In July of 2015 I was very lucky to have Ilona and Andrew Gordon (who make up the incredible team of Ilona Andrews) accept my invitation to chat with my book club. We host an hour long chat once a month with authors about their books. This chat was focused on their release Burn For Me. The book is about to re-release this month and I thought this would be a wonderful time to revisit it. I have deleted the names of the group members and streamlined it a little (reducing posts like LOL , emoticons and picture gifs) trying to put it in order. Since everyone is constantly answering different posts they bounce around like ping pong balls in a lotto machine. It is a hoot to witness and I hope someday you join us, but for now, enjoy this.
BURN FOR ME CHAT With Author Ilona Andrews ~~ July 2015
Andrew Gordon: Howdy, should we start? I can answer questions; Ilona is upstairs but will be here shortly
C PATT: Generally we just bat things around like a bunch of frenzied cats 😉
[ Book Club Member ] Ready!
[ Book Club Member ] Andrew, since you are famous for spoilers… want to share any on the next book in this series???
Andrew Gordon: I’ll just take this opportunity to say that I am binge watching Catastrophe on amazon and it’s brilliant, I love it.
Ilona Gordon: No he doesn’t.
[ Book Club Member ] hahahahaha
Andrew Gordon: Yes, Nevada gets pregnant and Rogan steps up to help raise the baby. But is it his? That’s the spoilery bit.
C PATT: Utt oh, she caught us!
[ Book Club Member ] About how many books will be in this series?
[ Book Club Member ]Shhhhhhh, act natural!
[ Book Club Member ]Holy Moly! that’s what I call a spoiler!
Ilona Gordon: Not really, since that doesn’t happen.
[ Book Club Member ] About how many books will be in this series?
Andrew Gordon: Four as far as we know. Could be more if it does well.
[ Book Club Member ]Fantastic!
Andrew Gordon: But it could.
Ilona Gordon Not really
[ Book Club Member ]You just burst my haze of awe Ilona.
Ilona Gordon: Sorry
C PATT: someone hand Ilona a drink… I hear that is the way to all her fun stories
Andrew Gordon: No, we drank earlier and went swimming and cooked meat on the grill. At night we don’t really drink that much.
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So while we have you to ourselves Andrew tell me how being an author team works! Very curious, I met you two once and there were no actual death threats, I would be strangling my husband (23 years, he isn’t dead yet for the record)
Andrew Gordon: We hang out, raise the kids, feed the animals and sometimes work on the stories. It’s very natural for us as we started writing together in college.
Andrew Gordon: We can also put furniture together, which I think is actually more impressive.
C PATT: Very!! Ikea is known to cause divorces!
[ Book Club Member ] Wow! that is impressive!
C PATT: College, that is cool, so do you do plotting together and everything? Very curious
Andrew Gordon: Yes, we always spend a great deal of time plotting it out. Sometimes on a long drive or while we drink beer in the pool. I like that part.
[ Book Club Member ] If one sees the story going one way and the other another how do you decide?
Ilona Gordon: We talk about it. 🙂
Andrew Gordon: Yeah and reach a decision on what would be best.
C PATT: now I see why Jeannie Frost said that It is fun to hang out with you two, Oh to be a fly on the wall!
Andrew Gordon: It very rarely comes to blows. Which is good because while Ilona has an outstanding stand up game, I am the better grappler.
C PATT: LOL!!! I bet, you seem scrappy!
[ Book Club Member ] Lol, you guys cage fight a lot?
Andrew Gordon: Only when I get uppity and out of hand. I’m not really as funny as I think I am and I know I can be a pain in her butt.
Ilona Gordon: No. We are a no violence household. We do occasionally go through fight scenes just to see if it’s feasible so we don’t end up with some character punching the attacker with his third hand or something.
C PATT: LOL third hand… *giggles*
Ilona Gordon: (see picture)
[ Book Club Member ]LOL I remember Christina blogging about the book cover with the third hand.
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I must admit ladies; I am so star struck I am speechless, which is rare… This book is just so great! I know that I read in the blog there is a small delay with the next one, When *she begs* will it be out?
Ilona Gordon: We are about a third of the way through writing it. 🙂 Probably 2016
Andrew Gordon: Or 2018 according to Amazon.
