Hey awesome,

I hope your 2025 is off to as peaceful a start as humanly possible, and that you are safe in these wild times. It’s cold and occasionally snowy up here, but that’s seasonable for where I live. I have a lot of blankets, so I can’t complain too much. How go things for you?

Over the last few years, after some pretty rough times, I’ve made a point to focus on finding joy. Of course sometimes that’s easier than others, but it’s a practice that has served me well. It’s usually in snuggling Olive, something nature-related, or reading a good book, and thankfully I can manage all of those most days. It’s also why I’ve tweaked the description of my writing – SFF that ends with hope (no matter how tricksy it might get in the middle). The more joy and hope in the world, the better. Anything bringing you happiness these days?

If you’re looking for a new read for your blanket nest, I have two suggestions:

Blood of Her Father is a new release, the result of the ever-fabulous Kacey Ezell saying ‘hey, you want to write a novel with me ahead of MarsCon?’ and my replying “Uh – YEAH.” Slightly paraphrased, but the real reply included one of these:

That more tangible/less curse-y one is made by the multitalented Joy Wandrey of Spinner’s End Studio, and very handy for throwing around. If you’re in the Virginia Beach area, you can see her and a ton of my favorite people at MarsCon this very weekend!

As for the book, it’s part of Kacey’s incredible Ashes of Entecea series. Technically Blood of Her Father is book 5 in the universe, but it’s also a lovely starting place. Fair warning, you’ll want to read the rest, if you haven’t already, whichever order you choose to embark upon. 

In the book itself you can expect a young queen trying to find her footing, her evil stepmother who may or may not be actually evil, and a host of characters all trying to make their way in an uncertain queendom – to varying results. One reviewer has referred to it as Machiavellian, and, hm, maybe the full art for the book gives some clues to that…

Kacey and I had so much fun writing Isonei and Careline, and that usually translates to the reader experience. If you spend some time with the Queen and the Dowager, I hope you love it (and them) – and then let me know what you think!

For something a little different, Kacey also is releasing her first LitRPG serial – Shadow Card Guardian. You can check it out for free on Royal Road! There will be more – and thank goodness, because y’all, this is SO FUN (and gut-punchy, but hey, it’s Kacey – you had to know that was coming!).

Over the next few weeks I’m going to attempt a slightly better writing routine. The end of last year was fully chaotic, but productive, and I gave myself plenty of rest afterward. But now it’s go-time again. Thankfully, my bestie gifted me this fabulous planner (have I mentioned how awesome Kacey Ezell is? It bears repeating), and I have plotted out all – ok, most – of my deadlines, cons, priorities, and goals for the year.

Some of those include more regular podcasts – as in, Feral Ladies will be coming back soon. We recorded an episode recently and have more on the schedule, and as you can see, we’re about to be very serious up in the youtubes soon:

In the meantime, you can also catch me reading on the internet streets – I got to join the fabulous folks at Strong Women Strange Worlds recently for their Quick Reads event, and you can hear me read from Beyond Enemies and also hear five other authors’ read from their fabulous books. My TBR pile grew significantly that night, and what can I say, I love to share towering reading piles with my friends.

Speaking of those goals and priorities and deadlines… back to writing with me. Stay warm and safe and find your joy where you can.

Til next time,

Marisa