book is amazing and we appreciate you so much, for everything you all do for us. Congratulations on your amazing success, it is so deserved.
Just finished “This Kingdom…” read it in two days and I loved it!
Can’t wait for the sequel …!
How did you survive that tour. The airport waiting alone is enough to give me nightmares! A few hours sleep and then another city–if the plane leaves. I’m in awe of your stamina. I’m so glad that Tor took good care of you.
Actually Tor giving that large chunk of the beginning really got folks involved in the story and the city. That was a really, really smart decision on their part and I’m really glad it worked out for them and for you guys. BUT,
I thought it was going to be a duology! In true Book-Devouring- Horde fashion I had resigned myself to waiting for Maggie to figure out everyone’s real identity and real motives in Book 2. ARGHH! Now I have to wait until Book 3. If you guys pull a GRRMartin and put it off, I will stalk you down and you will face ripper-cushions.
I hope you are still celebrating and resting well! Maggie is amazing!
Down the road, when you are thinking about your store, I wonder if you might consider a mug from Maggie: “Good morning. I see the assassins have failed.” I would buy more than one.
Excelsior!
ooh, me too!
On chapter 17. I didn’t get my hard cover until late, then didn’t want to mess up my HC so I went elsewhere than the ‘zon and got a digital copy (thank you for the DRM-lessness!). I’m s a v o r i n g it. And it’s amazing so far.
House Andrews,
I am exhausted just reading your tour schedule.
Also, I adore the world you have built with Maggie.
Thank you.
It happened because you are awesome! And you have a Fluffy Horde. Who are *not* all screaming “When are Maggie 2 & 3 coming out?!?!” Well, not out loud anyway. Muffled into a pillow maybe.
You totally deserve this! I don’t know how you survived the tour or all the signing; I wouldn’t have. Author superpowers.