Ilona Gordon: Yeah, I know, right? What was that all about?
[ Book Club Member ] 2016 sounds much better than 2018
C PATT: ACK I can’t make it THAT LONG…
[ Book Club Member ] Well, the new Kate book will be out soon…..
[ Book Club Member ] Do you need a review team? I am extremely eager to read the next book!
Ilona Gordon: Heh. I tell you what, *redacted*, if you are volunteering for the torture, I can let you read the first third of the White Hot. But it is pretty horrible at this point. 🙂
Andrew Gordon: It’s not that bad. Plus the scene we plotted with the car crash was cool.
[ Book Club Member ] Ok, no teasing!!
Andrew Gordon: No, we came up with it the other night and I like it. Sad for Troy though.
[ Book Club Member ] ARC’s for all my friends….. 😉
Ilona Gordon: It’s not as fun as it seems. 🙂 It’s mostly like, “Read this. Now read it again. And then again.”
[ Book Club Member ] Totally get it. I do beta reading for a wonderful urban fantasy author and she is always surprised how often I’m willing to reread something. Course it’s only fair since I do ask for changes now and then. 🙂
[ Book Club Member ] That’s pretty cool *redacted*, to be part of the process, and to see a book get completed….
[ Book Club Member ] I was in publishing for over a decade and somehow ended up as the preferred proofreader for the New Age line of books. One herbal text killed me, I kept falling asleep on a tight deadline.
[ Book Club Member ] I’m sorry but that sounds like torture!
[ Book Club Member ] LOL! Almost as bad was an endless biography of Rasputin. On a good note the production editor of the new age books thought I did a horrible job of proofreading the herbal tome and refused to give me any more work. As this was freelance work for me I was happy to have my weekends and evenings back. And she ignored me for a few months so I missed hearing about the worst parts of her divorce.
[ Book Club Member ] HAHAHAHAHAHA! Love a person that can always find a silver lining.
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SO let’s start with Adam, Tall, shirtless (allergies clearly) and handsome, was there a muse, who would be the dream cast?
[ Book Club Member ]He has very sensitive chest hair….
Ilona Gordon: Adam is actually based on this picture… hang on let me find it
[ Book Club Member ] Loved when Nevada bought him the tee-shirt! It’s those kind of off the wall moves that sucks a man in.
Ilona Gordon: There, you go.
Vinnie Woolston by Jean-Baptiste Mondino for Numéro Homme
[ Book Club Member ] He is Pretty
C PATT: *whistles* I can work with that!!!!!
Andrew Gordon: I sort of picture him as a young Charlie Sexton. Our daughter actually knows his kid, who is also ridiculously good looking.
[ Book Club Member ] Oh, very nice!
C PATT: I bet, I knew his father when he was young (He hung at Dallas Nightclub when I worked there once in a while)
[ Book Club Member ] He could definitely bring the heat.
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Ilona Gordon: Is there anything you would like to know about Magic Shifts or White Hot?
[ Book Club Member ] Does Nevada learn more about her power(s)
Ilona Gordon: *redacted* yes. Yes, she does.
[ Book Club Member ] Is Bern going to develop into a larger part in White Hot? He seems to have so much potential.
Ilona Gordon: Bern plays a part in it, but not a huge one. Long answer coming, brace yourself.
Ilona Gordon: The problem with having a large cast is that you kind of have to pick and choose who gets to be in any particular book. People get very insistent on their favorite character being there. We get a lot of it with Derek from KD. But sometimes there is simply no part for him to play, beyond walking into a scene, waving a sing that says, “I am Derek and I am Still Alive” and going off stage.
C PATT: *giggles* you totally need to work the sign bit into a book 😉
Ilona Gordon: White Hot is focused heavily on Rogan and Nevada’s relationship. They have an epic fight, they try to sort out their feelings, there is a lot of emotional stuff happening around them. But they are the main couple so it probably should be that way in a PNR.
[ Book Club Member ] Are Kate and Curran finally getting “married”
Ilona Gordon: Not in this book. But this is a lot of romancy stuff
C PATT: I can’t see her living in the stucco mansion… I bet him and grandma become fast friends…
Ilona Gordon: Curran is trying to be a Suburban Husband and the results are hilarious.
