Jennifer Brozek's Blog, page 42

Bubble and Squeek for 27 Jan 2015

(Crossposted from Jennifer Brozek)

I'm all edits all time. Between finishing up NEVER LET ME LEAVE and getting the final proof notes on CHIMERA INCARNATE and having edits come back on my Shadowrun story, all I can give you is some Bubble and Squeek.

Article: I popped over to Clarissa Johal's journal to talk about how I put together the table of contents for APOCALYPSE GIRL DREAMING.

Book Release: Happy book release to me! APOCALYPSE GIRL DREAMING is available in ebook (physical copy coming soon). I'm so in love with this book. It's getting some great reviews.

Interview: I had an interview with Vagabond Saint. We talks about all sorts of things. It was a fun interview.

Review: I got a review of APOCALYPSE GIRL DREAMING from the Fantastical Librarian. I love it when librarians review my work. I think the Fantastical Librarian had some great things to say.

Review: This is a review of the Valdemar anthology, NO TRUE WAY, and it has to have one of my favorite lines about any one of my stories to date. "This was one of the saddest stories I’ve ever read, I feel like I will be recovering from it days from now." How can you not love that?

Review: The Exploding Spaceship reviews SHATTERED SHIELDS and had some great things to say.

RustyCon

(Crossposted from Jennifer Brozek)

RustyCon was interesting in the fact that I felt like I was the living embodiment of balanced karma. If something bad happened, something good happened, too. And, vice versa. Here's a bunch of good things that happened:

Got my first meal for free.
Spent a bit of time with Timothy Zahn and compared typos in published works. (His was worse by far. One of his books had his first name spelled "Tymothy" on the hardcover spine.)
Timothy and his wife, Anna, came to my release party. It was super keen to sign my books to people like Timothy and Anna.
I felt like I really contributed on all my panels.
Got to spend some time chatting with Katie about EGM and some future plans. Good things are on the horizon.

You get to figure out what the karmic balance to all that goodness was.

I'm almost done editing NEVER LET ME LEAVE. I have edits for CHIMERA INCARNATE waiting for me and I just heard from my editor that edits for Melissa Allen #1, NEVER LET ME SLEEP will drop in February. This gives me enough time to finish my Mech short story and start one of the other two short stories on contract. While I do everything else, of course.

Busy-busy as usual but still happy.

RustyCon 2105 Schedule.

(Crossposted from Jennifer Brozek)

I will be at RustyCon this weekend. Come by and see me. No shyness around me

 

Fri Jan 16 5:00:pm

Fri Jan 16 6:00:pm

Promoting Yourself- because it isn’t just about the writing

Orcas B

Writing skill is subjective, but good self-promotion can bring success. Social media is one stepping stone, but so is networking, conventions, retreats, workshops, forums, and professional organizations. Which will give you the best return for your time, and what if you’re not naturally outgoing?

A. Maire Dinsmore Alaina Ewing Jennifer Brozek Timothy W. Long

 

Fri Jan 16 6:00:pm

Fri Jan 16 6:30:pm

Jennifer Brozak Reading

Mercer B

A reading by Jennifer Brozak

Jennifer Brozek

6-11 pm APOCALYPSE GIRL DREAMING Release Party and Evil Girlfriend Media Open House.

You do not need to be a member of the convention to come. A bunch of authors will be reading. There will be food and drink. But no alcohol.

 

Sat Jan 17 1:00:pm

Sat Jan 17 2:00:pm

Writing for Computer Games

Emerald E

How to create compelling characters, worlds, and stories for computer games, and how to write dialog that players will want to read before they head out on their quest to retrieve 10 Bear Bums.

Janine A. Southard Jennifer Brozek Will McDermott

 

Sat Jan 17 2:00:pm

Sat Jan 17 3:00:pm

Craft vs Business

Orcas B

With the introduction of Indie publishing, self publishing, and POD, writers tend to talk more about the business side of publishing rather than the craft of writing.  How should we fix that.

Bruce Taylor Janine A. Southard Jennifer Brozek John Lovett

 

Sun Jan 18 11:00:am

Sun Jan 18 12:00:pm

Independent Publishing

Orcas B

Independent publishing has taken off, especially with the recent rise of the hybrid-author, who is willing to sell work traditionally but not afraid to self-publish and promote. From ebooks to POD, which stories benefit from independent publishing and how do you get them ready? Bring your questions about editing, Kickstarter, cover art, sales price, and marketing.

