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Hey awesome,

Happy November! I started this substack and then…didn’t actually start it, but in my defense…*gestures at everything*

I figure I’ll send substack-y goodness with random thoughts/updates on cool books/pictures of my rock-and-fossil-hoard/pictures of my dog. You know, the good stuff. If you want a sense of what that will look like, below is my latest newsletter:

What are you up to as we careen to the end of the year? For me, it was another road trip! The fabulous Kacey Ezell joined me as I fiiiinally went to empty my storage unit from the pre-RV-life days, so off to Texas for a whirlwind moving weekend we went. We managed to have plenty of fun along the way (photographic evidence below), but I’d love to not spend 20+ish hours in a car again for...at least a few months, whew.

I am super looking forward to having all my stuff back, though. Especially the (cough cough) 15+ boxes of books...

Did you feel a disturbance in the force last week while we were gadding about the country? If so, it might have been that all three Feral Ladies were in the same place at the same time. And if you missed out on the shenanigans, we had a live episode with general chaos AND talking end of year traditions. What are your favorite ways to close out a year?

Another potential disturbance in the gravitational field - did you hear my shriek when Challenges officially hit the shelves? I’ve visited it in several bookstores (in at least 4 states so far, thanks road trip!), and get giddy every time I see it. It’s an amazing anthology, contains my first contribution to the Honorverse, and is a constant delight to my nerd heart. Have you checked it out? What did you think?

That cover is so gorgeous!! And if that’s not enough coolness for you, my friends have been busy, and there are so many new, awesome books to add to the TBR mountain (mine has to be visible from space by now. What an amazing problem to have).

First up is the latest by Andrew Johnston:

The Scorched Hunter has a terrific cover and the story sounds, somehow, even better:

An attack on Anna’s hometown, joined by rumors of a dictatorship, thrusts her into Lamparien politics. Anna’s reluctance holds her prisoner. Will the people mock her burnt face and sealed eye? Hiding isn’t an option when men are being sent to kill her. Proving worthy of governing her people is taxing, and a tournament will be her final test. If she doesn’t win the tournament, then Lampara will see a tomorrow with tyranny on the horizon.

For something equally delightful and on a different spectrum of saucy and spicy we’ve got a collaboration between the amazeballs Edie Skye and Jacob Holo:

Catgirls from Outer Space is so, so good. It’s a smuttified-now-with-even-more-snark updated version of Jacob’s Freelancers of Neptune, and lost none of its fabulosity in this new version. From the authors:

CONTENT WARNINGS: All the romance is positive and consensual. No freaky stuff, just catgirls.

Captain Nathan Kade just wants a quick job to keep his busted-up spaceship limping through the Solar System.

Instead he gets Vessani S’Kaari, a mysterious and beautiful catgirl who tried—and failed—to steal a ship belonging to a band of space pirates. She’s chaos in a tight catsuit, but she also has a lead on what may be the greatest treasure trove of lost technology the Solar System has ever seen.

Not to mention a really nice … tail. He pulls that tail out of the fire, and together they assemble a team to seek out this long-lost bounty. Soon, he’s commanding a ragtag crew of space cowboys.

They’ll dodge spaceship fire, flirt with danger (and each other), and maybe—just maybe—make the score of a lifetime.

Guns will blaze. Spaceships will burn. Tails will swish.

And somewhere in all that mayhem, a broke captain might just find everything he never knew he wanted.

Also, I HAD to include this authors’ note:

“For readers unfamiliar with Edie Skye, there will be spice and its doors will be WAAAAY open.

For readers unfamiliar with Jacob Holo, there will be math but it will be fade to black.”

Like....come on. The hilarity is right there!

For future consideration of your TBR and something to look forward to - new anthology hotness coming December 19th (available for preorder now)!

Running With Sharp Objects has a collection of badass stories from a ton of incredible authors. My story, “Fourth Life” is my third in the world of Kaskata (for completists, the first was “Ghosts of Kaskata” from Down These Mean Streets, and the second is “When It Counts” from the forthcoming Plausibly Deniable), and I’m so excited for people to read it. In “Fourth Life” an artifact dealer acquires the wrong artifact and has to escape an Empire’s weight of attention... So it’s a good thing Nya has experience fully reinventing herself.

Before I get back to work (it’s outline time on a project I am soooooo freaking excited about), I’m going to go preen over the new rocks I acquired this past weekend. Because of course I got home from a week and a half road trip and immediately volunteered at a rock show, and therefore of course I came with many shiny things (see some of my shiny things below!!).

I mean...A Plague of Magic and all that treasure didn’t come from nowhere...I’m just saying, I would totally be done in by pretty rocks and gems. How about you? Would you resist? Or do you have rock/fossil collections to show me?? Please do!

Ok, work (and hoard-preening) for me!

Til next time,

Marisa