OUR STORE: SHOP HERE

ILONA ANDREWS

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author

You are here: Home / Blog / Vellum Updates and a Bribe Giveaway

Vellum Updates and a Bribe Giveaway

Blog, Give away, Innkeeper Chronicles POST A COMMENT by

We will start with a brief vellum update and then switch to the giveaway. I am bribing you.

Some people saw me testing things on Facebook this morning, and I wanted to explain it before any misunderstandings occured.

It’s our first time printing vellum so we made some decisions that slightly complicated our life.

Our original vellum, the one that is advertised in image below is printed on 40lb vellum. It’s thicker, the colors are brighter, and it is exactly 6×9 so it fits into US hardcover.

It fits in the book, but it is thicker and it is a bit of struggle to make it stay. It should have been printed slightly smaller.

We have now tried 5 different printers. At some point, I invited Grace Draven to the house to get unbiased opinions.

First, we dropped the white border and settled on the size that would fit both UK and US hardcovers.

Next we found a thinner vellum at 28 lbs that still shows the beautiful colors but is much thinner and lays better in the book.

We have one more batch coming to us before finalizing the no-border vellum. After that, the no-border vellum will be available as a separate product. We don’t want to throw it out there before we have pictures to show you.

We would like to give you options at the fulfillment.

  • You can choose to stay with the original vellum with white border. We printed a ton of it and we have it in stock.
  • You can switch to the no-white-border version at no additional charge. It is a one for one swap.
  • And those of you who would like to get both, border and no-border, will be able to grab a set of no-border vellum at a discount. We will just stuff it into the same envelope, saving you on shipping. The add-on pack will be available only with a regular order.

Once we have finalized this second variant, we will send you an email through the store explaining how to choose your options. If you run into trouble, please email us and we will sort it.

A little warning about the fulfillment: we expect it to take several weeks. We have in excess of 2,000 orders. Kid 2 is stuffing maps into the envelopes as we speak. We even put Rito to work.

We appreciate your patience.

We will start shipping after 07/08, and if you get worried, email me through the store and I will be able to tell you your place in line.

Also I now know way too much about vellum.

Giveaway Bribe

We have received beautiful collected editions of Innkeeper Chronicles Volume 1 from Subterranean Press. It is a gorgeous book, and we are very grateful to Subterranean for reissuing it.

(And also an unexpected gift of the wonderful Sencha Tea! A giant bag of it. Dear Geralyn, thank you so much! It is appreciated beyond all reason.)

This collector edition contains Clean Sweep, Sweep in Peace, and One Fell Sweep. Clean Sweep is currently available free in our store.

This is your chance to grab one of these copies. The giveaway will run until 07/09 and the winner will be chosen on 07/10.

  • US only – unfortunately, it is a massive book, and shipping it internationally will be a nightmare. House Andrews will host other international giveaways soon.
  • To enter, please let us know in the blog comments who is your favorite character from the Innkeeper Chronicles.

PS Mod R:

Ilona wrote this post, but I am changing author to myself so she doesn’t get the thousands of comments alerts – House Andrews are on the last scenes of Maggie 2 and they need full focus!

Please read the instructions before making your comment, I have had to void so many entries in the previous giveaway.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. My favorite character is Caldenia. She makes me laugh, and we both love Funyuns!

  3. Just one? Well Orro, of course, but Officer Marais and his wife! She has guts and a can of beans! Have read and listened to all of the books a dozen times and they just keep getting better! The character developments over the series makes you love them all like family 🙂

  5. My favorite character is Dina! I love this series so much because this main character is so balanced! The innkeeper series is my favourite, I have read all the books and am on my third playthrough on audio.

    I am in Canada BUT! Have a dear friend in the US who would be willing to be shipped this and hold it for me until we meet up late this year.

    Also dying for the This Kingdom vellum options to be available in Canada.

  6. my favorite IC character is Caldenia. I love he her mysterious intrigue. She keeps me guessing what she will say or do next.

  7. All the characters are great, but I’d have to go with Dina! Her knowledge of other species is astounding!

  9. Oooh, so hard to pick just one favorite, but I have to go with Orro(even though spell check keeps trying to change it to Oreo).

  14. My favorite is Maud! I just re-read Sweep of the Blade for the fourth, and definitely not the last, time.

  21. Maud. Love her dedication to her daughter and avenging her husband. Close second is Arland

  24. Dina is my favorite. But Orro holds a little piece of my heart. I so badly want him to teach a cooking class!

  27. Ghost. That he helped save Helen put him in good boy category. I want that not horse.

  28. Has to be Dina. She’s the heart and soul of the whole series! Her quiet power is just amazing.

  30. OH MY GOODNESS> to get my hands on that book!!!!!!! GAH!!!! oh, right, I have to choose a character? eeeeeeeeeeek…. ok, if I must… Dina, but its a VERY hard choice to make

  32. Sean is my favorite character. He has a great character arc in the first two books, and then he becomes such a good partner for Dina, giving her space to be her badass self but always there to support her.

  36. My favorite character is Sean, who loves Dina with all his heart and will do anything and everything for her!

  37. Dina is not only my favorite, she’s also my hero. She’s able to have empathy and meet the needs of others without sacrificing her self worth or needs. She doesn’t cave under conflict, but maintains her sense of self and her purpose. I keep a broom around (that I got from the Renaissance Fair) to remind me that I have the power to uphold my empathic self and sweep away what isn’t mine.

  38. I dithered about this…but I think I’m going to go with Maud. She’s such a tough mother, taking care of Helen like she does.

  39. You are giving me a hard challenge with this one because I really love them all.

    In all honesty I would normally say Dina but Nuan Cee is the one I most admire.

