Hello, all, and welcome to my final Privateer Press Insider blog. More on that in a bit.

But first, I’d like to focus on Lock & Load GameFest 2015 and more specifically on the awesome and exclusive Skull Island eXpeditions offerings you’ll find there next week.

First up is the Iron Kingdoms Omnibus: Volume One. This weighty hardback (that’s right—this is an honest-to-God dead-tree paper book) features four Skull Island eXpeditions novellas previously only available as e-books: The Butcher of Khardov by Dan Wells, Instruments of War by Larry Correia, The Way of Caine by Miles Holmes, and Moving Targets by C. L. Werner. At nearly 400 pages, it’s a hefty amount of Iron Kingdoms fiction.

Better yet, Miles Holmes, author of The Way of Caine, will be on hand at Lock & Load to sign copies of the Omnibus, so be sure to stop by his table at the show and get his signature.

Next up is something really special: a limited-edition boxed set called Victoria Haley: The Prime Collection. This set includes the Major Prime Victoria Haley models, two exclusive pins, and a special get-it-while-you-can, brand-new Haley novella by the sage of Privateer Press himself, Douglas Seacat. This extremely limited-edition hardback of Doug’s story At What Cost is only available in the Prime Collection boxed set, on sale at Lock & Load. Don’t worry, though; if you can’t make it to the show, it will also be available through the Privateer Press Online Store. This special release is extremely limited and available only while supplies last.

And of course, once you have your limited-edition hardback, be sure to track down the elusive feline of the sea and have him sign your copy.

Finally, we’re offering Into the Storm, the thrilling novel by New York Times bestselling author Larry Correia in paperback at Lock & Load. This book will be available to everyone in June, but attendees of Lock & Load get first crack at it.

While the print version of Into the Storm is momentous in and of itself, it’s what it represents that is the real story. Maybe you guessed it: Skull Island eXpeditions will be expanding into print, selling trade paperback copies of certain novels alongside their digital versions. There’s more news on this front to come, so stay tuned over the next couple of weeks for more info.

Okay, now back to my opening line to end the suspense. This Friday, May 29th, will be my last day as an employee of Privateer Press. Mike Ryan, who some of you may know as the editor-in-chief of No Quarter magazine, will assume the role of Publications Director. Mike is a twenty-year veteran of the publishing industry, and I’m extremely confident that Skull Island eXpeditions will continue to flourish and grow under his watch.

My time at Privateer Press has been the absolute best of my professional career, and I can honestly say that I looked forward to coming to work every single day. My colleagues certainly had their share in making Privateer Press a great place to work, but my favorite part of the job was getting to meet and talk with the Privateer Press community. At conventions, on Facebook—heck, even one time at my local Johnny Rocket restaurant—it was always an extreme pleasure to meet the folks who love our games and fiction as much as we do. I say without hyperbole that the Privateer Press community is, in my experience, the coolest, kindest, most welcoming, and generally awesome group of gamers I’ve had the pleasure to meet.

Why am I leaving? Where am I going? Well, it’s time for me to move on and pursue my first passion: writing. That said, you’re not rid of me that easily . . .

While I won’t be an employee of Privateer Press, I will be a fulltime writer for Privateer Press: I’ve been contracted to write a trilogy of Iron Kingdoms novels, the first of which will release in early 2016. To say I’m excited about it is the understatement of the century. I can’t say much more about the books I’ll be writing at this point, but keep an eye on the front page of the site in the next week or two for an announcement.

I look forward to seeing a lot of you at Lock & Load and, hopefully, at many other conventions in the future.

Signing off for now,

Aeryn