Author Interview : Ilona Andrews
22 March 2021
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Aurelia Ryder #1, Author Interview, Blood Heir, Ilona Andrews
Today I’m absolutely thrilled to post an interview with Ilona Andrews. I recently read Blood Heir (the first in the Aurelia Ryder series) and loved it and in fact took part in the blog tour that took place pre-release. My review can be found here – spoiler alert – there may be an abundance of enthusiasm.
Blood Heir is a new novel, set in the incredibly popular Kate Daniel’s world that focuses on one of the other characters. The book was so good that I was left with burning questions so I requested an interview. Just imagine my surprise and joy when the answer came back as a yes! So, without further ado let’s get to the Q&A:
Firstly, my thanks to Ilona and Gordon and a heart felt welcome to my blog 😀
Q. For readers who haven’t read from this world yet – can you give me a quick description that captures the essence of Blood Heir?
A. Blood Heir is about coming home after a long absence. Things have changed. People you knew are different. Your childhood friend is now aiming at the throne of Beast Lord, Uncle Stupidhead, otherwise known as Knight Protector of Atlanta, is having an affair with someone you would never imagine in a million years, and your surrogate uncles had a child and didn’t tell you.
(Well, Uncle Stupidhead is a new keeper)
Q. I’m curious about writing as a team (*readers – I’m sure you all already know but just in case, Ilona Andrews is a pseudonym for husband and wife writing team). I’m sure you will have answered similar questions before but how do you keep everything so streamlined. Do you decide ahead who will write individual scenes or are you responsible for individual characters? Tricky question – who has the final say??
A. We write together, meaning that one of us is at the keyboard and the other one is dictating. So everything that goes into the file is a compromise. Gordon has the final say over male characters. I have the final say over female ones.
Q. In terms of the above, being married and working together how do you manage to take a real break without reverting back to ’talking shop’?
A. Why would we not talk shop? What is this thing you speak of? On a serious note, there are moments when something occurs and one of us will turn around in some random place, like a car service center, and tell the other, “We should just kill him. We can disembowel him and hang him off a pole. It would be a good shock moment.” But mostly we try to respect our time off. Writing eats up so much time and emotional energy and we have many other things to talk about like books, movies, games, politics, and our kids.
(NGL – right now I’m imagining the expressions on the faces of the car service centre staff if they overheard that conversation).
Q. I have a particular love of covers – it may seem fickle to some but the cover is the first thing to draw the eye. I love the cover that Luisa Preissler created for Blood Heir. It’s stunning. How did you discover the artist and how much input did you have in the process.
A. You know, I don’t remember. I tried to look through my email and it seems that the first time we worked together was on the collector edition of Kinsmen from Subterranean in 2018. Luisa is an incredible artist to work with and she reads our books, so our input is very light. We describe the character, provide a few relevant paragraphs from text and some reference images for specific things like the type of hair, for example, and she does the rest. Covers are vital to the book’s success. They are what grabs the reader, so I feel very fortunate to work with Luisa.
Feast your eyes on this beauty people:
(Also, for more information about Luisa Preissler check out her site here for some stunning artwork)
Q.Seeing a long series coming to an end must be emotional for both you and your readers? Blood Heir is a new start but also a return to a ready established world and old friends. Can you tell me about where the idea came from for the Aurelia Ryder series and more importantly how did you decide which character to use? Also, how did you decide which other characters would make a return (and how does fan/reader pressure play into these decisions, if at all)?
A. We planned for a continuation of Julie’s story before we finished Magic Triumphs, because we knew that a lot of plot threads would be left dangling. We tied up most of them to deliver a conclusion our readers found satisfying, but there was no time to resolve Julie and Derek’s relationship for example or Erra’s future.
The plans for this book stalled when we were hit by a surprising amount of Julie hate from the fanbase. There is a small but loud group of fans who hate Julie. Julie is written as an authentic teenager, with a will of her own and snark, and some women in particular really wanted her to be a “perfect” child who always does what Kate says, never talks back or takes initiative, and fits into the mold of that wide-eyed teenage protagonist who is nice to everyone and beloved by everyone. I’ve given up on figuring out why that is. The vitriol was loud and proud and we tabled the book.
Writing in the age of social media and email is a double-edged sword. People are extremely quick to offer their opinions on fiction and characters to authors who created them, and they often do so in a less than tactful manner. At the core, writing is an attempt to communicate with the world and when you get too much feedback – negative or positive, that communication falters. You become overloaded. It’s especially bad when a fictional world has many books in it. I’ve had people scream at me through email in all caps that I’ve ruined their life because of something minor a character did. This gets old very quickly.
