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Here’s the numbers. We all love numbers so much.
Thoughts about the numbers:
I don’t really have a lot to say about the metrics for this year. I’m fine with them. They’re respectable for a full time publishing professional. With the Shadowrun magazine coming out next year and being an editor-at-large for CGL, my editing numbers will not be going down. That does cut into the writing schedule. But I’ve got my plans for next year—which I will talk about in the next blog. In the meantime, enjoy some pictures of my cats.
I hope you have had a very good holiday season!
I am running like mad in the background: writing on a new novel, finished edits on one anthology, starting edits on another anthology, editing/managing a new Shadowrun magazine, prepping for travel, and so much email. Here’s a Bubble & Squeek to keep you up-to-date
Awards: Wow! Shadowrun: Auditions: A Mosaic Run Collection won the Scribe award for best YA/MG tie-in novel 2024. I’m thrilled! Some articles on it in here: File770 and downthetubes.net.
Bookfair Spotlight: I’ve been announced as one of the spotlight authors for the new Written in the Northwest Bookfair along with Seanan McGuire and Krampus!
GoFundMe: One Booth to Record Them All. Pretty Please. Trendane is on tap to record the Shadowrun: Elfin Black audiobook. Help him get to it faster!
Interview: Tea Time with Miss Liz (YT link). Cat Rambo and I were interviewed by this fun podcast. It was a blast. This was a casual conversation that followed Miss Liz’s T-E-A format.
Interview: Tech for Founder podcast. Cat Rambo and I were interviewed by Panida Wayrojpitak about The Reinvented Detective anthology. This was a very fun interview with some excellent questions.
Open Call: Do you love Shadowrun? Would you like to write for it? We have an open call for original fiction for our official in-world Shadowrun magazine! “Augment your life with Augment Magazine!” Submission guidelines here.
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.
Awards: This year, I have two Scribe Award nominations. The first is for short story: Valdemar – “Needs Must When Evil Bides.” The second is for Shadowrun: Auditions, the first novel in The Mosaic Run duology. I am particularly chuffed about the short story nom. It’s been a donkey’s age since that’s happened. Also, it’s always a thrill to be mentioned in Locus magazine.
GoFundMe: One Booth to Record Them All. Pretty Please. Tren is on tap to record the Shadowrun: Elfin Black audiobook. Help him get to it faster! (Also, help his sleep schedule and his health and to future proof his career.)
Publication: Raven Oak and I have a co-written story in the Gen Con anthology, Interdimensions. It is called “Eye of the Beholder.” I really like this story. It’s crime story with a hint of magical realism.
Publication: My fourth Shadowrun novel, Shadowrun: The Mosaic Run, has been released! While it is the sequel to Shadowrun: Auditions, it can be read as a standalone novel.
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.
I am a duck right now. Smooth and serene on the top and paddling like mad underneath. It’s been a busy six weeks since I blogged—for good reason. It’s that whole you only see 10% of the iceberg thing.
First, there was Origins Game Fair. It was a good convention where I was a dealer and a panelist. Plus, I had many meetings where new projects were planned out. It’s one of my favorite things to do—meeting up with my editors and authors face-to-face. Unfortunately, long work conventions are exhausting. Also, we came home with an unwanted guest: Covid.
Despite masking and air purifiers and hand washing/sanitizers, I caught Covid. I’m not sure exactly where or when, but by Sunday evening of the convention, I felt like hell—which means I had to have been contagious for 1-3 days. Be it an errant button press or a handshake and then forgetting to sanitize, or being coughed on (there were a LOT of coughing people at Origins), after four years of diligence, my number was up.
I got Paxlovid on Tuesday after the convention, and we were hoping that it had passed the Husband by, but no such luck. By Thursday the 27th, he was sick. He got his Paxlovid on the same day. We had diametrically opposed reactions to Covid. I felt better as of the 2nd day of the meds and started testing negative as soon as the five days of Paxlovid was done. The Husband on the other hand, tested positive for Covid for almost two full weeks after he finished the meds and even had a rebound where he started feeling better, but then got much worse.
“A simple cold” my ass. We spent three full weeks living on separate levels of the house, running the air purifiers, and masking. It was like living with a roommate you barely tolerate. It sucked. Seriously. The Husband’s asthma is still acting up. Needless to say, we will be masked for Gen Con.
While we were suffering from Covid, life continued on. We’d contracted with Catio Spaces for a custom catio as our 16th wedding anniversary to us and our kitties. It’s lovely. Big enough for chairs for us to lounge in. Leeloo loves the catio. She demands it be opened in the morning and spends most of the day out there. Mena also likes it, but not like Leeloo. She’ll wander out there every other day or so.