    He fights for his family throughout the story line and he helps Dina in his odd ways. He is not a main character but he is oddly attractive throughout.

  40. Gertrude, Diane and Sean. Can’t forget Beast, but I feel like you’re making us pick a favorite child. Thank you for sharing the stories that live in your imaginations!

  42. That’s a tough request! You make all your characters so engaging…but it has to be Dina. She makes the Inn and its world. Love this series and all the characters in it!

    So, I’m still confused, which vellum will fit my Blackstone? Thanks!

  45. My favorite character is Sean. That first scene of him ‘marking’ the tree got me! I knew he and Dina were meant to be!

  46. My favorite Innkeeper Chronicles character is Dina. There are hordes (see what I did there?) of secondary & tertiary characters to adore, but Dina is still my favorite.

  50. Thank you for sharing the stories living in your imaginations. Now you’re making me pick a favorite cousin out of the pack. I vote for Gertrude and Diane. But you have to have the supporting cast of Beast and Sean.

  55. The Innkeeper Chronicles is my favorite series by IA, which makes choosing a favorite character so hard. I think it’s Maude, though. She’s so strong and a great mother.

  56. My favorite character is Helen because of “ripper cushions”, to this day my kids and I use the phrase after listening to the series together on audio. I even use the term at work and tell my coworkers about the world of the Innkeeper Chronicles whenever I can. So far I’ve had 5 coworkers and several friends start reading the House Andrews books thanks to little Helen’s “ripper cushions”.

  59. My Favorite Character from the Inn Keeper Series is Sean.
    Yes I love all the characters, but you asked for the favorite, and if I mention Olosard or the Higgra one might think I am a Cat Lady I try not to Dox myself, wait, oops crapp. Nope Sticking with Sean. Unless we are counting Inheritance but I dont think we are?

  60. My favorite character is Dina. She is devoted to the ones she cares about, always tries to do the right thing even when it costs her and is (in her own way) a total badass!

  61. Dina! I so wish my parents had been Innkeepers so I could have grown up to be an Innkeeper like Dina

  62. How can I choose just one character? I’ll have to go with long suffering Orro.

  64. It is very hard to choose between Maud and Helen, but I’ll go with Helen. Every time I read about Helen squaring her shoulders and marching in for her “ripper cushions” ,,, that kid went through way too much and is so amazing. I would really like to see how she handles growing up and how she does as an adult. Her mother is amazing, She will be amazing too.

    Thanks so much to the Andrews team for creating people I want to know. That’s why the BDH is so voracious. We love your characters and need to know more.

  68. Maud!

    Maud sticks out to me because of her pragmatism, and the amazing way she’s parented Hellen despite all the difficulties. I read her book over and over.

  69. My favorite character of the series is Maud. She is a tough lady in a bad situation but never loses sight of what’s best for her child.

  71. My favourite character is Caldenia! I love her political scheming and how she is this commanding strong character that remains very feminine

  73. Dina is my favorite character from the Innkeeper Chronicles. She is the Innkeeper!

  77. I enjoy all the characters but I love Maud with all she had to endure and stayed true to herself and protect her daughter.

  78. Wow this is awesome, I love this series. It was a hard choice between Beast and Orro, but I choose the cook Orro, I love his insecurities and his interactions with Dina and the guests is always fun.

  79. So many awesome characters that it’s hard to choose. Orro is a favorite – he’s temperamental, but really a teddy bear under all those quills. The Innkeeper Chronicles is a series I come back to over and over again to re-read. A sentient inn with quirky intergalactic guests and Dina the kick-ass and unflappable Innkeeper = ❤️.

  80. its hard to pick a single favorite, but I do love little Helen Demille. The scene where she steals the platter of bacon always makes me laugh.

  82. This a bit of a Spock/Data dilemma… because Dina falls into the sentence “After ______, who is your favorite character?”
    Then there’s the next challenge of who do you pick because most of them are my favorite characters. The fun part of this is rereading the books in my head which I can do because I listen to them so often. Throwing a mental dart at all characters seems to be the only way to choose.

    Officer Marais

  84. It’s almost unfair to make me pick. I don’t know if I have a favorite! Maybe Caldenia. She is a former galactic monarch who eats people so she shouldn’t be so likable, but she is also incredibly intelligent, and incredibly loyal.

  85. My favorite character is Arland, the handsomest, bravest, and most well-mannered vampire hero ever!

  88. My favorite character in Innkeeper is Dina. Courage, strength and compassion.

  89. My favorite Inkeeper Chronicles character is Helen. That child will be a force to be reckoned with when she’s older.

  90. Hunky sean is my favorite character! Loyal, strong, and werewolf do I need to say anymore?

  93. I think my favourite character is Marais. I like that he is a very ethical guy, protective and no nonsense. But just rolled with it when confronted by aliens and a magic house. Honestly the scenes with his wife in the last book are some of the best in the series.

  94. My favorite character from the Innkeeper Chronicles is Dina. As the series progressed, her genuine heart and strength of character became more and more apparent. We should all be so lucky to have Dina as a neighbor. 💜

  97. Very hard question, so many great characters, but I will go with Dina’s sister
    Matilda Rose “Maud” Demille.

  98. My favorite is Orro! His literal tv translations and the whole donut/cop thing cracks me up!

  99. My favorite character from the Innkeeper Chronicles is Caldenia. She is elegant, terrifying, hilarious, and completely unforgettable. I love how she can steal a scene with just a few perfectly sharp words, yet there is always the sense that she has survived so much more than she reveals. Her mix of danger, intelligence, and dry humor makes every moment with her feel special.

  100. In the Innkeeper Chronicles, Helen is my favorite, followed by Maud. Dina is third.