Blog

I will be at Norwescon this year doing panels. It’s a pretty relaxed schedule for me. If I’m not in a panel, I’ll probably be in the hanging out with friends in public. Feel free to come say hello. I don’t have an official signing, but if you want something signed, just bring it to me.

Jennifer’s Norwescon 2026 Schedule
============Thursday============
Art Show Reception
8:00pm – 10:00pm @ Art Show

Thursday Night Pro Social
9:00pm – Midnight @ Presidential Suite 1360

============Friday============
Jennifer: Reading: Jennifer Brozek
9:30am – 10:00am @ Cascade 3
Jennifer Brozek (M)

Jennifer: Editing Anthologies
12:00pm – 1:00pm @ Cascade 7 & 8
Atlin Merrick (M), Jennifer Brozek, Peter Adrian Behravesh, Shannon Page, Lezli Robyn

Jennifer: Philip K. Dick Awards
7:00pm – 8:30pm in Grand 2

============Saturday============
Jennifer: How to interview Guests of Honor
10:00am – 11:00am @ Cascade 12
Marta Murvosh (M), John Godek, Jennifer Brozek, Dr. Jess Hebert, Tom Whitmore

Jennifer: Freelancing 201
4:00pm – 5:00pm @ Cascade 9
Jennifer Brozek (M), Luis Loza, John Godek, Erin Roberts, James L. Sutter

Jennifer: Darkness Thrives Where the Evergreens Never Die
5:00pm – 6:00pm @ Evergreen 3 & 4
Neena Viel (M), T. Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon, Jennifer Brozek, Clay Vermulm, Gwen Callahan, Josef B. Wilke

Here are some recommendations for Hugo Award nominations other than (but including) me. Please consider them for your nominations. This, BTW, is not all of my recommendations. This is just the set I have written down now. Nominations will close on Saturday, March 28, 2026 at 9:00am Pacific Time / 12:00pm Eastern Time / 4:00pm GMT.

Best Novel: Overgrowth by Mira Grant. This was the best book I read in 2025. No doubt about it.

Best Novella: Sauúti novella “Descent” by Wole Talabi, Clarksworld, Issue 224.

Best Novelette: “Songs for Obsidian” by Rosemary Claire Smith, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Issue 437.

Best Series: October Daye by Seanan McGuire, Silver and Lead. (I had to. You know I did. I’ve been rereading this series from the beginning and it is SO good.)

Best Fancast: If This Goes On (Don’t Panic) https://itgodp.wordpress.com/

Best Fancast: The Skiffy and Fanty Show https://skiffyandfanty.com/podcasts/skiffyandfanty/

Best Related Work: “Mining the Genre Asteroid: Author Jo Clayton” by Trish Matson, Skiffy and Fanty.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: Sinners, Proximity Media.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: K-Pop Demon Hunters, Sony Pictures Animation.

Best Game or Interactive Work: Hades II, Supergiant Games.

Best Editor, Short Form: John Joseph Adams.

Best Editor, Short Form: Jennifer Brozek.

Best Editor, Short Form: John Helfers.

Best Editor, Short Form: Henry L Herz.

Best Editor, Long Form: Lee Harris, Tor.

Best Editor, Long Form: Diana Pho, Erewhon.

Best Semiprozine: Augment magazine (get the first issue for free). (This is me, John Helfers, Kathleen Hardy)

Best Semiprozine: Flash Fiction Online magazine.

Best Semiprozine: On Spec magazine.

Best Fan Writer: Trish Matson, Her eligibility post.

Best Fan Artist: Terri Ash, The Cowl of SMOFdom, Her eligibility post.

Best Fan Artist: Raven Oak, Westside Oracle Cover Art, Her artwork.

Best Poem: “I Was Lt. Uhura” by January Gill O’Neil, Poetry Magazine.

Best Poem: “Trogdor Walks into a Scout Meeting” by Jennessa Hester, Strange Horizons.

Best Poem: “Watching Migrations” by Kevan Bowes, Strange Horizons.

Best Poem: “Hugo Award for Best Poem” by Brandon O’Brien, Worldcon 2025

Oh hey, it’s Friday the 13th and I’ve just seen my first snow fall for the year. However, I’m so focused on my novel right now. I have six scenes left to write. I’m so close to the end of this rough draft I can taste it. Have a Bubble & Squeek!