Honestly, the Kate World was on a permanent hiatus and would’ve remained there but then COVID happened. People started reaching out, and we realized that everyone desperately needed a distraction. So we threw out some scenes with Julie, because it was easy to write. We had thought out the novel and we know the world. From there we moved on to weekly installments and then the novel grew into a full-length book.
Wow – that was a close call, we nearly missed out on all the Aurelie Ryder goodness (by the way, the above is a picture of Julie pictured with her Princess of Shinar ‘hat’ on)
Q. What are the pros and cons of working in an already very well established world. How do you balance what to include for new readers while at the same time not retreading old ground for established readers? And how do you keep track of everything?
A. We have a series bible which our copyeditor put together. As to the recap, Blood Heir was a very careful balancing act because we had to refresh the series in the minds of long-term readers, who want to know everything, but not overwhelm the new readers. The reception has been overwhelmingly positive, so we must’ve done something right, but if you hand me that book right now, I would still likely tinker with what we chose to include.
(Oh yes, you definitely did a lot of somethings right)
(Here are the covers for the KD series just to give you an idea of exactly why that ‘bible’ is needed:
Q. In Blood Heir we get the entire story via Aurelia and are able to see how she thinks. I’m curious as to whether her physical and magical transformation has also affected her consciousness (more precisely, is the eye altering her thoughts without her knowledge)?
A. I don’t think that the eye altered her thoughts. I think that intense education in Shinar customs and royal duties had more to do with it.
Kate is not very good with organized environment; she prefers to be a free agent. She chooses her own cases and sees them to the end, but as the series showed, when she is forced into a structured environment, like the Order or the Pack, she bucks. Kate’s childhood was extremely structured. She had very little personal freedom and growing up was a series of challenges and tests she had to overcome.
Julie grew up on the streets in chaos. She craves structure, and she desperately wants a family to belong to and a clarity of purpose. She found that family with Kate. She knows her general purpose – she wants to save as many people as possible as the world falls apart. But it took Erra’s guidance to really lay down the framework of how exactly Julie would go about saving everyone. Erra gave her a set of conditions: this is what a princess of Shinar does and doesn’t do, and in a sense, she saved Julie from herself. Instead of trying to right every individual wrong she sees, Julie now focuses on wider issues, which in the long run will help a lot more people.
Q. For Blood Heir you made the decision to self publish. I have been reading your blog so I’ll try not to go over old ground. How difficult a decision was this? What has your experience of self publishing been? Also, were there any issues regarding character and world rights due to the Kate Daniels series being traditionally published vs the Aurelia Ryder books being self published?
A. Once your contract with the publisher ends, you become a free agent and have the luxury of publishing whatever you want. Ace doesn’t really have any dibs on our future work, even though they published the original series. We can write a novel with Kate as a protagonist right now, and self-pub it without any legal issues.
So the question really was, do we sell the novel or do we release it ourselves? We chose to self-publish for three reasons: first, selling the novel would mean the readers would have to wait about 18 months for its release; second, self-publishing allows us to keep a larger percentage of the proceeds, and third, we really wanted to retain control over our auxiliary rights, such as audio. It is almost impossible to sell a novel currently without giving up audio, foreign, and film rights, and it was important for us to keep those.
We are waiting for our first month’s sales to land in our account – should be any day now – but according to our agent, we did quite well, so we are likely to continue.
Q. I’m curious in particular about New Shinar. Aurelia has a foot in two camps. Will she return to New Shinar in future novels?
A. She would have to, wouldn’t she? Just to see her grandmother. 😊
(Ooh, interesting ^^!!)
Q.There are hints that there is much more to Derek than meets the eye and he has himself undergone change. Will Derek be making a return in books 2 and 3?
A. Absolutely. ::rubs hands:: There will be stuff! Exciting stuff!
Be still my beating heart *faints*
Q. After the resounding success of Blood Heir’s release you are now planning two further books. Is your plan to complete Aurelia’s story during those two books or will you be reassessing in the future with the possibility of more instalments? (hope so)
A. We don’t know yet. Our plate is a bit full. We need to get the second Iron Covenant book out. That will mean two books in KD’s world close together. Once we get that and the next Aurelia done, we will reassess how the plotline develops. I am not trying to be vague, I just don’t know exactly how many books it will take to wrap this up. Right now we are aiming for two more.