Dustin Gross Elizabeth Guizzetti Jennifer Brozek Thomas Gondolfi

 

Sun Jan 18 12:00:pm

Sun Jan 18 1:00:pm

How and Where do I Get Published?

Orcas B

You want a publisher, and they need your content. Great! But how do you find the right market, track your submissions, offer reprints, get into best-ofs, and generally advance your career to the next rung? From beginners to experienced authors, everyone needs somewhere to go. Or does self-publishing change all that?

Chad Brink Jennifer Brozek John Lovett Rebecca Birch

 

Awards Season

(Crossposted from Jennifer Brozek)

We’ve turned that corner and awards season is upon us, especially the Hugo Awards. This is a big deal in the publishing industry and one of the pie in the sky goals for me. First, to be nominated. Second, to win. Though, I think at this point, I would be over the moon to be nominated. Especially since Worldcon/Sasquan is in Spokane, WA this year—which is practically in my backyard.

The Hugo nomination period is open from late January to March and is open to everyone who went to Worldcon last year, is going this year to Worldcon/Sasquan, or is a supporting member.

I’m eligible for nomination in two categories.

Best Editor (Short Form): Jennifer Brozek
I work hard as an editor and would be pleased to be nominated for this category. In 2014, I edited, or co-edited, the following published anthologies: Shattered Shields (Baen Books), Chicks Dig Gaming (Mad Norwegian Press), Bless Your Mechanical Heart (Evil Girlfriend Media), and Beast Within 4: Gears & Growls (Graveside Tales).

Best Related Work: Chicks Dig Gaming (Editors: Jennifer Brozek, Robert Smith? and Lars Pearson; Publisher: Mad Norwegian Press)
This collection of women game designers, artists, and gamers brings forth a series of personal essays that look at gaming, social constructs, literary criticism, and so much more. It is a positive book on women and gaming. I’m very proud of this book and would be so pleased to see it nominated.

There you go. My best offerings for the Hugo Awards. I really appreciate your consideration. I would love to have a “home town girl does good” experience.

Goals and Events for 2015

(Crossposted from Jennifer Brozek)

Now that I’ve had some time to think about it, I’ve got some goals and plans for 2015. With the amount of travel I have planned, I don’t think I’ll get the same word count I did as 2014. Despite the amount of stuff listed, it’s all doable. I don’t make unrealistic work goals for myself.

To Write

Never Let Me Leave, Melissa Allen #2 (finish edits)
Never Let Me Die, Melissa Allen #3 (Title tentative)
Outline and begin SF YA trilogy
6 short stories (3 are already contracted)

Scheduled to be Published

January: Apocalypse Girl Dreaming, fiction collection, Evil Girlfriend Media.
February: Colonial Gothic: Roanoke Island, RPG Sourcebook, Rogue Games.
March: Chimera Incarnate, Book Four of the Karen Wilson Chronicles, novel, Apocalypse Ink Productions.
June: Never Let Me Sleep, Melissa Allen #1, Young adult SF-thriller novel, Permuted Press.
December : Never Let Me Leave, Melissa Allen #2, Young adult SF-thriller novel, Permuted Press.
TBA: Doc Wagon 19, Shadowrun novella, Catalyst Game Labs.

Convention Events

Jan 16-18, RustyCon: panelist, release party.
Feb 25-Mar 1, Rainforest writers retreat: 2nd session.
Apr 1-5, Norwescon: panelist, dealer.
May 22-24, Crypticon: dealer.
Jun 3-7, Origins Game Fair: panelist, dealer.
Jun 25-29, LepreCon: GoH.
July 30-Aug 2, Gen Con: panelist.
Aug 19-23, WorldCon: panlist.
Nov 6-8, Gamehole, GoH.

 

Metrics for 2014

(Crossposted from Jennifer Brozek)

Everyone likes metrics for the end of the year. Here’s some of what I did in 2014. This is why I like keeping track of everything I do. It makes me realize that I am productive and that I did accomplish a lot. Sometimes, this is a hard thing for an author to understand.