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Favorite Quotes… what were yours. I think my list is too damn long… I highlighted most of the book!
Andrew Gordon “The guy was dead as hell.” From a Micky Spillane book.
Andrew Gordon There are a lot from Robert B. Parker’s Spenser books that I’m fond of.
C PATT: *giggles* usually this is the bit where we brag on YOUR book… so much of it is highlighted I can’t pin it down…
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So I must admit I have a strong curiosity to know how you guys met Jeaniene Frost… she speaks very highly of you both
Ilona Gordon: We just kind of started chatting. Her first book was coming out shortly after our first book came out and since we couldn’t complain and moan about all the things online, we started calling each other
Andrew Gordon: J is awesome. I only sort of knew her as the person though and doing a signing with her in Austin was amazing. She has a professional persona that we can only admire and aspire to.
Andrew Gordon: We did get to take her to our favorite Austin BBQ joint.
C PATT: That was where I got to see you both * or is it three* anyways, you all seemed like good friends and she did not stop talking about how much she adores Ilona and, well she said nice things about you too Andrew 😉
Andrew Gordon: We are all friends but it’s weird because we never get to see Matt, her husband. I feel like he and I could have a real shot at a mantastic bromance.
C PATT: you should work on that Andrew … a proper bromance takes work man…
C PATT: She made me want to go to happy hour with Ilona… When you talk of plotting at the pool I want to picture her floating around conspiring with the two of you
Ilona Gordon: Heh, no she would be sitting in the shade sipping a non alcoholic drink
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Earlier I took a vote (ok I voted) and I cast this man for my future husband … Mad Rogan! Man what a great character
[ Book Club Member ] I can never think of people …. He’s a good pick!
[ Book Club Member ] I love Henry Cavill too…..
Ilona Gordon: Hmm Henry Cavill might not be bad look wise. I don’t know, though. Connor is a funny guy.
C PATT: Connor is hard to pin down, he changes to suit who is in front of him. I read the book twice back to back because I could not get enough, then I read all the Kate Daniels books!!
[ Book Club Member ] Love, love love the Kate Daniels series!!
C PATT: I do think that Mad Rogan is one of my favorite male antiheroes in a very long time… frankly they make the bestest boyfriends
[ Book Club Member ] I agree, you just can’t help rooting for the guy!
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So after I read this one twice I started and finished all of Kate’s books! What does a girl do now for fun? Oh yea, reread! What do you guys do for fun… well when not on tour or putting up with fans , or PLOTTING by the pool?
Andrew Gordon: We watch tv and play computer games. We also go to the gym but I don’t know if that’s fun.
Ilona Gordon: It’s more like a painful necessity
Andrew Gordon: We read a lot. That is fun. She got me to read the Belgariad in college and the Druss book when I was in the Army.
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Anyone else in love with Grandma? I want to be her when I grow up… Ilona, where did you find her?
Ilona Gordon: I dunno. We just sort of thought it would be cool to have a Grandma who actually does something versus just providing quirky comic relief.
C PATT: She is badimus! I love her! I will be her when I am old! And I cried when you hurt her… bad Ilona 😉
[ Book Club Member ] I love Grandma! Will she get a hot love interest?
[ Book Club Member ] Funny and smart, always a great combination.
Ilona Gordon: She has one already. He installed the shockers.
C PATT: oh the shockers… man oh man oh man that was a nice twist in so many ways!
C PATT: I think my favorite part was her lines at the very end (trying to be cautious … lurkers have not always finished) but her conversation of the two kids in love … made me smile to the moon and back
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SO Who do we cast as the Kick Ass Nevada? Man she is wonderful, I can’t thank you two enough… I look forward to 9 more books… PS the blog fight between her and Kate with their SO’s for that contest they were in was WAY TOO FUNNY!!!
[ Book Club Member ] Or 15 ??
Andrew Gordon: You’re quite welcome and at least four. I would like if it took off the way the Kate books did. Mainly because two kids in college ain’t gonna be cheap and I will, God as my witness, move to Florida before I die.