Q. Can you share anything with readers about where you see the series heading next.
A. Well, the battle for the Pack is the obvious next thing for Aurelia. For Hugh and Elara, there is the struggle with Elara’s heritage. So we’ll see what happens. 😊
Finally, thank you so much for answering all my questions. I’m so excited for the next book – and I can’t deny I wouldn’t mind reading a bit more about Derek *waggles eyebrows*.
So, a little information to conclude:
Regarding the Kate Daniel’s series (you know you want to) look here.
For the Aurelia Ryder series check out this link.
Author Info :
Ilona Andrews is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing team. Ilona is a native-born Russian and Gordon is a former communications sergeant in the U.S. Army. Contrary to popular belief, Gordon was never an intelligence officer with a license to kill, and Ilona was never the mysterious Russian spy who seduced him. They met in college, in English Composition 101, where Ilona got a better grade. (Gordon is still sore about that.)
Gordon and Ilona currently reside in Texas. They have co-authored two series, the best selling urban fantasy of Kate Daniels and romantic urban fantasy of The Edge.
Credits to Luisa Preissler for the Blood Heir/Aurelia artwork used in this piece.
Booking Ahead/Weekly Wrap Up
21 March 2021
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Booking Ahead, Caffeinated Reviewer, Sunday Post, Weekly wrap up
I’m trying to get back into the habit of doing a round-up of the week just completed and also take a look at my plans for the forthcoming week. I rather got out of the habit of doing this last year but I would like to reinstate this type of post as I feel it keeps me on track. So, I’m linking up to The Sunday Post over at Kimberly’s Caffeinated Reviewer. Without further ado:
Last week
Another busy week this week. I’ve made a start on blog hopping which is going well and I’m catching up with reviews also. I need to catch up with comments and then hopefully I’m all up to date with only two outstanding reviews to post. I managed to complete the Ladies of the Secret Circus by Constance Sayers (which I loved) and I’m a third of the way through The Fall of Koli. I’ve also read a quarter of my buddy read book, A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab.
Next Week
Will almost be a reiteration of last week. Complete The Fall of Kolia and start The Unbroken by CL Clark.
I’m also hoping to make a start on my next SPFBO book that I just posted about here.
Reviews Posted since last Sunday:
- The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
- Children by Bjorn Larssen
Forthcoming Reviews:
- Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop
- The Ladies of the Secret Circus by Constance Sayers
What’ve you been up to the past week
Children (The Ten Worlds, #1) by Bjørn Larssen
20 March 2021
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Bjørn Larssen, Children, The Ten Worlds #1
My Five Word TL:DR Review: Norse Mythology, dark and brutal
I’ve thought long and hard about this review. In fact, I think I can safely say that this review has taken me longer to write than almost any other I’ve ever written and this boils down to a couple of things.
Firstly, and this is one of the measures that I gauge the success of a story by, is the amount of extra reading that the book provoked me to undertake once I’d finished. Basically, you could fit my knowledge of Norse Mythology onto a pinhead! I mean, I have a scattering of bits and pieces but it’s not something I’ve read up extensively about and that is something I would like to amend (throw your best recommendations my way please).
Secondly, this is not particularly an easy read, and definitely won’t be for all readers (in fact the author makes quite plain, before the read even commences, that there will be areas that might upset some readers). Larssen doesn’t hold the punches and this is a dark story, brutal, and difficult to read in parts, that takes an unflinching look at Norse mythology and turns some of the stories on their heads. So, basically, whilst I enjoyed this retelling, it’s not the type of story that you come away from bandying about words such as ‘enjoy’ or ‘fun’. For me, this was an interesting read, made more so by the fact that it uses a lot of well known elements of Norse mythology to construct a tale of perhaps lesser known characters from the pantheon. It’s an interesting story from a time that was indeed harsh. These days we might think of this period as cruel or barbaric but this was a more simple time when people believed in magic and strived to achieve greatness through their deeds in life and this often led to bloodshed.
In terms of the story we see the world through two characters. Maya, adopted daughter of Freya and Magni, son of Thor. As with each new generation children are the seed of change and Maya and Magni are no exception in they balk against the demands of their parents. The gods in this story are powerful and beautiful, but they’re also unkind, manipulative and scheming and their children are pawns that they use mercilessly – until the children rebel that is. Both characters come together to form a friendship of sorts in what is ultimately a retelling of the ‘The Fortification of Ásgard’ legend.
