A good update!

I hope you have all been well and safe during this COVID-19 experience we're all going through. My family has been very fortunate, and I'm thankful for that. For us, school is around the corner, so that is taking up the majority of our time.  No, I don't know what the heck people are doing here in Arizona for us to become the epicenter of the world, but it appears someone else has taken our place now, and as sad as that is for those who live there, I'll take it.

I've been writing a lot this week, which will make you all happy, I hope.  I've been pretty inspired as of late, and I'm hoping to push on through over the next little while. I will not give any estimates about when Rarity will be finished.  It seems that whenever I do that, something comes up and I'm thrown off track. I appreciate all of your patience though. 

I got a message from someone in the 'Andrea Irving Author' Facebook group asking about how to pronounce a couple of names.  I went through my character list and included as many unusual or commonly mispronounced names or names with multiple accepted pronunciations as I could think of. There are some names on this list that you haven't seen yet, and I hope that gets your curiosity going a bit. Here is the list:

Lora: like the name Laura

Lorana: loh-RAH-nuh

Allistair: AL (rhymes with HAL) -iss-ter

Catty: CAT-tee, rhymes with batty (don't tell her this)

Genea: jenn-AY-uh

Sylvane: sill-VANE, like window sill and weather vane

Regan: REE-gunn, not like the former President

Dain: Dane, like a person from Denmark

Larence: rhymes with Clarence

Lorcan: LORR-kinn

Jarz: Yars, rhymes with Lars

Ydris: EE-driss

Ydrisan: ee-DREE-senn

Erasteen: AIR-uss-teen

Erastinian: air-uss-TIN-ee-enn

Korlisse: KORR-liss

Korlissean: korr-LEE-see-enn

Shaad: shod, like he ran roughshod around the kingdom

Shaadi: shoddy, like shoddy workmanship

Anouria: uh-NOO-ree-uh

Anourian: uh-NOO-ree-uhn

Glimmen: GLIM-men, like glimmer but with men at the end

Mount Rathbone: Mount RATH-bone, like wrath

Djalriz: JAHLL-rizz

Greichl: GRY-kull, rhymes with Michael

Louis: LOO-iss, not LOO-ee

Sandor: SANN-dorr, rhymes with Mandalore sort of

Yarrow: YAIR (rhymes with hair)-owe (like someone owes you money)

And here's a little teaser:

The king paced back and forth, kicking at an innocent chair every time he passed it. From the look of the unfortunate piece of furniture, it wasn’t the first time he’d taken his frustrations out on it. He stopped after several minutes and looked Lora right in the eyes. “What do you have to say for yourself? It occurs to me that everyone here has spoken about you but you.”

Andrea.

Lora is back in business!

Hello all,

I opened up Scrivener today and read a bit of Rarity. Then I started to write. I haven't written anything since before my dad died in June. Between dealing with that grief, which is ongoing, being the executor of his messy estate, and starting a new job teaching classes I never had before, I had zero time.  And really zero inclination, which really hurts me. Creative people need to express themselves, whether their works are "worthy" of sharing or not.

I'll take writing again as one of the little blessings of COVID-19.  My boys' sports are cancelled.  I don't have to commute to either campus, so a lot of time is saved that way, as well. I have excellent TA's to help me. The boys' schoolwork is not too time intensive for my husband or me so far.  So other than with my new responsibilities with COVID-19 working groups and studying up on my intensive care medicine and ACLS in case I am called to work in the hospital, I actually have time to write!

So, I wanted to let you guys know that I am here. You and Lora have not been forgotten. I don't know how long it will take to finish this book, but it will be done-- and faster than it takes GRRM to publish successive volumes of A Song of Ice and Fire.

Please stay safe and be well.
Andrea.