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On Friday, December 9th, I turn 46. I didn’t have a problem with 29, 30, 35, 40, or 45. But, for some reason, 46 is messing with me a bit this year. I don’t if it’s because 2016 has been a rough year all the way around or what.
All I want for my birthday (and for Christmas for that matter) is for you to buy one of my books (for yourself or as a gift to someone else) and leave me a review. It’s been my standing birthday wish for a few years now. Please consider getting yourself a gift of one of my books for my birthday. You have a great selection. I would love to see pictures of you and my books, too.
This year, I’d like to highlight a couple of books that came out in 2016.
Never Let Me – This is the omnibus of my Bram Stoker nominated YA sci-fi thriller series. It contains Never Let Me Sleep, Never Let Me Leave, and Never Let Me Die as well as an original short story in the universe, “Never Let Me Feel.” This omnibus is only available in print form.
The Karen Wilson Chronicles – This is the omnibus of my urban fantasy quartet. It contains Caller Unknown, Children of Anu, Keystones, and Chimera Incarnate as well as every Kendrick short story ever written and a John Corso story that is only published in the omnibus. This is available in trade and ebook as well as a signed, numbered, limited edition hardback.
The Last Days of Salton Academy – This is my most recently published book. It’s YA horror. Think Night of the Living Dead meets Lord of the Flies. It’s been called a “gothic zombie book” and I’m just fine with that. It is available in trade and ebook formats.
Of course, if you have those already or aren’t interested in them, you can pop by my website and see the whole list. As always, if you want a signed book by me—even my obscure stuff—the University Bookstore is your best bet. Also, I signed a bunch of books for the Cedar Hills Powell’s Bookstore, too.
Sekrit Project Alex already has revision notes back. So, I’m in the thick of that. I’m also almost done with an interview for a conventions and I’ve finished several interviews for The Last Days of Salton Academy as well as turned in another short story. Left this year… revisions and another tie-in short story that has been outlined and started and maybe do quickie RPG splat for a funded kickstarter. The year is wrapping up nicely.
Year-to-date stats:
Fiction words written: 185,645
Article words written: 23,200
My novels/collections edited: 11
My short stories proofed: 9
Other novels/anthologies edited: 14
Events attended: 12
One more of these after the new year, then I’ll have to think of something else to stat for you guys on a monthly basis. I like to mix it up. Next year, I’m going to attempt to do less conventions and 90% original, non tie-in fiction. But, the universe sometimes laughs at my plans.
As of this week, I have survived ten years as a fulltime freelance author/editor and created a career I am proud of. The past decade has been nothing like I expected it to be. When I began, I wanted to “just write” and to see if I could make it as an author. Within the first year, I started editing. Time has flown by as well as taken forever. I had a plan and a series of professional goals to meet. I have met every single one of these. Though… the last one, “get an agent,” happened in the last couple of months.
Ten years later, I have discovered there were a whole lot more professional goals I wanted to achieve that I didn’t know I wanted to achieve when I started out. Some of them shocked me when they happened. (Honestly, some of them still surprise me when they occur.)
It’s been ten years. I’ve achieved so much and I’m so grateful to the people who have helped me along the way—editors, publishers, other authors, fans, cheerleaders, shoulders-to-cry-on, friends, family, and my husband. I’m not going to stop now. I just have to set goals for the future. Here are the ones I know I want to achieve:
The more I know about the publishing business, the more I can narrow down what I really want out of my career. Now that I have a wonderful agent, I can’t wait to see what the future holds for me.
In celebration, and out of duty, I have filed ten years worth of editing and writing contracts… much to the enjoyment and annoyance of my cats. (The red folder is filled with 10 years worth of editing contracts and the black one has 10 years of writing contracts.)
Here is my OryCon and Authorfest SF schedules. If I’m not at a panel, I will be at my dealers table. Come by, say hello, get a book signed, and/or buy gifts for friends! I’d love to see you there. I’m even going to have some of my signed, numbered, limited edition books.
FRIDAY
Writing in Other People’s Worlds
Meadowlark (3)
Fri Nov 18 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Christina Hartley, David Boop, Diana Francis, Elton Elliott, Jennifer Brozek
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SATURDAY
Freaking Me Out, Not Grossing Me Out
Salon C (LL1)
Sat Nov 19 1:00pm – 2:00pm
Colleen Anderson, Jennifer Brozek, Judith Conly, Laurel Anne Hill, Matt Haynes
Reaching Readers Who Don’t Know You Yet
Meadowlark (3)
Sat Nov 19 4:00pm – 5:00pm
Anthony Pryor, Blythe Ayne, Deborah Ross, Jennifer Brozek, Josh Boykin
Reprints
Salon A (LL1)
Sat Nov 19 6:00pm – 7:00pm
Bruce Taylor, Jennifer Brozek, Maura van der Linden, Wendy Wagner
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SUNDAY
SFWA Meeting
Sunstone (3)
Sun Nov 20 10:00am – 11:00am
Jennifer Brozek
Synopses, Summaries, and Blubs, Oh My!