What I really enjoyed about this was the world building. There’s a lovely simplicity to the way the author builds a picture in your mind starting with an excellent Index of the Nine Worlds followed by an introduction to the Gods themselves and their children. Seriously I loved this and found it incredibly helpful – particularly that the author had the foresight to put this at the front of the book instead of the rear! (I know that probably sounds a bit pedantic but I can’t describe how frustrating I find it to discover such helpful tools at the end of a read). Both children spend time in both the mortal realm (Midgard) and in the home of the Gods (Asgard). You could be forgiven for thinking Asgard the superior place, it knows no want and the food of the Gods is something you can only imagine in your wildest dreams whilst Midgard suffers all manner of scarcity and depravity, and yet both worlds are cruel and difficult places in which to live and given the rather pampered world of the Gods I can’t help coming away thinking that they’re much worse than humans.
I would say that both Maya and Magni are complex characters and are a little difficult to get on board with – but I think that’s a necessary part of the story. They’ve both suffered at the hands of the Gods and their childhoods contained unpleasantness that informs their adult characters. I really liked that they ‘found’ each other though and this attachment turns into something protective that helped me to connect with them as the story progresses. In terms of other characters you may be pleased to hear that the more familiar characters such as Loki and Freya play significant roles, the first in his customary trickster role and the second being her beautiful, vain but also scheming self.
In terms of criticisms. I think this is well written and I really enjoyed the way Larssen reinvents an old myth giving it enough elements that are well known and comfortable while at the same time giving it a new spin. However, I think I liked the first half of the book better – even though it was perhaps more brutal. I felt a slowing down of pace in the second half although not enough to make me want to stop reading.
Overall, if you love Norse mythology I would definitely recommend this first book in the Children world and I will definitely pick up the next retelling that Larssen imagines. A pretty and beautiful tale this may not be but it is, I feel, a good representation of an era that was the epitome of grimdark.
I received a copy for review purposes. The above is my own opinion.
My rating: 7 out of 10 (or 3.5 of 5)
Friday Face Off : Ruin or derelict, old and worn, could be the book itself, a building, a place
19 March 2021
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Aliette de Bodard, Books by Proxy, Friday Face off, The House of Shattered Wings
Here we are again with the Friday Face Off meme created by Books by Proxy . This is a great opportunity to feature some of your favourite book covers. The rules are fairly simple each week, following a predetermined theme (list below) choose a book (this doesn’t have to be a book that you’ve read), compare a couple of the different covers available for that particular book and choose your favourite. Future week’s themes are listed below – if you have a cover in mind that you’re really wanting to share then feel free to leave a comment about a future suggested theme. I’ve also listed events that take place during the year, that I’m aware of, so you can link up your covers – if you’re aware of any events that you think I should include then give me a shout. This week’s theme:
Ruin or derelict, old and worn, could be the book itself, a building, a place
Firstly, sorry I’ve been so behind blog hopping. Lots of work and whatnot. I am now trying to catch up with everyone’s past posts I mean I wouldn’t want to miss anything and a good book slip by unnoticed now would I??
I”m not entirely sure what I had in mind for this but I’ve gone for a book this week that I haven’t yet read even though it’s been on my kindle for a long time. The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard. Have you read this – should I bump it up my tbr?
Anyway, set in a post war Paris where most of the buildings are in ruins I thought it would be perfect. Here are the covers:
And my favourite this week:\
Do you have a favourite?
I’ve updated the list now to include themes for next year. If you know of an event that’s coming up let me know and I’ll try and include covers that work for the event itself so that you can link up to the Friday Face Off and, as always, if you wish to submit an idea then leave me a comment – or if you’d like to host a week then simply let me know. Also, I would just mention that it’s very possible that some of these might be repeats from previous FFOs although I have tried to invent more ‘open ended’ prompt that can be interpreted differently and also prompts that relate to emotions. Finally, don’t struggle with any of these, this is meant to be a fun way of highlighting books. If you can’t come up with a book you think fits for a particular week use a freebie – perhaps a recent read for example:
Next week – A picture within a picture
2021
March
26th – A picture within a picture
April
2nd – A train or tram – travelling down the track, could be old style, futuristic, overhead, down below.
9th – Cartoonish or graphic
16th – I have to have it – a cover that gave you ‘grabby hands’
23rd – Your current read (if it has covers to compare) or any recent read
30th– A series that you love – highlight all the books in the series
May
Month of Wyrd and Wonder
7th – A Series where the cover changed midway through – which style do you prefer most
14th – The earliest fantasy you recall reading – or the first fantasy book you really loved, maybe the book that kickstarted your love of fantasy
21st – The Top Hat
28th – The Hood
June
4th – The nose boop – any animal, or human, with a close up shot.