C PATT: *insert florida joke here and hope it isn’t on a book tour*
Ilona Gordon: At least four what? We’re only contracted for two more books. What are you talking about….
Andrew Gordon: I like Florida, just not Orlando as much. I was born there and until fairly recently my Memaw lived there. Now she’s in NC with the rest of my hillbilly family.
Ilona Gordon: Do you mean that and kate together?
Andrew Gordon: No, I mean the one that’s out, the one we’re working on and the two after that.
Ilona Gordon: Burn For me, White Hot and the third one is it, I think. It’s a trilogy. Or have I lost my mind?
[ Book Club Member ] Hahaha…..
Andrew Gordon: You know, it’s not out of the realm of possibility.
C PATT: I VOTE FOR MORE THAN THREE *she begs*
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Ilona and Andrew, how does a husband and wife team come about?
Andrew Gordon: We started writing together way back and then I lost my job at the tire retreading plant (that is a real thing that happened) and Ilona lets me hang about.
Ilona Gordon: Hehehe
[ Book Club Member ] How does it work? Do you always work together?
Ilona Gordon: Pretty much. Over the years it kind of involved into this seamless professional relationship thing
Ilona Gordon: But in our normal married life we still fight.
C PATT: That is co cool! Hubby and I have a business together, much less glamorous and no tire retreading background to fall back on if this gig doesn’t work out 🙂
Andrew Gordon: Yes, which is convenient for us as we live together and this keeps us from having to get real jobs.
Ilona Gordon: We fought this morning, for example, because someone really likes vaping and keeps doing it despite a really strong allergic reaction.
Andrew Gordon: Well, it’s terrible work and there is a reason that Forrest Gump’s mum didn’t want him doing it. Seriously, the military was waay easier.
[ Book Club Member ] How long where you in the military?
Andrew Gordon: Eight years all together. Four in the Navy and another bit in the Army. I’m really not fit for much else.
[ Book Club Member ] Go Navy?
Andrew Gordon: I had a great time in the Navy and the pictures to prove it, which is why I had to go in the Army the second time.
Ilona Gordon: He could go back to Navy, but he would be single. 🙂
Andrew Gordon: I didn’t want to end up as one of those sad old single Chief Petty Officers. Plus I love her and there’s that.
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I have to ask “for a friend” when is the next Austin Signing? We found out about the last signing at the steampunk show the week afterwards…
[ Book Club Member ] Are you ever coming to California?
[ Book Club Member ] Baltimore area?
Ilona Gordon: Ehhh… we don’t usually get a large crowd in Austin to be honest. We are local.
Ilona Gordon: So it’s not as exciting. I asked our publicist if they can do an event this time around, so we’ll see
Andrew Gordon: We’ve been to San Diego, which I love, and San Francisco. I’d like to visit LA, it’s been years.
Ilona Gordon: They always send us to Seattle, Portland, San Diego spots. The poor Seattlites (?) are sick of us by now.
[ Book Club Member ] Shoot, I would kill to meet you guys! (Ok, I wouldn’t kill…..)
C PATT: not kill, just greatly embarrass… yes? They are very charming and entertaining in person…
Andrew Gordon: Thanks. I think we both feel like if people take time out of their busy lives to come see us, the least we can do is be approachable and just ourselves.
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Man the hour flies by so fast. I can not thank Ilona and Andrew enough for taking the time to come in and banter with us. I am sure that I will wake at 3am with a million and one questions… I just want to offer cyber hugs to them both (totally inappropriate but I can’t help myself)
[ Book Club Member ] Thanks for chatting with us!
[ Book Club Member ] Noooooo, it can’t be over…..Thanks bunches for chatting with us, looking forward to the next book in all your series.. You guys are great!
Ilona Gordon: We enjoyed it! Thank you for having us!
Andrew Gordon: Thank you!
[ Book Club Member ] Thank You! Cannot wait for the next book
[ Book Club Member ] I am bowing before greatness, THANK YOU!
[ Book Club Member ] Thank you very much for spending the time with us!
[ Book Club Member ] C PATT, You Rock! What an amazing chat you lined up! Thank you!
End of Chat : July 2, 2015
[Editor Note: the next signing is this coming March 24th 2017 in Austin and I will be there!]