Ilona Andrews teases new chapter in Hidden Legacy romance sequence

For followers of husband-companion writing duo Ilona Andrews (Ilona Gordon and Andrew Gordon), the previous week brought some longed for news — the Unusual York Cases easiest-selling creator has signed a three-book cope with Avon to proceed their loved Hidden Legacy sequence.

If that’s now not enough to whet fan’s appetites, additionally they announced the brand new trilogy will kick off with a novella q4 (printed in ebook by Avon Impulse) that can per chance per chance support to bridge the outlet between the final book within the previous trilogy, Wildfire, and the principle book within the brand new sequence, slated for a Plunge 2019 liberate.

Inside of a day of the news breaking Wednesday, pre-repeat gross sales for the tranquil-untitled e-novella hit the close a hundred within the Kindle retailer. So, EW known as up Ilona and Andrew to stare if we can even gain them to advise any secrets from the brand new trilogy followers obtain been clamoring for for the reason that most principal sequence ended closing summer season.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What, if the relaxation can you bellow us about this new trilogy? 
ILONA GORDON: After we talked relating to the continuation of the trilogy with our publisher, we asked [our editor] Erika Tsang, “How attain you envision the sequence persevering with ahead? May possibly per chance additionally tranquil we proceed on Nevada and Rogan? May possibly per chance additionally tranquil we steal one in all the diversified characters?” And she said, “It’d be so beautiful to obtain a book about Catalina.” Catalina is Nevada’s second sister and he or she is a appealing persona. She is the frequent teenage fearful girl where she’s very natty, she’s very introspective, but she valid doesn’t cope with the highlight. So, it’s going to be about Catalina. It will doubtless be effect reasonably bit extra from the occasions of the principle three books, so she’ll be older. She’ll be in her early 20s and we’ll extra detect her persona reasonably bit. There turned into an Italian gentleman she met throughout her trials within the previous books, and he’ll characteristic prominently within the trilogy. The trilogy itself will revolve around the crime syndicate. We’re going to more or less detect how she deals with diversified things. It’s taking somebody who’s residing a extremely mundane, traditional life and all precise away thrusting them into the glittering world of an excessive amount of money, an excessive amount of energy, an excessive amount of public visibility and seeing how they’re going to manage with it.

How relating to the upcoming e-novella — what is going to that be about?
ILONA: It is effect quickly after the occasions of the closing book, Wildfire, and this could occasionally per chance per chance even be all ears to Nevada and Rogan’s marriage ceremony. One day of the whole trilogy, the reader thinks Connor Rogan has no family moreover his mom. He does. He has a giant family on his mom’s aspect, but they’re all in Spain. When he gifts Nevada to his mom, that can we detect on this novella, he tells her he valid desires a little marriage ceremony and he or she’s like, “Fully now not. Fully now not. You must possibly per chance well’t attain that. You’re my most productive son. I will detect you stroll down the aisle. I will obtain this glamorous marriage ceremony. We’re doing this.” Within the novella, usually, all the Rogan family invade in power and additionally they obtain to obtain this marriage ceremony. They obtain to corral Nevada, because Nevada’s being reasonably bit of a Bridezilla. One day of the beginning of the wedding ceremony, it turns into obvious that a family heirloom is stolen. Rogan’s mom doesn’t need Nevada’s first introduction to the family to be that of interrogating everyone and making an strive to determine who stole the diadem. Nevada’s mom has a shining belief. Catalina is an skilled investigator. She’s going to retrieve the heirloom so Nevada can wear it throughout the wedding ceremony ceremony. The novella companies around Catalina’s tremendous first case. She has to navigate very subtle family politics. She has now to now not step on any one’s toes, but tranquil procure the lacking merchandise. And at the same time, there’s things going on on her aspect of the family where they’re making an strive to create a brand new condominium. Optimistically, this could occasionally per chance per chance even be more of a preserve it end thriller in reality feel than the sphere is ending and we must rescue it.

There obtain been some free ends at the conclusion of the closing trilogy – will they be tied up within the brand new one?
ILONA: It’ll rely on what free ends you’re referring to. Usually there’s a number of free ends at the cease of the trilogy. There’s the identification of Caesar, which I in reality feel we reasonably heavily hinted at, but some individuals are tranquil now not tremendous who he is. That will be explored within the following trilogy. There’s also a number of individuals that didn’t reasonably gain their comeuppance, again that will doubtless be delayed for the following trilogy because we’re planning to whisk more into the convoluted nature of Baylor family ancestry – who turned into their grandfather? How precisely their grandmother went about making tremendous they obtain been born and loads others? As a long way because the novella, this could occasionally per chance per chance even be all ears to bringing Catalina to the purpose where we can open the following trilogy. It brings Catalina to the purpose where [when] you detect her within the brand new trilogy, you realize why she is the fashion she is.