11th – A cover that annoyed you and why
18th – Out of Perspective, or make you feel a bit dizzy
25th – Upside down, back to front or topsy turvy
July
2nd – A book with a landscape you’d like to visit
9th – A Wicked Grin
16th – Books with ‘book’ in the title
23rd – A Black Hole – could be in the universe or going deep into the ground
30th – Chaos – maybe too much going on in this one
August
6th – “They cluck their thick tongues, and shake their heads and suggest, os so very delicately!” – The Motel
13th – A favourite holiday read
20th – Dressed to kill (could be literally someone dressed to kill, or someone dressed up for a big night out
27th – Sunbathing or on the beach
September (RIP event)
3rd – 1920s feel, noir detective
10th – I’m Henry the Eighth I am – let’s look at Kings or other Emperors/rulers
17th – Books with ‘Murder’ in the title
24th – A favourite thriller
October
1st – A Halloween read
8th – Chills – anything at all that almost makes you too scared to pick up the book (your own pet hate)
15th – Your favourite book of magic
22nd – Books with ‘Queen’ in the title
29th – Must be gothic
November – Sci Fi Month
5th – Your earliest sci-fi read or the first sci-fi you reviewed
12th – A book with ‘star’ in the title
19th – Futuristic vista
26th – A Black Hole – in the universe or going deep into the ground
December
3rd – Windswept, the classic figure, stood majestically, with wind blowing out in a fetching way
10th – A fairytale retold
17th – Winter Solstice approaching – anything cold and seasonal
24th – All things fire – red hair, red covers, fire breathing dragons, simply fire?
31st – What’s your catnip – if it’s on a cover you have to pick it up
The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
18 March 2021
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Catriona Ward, The Last House on Needless Street
My Five Word TL:DR Review : Unique and compulsive, psychological horror
Quite possibly this is the most unique, unusual and utterly compelling book that I’ve ever read. At the same time it’s a book that you have to give your brain a little time to adapt to but once you do you won’t be able to pull your eyes away. It’s horribly fascinating, almost hypnotic in its ability to make you read ‘just one more chapter’ as you desperately seek to uncover the truth.
The story is told by three unlikely characters. A man who is very detached from everyday life, who lives by himself and is socially awkward. Ted finds himself the centre of unwanted and unpleasant attention following the disappearance of a young girl from the local lake. Dee is also a character who struggles to fit in. Following the disappearance of her younger sister whilst on holiday she has lost everything she holds dear. Her entire life is consumed by the desperate need to know what happened to her little sister and maybe ideas of revenge. Olivia is a cat. Rescued as a kitten she never sees the outside world and spends a lot of time in her ‘safe space’, she also gives readers an alternative view of events as they unfold – even if that view is a little unconventional.
Okay, I’m trying not to give away spoilers and so I’m not going to touch on the plot at all. As the description says, ‘a serial killer, a stolen child, revenge, death and an ordinary house. All of these things are true and yet at the same time all of these things are not true. When is a door not a door?
So, I loved the writing here. I think it’s safe to say that you might experience a little ‘what the heck’ moment when you first begin on this journey but all I can say is press on. I would also say that you need to pay close attention to what you’re reading, which I admit is sometimes difficult because some of the content is so mercilessly intriguing that it encourages you to read on at breakneck speed. Don’t do it. Take your time and absorb the detail, there are clues here not to mention a certain unreliability in narration about what’s going on together with an overlapping of certain events that gives everything a skewed perspective at times.
This is quite possibly going to be one of the shortest reviews ever considering how much this book affected me but I really don’t want to give away spoilers. Instead, I’ll discuss my feelings whilst reading this which jumped around like crazy. I was intrigued, I was angry, I was desperate for answers, I was shocked, literally ‘mouth opened in a perfect ‘o’ type of shocked that doesn’t often happen and I was horrified. In fact for me this is a perfect example of sleight of hand. Ward led me down the dusty path in a masterful display of ‘these aren’t the droids you’re looking for’ and maintained her mind control completely until she was ready to give me the final punch to the gut. I didn’t see any of it coming. I pictured exactly what the author wanted from the beginning. My mind was made up, the doors were closed, and then the doors were blown open in shocking fashion. Masterfully done. I applaud you.
I don’t know what else to say. This was a gripping read. It was utterly fascinating for me and I take my hat off to Ward for managing to hold all this together so masterfully.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 5 of 5 stars
Books and travelling with Lynn 