Hello, friends! It's an exciting month here, with Ravenous State coming out next week and a bunch of other fun. Up first...

A little birthday present -- for you!

My birthday is this week, and I'm taking a cue from author Mary Robinette Kowal, as well as noted travel writer Bilbo Baggins, and doing a hobbit-style birthday: giving a gift to you, dear readers! 

Here's a brand new story about one of my favorite characters from the trilogy, Sowing of Small Havoc, taking the lead on a new campaign for the first time. It's set between Warped State and Dissonant State (books 1 and 2), as a sort of prequel to the latter. There are big-picture spoilers for Warped State in there, so consider yourself warned.

I'm thinking about offering this up as a freebie to folks who read Warped State, so I'd love to hear what you think!

Warped State is on sale

In celebration of book 3, Ravenous State, coming out next week, Warped State is on sale for just $2.99 in ebook. Now's the perfect time to snap it up if you haven't yet!

(And if you've read it, the nicest birthday present you could give me is to tell a friend about it, or to post a review online. Word of mouth is everything in the book world, and I'm so appreciative to all of you who've helped spread the word!)

I joined Scott Edelman to talk about writing

Back in December, I did a reading in Baltimore, and beforehand I had a chance to meet up with Scott Edelman and record an episode for his podcast, Eating the Fantastic. That episode is out now! Check it out to hear us talk about romance subplots, redemption arcs, and all things writing. Scott's a smart and insightful interviewer, and we had a really fun conversation.

Worlds of Possibility is out now

It's been all trilogy, all the time here inside my head, but I did want to share that the anthology version of Worlds of Possibility is now available to everyone, not just backers. 

My gender-affirming magic cupcake story "Top Reviews of the Sweet Beauty Bakery, Home of Extraordinary Gender Reveal Cakes" is in there, and the whole collection is fantastic. It's been my bedtime reading when I'm stressed out, and it's full of cozy delights. Not to mention that the print edition is gorgeous, with colorful art throughout the interior and loving, beautiful typesetting. I highly recommend it.

And Ravenous State is almost here!

Ravenous State comes out one week from today! It's the conclusion of the trilogy, the point where all the maneuvering and threats of Ravel Corporation come to a head, and the fight comes back to the Wilders' home planet of Brennex.

This was in many ways the toughest of the three to write, if only because there was so much to balance: so many characters and themes, so many threads to wrap up. Each of the books follows a different sibling, and this one's for Libbi, the baby of the Wilder family who really doesn't want to be the baby of anything, and her best friend Mixin. Libbi is the good kid, the one who stayed home to mind the family store when her siblings went off to have adventures. Mixin thinks the two of them deserve their share of adventures, too---and oh boy, they're going to get some.

But while it's their story, there's lots of Jasper and Havoc, lots of Kay and Sunny, complicated sibling dynamics, tense and tender family moments, new AI friends and old enemies. 

One of my most joyful moments in this process was when I (finally!) got to set print copies of all three books next to each other on my bookshelf. I can't wait to share it with you.
 

What I'm reading

Whew, that's a lot! There won't be nearly so much news about me after Ravenous State is out, and I don't want to neglect other cool stuff that's out there, so let me tell you about my favorite recent thing that I've read: Annalee Newitz's The Terraformers.

This book is epic in every sense of the word. It spans thousands of years, a slew of challenges, and the worldbuilding is so rich and wild that I imagine Tolkien would sit back and say "wow!" In a nutshell, it's about the development of a planet from its early days of terraforming to a corporate-owned vacation destination to a place where people can actually live. But unlike, say, Asimov's Foundation series, which also spans epic social changes, The Terraformers is rooted in it's people, and we're seeing the world vividly through their experiences and struggles. It's also grounded in science, yet goes to some truly unexpected places. It's optimistic, more than a little socialist, extremely queer, and there are trains that choose their own routes and flying sentient moose (literally, no joke). What more do you need in a space epic?

Last but not least, for making it this far, you absolutely deserve a cat picture! ...But when I went to take their photo, I couldn't find the cats, just these two tribbles that showed up out of nowhere. I hear tribbles make great pets, though...

Until next time,

Jo Miles