Tuesday, Dec 3rd, was the equivalent of emotionally speedrunning my life. I do not approve nor do I recommend. It was one of those days that even my editor would look at and say, “Isn’t that a bit much? Maybe spread those events out over the novel instead of a day.”
Bad: Mena stopped eating and drinking on Monday. She was still hiding on Tuesday morning. The Husband and I had already decided she needed to go to the vet. Mena loves her treats.
Good: My cat lover advent calendar and the Husband got me froofy coffee. (Little things count.)
Good: Our 2x a month housekeeper arrived!
Bad: Our housekeeper noticed our refrigerator suddenly wasn’t working. Through investigation, 8 outlets in the kitchen and family room weren’t working. This is something that happened years ago. Got fixed. Broke again.
Good: Plugged the refrigerator into a different plug and it worked. No spoiled food.
Bad: Had to find an electrician.
Good: Not only found an electrician, they were able to come out on the same day, AND were able to fix the issue.
Bad: That was $$$ money we didn’t expect to spend (but that’s what emergency funds are for).
Good: Started a new D&D game at the house. Session 0. Figuring everything out.
Bad: Vet called. Mena has feline pancreatitis. No cure, some mitigation. Caught it early. Mena was kept overnight for more observation. We will see what we need to do when we pick her up today. (Good things: It had nothing to do with the anxiety drugs Mena got put on because of the kittens nor was it due to the arrival of the kittens. This would’ve happened no matter what.)
Good: I sold a little short story I love to a new pro-paying market. This is a short story that has been rejected 20+ times. I’m so glad it found a home.
Other things happened that weren’t big enough to make the list. Also, several of my friends are going through rough times. I know I’m not the only one having a hell of a week (and it’s only Wednesday). Sometimes life is like that. I just wish it wouldn’t involve my cats. Mena is only 12. She’s sweet and silly and doesn’t deserve the pain she’s in now.
I had the great joy of writing a mosaic novel for the FiveFold Universe called Tear of Perseus. It is a single story told across 300 years from six different points of view along the timeline. I wrote the first one, Truumeel’s Light. It includes the first part of Kevin J. Anderson’s Gateway series that is told throughout all the novellas.
Is This the End of Humankind, or the Beginning of Something New?
Humanity spread to the stars as soon as they broke the FTL limit, but a thousand lightyears weren’t enough to separate them from their natures. As a series of small incidents lead Earth and its colonies toward a galactic civil war, it’s up to people and AIs of good intent to pull us back from the brink.
But what if it’s already too late? As the super artificial intelligences sound the death knell of the galaxy, a few humans and machines struggle against the tide, to save their ship, their farm, their families, and their cause. In humanity’s darkest hour, the lives of a few heroes might make the difference, or serve as an epitaph for our species.
Tears of Perseus is one cohesive story told in six parts by six authors:
Truumeel’s Light: A high-risk first-landing on an unsettled world.
Falk’s Claim: A retired cybernetic soldier defending his claim against offworlders.
Mercia’s Hammer: A daring prison escape, striking a blow for freedom in the colonies.
Metzler’s Mistake: A final mission given to the Federal Fleet’s craftiest admiral.
Raden’s End: A surprise attack from a new enemy, forcing old foes to fight together.
Halloway’s Charge: A choice to turn on each other or rise together from the ashes.
Written by Jennifer Brozek (Shadowrun, Battletech), Kevin Steverson (Salvage Title, 4HU), William Alan Webb (The Last Brigade, 4HU), D.J. Bodden (FiveFold Universe, Viridian Gate Online), Kevin J. Anderson (Star Wars, Dune), and Kevin McLaughlin (Starship Satori, 4HU), this omnibus combines life in the third millennium with all the space, air, and land high-tech combat you can handle.
My Bram Stoker nominated Melissa Allen trilogy is in print again, and for the first time, the omnibus is in ebook format! The cover art is by the ever-fabulous Peter Tikos.
The omnibus edition of Jennifer Brozek’s acclaimed Melissa Allen trilogy.
Never Let Me Sleep. What would you do if you discovered that everyone, in your house, on your street and in your town was dead? Then you discovered you weren’t alone–and whatever was out there was hunting you? Melissa Allen knows. With only a voice on the phone to help her, Melissa must find out what happened, stop it from happening again, and do it before the monsters get her. Finalist for the Bram Stoker award.
Never Let Me Leave. 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. 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 Die. What would you do if your sister was shot and your brother was kidnapped? Melissa Allen knows. It’s been six months since the attack at PAR Lab. Melissa, Carrie, and Adam have settled into a semblance of domestic bliss with Agent Heather Shaker as their guardian. But someone has been watching them, taking photos and keeping notes. Someone who seems to know everything about them. Someone who has no problem trying to kill them.
