Hey awesome,

We're inching closer to September, which means three 'aaaaaaaa'-level exciting events for me.

First: DragonCon. Are you a convention-goer? Have you ever been to Dragon? If yes, tell me your favorite things! If no, DragonCon is a five-day party with 80,000 of your favorite people. Overstimulation of every nerd joy - cosplay! Panels! Celebrities! Deep conversations into early hours of the morning! Silly conversations to same! - and so much to do you can't possibly do even a quarter of it. Such good times.

Speaking of so much to do, if you haven't caught it, here's my panel schedule - tentative, because anything as big as DragonCon is moving parts straight through to the event - but a good start on where to find me in the awesome madness.

Second: September 16 is The Valkyries Initiative anthology release date!! So much fun stuff leading up to that. You can catch the latest interview with a Valkyries author - this time, the incomparable Mel Todd - on the CKP YouTube page.

Of course, if you want to read it early, you can potentially still snag a spot on the launch team and get it even sooner than 9/16. If early-adopter is your jam, join Chris Kennedy's CKP newsletter, then email him at chris.kennedy12@gmail.com and let him know you'd like in on the Valkyries launch team. Act fast though - I heard a rumor it's filling up.

And if you have enough in your TBR pile to wait a few more weeks, I still have something shiny for you - a no-spoilers, random order official list of titles for the anthology that go with that gorgeous cover above:

Owl Job

Surprise

Void in the Noise

Dear Cynthia

A Sense of Purpose

Valkyrie Rising

The Troll Ate My Homework

Chooser of the Slain

A Sure Bet

Target's Blues

Sacrifice

Glass Houses

Angel Wings Demon Bones

Noah

Collateral

Any wild theories jumping to mind about the stories? Tell you what, send me your silliest or most serious plot suggestions for the stories, and I'll pick a lucky winner to get a fun prize.

Third of my exciting September news: September 23 is the release date for World Enders, the second of the two novels I wrote with Chris Kennedy this year. Have you seen this delightful cover yet?

A SalSha, a Human, a Veetanho, a Phidae, a Depik, (and maybe more) walk into a bar...and shenanigans ensure. Potentially world-ending ones...(see what I did there?).

And if you just can't wait for September, here's a brand new release from one of my favorite fellow writers, out and ready right dang now!

Sleeper Protocol was Kevin Ikenberry's debut novel, and he's recently taken it in, given it some new polish, and has it back out in the world again - with book two and three close behind (for those of you who like complete series before you start!).

How far would you go to remember your past?

Kieran Roark awakens in a wheelchair, unable to remember anything. As part of a classified experiment, he will have one year to learn his identity and recover his memory, or he will be euthanized by the state.

Scientist Berkeley Bennett has one mission: manipulate Kieran’s emotions in an attempt to bring back his memory. But when she falls in love with him, she is forced to make a harrowing decision that may cost Kieran his life.

What Kieran knows could save Earth from a coming war. Whether he believes the future is worth saving is another matter. Racing across an unfamiliar world in a body he does not recall, Kieran needs to discover who he was and, more importantly, who he is.

Because we can never have enough reading (I mean, if my TBR pile isn't wildly out of control, what am I even doing with my life?), I also have a fabulous assortment of free reads for you!

https://books.bookfunnel.com/freefantasyaugust/7r6rxskkob

https://books.bookfunnel.com/scifiction123/d028qoe5ui

https://books.bookfunnel.com/bestreadsofanygenre/bpqtqas404

https://books.bookfunnel.com/grandopeningceremony/3rrdd3ve3t

https://books.bookfunnel.com/bookspry-freescifi/8yavx4sapk

https://books.bookfunnel.com/free-fantasy-sciencefiction-ebooks/njgxtmv831

Whew. All this stuff is coming, and I still have a few projects to get finished before I can properly celebrate. So, with that -

Til next time,

Marisa