Number of days worked on freelancer stuff: 361 / 365 (284 days, answered pub industry email.) I really need to change this. Take one full day a week off or something. No wonder I had moments of feeling burned out.

New fiction words written: 230,800 (doesn’t count emails, blogs, etc…) In the form of 12 short stories, 1 novella, 1 RPG sourcebook, 2 novels.

Edited: 3 anthologies, 2 novel, 3 novellas.

Conventions attended: 8

Sold in 2014: 5 short stories, 2 novellas, first 3 books of the Melissa Allen series. (3 short stories still waiting on an answer.)

Published in 2014:
6 short stories, 1 novelette

“The Bathory Clinic Deal” - The Future Embodied anthology - Simian Publishing, March 2014
“Ley of the Land” - Time-Traveled Tales 2 anthology - Silence in the Library, April 2014
“Kelpie Storm” - MONSTERS! Origins Game Fair anthology - Rio Grande Games, June 2014
“Janera” - Athena's Daugthers anthology - Silence in the Library, June 2014
“Dreams of a Thousand Young” novelette - Jazz Age Cthulhu anthology - Innsmouth Free Press, November 2014
“For the Love of a Troll on a Mid-Winter's Night” - Night Terrors III anthology - Blood Bound Books, December 2014
“Written in the Wind” - No True Way: All-New Tales of Valdemar anthology - DAW, December 2014

1 RPG supplement

Colonial Gothic: Lost Colony, Sourcebook - Rogue Games, February 2014

2 novels

The Nellus Academy Incident, YA Battletech novel - Catalyst Game Labs, January 2014
Keystones: Book Three of the Karen Wilson Chronicles, novel - Apocalypse Ink Productions, April 2014

4 anthologies

Bless Your Mechanical Heart anthology - Evil Girlfriend Media, Editor, April 2014
Beast Within 4: Gears & Growls anthology - Graveside Tales, Editor, October 2014
Chicks Dig Gaming non-fiction anthology - Mad Norwegian Press, Co-Editor (with Robert Smith? and Lars Pearson), November 2014
Shattered Shields anthology - Baen Books, Co-Editor (with Bryan Thomas Schmidt), November 2014

Freelancer Summary December 2014

(Crossposted from Jennifer Brozek)

This is the last one I will publish. However, I have found it very useful for the metrics and for learning how I work and what I need to do to improve my working style as well as my relaxing style. (Hint, I need to relax more. You’ll see in the metrics post.) So, I will kept doing my monthly freelance logs but no need to keep posting them. I hope you all got some useful information out of them.

Ever wonder what a freelance author/editor does? Each month of 2014, I’m going to list my daily notes on what I do. As I always say, being your own boss means you choose with 70 hours of the week you work. None of this talks about the random pub IMs, time doing research, time reading books for blurbs, introductions, and reviews, or short author questions. It doesn’t cover my pays-the-bills work either. This is just publishing industry stuff. “Answered pub industry email” can be anything from a request for an interview, to contract queries, to reading anthology invites, to answering questions about dates… and the list goes on.

December

 

2014.12.01

Answered pub industry email. AIP blog release of FROST. Freelancer Summary blog. JenniferBrozek and AIP Googlegroup posts. Edited and added 200 words to the Girls on Games chapter and turned it in. Blurb for a book.

2014.12.02

Answered pub industry email. Blurb for a book. Client negotiation. Editing THE THIN. Outlined Hiroshi story. Prepped and mailed Scribe Award packages.

2014.12.03

Answered pub industry email. Editing THE THIN. Blog post. Updated personal website.

2014.12.04

Answered pub industry email. Editing THE THIN. Cover photoshoot for AIP book.

2014.12.05

Answered pub industry email. Finished edits to THE THIN and returned to author. Submitted works for award consideration.

2014.12.06

Answered pub industry email. Approved outline for Cross Cutting #3. Skype call with editor. Chased down an invoice.

 

 

Sunday

2014.12.07

Answered pub industry email.

2014.12.08

Answered pub industry email. Blog post. Wrote 300 words on the Hiroshi Nevitt story. Book release announcement to HWA.

2014.12.09

Nothing. It’s my birthday.