FEATURED: Open Call: My open call with Flash Fiction Online is live! 500-1000 words firm. Theme: Tiny Gods. Blind submissions, sub window is Mar 1-31.

Awards Consideration: Best Semiprozine: Augment Magazine (Dropbox folder: Get issue one for free), Best Editor, Short Form: Jennifer Brozek

eBay and Signed Books: If you would like signed books from me for yourself or as gifts, we have a bunch of my books up on eBay. This will remain on eBay until all of my books are gone. All money goes to me.

Interview: For the HWA website, Nuts & Bolts: “Crunchy Bits About Anthologies” with Editor and Author Jennifer Brozek

Interview: Skiffy and Fanty, 1st show of the year: Looking Back, Moving Forward! Turbulent times, spreading love, and finding hope, oh my! Contains me, Shane Duke, and Trish Matson.

Review: A brief review of my anthology, 99 Fleeting Fantasies, by one of the authors in it.

Support: As always… if you appreciate my work and would like to support me, I love coffee. I am made of caffeine. This is the quickest way to brighten my day.

Award season is upon us. The Hugo Award nominations are open. I would be pleased if you would consider my works for nomination. You must be a member of Worldcon (2025 or 2026) to nominate eligible works.

For your consideration, I am eligible for Best Editor, Short Form. I co-edited one anthology, Gudnak Means War, and I was the managing editor for 4 issues of Augment Magazine.

Also for your consideration: Augment Magazine is eligible for Best Semiprozine, by Jennifer Brozek, John Helfers, and Kathleen Hardy. Augment is a fully in-universe quarterly publication, and can be used in Shadowrun games as well as enjoyed by the casual reader. Everything from the art to the articles to the ads to the covers is in-universe fiction. Of all the award nominations, this is the one I am the most interested in and believe we’ve done excellent work. Augment your live with Augment magazine!

In specific, John Helfers, a long-time pillar in the publishing industry, is one of the hardest working editors I know. Honestly, it’s criminal that the last time he was nominated for a Hugo was in 2013. Kathleen Hardy, my art director, managed all of the artwork and ad copy for the magazine. This magazine wouldn’t be half as good as it is without her art direction. All of the contributors (artists and writers) did such excellent work. Also, no AI was used in any part of Augment Magazine.

If you would like to read any issue of Augment Magazine, please contact me. I’ll send it to you.

Nominations will close on Saturday, March 28, 2026 at 9:00am Pacific Time / 12:00pm Eastern Time / 4:00pm GMT.

There are some things you never want to hear or have to ask. Things like, “Why is there so much water on the floor?” two days in a row. Water mysteries are one of those things I do not wait on. In my circle of friends, we have a group of handy people and general contractors that we recommend to each other.

Jaepeth Richards of RichCo LLC is one such person. I called him. He came over the next day. While it is a joy to see a competent person at work, I kinda wish it didn’t have to be at my house. He figured out the problem within 3 minutes of walking in. “Sudden catastrophic waterline break.” There’s water damage in the floor, the cabinets, the drywall, even the crawlspace.

Within 45 minutes, we had 4 people, 4 fans, and 1 dehumidifier in my kitchen, with the mitigator manager on the way. Within 3 hours, there was a plan to mitigate, an insurance claim number, a claims adjuster assigned, and a plan on how to deal with what will be at least 5 weeks of stuff.

I have a Shadowrun novel due in about 5 weeks. Frag me running sideways. I did get 1100 words in despite everything.

Demo day is Monday the 16th. We are moving as much of the kitchen to the garage as we can. Except for the tea kettle and my coffee. That stays inside for everyone’s sake. I have no idea how much of the kitchen will need to be replaced and how much of it will be paid for by insurance.

But I get a new kitchen. So, yay? But now I have to think about what I want verses what we can afford after the insurance kicks in.

I just read the waterline break mitigation estimate. It’s almost 5 figures. That doesn’t include replacing anything. I am going to have a friggin’ heart attack.

Oh man. This is going to be a tough month. Well, at least we caught it before a literal cesspool under the house. You can read about the Sewage Saga here if you like.

