Hey awesome,

You’re getting this a week early because I’m going straight from a convention this weekend to some family stuff next week and I don’t want to miss out on chatting with you this month.

First up: Boskone! I’m heading into Boston today and get to hang out with some of my favorite people and authors – Kacey Ezell, Trisha Wooldridge, and Melissa Olthoff. There will be great panels, excellent hangouts, and likely a trip or four to several bakeries in the area.

For…research. 

Yeah, that’s it.

If you’re in the Boston-area, we’d love to see you – here’s where you can definitely find me amidst my bakery-and-hanging-out chaos:

Speaking of my Boskone compatriots, as promised: Feral Ladies is back! If you missed our Goblin Mode episode, you can catch up with our shenanigans here and also hear what’s going on for us for the year. The non-secrety things, at least (insert evil laugh here).

If you’re more looking for fun things to read, I have two suggestions:

One, the fabulous Kacey Ezell’s incredible new fantasy novel is available as an eARC. If you’re not familiar, it’s something Baen offers for the sorts of readers who enjoy early access to awesome books. You can treat yourself to Magelight right here. I read this as Kacey was writing it, and again when it was finished, and yeah. You’re going to want this. I mean, loooook:

Fleeing her sheltered life, a noblewoman must trust a warrior, a forester, and a thief to unlock her true power and face her destiny.

All her life, Aelys of Brionne had been weak. As the noble daughter of one of the empire’s most powerful magic-wielding families, it should have been easy for her to live her dream of bonding with a warrior protector and joining the Imperial Battlemage Corps. But when her weakness robs her of her dreams, her best friend, and the man she loves, Aelys makes the only choice she can see: she takes her fate into her own hands and she runs, leaving her safe, protected world behind.

Now she must find a way to work with three dangerous strangers—a warrior, a forester, and a thief—to escape the bandits stalking her, fight through the dangers of the untamed forest, and make her way back home, where her family and her destiny await.

Only . . . her violent protectors might be the key to the power and freedom she’s always craved. Can Aelys find the strength to choose her own destiny and become the sorceress she was born to be? Or lose herself on the path to power?

Gah, it's so good, y'all. And as a second treat, remember that changeling story Melissa Olthoff and I wrote last year? The Kickstarter funded, and it’s now available as a preorder, anchoring the second anthology the fabulous organizers were able to put together. 

First, gorgeous cover:

That’s the one Melissa and I are in, but like I said, there are two, and both are chock full of stories that do what they say on the tin – twisting and reimagining fairy tales, folk tales, and fables. For fun! They are: Enchanted Tales & Twisted Lore: Fairy Tales, Folklore, and Fables Reimagined - Volume 1 and Once Upon a Twisted Time: Fairy Tales, Folklore, and Fables Reimagined - Volume 2

And that’s all I have for now. Going to go hug Olive one more time and head out to Boskone. Drop me a note and let me know how you’re doing in these wild times, yeah?

Til next time,

Marisa