2014.12.10

Answered pub industry email. Wrote 1200 words on the Hiroshi Nevitt story. Blurb for a book. Interview with a college student for an assignment.

2014.12.11

Answered pub industry email. Wrote 1000 words on the Hiroshi Nevitt story. Create gift certificate for client’s editorial gift.

2014.12.12

Answered pub industry email. Wrote 1750 words on the Hiroshi Nevitt story. W-9 for publisher.

2014.12.13

Hosted SF2W monthly gathering. Proofing Apocalypse Girl Dreaming ARC.

 

 

Sunday

2014.12.14

Answered pub industry email. Edited Hiroshi Nevitt story and sent to alpha reader. Proofing Apocalypse Girl Dreaming ARC. Proofed “Broken Silence of Fanghan” for Not Our Kind anthology.

2014.12.15

Answered pub industry email. Paid quarterly taxes. New “Tell Me” blog. Answered a convention survey. Final edits on Chimera Incarnate.

2014.12.16

Answered pub industry email. Turned in Hiroshi Nevitt story. New AIP blog. New personal blog. Final edits on Chimera Incarnate. Voted in Scribe Awards.

2014.12.17

Answered pub industry email. Final edits on Chimera Incarnate.

2014.12.18

Final edits on Chimera Incarnate.

2014.12.19

Final edits on Chimera Incarnate and turned back in to publisher.

2014.12.20

Answered pub industry email. Outlined YA horror story.

 

 

Sunday

2014.12.21

Wrote 700 words on the YA horror story.

2014.12.22

Answered pub industry email. Answered interview questions.

2014.12.23

AIP blog post. Wrote 120 words on the YA horror story.

2014.12.24

Personal blog post. Wrote 800 words on the YA horror story.

2014.12.25

Nada. It’s Christmas.

2014.12.26

Answered pub industry email. Wrote 300 words on the YA horror story.

2014.12.27

Answered pub industry email. AIP blog post. Personal blog post. Wrote 708 words on the YA horror story.

 

 

Sunday

2014.12.28

Answered pub industry email. Wrote 810 words on the YA horror story.

2014.12.29

Answered pub industry email. Paid PA. Wrote 827 words on the YA horror story.

2014.12.30

Answered pub industry email. Setup goal spreadsheets for 2015. Wrote 650 words on the YA horror story and sent it to the first round readers.

2014.12.31

Answered pub industry email. Metrics for the year. Google Group posts. Story edits on Hiroshi Nevitt story. Personal blog post.

Urban Fantasy Roundtable

(Crossposted from Jennifer Brozek)

The authors of Under an Enchanted Skyline box set ($0.99, available only until Dec 31st), participated in an urban fantasy roundtable.

Most Urban Fantasy stories focus on magical creatures and entities. Even so, ordinary people still play important roles within the story line. Do these “normals” have much of an impact in your story…and if so, in what ways?

Erik Scott de Bie: As a superhero adventure, Eye for an Eye is a bit of a black sheep: it features exactly one character with magical abilities—Lady Vengeance. In addition to her high-tech hero opposite, Stardust, the story features a series of mundane characters, including The Raven, who is the tech-based vigilante you’d get if you combined Iron Man and Batman, and Elizabeth Stevens, Stardust’s non-superhero wife, tech company tycoon, and the smartest person in the whole novella.

Phoebe Matthews: Always. It is the normals who have to solve the problems created by magic and by paranormals. Sorry, no superheroes here.

Django Wexler: Yes, definitely. Again, a common UF trope is that the protagonist is in some way special, somewhere between the monsters and the normals so he or she can serve as a guide to the fantastic for the readers. In the John Golden stories, this is literally true, since John’s only real power is to transport himself to the fairy burrows and back again. But since fairy burrows run on real-world computer systems, he has to deal with the “normals" who build and maintain them – system administrators, executives, users, and so on. He’s more or less an exterminator, since fairies are a nuisance!

Janine A. Southard: As the collection’s compiler, I don’t have a story in this boxed set. I have, however, had the chance to read them all. Each author in this bundle blends fantasy characters into the normal world, or vice versa. There couldn’t be a super-natural adventure without a familiar jumping off point. In some cases the protagonists are as magical as magical can be, making their way in our normal world. In others, simply touching the magical world transforms a normal person’s experience.