Finally, the main reason there hasn’t been a blog post in six weeks is the fact that I have a brand new website. After 20+ years of hand coding my website with raw HTML, I decided it was time for a change and hired Caro from GoCreate.me, a terrifyingly competent and efficient web developer. Caro is amazing, and you should hire her if you want a new website with all the bells and whistles. There are so many new things to learn!
There’s more to do on the website, but the bulk of the fit and finish is done. Also, if you want to send me a postal letter or donate books to my TARDIS Little Free Library, I have a new PO Box address:
Jennifer Brozek
P.O. Box 121
Bothell, WA 98041
So, what to you think? Do you like my new website?
Oh yeah. I’ve been nominated for two Scribe awards! One for Shadowrun: Auditions (YA/MG novel) and one for Valdemar: “Needs Must When Evil Bides” (Short story). I’m particularly pleased with the short story nomination. It’s been forever since one of my shorts has been nominated.
It’s that time again. Here’s what I’ve produced in 2022 that is eligible for awards consideration. Thank you much for taking a look. Hugo noms close on April 30.
Editing…
The Reinvented Heart anthology is my favorite of the year. I believe Cat Rambo and I showcase our skills as editors with this first in our Reinvented Anthology series. The Reinvented Detective comes out in 2023. When voting for short form editors, please think about us as a duo! “Jennifer Brozek and Cat Rambo.”
Writing…
Novel – Shadowrun: Elfin Black. High adventure Shadowrun tie-in novel set in the PNW.
Novella – Truumeel’s Light. High adventure space opera set in the FiveFold Universe. A story of love, family, and sacrifice.
Novella – Shadowrun: Unrepairable. Shadowrun tie-in novella. Vexing megacorps for fun and profit. A pair of twins have a rough day in the shadows.
Short story – “The Necessity of Pragmatic Magic.” Heroic Hearts anthology. Urban fantasy story set in the Kendrick universe with older women protagonists.
Short story – “Seven Stones to Throw.” Rogue Artists Origins Game Fair anthology. Inspired by the protagonists from “The Necessity of Pragmatic Magic” a gentle urban fantasy story of rogue magic.
Short story – “A Message From Mommy.” Wily Writers Present: Tales of Evil anthology. Straight up horror. Sometimes evil is disguised as love.
Short story – “A Test of Vigilance and Will.” Wily Writers Present: Tales of Foreboding anthology. Straight up horror. How much self-control do you have in dire circumstances?
As the world continues to spin and time slips away, life happens. I’m back to writing as well as editing while trying to ignore social media. In the meantime, here’s what’s crossed my desk.
Awards: BattleTech: Crimson Night, Rogue Academy Three, has been nominated for a Scribe award! It’s always an honor to be nominated, but just look at that lineup. I’m in such good company.
Interview: I was interviewed on the Douglas Coleman show. This was a fun one. Listen to it on Youtube or in Podcast form.
Open Call: Announcing the 99 Fleeting Fantasies anthology open call. All genres of flash fiction fantasy. One month open call from July 15-Aug 15. (Also, might I direct your attention to: Round One of Slush Reading from the 99 Tiny Terrors call. Or The Reinvented Detective Slushpile Tweets round up for insider tips and hints on making it through a slushpile.)
Publication: For the HWA Of Horror and Hope anthology: Words to Fill the Well. I wrote this one because I was in a terrible mood and needed to write it out. It did me so much good.
Released: New thing I edited now for sale from Priebe Press… 2d6 Superfast One Shot character sheets and game mechanics! It’s a fun, quick system to use.
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.
Leeloo in my suitcase, trying to make sure I don’t leave without her.
We are well past the halfway point in 2020 and part of me doesn’t understand how that could happen. How is time slipping by so fast? What have I been doing with my time. (I mean I know what I’ve been doing, but still, the question lingers.)
I think it’s because we are in the middle of what would’ve been my convention season. Norwescon, Westercon, Origins…and coming up Gen Con and Worldcon. For the last ten years, spring and summer have been broken up with travel—be it local or not. Everything used to hinge on what convention did I just do and what convention do I need to prepare for next? It chopped up the months nicely.
Now, I’ve got “before Rainforest” and “after Rainforest.” I went away for a writing retreat and the world changed. Possibly—probably—forever. The only things marking time right now are “when I said good-bye to dad” and “when dad died.” These are not things I want to mark my time. I’m trying to find other things to focus on.
I did have two books come out last month. Shadowrun: A Kiss to Die For and BattleTech: Ghost Hour. Both are doing all right, but this would’ve been the convention season I would’ve touted them, showing them off, and signing copies for old and new fans alike.
I was recently (in the grand scheme of things) nominated for two awards: the Scribe award for BattleTech: Iron Dawn and the Bram Stoker award for A Secret Guide to Fighting Elder Gods. I lost both of them, but, as they said, it is an honor to be nominated. (Of course, not going to lie, I would have rather have won one or both of them.)