This, too, will pass. In the meantime, May I recommend you buy one of my books? Please? Or maybe buy me a ko-fi? I’m gonna need the caffeine.

Writing and editing continue. There’s so much to do. Must word faster. If I stop, the words will eat me. Here’s a Bubble & Squeek for you.

eBay and Signed Books: If you would like signed books from me for yourself or as gifts, we have a bunch of my books up on eBay. This will remain on eBay until all of my books are gone. All money goes to me.

Open Call: I have an open call on Flash Fiction Online. Theme: Tiny Gods. Blind submissions, submission window is Mar 1-31.

Podcast: Staying Optimistic in Dark Times by Skiffy and Fanty, guest starring me. Me and whimsy are good friends these days. It’s either that or depression.

Release: My 27th edited anthology, Shadowrun: Sixth World Snapshots anthology, has now been released!

Release: “Praise for the Honored Dead,” one of my two companion BattleTech stories to The Nellus Academy Incident, has been released in the BattleTech: Tales of the Inner Sphere anthology!

Release: The Waterborne anthology is live! This anthology has my story “On Risks and Rewards” which is the other side of the story that’s in the Skull X Bones anthology called “More than Blood in the Water.” It’s always nice when I share a TOC with Seanan McGuire and Johnathan Maberry.

Support: As always… if you appreciate my work and would like to support me, I love coffee. I am made of caffeine. This is the quickest way to brighten my day.

Ever since I declared 2026 to be a year of comfort reading, I have been gorging myself on the October Daye series by Seanan McGuire. I’ve been reading so much that my reading glasses are making my ears sore. I’m not sorry. Not in the least.

I’m currently on book six, Ashes of Honor, and I’m starting to slow down a little. To savor more than gulp the words. I’ve needed this way of unplugging for a while. Picking up books I’d put down did not relax me like rereading old books has.

There is a certain sense of joy in the familiarity of the work mixed with the joy of rediscovery of forgotten details. It’s been long enough that I only remember bits and pieces of stuff and the end result. So, I know what’s going to happen, I just don’t remember how we get there. It’s the best of both worlds.

This means that I’m not looking for the big mystery. My mind is not trying to solve the problem of what happened and whodunit. My mind can relax and enjoy the small details the author put into their work. To know what is to come and compare it to what is happening on the page. To really see character arcs and relationship arcs as they happen and recognize them for what they are.

It’s like taking a walk from home to the store. The first time you do it, you’re more interested in getting to the place and not getting lost. You don’t really see details. Just big changes/turns. By the third or fourth time you take that walk, you know where you’re going so you have the bandwidth to notice the wildflowers along the road and to greet the dog that always barks at you. To notice the subtle decorations on the red door that you keep passing or, if you walk by at the same day/time, the habits of those along the walk.

Comfort reading lets your brain relax and just go along for the ride. I think that’s needed in today’s society of hyper-stimulation. At least, I know I need it. This was a good goal for me. So, I’ll be over there with my nose in a book and a smile on my face.

Today, Karl Dandenell tells me about how perseverance (and writing what excited him) is what cracked a hard nut for him.

Lucky 13. That’s how many times I had to submit my novella, Between the Stars I Found Her, before it found a home.

At the 2018 Worldcon (San Jose), I attended a mentoring session hosted by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA). I was paired with Julia Rios, a talented writer/editor who managed Worlds of Possibility. She heard my pitch about two projects I was considering: a second-world fantasy based on ancient Yemen, and a science fiction story set in a socialist paradise that included cloning and personality transfers (i.e., functional immortality).

Julie said I showed more interest in the second idea and encouraged me to pursue it. She was right.

The result was a novella, Between the Stars I Found Her. My POV character is Mylene Vandenberg, whose ex-wife commits suicide. I wanted to explore themes of grief and loss, especially when the concept of true death had become rare.

The story really clicked for me when I put Mylene on a solo journey that takes her far from Earth. She and her ship, The Flying Dutchman, stumble across the corpse of an astronaut lost over a century before. That gave me the opening to play around with several puzzles—who was this person? How did their life pod get into deep space?

The answers could lead Mylene back to Earth. Full circle, as it were.

