Hey awesome,

It's fall - or at least fall-adjacent, and some fall activities have begun. This week I went apple-picking with one of my favorite people and fabulous author Kacey Ezell. Look how pretty a day we had:

Next up, I am so looking forward to all the baking ahead. Do you have any go-to fall favorite recipes you want to share? I have...a lot of apples, so I'd be thrilled for more ideas! First up here: apple fritters!

Also up here, writing with said fabulous author/favorite human/frequent co-writer: Kacey Ezell and I are about a quarter through our next novel together, set in her wonderful space opera universe of Entecea. Have you had a chance to check the series out? The completed trilogy kicks off with The Queen's Fixer, and that's just the beginning of a sprawling epic shared world to come. We're having an awesome time writing our novel, and hope to have it to you by the end of the year!

In the meantime, I have a couple of podcasts for you this week, and TWO brand new awesome releases to share.

If you're kicking around tonight (Thursday 9/19) at 7pm EST, you can get a bite-sized tasting of six books from six different authors - badass ladies in all corners of the genre.

It's totally free, each of us will read for 8 minutes or less, so it's a quick sampler platter with space for a Q&A at the end. You can register here, and I hope to see you there!

On Friday, you can catch my DragonCon recap, and have a good time hanging out with me, Kacey Ezell, Toni Weisskopf, and Wen Spencer, along with our incredible host Griffin Barber, on the Baen Free Radio Hour.

In super fun reading news, how about some LitRPG? This one is so wonderful:

Demon Card Enforcer by John Stovall is nonstop awesome, with book 2 and three already on the way. Here's a little more, to see if it grabs you the way it grabbed me:

It’s Drop Night, the one night every decade when the gods hand out cards to a lucky few.

If you get a deck, you’re a deckbearer capable of wondrous feats within the Great Game system. You can control powerful monsters and summon mantles that let you fight alongside your beasts.

Ethan Wolfe, top enforcer for the Grimm family mob, has already been overlooked on two previous Drop Nights. People of his ilk seldom receive cards, as the gods tend to favor people who follow their divine mandates, but that doesn’t mean Wolfe can’t hope.

Unfortunately, when Wolfe does get his deck, he doesn’t have time to celebrate. The rival street gang has six deckbearers and they’re cutting in on the Grimm family’s trade. Someone has to do the dirty work, and it isn’t going to be the spoiled children of Big Man Grimm.

And things might get worse for Wolfe when everyone figures out he received an ultra-rare card in his deck…

And in urban fantasy romance, and oh yeah also Valkyrie's news (!!!!!), book 2 from the fabulous Melissa Olthoff is coming to us tomorrowwwww: Shadows May Fall:

Get ready for a heck of a tale about Athena (and maybe a little bit of Sebastian, too, insert evil laugh here), as the Valkyries Initiative really ramps up with a potentially world-ending mission. You know how it goes.

From the copy:

Athena Townsend is no demon, but she isn't an angel, either.

After avenging her father's death, Athena is left with two choices - take a new job, or go to jail. It seemed like a no-brainer to take the mysterious Bryn Siegmund's job offer and work for the Valkyries Initiative, but things quickly get complicated.

As a Kidemonas, Athena is a guardian against an insatiable Soul Eater. Her magical talents are uniquely suited to fight spiritual predators, though she'll need a partner to watch her back. Unfortunately, her new boss seems to hate her, and Athena's new partner is none other than Sebastian Lawrence, the Shooter who legally assassinated her father, the Shooter who helped avenge her father's death... and the man who saved her life.

He's also the biggest asshole she'd ever met.

Sebastian is just as thrilled to be working with her again, but his wild magical talent might be a bigger threat to her than his uber-grump attitude.

For their first official assignment together, they have to track down the Unicorn, a teenage girl with an unprecedented healing ability - before the Spider's agent can find her first. When the signs of the Kidemonas' ancient enemy appear in the midst of their investigation, Athena will have to figure out how to unleash her full potential and trust Sebastian. Because if they can't work together, the world might not survive.

Save the Unicorn, defeat the Soul Eater, try not to murder her insanely hot partner. Just another day working for the Valkyries Initiative.

I love this story, and I think you will too! If you check it out, let me know what you think - and let me know what you want to see more of in the Valkyries, cause we have a heck of a ride ahead.

Til next time,

Marisa