Hey awesome,

I am doing my best to lean into joy, no matter how silly. My latest obsession: all the sassy baby pygmy hippos. I'm not going to lie to you - every time I see a clip of the latest one, Mars, absolutely refusing to go inside despite his keepers' best efforts...the giggles I giggle. I watch every video like eight times.

What's bringing you joy lately? Besides cackling over hippo cuteness, I've got DragonCon and a new release coming up, both of which are full of joyfulness.

Are you going to be in the Atlanta-area next week? We talked a bunch about what we're excited about for DragonCon on a live Feral Ladies this week. Though I still have yet to even prepare for packing, I can't waaaait to be there with so many of my favorite people, talking nerdy things, being a big ol delighted nerd with other delighted nerds. If you'll be there, here's my schedule of where I'll definitely be (other shenanigans, as always, tbd):

At DragonCon I'll have my very first copies of A Plague of Magic, which is officially a real book that exists, and will be out in the world September 2nd!

We're so close to Cima and her family being out in the world - so close I've even gotten my first ever review from Publisher's Weekly, from which I got this gorgeous pull quote: "Thrilling... the found family vibe between Cima and her gang adds charm."-- PW. I mean...

And to celebrate my magic treasure book, I've made my very own hoard:

I put it together with a little help from internet & rock show commerce, a lot of awesome help from the fabulous Sean Hert, and some extra special additions from my sister and stepmom. It's gorgeous and I just want to preen over it, and no wonder Cima and crew had such a -- well. That would be spoilers.

I hope you check it out for yourself though, and let me know what you think. Please expect to see more of the creation and evolution of the hoard (and maybe the book!) over the next few months.

For even more joy, H.P. Holo has a whole cool thing going (I mean, always, but this time we're talking about a new specific one) and I'm just going to let her tell you about it....now:

Hey, y’all! H.P. Holo here!

Marisa has graciously offered up a space for me to tell y’all about a series of mine, and a $.99 sale I’m currently running on its box set!

Monster Punk Horizon is an absurd GameLit fantasy love letter to all things monster catching, collecting, hunting, and befriending–but mostly it’s inspired by the question “What if Monster Hunter World had, like, an actual story (instead of just a thin excuse to hunt monsters)?”

My answer came in the form of Pix and Jaz, two besties just trying to pay off their college loans by hunting deadly monsters, befriending the cool ones, hooking the lonely ones up with cute monster dates, and fending off the occasional monstrous apocalypse. (Also there are lavish descriptions of snacks and armor customization.)

Basically, if you think rocket-powered greatswords, fire-breathing micropigs, magic portals, monsters with names like Raging Buttlord, and hot pants armor are the best things ever, it’s a series for you.

And the whole shebang’s just $.99 through August 30!

But that’s not all! If you happen to be into that AND spicy adventure fantasy, (note from Marisa: y'all it's so fun!!) I’ve got another fantasy series in that universe–and the second and final book just came out.

Written by myself and Edie Skye (who is also me–it’s a long story), Monster Girl Tamer’s about a chosen one who falls through a portal into a fantasy world, wherein his destiny is to … collect a tactical harem of monster girls to help him save the world. 

The challenge? First off, he’s never dated, EVER. Second, these girls were once literal monsters, transformed into hot monster girls by a mysterious being known as the Sexy Wizard, and he’s gotta train them into competent adventurers before he has any hope of saving the world. Third, when his destined enemy finally shows up, it’s way earlier than he expected and, uh … he doesn’t have the stats for that.

Fortunately, he’s in a spicy magic fantasy series, so you know exactly by what mechanic his stats go up. *wink wink*

(*Seriously it’s SUPA DETAILED smut so if you prefer your details to be of the armor-spec variety, stick with Monster Punk Horizon.)

Book 1 is “I Power Up With Every Monster Girl I Defeat!” and Book 2 is “I’m an Isekai Hero! Of Course I’m Fighting a Demon Lord.” If you like any of those words, go check ‘em out!

And if you're around, you can join H.P. and me tomorrow night (Saturday 8/23 at 8pm eastern) as we talk about A Plague of Magic and whatever other wandering things our brains go to.

Ok, if I keep sharing fun/joyful/delightful things we'll be here all day, but please send me what's keeping you all lit up. The world needs more joy, always.

Hopefully I'll see you at DragonCon (let me know!), or somewhere having fun on the internet streets, if not the Atlanta ones.

Til next time,

Marisa