Easier said than done, certainly. The draft became a story which was rejected several times. I kept at it. My helpful critic group correctly pointed out that the story was too short (and boy were they right), so the story grew into a novella. It was rejected again. And again.

On the thirteenth submission, I found an editor (Mark Bilsborough at Wyldblood) who liked it enough to help me develop Between into a proper novella. Mark had published several of my flash fiction stories and I was happy to work with him again.

The novella’s journey wasn’t an easy one, I’ll be honest. Writing Between the Stars forced me to do research and—Gods forbid—write a real outline rather than simply banging at the keyboard for a few thousand words and call it a draft.

There was also Mundane Reality™ that many writers face: jobs and family and COVID, etc. Somehow, though, it all came together in a shiny wrap-around cover that you can hold in your hand. Imagine that.

In retrospect, I’ve learned a few important lessons. First, my idea for a secondary world fantasy novella/novel wasn’t bad, but I was trying to write something I thought would be popular (Everyone loves epic fantasy, right?) rather than telling a story that meant something to me. Bottom line: listen to your Muse. She knows the score.

Second, you have to back up your Muse with perseverance. And patience. The best stories sometimes take years to find the right editor, the right agent, the right publisher. And even if they do, shit happens. (Buy me a cup of tea and I’ll tell you all about it.)

I’ve often remarked to friends that I hesitate to write longer stories because I’m not willing to let the characters live in my head for at least two years. Well, Mylene lived in my head much longer than that and I still like her a lot.

—

Karl Dandenell is a graduate of Viable Paradise and a Full Member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association. He and his family, plus their feline overlords, live on an island near San Francisco famous for its Victorian architecture and low-speed traffic. Karl has published over 50 works of short fiction in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. Follow his occasional posts at Bluesky (@karldandenell.bsky.social) and read more about of his fiction at www.firewombats.com.

At the end of 2025, I burned out hard. I took 10 days off before my body and mind forced me to take a rest (this latter is always the worse option). Honestly, I could use another couple of weeks of doing nothing. Not going to happen. However, I do feel a lot better, calmer, and more ready to face the work world again.

So, 2026. I don’t do resolutions. I haven’t for years. I usually don’t do yearly themes. I’ve never needed them. But, I think this year, I do. My theme for 2026 is “Be present for yourself.” I spent a lot of the last couple of years working for/looking out for other people. I’ve made attempts to keep myself in mind, but *I* was always the easiest ball to drop when things got hectic. My writing goals, my physical goals, my wants/wishes/needs.

I’ve got to figure out how to stop putting myself last. It’s getting me in trouble. My novel, Shadowrun: Imre Grey, isn’t done and it should be. I’m barely holding onto my diet goals, and my movement goals are down to squats and wall pushups in-between other things. Thus, I guess that means I need to actually, physically, schedule movement into my week.

The other thing I am going to do is plan in quarters this year. I’ve been doing this for a long time in my head, but not on paper. This time, in order to be more present in my own life, I need to stop looking so far ahead that I can’t see the deadlines in front of my face.

1st Quarter (Jan-Feb-Mar). In addition to keeping my CGL lines running, I have two main projects:

• Write and turn in Shadowrun: Imre Grey.
• Get Titanskeep into a single document format.

2nd Quarter (Apr-May-Jun). In addition to keeping my CGL lines running, I have a single project focus:

• Get Industry Talk Revised (15 Years Later) done, and set its release date.

I will worry about the 3rd and 4th  quarters when I get there. Especially since convention season really starts in June.

* * *

On the Homefront, I have three new specific desires this year: Daily Journal, Comfort Reading, and Tranquil Thursdays.