I do miss traveling to conventions or for weekend trips with the Husband. They were much needed vacations from reality. I think both of us have realized how much we miss them, even though conventions were so much work. They filled the creative well for me and allowed the Husband to get away from the computer. I hope we get back to them again someday.
In the meantime, we’re doing a bunch of virtual events for conventions. My next one is Gen Con. My author card will be linked to this blog and I’ll be posting books for sale and such. I don’t have any panels. I just did a series of panels for “JulyCon” on Arvan Eleron’s twitch channel. There’s a recording of the panels on YouTube.
Virtual events are fun, but they are a stop gap measure until we find the new normal for conventions and other writing/fan events. Mostly, they just make me miss going to conventions and seeing my friends and peers all the more. Plus, I miss the business aspect of them where me and my editors/publishers can get some face-to-face talking time about what’s the plan for the next year. That said, we are lucky to have the opportunity to host and participate in virtual events.
In the meantime, I’ve got my last BattleTech novel to write. I’ve got a deadline to meet. It’s good to have something keeping me busy. I hope everyone else out there has stuff to keep them busy and is doing as well as they can be. I miss my friends. Know you are missed and loved.
I need to re-outline BattleTech: Crimson Night for a fourth time–in the words of one of my SFWA mentees “to stop being precious about my writing”–and add in a fourth point of view character that will make all my problems go away. In the meantime, here’s a Bubble & Squeek for you.
• Awards: A SECRET GUIDE TO FIGHTING ELDER GODS is a 2019 Bram Stoker finalist! Congratulations to everyone who got the nod. I’m so happy.
• Interview (Video): I’m interviewed by Dacre Stoker about my Bram Stoker nomination.
• Publications: “Lair of the Infernal Thief” AKA “Untitled Infernal Goose Adventure” in Mini-Dungeon Monthly #12, An adventure for two to five characters of 3rd-5th level. Yes, inspired by THAT “Untitled Goose Adventure…”
• Publications: It looks like Fantasy Flight Games did a reprint of the physical book of my Arkham Horror novella, TO FIGHT THE BLACK WIND, for those of you who were looking for it as well as the rest of them.
• Random Video: In honor of having my first lucid dream in years, probably brought about because of this video by Matt D’Avella: I learned how to lucid dream.
• 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. Especially since most of my conventions have been cancelled this summer. Pretty please.
Awards: Woot! A Secret Guide to Fighting Elder Gods has been long-listed for the Bram Stoker award in superior achievement in an anthology.
Blog: A Decade in Review. How does one review a decade of growth, change, expansion, and experience in a single career? Start with the stats and end with the lessons learned.
Podcast: Dire Multiverse, part 5 – A Wild, Hopping Tale. Answers and alliances come at the point of a gun as our heroes try to make it out with their lives intact while learning more about what’s driving Dana Lessington — and one of their own.
Publication: SEASONS, the latest Valdemar anthology, has my 7th Valdemar story in it, “One Town at a Time.” It’s the opening story. I love having anchor stories in anthologies.
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.
Spike in snow.
How does one review a decade of growth, change, expansion, and experience in a single career? Much less in an industry like the publishing industry? I suppose by starting with some of the stats from 2010 – 2019. Note, this is an imperfect list of stats. It doesn’t mention the number of words written, the stories submitted then rejected, the novels written and trunked, the journals, articles, and blog posts. But, really, you’ve got to start somewhere. That is what I’ve done.
Gotta admit, I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished. In 2010, if you’d told me that one day I’d be an internationally published author and editor who’d been nominated for both the Bram Stoker and the Hugo award, I would’ve laughed at you and said it was a nice idea. I thought those things were so far out of my reach that I couldn’t imagine it. If you’d told me that I’d get to write for some of my favorite non-RPG properties like VWars, Valdemar, and Predator, I would’ve wondered what you’d been drinking. Stuff like that didn’t happen to me.
Then again, I didn’t know I was going to start my own publishing house.
…Or serve a term as a Director-at-Large of SFWA.
…Or volunteer for the HWA.
…Or be a Guest of Honor at ten different conventions, including conventions in Sweden and Finland.
…Or get an agent after I’d given up the search.
In truth, this is no real way to quantify a decade of my career in a meaningful manner that gives the scope of “everything.” I’ve always been ambitious when it comes to my career. I’ve got plans for the next decade. I’m sure they’ll change. But, that’s all right.
I’ll leave you with some lessons I’ve learned along the way.
Of course, the last decade wouldn’t have been as successful as it’s been without the Husband’s support. He helped make it all possible. For that, I am ever-grateful.
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 the Hugo Award. 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.