Cedar Blake: Well, Luke and Chalice provide the impetus for Rachel’s “transition,” and Rachel’s rotten manager Margie supplies the push that gets her going. Her pal Ashli (inspired by a real-life friend of mine back when I lived in the Bay Area) adds an essential (in)sanity check for Rachel, and Kim the Yoga Girl acts as sort of a benevolent archon figure, watching over the point of transition and providing a small yet significant test as the hero steps from one threshold to another. So yeah – Rachel’s story could not exist without these key figures. “Normal” or otherwise, they provide foundations and activities that make everything else possible.

Jennifer Brozek: Absolutely. The mundane people in a story become the “everyman” characters that the Reader can identify with. They are the normal people who have to face extraordinary circumstances. Many characters in my UF series are normal people just trying to get by as they are affected by the supernatural events going on around them. Many times, they show that the normal person can be just as effective as the supernatural creature.

---
Other questions and their roundtable answers are with: Phil, Erik, Phoebe, Doug, and Janine. This was a great roundtable. And I hope you all enjoyed it.

Operation Rescue Singas

(Crossposted from Jennifer Brozek)

Or how I became a six cat household on Christmas Eve.

For the last seven weeks, I’ve been keeping an eye on a pair of singapuras put up on RescueMe.org. A pair of girls had been willed to a doctor who already had pets. They tried for seven weeks to integrate the kitties and it didn’t work. All the back and forth ended up with an email yesterday that came down to, “it’s not working, will you come get them tonight?”

I emailed Jeff and asked if he was willing. He was. (My hero!) And suddenly, we had Operation Rescue Singas, the cutest escort mission ever. We drove 540 miles roundtrip in about 11.5 hours (holiday traffic) to pick these little loves up. The story got a little weirder. (IE: The deceased woman’s husband is still alive. He didn’t even know the kitties names. I need to contact him for any information on the breeder, shots, paperwork, etc… HIS contact info is forthcoming.)

So, currently, Talia and Lyta are temporarily housed in the cat room in full airlock mode—much to the disgruntlement of the current four living here. And they such little lovebugs. Talia is super friendly and loving and outgoing. Lyta is very shy but does cuddle and purr.

Now, this six cat household is not a permanent thing…unless it is. There is a couple in Korea from the Singapura list that will be adopting them. We are in contact and they are working out a courier arrangement to get them to Korea. I hope it works out. If it doesn’t, Plan B—you know me, I’m a planner—involves a couple of other people on the Singapura FB list. Plan C is that Jeff and I keep them. We both know that’s a possibility and are prepared for it.

Today they went to the vet. No feline leukemia or feline aids. Yay! No fleas. Yay! No microchips. Boo! Talia has a watery eye but it’s healthy. Yay! Vet bill we didn’t expect. Boo! Generous donations from the Singapura FB list covers a lot of it. Yay!

So, the kitties are happily ensconced in the cat room. My cats are pissed. But all is well in the world. Merry Cat Christmas to one and all.

This is what the singas traveled in. Plus a furry bed. No tight carriers for this escort mission.

Lyta on the left. Talia on the right.

Even shy Lyta can't resist the cuddles of the Husband.

Talia refuses to stay still except for cuddles...briefly.

The Cat Airlock and only one of the four cats eyeing it. Yes. Pharaoh is in a cone. He keeps scratching at his eye.

Bubble and Squeek for 16 Dec 2014

(Crossposted from Jennifer Brozek)

Editing. Writing. Getting end-of-year things done. Here's some links for you. Hope your December is as awesome and productive as mine is shaping up to be.

Review: GeekDad reviews Chicks Dig Gaming. He gives it a big thumbs up.

Review: GeekMom reviews Chicks Dig Gaming. She also gives it a big thumbs up.

Review: SFRevu Review by Bill Lawhorn of Athena’s Daughters anthology where he gives a great shout out to my story, “Janera."

Article: How I remain productive while traveling. I wrote this for the SFWA blog while traveling.

Book Release: Jazz Age Cthulhu anthology with my 1920s Lovecraftian novelette set in Assam India, "Dreams of a Thousand Young."

Book Release: New Valdemar antholog, No True Way, with my dark YA story, "Written in the Wind."