• Daily Journal. From 2018 through 2022, I kept a handwritten 5-year “a line a day” type of daily journal. A lot happened during that five year period—including the deaths of both my parents and the Covid19 pandemic. It’s now been three years since I’ve done any handwritten journaling. I miss it. I also miss the year-over-year perspective. Perspective is a beautiful thing, especially in these trying times. Also, I think a lot more is going to happen in the next five years that I’ll want to keep in mind.
• Comfort Reading. Last year was the year of “unfinished books.” It was a good exercise to go back and see if I put those books down because of me or because of them. Mostly it was me and what had happened in my life. A couple though, it was most definitely them, and I put them down for good. (Life is too short to force yourself to read books you don’t gel with.) This year I want comfort reading. I want stories that I already know or I know will make me laugh. That means a start-to-finish re-read of the entire October Daye series by Seanan McGuire. Book 20 comes out this year, and it is one of my favorite series. Also, I want to finally read the Iron Druid series by Kevin Hearne since his Iron Druid short fiction is so good. This doesn’t mean I won’t read other stuff. It just means 2026 is the Year of Comfort Reading.
• Tranquil Thursdays. In 2025, I started a “no internet/work on Sundays” habit to help with my chronic overuse of the internet. It was very helpful for my sanity, and I intend to keep this as a rule. On my birthday in 2025, I gave myself the gift of “no email or meetings” on that day. It was so pleasant that I’m instituting Tranquil Thursdays: “a day of no email or meetings” for 2026 to see if it helps me get some deep focus work done.

That’s the plan for 2026: Quarterly project goals and showing up for myself more. As always, I will keep track of my metrics. (If you would like a copy of my blank 2026 Freelancer Summary document, contact me. I will send it to you.)

Shall we start with the numbers?

• Books published: 1, Tales of the Hucked Tankard, flash fiction fantasy collection
• Short stories published: 7, “Shadowrun: Shadowbytes”, “Not Birds of a Feather”, “Observations of a LARP in Three Acts”, “No Matter the Shape” (co-written with Samantha Chalker), “BattleTech: Praise for the Honored Dead”, “More than Blood in the Water”, and “Lady Affra’s Curse” (co-written with Marie Bilodeau)
• New words written: 55,000
• Anthologies published: 1, Gudnak Means War (co-edited with Christopher Schmitz)
• Magazine Issues published: 4, Augment magazine issues 1-4 (Spring 2083, Summer 2083, Autumn 2083, Winter 2083)
• Fiction Lines/Projects Managed/Edited: 6, Shadowrun Monthly Free Fiction (CGL), Shadowrun Novella line(CGL), Augment magazine (CGL), Shadowrun anthology line (CGL), Shadowrun GTM fiction (CGL), Titanskeep (Hexed)
• Awards nominated for: 1 (Finalist for the Hugo award, Short Form Editor)
• Kickstarters completed: 1, Dear Penpal, Belgium 1980 was completely fulfilled!
• Stories submitted: 12
• Stories sold: 6 (50%)
• Stories rejected: 6 (50%)
• Stories outstanding: 0 (0%)

* * *

Thoughts about the Numbers…

(TL;DR: I did a lot more than I thought I did, and a lot less than I wanted to do.)

I did so much more editing and managing of fiction than I did writing it. As you see, I didn’t even finish a novel in 2025. On the other hand, I created a whole year’s worth of a magazine, managing/editing 14 authors, 5 fact checkers, and a slush pile just for it. That, in and of itself, is worthy. On top of it, I solicited, read for, curated, and edited three Shadowrun short fiction lines (Novella, FF, and GTM). That included so much overhead.

On one hand, it was a lot of work and I don’t really want to do it again. On the other hand, all of these Shadowrun fiction lines have a long tail and 80% of the hard work of them is already done. Now that I have them up and running, all I have to do is keep the ball rolling.

As for writing. I did get 5 new short stories written and sold them all. I’m in the throws of my third Colors Quartet Shadowrun novel, Imre Grey, after its released date got pushed from 2025 to 2026. Am I disappointed? A little. But not enough to castigate myself over it.

It’s taken me a lot of freelancing years to understand that I am not the sum of my output.

What about the other things?

Decluttering: I’d say we got about 2/3rds of the way through the Declutter project list box. We’re still working on it, pulling a project out of the box each week. Mostly. Between my schedule and the Husband’s graduate school, we’ve had some “amnesty weeks” where life took precedence. So, it will continue on.

The Year of the Unfinished Book: In 2025, I read 33 books.

• 8 New books. The best of which was Overgrowth by Mira Grant
• 12 Unfinished books. The best of which was Becoming Crone by Lydia M. Hawke
• 13 Books for work.

One Day Off the Internet a Week: By-and-large, I stuck to this. Boy, did I ever need that time away from the computer/work. This is one of those habits that will stick. I’ve got a new one I want to start but that’s a blog post for next year.