Meadowlark (3)
Sun Nov 20 12:00pm – 1:00pm
DongWon Song, Jennifer Brozek, Mary Rosenblum, Ripley Patton, William Hertling
AUTHORFEST SF 10
Cedar Hills Powells Bookstore, Beaverton, OR
Sun Nov 20 4:00pm – 5:00pm
Many authors
Here’s a Bubble & Squeek for you. I’m going to keep on writing. There’s not much else I can do right now.
Article: On Risingshadow. The Apocalypse Has Come and Gone. I talk about where The Last Days of Salton Academy is set.
Article: On Ragnablog. The Idea That Won’t Leave You Alone. I talk about what prompted me to write a YA zombie novel when I don’t like zombies.
Article: I got mentioned on Kirkus Reviews in 13 Horror Books to Put You in the Mood for Halloween for The Last Days of Salton Academy! The fact that I got mentioned in Kirkus has me over the moon. Then, to be in such good company…
Ingress: In completely non-writing news, I got mentioned by a major Ingress character on his blog. So, that was exciting. I also was awarded a really hard badge to get: the EAW badge.
Review: Slap Happy Fun Time reviewed The Last Days of Salton Academy and really liked it – “…this is the kind of novel that you simply don’t read. It consumes you, it demands your attention just like a great novel should.”
Review: Goodreads review of The Last Days of Salton Academy – “Gothic zombie book.”
I’m about to turn in Sekrit Project Alex and begin work on the extra bits I’ve been contracted for. Then I will work on the contracted short stories. With that, I will end my year of tie-in fiction and begin a year of my new YA series.
Year-to-date stats:
Fiction words written: 174,450
Article words written: 18,300
My novels/collections edited: 11
My short stories proofed: 8
Other novels/anthologies edited: 14
Events attended: 9
Event-wise, I should have only three events left and all of them are in November.
This November is very special to me. I’ve got a forthcoming blog post to explain why. It’s a milestone. A big one.
I’m reading CTHULHU ARMAGEDDON and I have to say… Charles is an entertaining writer. His mythos inspired apocalyptic western is exactly the kind of popcorn reading I love. I think you’ll love it, too.
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Developing Doomed Characters
A lot of people talk to me about how to write horror stories. I’ve written quite a few short stories in the genre and I’ve recently released my post-apocalypse horror novel CTHULHU ARMAGEDDON which does it’s best to mix action with the macabre.
However, the trick of creating true horror is a tough one to master because it asks the reader to become invested enough in the storyline that they care enough about the characters that they’re worried they might come to harm. Then you must convince them they will.
This is why I recommend a strategy of developing doomed characters. Basically, if you really want to sell a horror story then you had best have a selection of cannon fodder for the monster to eat which the audience cares about. It’s a simple enough strategy, right? I mean, slasher movies have been doing it for years. You have a bunch of likable or semi-likable characters and only one of them makes it out alive. Should be a piece of cake, really.
Well, yes, and no.
One of the reasons which The Walking Dead, in all its incarnations, has been so successful is they’re not afraid to decimate the cast in both surprising as well as heart-rending ways. However, it’s a series which also has suffered from killing characters which the audience cared about while sparing those they didn’t.
It’s easy to drift into a dark sinkhole of apathy where the audience for your story just doesn’t care what happens to the survivors. If everyone is rooting for Character A instead of Character C, Character A dying could make them tune out. Worse, Character C as the star makes the entire purpose of killing Character A pointless. So what’s the best strategy for making sure you keep a careful balance of development as well as risk?
My first recommendation is you should make it so the doomed characters are ones who feel like they’re going to be a major supporting character to begin with. Heck, make it so they are. You should always kill characters who feel like they have more room to grow.
If Jane, John, Jack, and Wilma go to a cabin in the woods then make it so they have a complex web of personal relationships. Jane is dating John, Jack is brother to Wilma, and Wilma is cheating on her girlfriend with Jane. The death of even one of these characters will send reverberations throughout the story which should followed up on.
Next, you should follow up on the deaths of the characters you do kill so their deaths have meaning for the survivors. A lot of novels effectively drop the dead once they leave the narrative. If you keep the loss fresh in the mind of the characters, then that will have more meaning.
It’s best to avoid making any character’s fate related to their likability. Jerks shouldn’t die any more than innocents unless you’re making a point about behavior and that may undermine the terror of death. Likewise, deaths shouldn’t be telegraphed too much either. If you can make someone look like the hero before killing them without alienating the audience, you’ve really accomplished something special.
In conclusion, it’s not just an art form to create characters. It’s an even greater art form to make a character’s death which exists to make the story scarier.
