Tonight I’m going to a bookstore to see Ilona Andrews. They (husband/wife team) are my favorite author(s). For years I’ve scoured the names of the authors at writing conferences or book festivals that I’ve attended searching for their name. No luck.

Until now.

I stumbled upon their upcoming appearance when I had to take my very sick, very sad dog to a special vet for an MRI. (When something good happens because of something bad, it’s like Life giving you a hug.)

I’ve never gone to a bookstore with the sole purpose of seeing an author. As type this, I’m wondering how that can possibly be? And then I think, as I type some more, well, you’re an introvert and you don’t go many places in general with the sole purpose of seeing anyone. And then I have the answer to that question.

I’m nervous.

Here are the nervous things:

What do I say?
Specifically, what do I say so that the moment is perfect forever and ever amen?
Will there be a line?
Will I be able to find a parking spot?
Will I be late? (Getting out of Atlanta on a Friday night? Oh. No. Getting out of Atlanta on the Friday night of Labor Day weekend? Disaster Potential.) (I hate being late.)
Will my hair look acceptable in the picture that I think they’ll agree to take with me? (Their website said they’ll take pictures with people.)
Why oh why did I not lose those 10 (ahem…15) pounds before today?
Will I have the energy to go if I don’t take a nap?
If I try to take a nap, will I be able to sleep?
Why don’t I just have a cup of coffee instead?

Fortunately, I have all day to ponder these questions and more. And when this day is over, nothing will ever be the same.

Ok, that’s unlikely to be true.

When this day is over, I’ll go back to my introvert cave with a really awesome book signed by a really awesome person-people. (Do they both sign it? Does one sign the first name and the other the last name?) And someday, I’ll come back out again for something else really awesome!

Kate Daniels.

You know who she is, right? The star character of the urban fantasy series by Ilona Andrews? (If you do not know this, off you go to Amazon. Start with Magic Bites.) I am delightfully making my way through the series for the umpteenth time.

I love Kate Daniels.

I love her so much.

I want to be her.

Am I allowed to say that? Wait. What did you say? You want to be Kate Daniels, too? It just so happens that the county park in my area offers really cheap sword fighting classes. No joke! Like $35 for six weeks! And the class is an hour and half or something really loooong like that.

Can you say, “bargain?”

B-A-R-G-A-I-N.

If we were besties and you lived nearby, would you be up for it?

You don’t even have to bring your own sword. They have them there.

I picked up the flyer for the class when I went to vote for president…back in October. Remember that? Autumn 2016. Back when the world was teetering toward an unfathomable future? Before we fell into the swirling black hole of unpredictability? It feels so long ago.

I can’t bring myself to throw away the flyer because it could very well be my first step toward getting my own Slayer even if I don’t take the class this time around. (Slayer is the name of Kate’s sword. Again, if you’re not in the know, hie thee to Amazon forthwith!)

In the series, Kate has a couple of friends and one ward who eventually get their own books or novellas, too. Since I’m making my way through the series WAY too quickly, I decided to divert and pick up one of Kate’s friends.

Magic Dreams is a novella starring Dali, a magic white tiger, who wears thick glasses, isn’t much of a fighter, and races cars for fun, even though it’s against the orders of her alpha, Jim, the man Dali loves from afar.

Dali doesn’t have a sword. She has a pen and paper that she uses to write spells and curses on.

I’m much more like Dali than I am Kate, even though I don’t turn into a magic white tiger or race cars against my alpha’s wishes.

I have do a pen and paper though, and most of the time I’m not afraid to use them.

In the story, the pair goes on a mission to find the cause of Jim’s strange sickness, a case that takes Dali’s special magic to cure.

The book is delicious. But short. As novellas are supposed to be.

If you’re exhausted before bedtime but choose to read anyway, I estimate it will take you two to three nights to finish it. If you’re up for putting in a couple of hours of reading, you’ll have it done in one night.

And the next night you can pick up the next novella in Jim and Dali’s saga, Magic Steals.

(To ensure that you’re fully informed, Magic Dreams originally appeared in the anthology, Hexed. Magic Steals originally appeared in the anthology Night Shift. Both novellas are now available separately.)

Have you read Dali’s stories? Plan to? Do you like the spin-off novels and novellas in Kate’s world? Let me know what you think!

Ilona Andrews!

Re-read of the Week: Magic Dreams

ANISE RAE