Get a free story when you subscribe
So much writing on Project Joe! Other than my computer setup exploding on me recently, requiring me to get a new keyboard and to vacuum the dust from the computer, my life is mostly about writing and editing. And petting demanding cats.
EVENT – READING: I will be reading at the University Bookstore in Seattle on Jan 26th. Please come! There will be cookies and book giveaways and I’ll be reading from NEVER LET ME which Publisher’s Weekly calls “a strong, entertaining tale.”
And now back to your irregularly scheduled Bubble & Squeek.
Article: MIND MELD: The Growth and Future of SF/F. An interesting question.
Article: Nightmare Magazine – The H Word: Shifting Away From the Common. I talk about what I enjoy about shapeshifters that aren’t werewolves.
Blog: I have a guest blog over at Jim Hines’s Blog site about revealing personal details in your writings. I didn’t manage to post about this more than once. So, here it is again.
Event: I am a workshop leader at Foolscap on Feb 5th. I’m teaching a class on writing series called “Combat in the Land of Forgotten Details.”
Review: Publisher’s Weekly reviewed NEVER LET ME. It’s a good review. I’m happy with it. I don’t even mind the quibble.
SALE: COLONIAL GOTHIC: LOST TALES. This is one of those “oops, I have a fiction collection” sales. Totally unexpected but very happy for it.
SALE: MAKEDA RED. I’m running the shadows again. This time in novel form. I’ve wanted to write a Shadowrun novel for ages. Now I get to. MAKEDA RED stars the protagonist from my Shadowrun short story, “Rune’s Avatar Cafe.”
When it comes to year in review posts, there’s two ways for me to look at it: What did I do? Did I enjoy myself? The short version answer to these two questions is: A lot. Yes.
Being a full-time freelancer, I need personal metrics that keep me going. To let me know I didn’t just spin my wheels. To know that I have done good. I can’t rely on money to tell me whether or not I’ve been productive. The publishing industry is so weird about money and timing. It’s feast or famine… mostly famine. Even if you’re working all the time.
So, to answer the second question first. Did I enjoy myself? On the whole, yes. I’m happier that I’ve ever been. Yes, there were hard times. Yes, I really do understand “leveling up to a better (harder) class of problem” thing. And yes, not everything was a success. But, by and large, I had the best time.
As for the first question of: What did I do? I keep a daily summary log. I need to. I must schedule myself and I must know what I’ve done and when I did it. Thus, I can quantify my freelance year like so:
Honestly, reading this list makes me both proud and tired. I already know I will be doing a lot less of some and a lot more of another in 2016 but that’s for another post in a week, next year.
I am home from OryCon and SF Authorfest 9. I had a fabulous time. It was so much fun. In lieu of content, here is a Bubble and Squeek.
Article: Mind Meld: More Children’s Movies that Scared the Crap Out of Us.
Podcast: LIMETOWN. If you aren’t listening to this podcast, you are missing out. It reminds me of American Elsewhere and Night Vale.
Review: A Lovely review of Jazz Age Cthulhu and “Dreams of a Thousand Young” from Hauntology. I really am fond of this novelette.
For the Melissa Allen section of Bubble and Squeek…
Article: Over on Wag the Fox: Characters with a mind of their own. AKA why the sequel, Never Let Me Leave, exists.
Article: Why a Bat? Over on Damien Walter’s blog, I discuss why Melissa Allen use a baseball bat when fighting monsters.
Podcast: SF Spotlight Radio from 14 Nov 2015. I talk about a lot of things. Mostly the Melissa Allen series.
Book two of the Melissa Allen series, NEVER LET ME LEAVE, has been released! I’m really happy with the series. The first book, NEVER LET ME SLEEP, is getting great reviews.
What would you do if you found yourself locked in an underground lab with a murderous alien hunting you? Melissa Allen and her new friends know exactly how it feels. With no help from the outside and time running out, it’s up to Melissa to keep herself and the other teens safe. How can she do that when she’s not sure who she can trust?
Someone in the lab helped that alien escape. Someone human.
NEVER LET ME LEAVE almost didn’t happen. This is why it did.
This is a big Bubble and Squeek today. A lot stuff came in all at once.
Article: For writers on the SFWA Blog. How do you ask for blurb?
Article: I talk about my love of gargoyles on My Favorite Things.
Article: SFSignal MIND MELD: Second Chances. I talk about why I gave Stephen R. Donaldson a second chance.
Article: Over at Ragnarok Publications, I talk about how I used my anger to fuel my writing career in Dreamer No More.
Interview: Permuted Press asked me some great questions about NEVER LET ME SLEEP. We touch on body image and mental illness.
Interview: Over at Eating Authors I get to talk about ramen. Really, really good ramen.
Review: I get a nice shout out in this review of NOT OUR KIND from the Eviscerating Pen (what a lovely name!).
Pre-Order: Remember, you can pre-order NEVER LET ME SLEEP and the hard copy Melissa Allen compilation NEVER LET ME. Also, if you missed it, here’s a post that’s all about my fabulous covers.
SFSignal: I gotta say it. I love seeing my name on SFSignal and in such good company, too.
It’s been an amazing couple of weeks. Really amazing.
Awards: I’ve been nominated for two different Scribe Awards. One for best tie-in short story. One for best tie-in YA novel.
Conventions: I’ve been named one of Gen Con’s Industry Insider Featured Presenters. I’m really excited about this.
Election: I’ve been voted in as one of the new Directors-at-Large for SFWA along with Matthew Johnson. I will take office on July 1, 2015.
Interview: I’ve been interviewed by Katie Teller, focusing on my Dark Quest Books anthologies.
Review: Thomas Gondolfi of Scifimonkeys.com reviewed CALLER UNKNOWN and gave it an “Unexpected A-“. He had some interesting points to make.
I’m deep in the throes of writing NEVER LET ME DIE, Melissa Allen #3, so I’m not checking Twitter or Facebook right now. However, lots has happened. Here’s a Bubble & Squeek for you.
Award: I was nominated for a Hugo Award. This is both exciting and terrifying.
Convention: I’ve been added to OrcaCon’s Special Guest lineup. I’m also on their kickstarter with a custom game of Katanas & Trenchcoats for you and four of your friends.
Interview: I was interviewed by Douglas Hawk for his 7 Questions series. Want to know what my workspace looks like?
Publication Release: DocWagon 19 is out the door! Get it here: Amazon | BattleShop | DriveThruRPG
Recommendation: Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix is one of the best, messed up horror books I’ve read in a long time. I will never look at a large home store the same ever again.
Recommendation: Science STYLE – Taylor Swift Acapella Parody. I just really liked this video.
Review: Goodreads review of Chimera Incarnate.
Review: Goodreads review of DocWagon 19.
Sale: I sold The Last Days of the Salton Academy to Ragnarok Publications! Yay!
Article: Black Gate Magazine calls JAZZ AGE CTHULHU a new treasure. It’s got my novelette, “Dreams of a Thousand Young”, in it.
Cover Art: Catalyst Games Lab revealed the cover art to my Shadowrun novella, DOC WAGON 19. It’s wonderful.
Release: Rogue Games has released COLONIAL GOTHIC: ROANOKE ISLAND. My take on what happened to the colony in the Colonial Gothic RPG world.
Release: CHIMERA INCARNATE has been released to the world. Cover art by Amber Clark.
Chimera Incarnate
Karen Wilson Chronicles #4
This is the final book in the series.
More Information. Buy Now.
Amazon | B&N | DriveThruFiction
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.
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.”
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.