Were you usually hoping to achieve one other trilogy on this world or did it come up without be conscious?
ANDREW GORDON: Sure, because we more or less left it start-ended. After we at the start did the cease of the 0.33 book, we tried to tie the whole lot up with a gracious bow, but we couldn’t and then our editor Erika more or less didn’t enable us to. At that time, we obtain been like “Ooo, perchance we’ll gain to write more of the books.” So we constantly hoped that we could possibly per chance well gain to proceed the sequence.

How much can we demand to stare of Rogan and Nevada? Will various the characters be ones followers are already awake of? 
ILONA: We’re working with the same traditional effect of characters.
ANDREW: It’s tranquil the Baylor family.
ILONA: Cornelius [Harrison] will be there. [Augustine], who it appears is a fan favourite, which we didn’t demand, but individuals obtain been in reality offended he wasn’t within the 0.33 book…We’re working with the same traditional effect of characters, it’s valid in its place of Nevada being the main persona, she’ll be a aspect persona, like Catalina turned into within the previous trilogy. We’re speaking about reasonably bit finally, so perchance three or four years. By that time, it’s appealing to stare what has Baylor Investigations became. There’s presumably an arm now that more or less works more closely with Rogan and his enterprises. And there’s an arm that works with Montgomery. Because they’re rising, this could occasionally per chance per chance even be appealing to stare how all of this shakes out.
ANDREW: We obtain been in fact speaking about it at dinner closing night. We went out to indulge in and we obtain been more or less discussing what to achieve with the Italian rely.
ILONA: We’re tranquil more or less within the planning stages, so it’s terribly interesting because we don’t know reasonably what’s going to happen.

Who’re you most indignant for followers to meet – or gain to perceive better?
ILONA: Catalina and her sister Arabella will play a much larger role. Leon will be older. Within the previous trilogy, Leon makes a understanding of becoming the murky power, the feared murderer of Rental Baylor, and he hasn’t walked away from that understanding. He’s tranquil preserving on to it, so this could occasionally per chance per chance even be so much fun to valid detect that and obtain him kind of blueprint. Because he’s older now.
ANDREW: I’m indignant to advise their paternal grandfather.
ILONA: I now in fact am preserving his mouth closed because Gordon would present every secret in case you quiz him. When followers quiz him for spoilers, he valid tells them. It’s terrible.

What attracted you to magic as a storytelling system?
ILONA: We constantly gravitated to tales that mixed technology and magic. After we obtain been younger we constantly watched cartoons like He-Man or Flash Gordon. It turned into this kind of appealing combine of technology and magic. Our world is kind of effect now in a sense where in case you non-public essentially the most crucial to technology, you’re gorgeous much assured success. Wealth, energy, all those things. And introducing magic into it valid more or less turns the whole lot on its head. It’s interesting.
ANDREW: Anybody can obtain magic. You mediate of technology belonging to individuals in more developed countries or individuals with gain entry to to wealth, whereas magic, it evens the taking half in field.
ILONA: It’s practically like a frontier feeling that probabilities are you’ll per chance per chance well every so often procure in Westerns where a sad cowboy discovers gold on his vary and turns into fabulously prosperous. Or that more or less Indiana Jones exploration, where an archaeologist goes thru the jungle and all precise away he makes this unbelievable procure that guarantees for life that he’ll be revered and obtain so much compare. That’s more or less what magic is – it’s that wild ingredient that enters a anecdote and it has the aptitude to interchange the whole lot.

Whilst you obtain valid one in all the magic abilities of any one in all your persona, what would that be and why?
ILONA: Gordon says he would be a polymorph. He can switch form and resolve any human form that’s there. For me, I don’t know. It’s so demanding to get hold of because so many powers are a double-edged sword, like I don’t wish to perceive the truth. That would be in reality, in reality complex. That’s the subject because more usually than now not our magic has a design back. Catalina can gain you cherish her, but she’s never tremendous the affection probabilities are you’ll per chance per chance well presumably even be feeling for her is friendly. So it’s demanding. I’d steal Cornelius Harrison’s animal mage powers. That would be fun. 