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C.T Phipps is a lifelong student of horror, science fiction, and fantasy. An avid tabletop gamer, he discovered this passion led him to write and turned him into a lifelong geek. He is the author of The Supervillainy Saga, Cthulhu Armageddon, Straight Outta Fangton, and Esoterrorism. He is also a regular blogger on “The United Federation of Charles.”
The Last Days of Salton Academy has been released! This YA horror novel is getting some love.
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Ragnarok Publications
It’s referred to as ‘The Outbreak,’ and it happened just over three months ago, casting the world (or at least this part of it) into a state of powerlessness and chaos. The Salton Academy has become a rare sanctuary for those few students who remained behind over fall break.
As winter approaches, cracks are revealed in the academy’s foundations as it’s discovered someone is stealing food, another is taking advantage of a captive audience, and yet others have banded together and are thinking about mutiny, even murder. One thing’s for certain — a supply run must be made soon, or everyone will starve before winter’s end.
Oh yes, and then there’s the matter of the headmaster’s son and his undead dog…
“The Last Days of Salton Academy is a dark, twisted rollercoaster of a book. Jennifer Brozek knocks it out of the park.” — Stephen Blackmoore, author of City of the Lost and Broken Souls
“If Lord of the Flies had occurred during a zombie outbreak, it would read something like this. A bloody good tale you can really sink your teeth into.” — Timothy W. Long, Author of the Z-Risen series.
“The Last Days of Salton Academy is a delightful character study which combined boarding school antics with the survival horror of a post-apocalypse thriller. The characters are fresh, the dynamics interesting, and the story engaging from beginning to end. It is a YA story I heartily recommend.” — C.T. Phipps, author of Esoterrorism and Wraith Knight
“As much as I love all things undead, what kept me turning pages wasn’t the zombie horde, but something far more horrible: the students and staff of a pretentious prep school. The Last Days of Salton Academy is compulsively readable—I devoured it in one sitting. With a cast of all-too-believable characters and a set of ever-ratcheting disasters, this novel is guaranteed to keep you up past your bedtime.” — Wendy N. Wagner, author of Starspawn and Skinwalkers
Still elbow deep in the current novel. About 2/3rds of the way through. So, here’s a Bubble & Squeek for you. Plus a cat picture. Hope all is well with you.
Release: Pre-order The Last Days of Salton Academy – According to Amazon and IPG’s schedule, the book will be out on 25 Oct 2016. Yes, there will be an ebook version, too. I will be reading with Mira Grant from this book on November 17th at the university bookstore. It will be an evening of zombie goodness!
Review: New review of Chicks Dig Gaming – I’m pretty happy with this review. It’s a good one.
Review: Praise for the Karen Wilson Chronicles – It’s always good to hear when someone likes the books you’ve written. They take so much time to write and to get right. 🙂
SFWA: SFWA Speakers Bureau – If you’re looking for a speaker on something in your local area, the SFWA Speaker’s Bureau is a good place to start. Here’s my profile.
And, as promised… kitties!
August and September were strange months stats-wise because I had so much editing and travel—Worldcon, Tracon, and a wedding, spanning America, Iceland, and Finland. Now, I’m back home and I’m deep into Sekrit Project Alex
Year-to-date stats:
Fiction words written: 148,910
Article words written: 15,700
My novels/collections edited: 11
My short stories proofed: 8
Other novels/anthologies edited: 13
Events attended: 9
Event-wise, I should have only three events left and all of them are in November.
Writing-wise, I have Sekrit Project Alex and the small additional material for that. The main bulk of writing for both should be done by mid-November. Then, I have 3 contracted short stories to write and get to their respective editors by mid-December.
For once, while I am busy, I don’t think I’m burning the candle at both ends for the end of the year writing work. If I keep a steady, consistent pace, all will be well and I will have a couple of planning weeks before I start the new YA series I’m going to write.
Jennifer Brozek is a multi-talented, award-winning author, editor, and media tie-in writer. She is the author of Never Let Me Sleep and The Last Days of Salton Academy, both of which were nominated for the Bram Stoker Award. Her YA tie-in novels, BattleTech: The Nellus Academy Incident and Shadowrun: Auditions, have both won Scribe Awards. Her editing work has earned her nominations for the British Fantasy Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and multiple Hugo Awards. She won the Australian Shadows Award for the Grants Pass anthology, co-edited with Amanda Pillar. Jennifer’s short form work has appeared in Apex Publications, Uncanny Magazine, Daily Science Fiction, and in anthologies set in the worlds of Valdemar, Shadowrun, V-Wars, Masters of Orion, Well World, and Predator.
Jennifer has been a full-time freelance author and editor for over seventeen years, and she has never been happier. She keeps a tight schedule on her writing and editing projects and somehow manages to find time to teach writing classes and volunteer for several professional writing organizations such as SFWA, HWA, and IAMTW. She shares her husband, Jeff, with several cats and often uses him as a sounding board for her story ideas. Visit Jennifer’s worlds at jenniferbrozek.com or her social media accounts on LinkTree.
