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 LauraLorana: loh-RAH-nuhAllistair: AL (rhymes with HAL) -iss-terCatty: CAT-tee, rhymes with batty (don't tell her this)Genea: jenn-AY-uhSylvane: sill-VANE, like window sill and weather vaneRegan: REE-gunn, not like the former PresidentDain: Dane, like a person from DenmarkLarence: rhymes with ClarenceLorcan: LORR-kinnJarz: Yars, rhymes with LarsYdris: EE-drissYdrisan: ee-DREE-sennErasteen: AIR-uss-teenErastinian: air-uss-TIN-ee-ennKorlisse: KORR-lissKorlissean: korr-LEE-see-ennShaad: shod, like he ran roughshod around the kingdomShaadi: shoddy, like shoddy workmanshipAnouria: uh-NOO-ree-uhAnourian: uh-NOO-ree-uhnGlimmen: GLIM-men, like glimmer but with men at the endMount Rathbone: Mount RATH-bone, like wrathDjalriz: JAHLL-rizzGreichl: GRY-kull, rhymes with MichaelLouis: LOO-iss, not LOO-eeSandor: SANN-dorr, rhymes with Mandalore sort ofYarrow: 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.