You write as a married couple – is that a distress, does it ever consequence in any main disagreements or on the reverse, colossal moments of triumph together that bolster your relationship?
ANDREW: More the latter because if we be triumphant, we be triumphant together. It’s both of our successes, whether it’s turning in a reproduction edit like today or a liberate or a tour. It’s kind of a shared reinforcement of us as a team. We rarely ever fight about stuff. We argued about some stuff the day previous to this.
ILONA: We argued about some stuff the day previous to this in a reproduction edit. He desired to interchange the age of a kid to 18 months versus Thirteen months. I understanding if we attain it, this could occasionally per chance per chance even be this kind of enormous switch that now we obtain got to entirely re-write chunks of the anecdote. We more or less had a spat about that, nonetheless it lasted presumably a minute and a half. After which after we went out to dinner. I know individuals choose to factor in us throwing plates at each and each diversified, screaming, and slamming doorways. It never occurs. The article right here is to construct out essentially the most productive book imaginable. We now obtain been writing together for a while, so when now we obtain got arguments it’s more relating to the arrangement in which to achieve one thing as a replacement of whether to achieve it or now not. And if it’s on the online page, it’s a compromise so we practically never obtain dramatic disagreements. We attain every so usually argue about who dies because somebody’s bought to die. Because the whole lot has a label…It makes us stronger as a couple. We work together. We write very end to every diversified. Our desks are usually inner a number of ft of every and each diversified, so we talk about thru the dialogue as we write. There’s no ego in it — that’s more or less essentially the most crucial. Private success is now not as crucial as team success. If we be triumphant together, then both of us benefit.
ANDREW: It turned into the same within the military.
ILONA: Because Gordon turned into within the Army, it professional us to be taught about our relationship as we are together. We’re a team. For the reason that subject is when you happen to’re within the Army, probabilities are you’ll per chance per chance well presumably even be every so often a single parent and your companion has so that you just should believe you that they’ll whisk on deployment and things is now not going to crumble and the whole lot will be k. I guess it more or less shaped our marriage. 

Being a married couple that writes in particular steamy romance, I’m tremendous you practically surely gain asked so much of wild questions. What’s essentially the most unearthly or most murky quiz you’ve ever been asked?
ILONA: We obtain been having an tournament in Austin, Texas and there turned into like 200 individuals within the target audience or no subject and all precise away this older girl stands up and he or she says, “Whilst you write intercourse scenes, attain you prepare? Construct you for lumber gain into positions and is that interesting for you?” And I turned into like, Oh my god, you didn’t valid quiz this. Now now not most productive is it totally infamous, but there obtain been children within the target audience. Her daughter turned into there, and he or she turned into mortified. She turned into the color of a raspberry. That turned into extremely murky for everyone appealing. We would choose to valid indicate that our characters and us, we’re separate entities. We now obtain now not killed any one who we know of, and our characters execute rotten guys reasonably step by step. It’d be a mistake to establish us with our characters.

Romance as a genre has been on the forefront of many points, but in particular those of consent and sexuality. The subject of consent is dominating the news cycle gorgeous now, but paranormal or urban fantasy books are inclined to dwell reasonably more on the sting than up to date or historical – would you resolve? And attain probabilities are you’ll per chance per chance well presumably even be feeling prefer it’s one thing you’re going to obtain to alter the least bit?
ILONA: No. Our views obtain now not modified. We now obtain two daughters. The complications with consent obtain been talked about in our condominium very, very early on. The main right gain-out scene we had turned into in book three of [the] Kate Daniels [series]. In that first scene, the heroine tells him “stop” and he stops. That is an principal thing. In real life or in a book, the subject can’t be that you just didn’t resolve consent. The subject is, is consent given? There’s so much of systems probabilities are you’ll per chance per chance well whisk about indicating consent, however the very best one is the heroine has to impart certain. The heroine has to impart, I’m spending the night, I preserve to achieve this. That is in reality basic. There are many very young romance readers. And we need so that you just should consult with those young romance readers who obtain now not had abilities with relationships that consent is a sexy. It’s a sexy. It’s now not one thing that’s offered…We now obtain to steal a stand and be tremendous we consult with our target audience that it’s now not k to stop your rights valid because one other particular person desires to obtain intercourse.