This special edition features all three books in Jennifer Brozek’s Melissa Allen series: Never Let Me Sleep, Never Let Me Leave, Never Let Me Die as well as the bonus short story, “Never Let Me Feel.”
As mentioned here… Award-winning author Jennifer Brozek slated to pen the first Young Adult BattleTech trilogy.
Press Release
For Immediate Release
WHEN THEIR WORLD IS ATTACKED, THE ACADEMY CADETS MUST TAKE MATTERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS.
Award winning author, Jennifer Brozek, slated to pen the first Young Adult BattleTech trilogy.
September, 2017 – Catalyst games announces the first Young Adult BattleTech trilogy, written by Jennifer Brozek.
Catalyst Game Labs, licensors of the BattleTech tabletop game and Shadowrun roleplaying game, is taking the next step in creating a diverse BattleTech universe with a new young adult trilogy. Jennifer Brozek, award-winning author of BattleTech: The Nellus Academy Incident and Shadowrun: DocWagon 19, is developing a character-driven, action-filled story set after the Jihad, and exploring the tumultuous aftermath of the Age of Destruction. Currently scheduled for a Fall 2018 release date, it can’t come soon enough for BattleTech fans looking for brand new fiction set in the military science fictional universe.
“All of us at Catalyst Game Labs are thrilled to have Jennifer back writing more fantastic young adult stories in the BattleTech universe,” Fiction Director John Helfers said. “Jennifer’s gripping, character-centered stories combine what makes BattleTech such an engaging fictional universe for more than thirty years—smart, tough people making hard choices and sacrifices, along with deadly, groundpounding ’Mech action. She did a terrific job with Nellus Academy, and we’re looking forward to what she’ll do with a broader canvas and larger story scope to play with.”
Jennifer Brozek states: “I’m thrilled to be writing in the BattleTech universe once more. After Nellus Academy, I thought my time for writing big, stompy ’Mechs was done. Fortunately for me, I get to dive in to this universe again. I’ll be writing an ensemble piece focused on the lives of war-torn academy cadets. This coming-of-age story will forge teenagers, already wise beyond their years, into adults in a trial by fire that many won’t survive. Those who do will become the heroes of a new age.”
Catalyst Game Labs is dedicated to producing high quality games and fiction that mesh sophisticated game mechanics with dynamic universes—all presented in a form that allows beginning players and long-time veterans to easily jump into our games. Fiction readers will also enjoy our stories even if they don’t know the games.
Catalyst Game Labs is an imprint of InMediaRes Productions, LLC, which specializes in electronic publishing of professional fiction. This allows Catalyst to participate in a synergy that melds printed gaming material and fiction with all the benefits of electronic interfaces and online communities, creating a whole-package experience for any type of player or reader.
The BattleTech board game simulates combat between various military vehicles in the thirty-first century. The king of the battlefield is the BattleMech, but a myriad of other military units bring additional fun to any game, from combat vehicles to infantry to aerospace units and more.
Jennifer Brozek is a Hugo Award finalist and a multiple Bram Stoker Award finalist and winner of the Australian Shadows Award for best edited publication. She is a freelance author for numerous RPG companies. Winner of the Scribe, Origins, and ENnie awards, her contributions to RPG sourcebooks include Dragonlance, Colonial Gothic, Shadowrun, Serenity, Savage Worlds, and White Wolf SAS. Jennifer is the author of the award winning YA BattleTech novel, The Nellus Academy Incident, and Shadowrun novella, DocWagon 19. She has also written for the AAA MMO, Aion, and the award winning videogame, Shadowrun Returns. Read more about her at jenniferbrozek.com or follow her on Twitter at @JenniferBrozek.
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.”
Press Release
For Immediate Release
WHEN AN EXTRACTION GOES BAD, WHAT’S A SHADOWRUNNER TO DO? TAKE RISKS, THAT’S WHAT.
Award winning author Jennifer Brozek returns to the world of Shadowrun® with a new novel.
January, 2016 – Catalyst games announces a new Shadowrun® title scheduled for publication mid 2017- Makeda Red
Hugo nominated editor, author and game designer, Jennifer Brozek, delves into the Shadowrun® world once more with an exciting new novel. With the success of her first novella, DocWagon 19, Jennifer takes on a new challenge. This time, her Shadowrun® operatives face intrigue, and action.
It was supposed be a simple extraction from the Brussels2Rome party train. With an eclectic crowd, a willing target, and a lot of nuyen at stake, what could go wrong?
Everything—as Makeda Red discovers the hard way. There’s more than one target on the train, and more than one shadowrunner team in play. When someone sabotages the tracks in the middle of the Swiss Alps, she’s forced to extract her client much earlier than planned.
To complicate matters, other survivors are also fleeing the crash for their own reasons. One of them is trying to escape his corporate masters as well, and offers to pay Makeda to escort him to his safe haven.
A paying client is a paying client, and his corp won’t be looking for three people traveling together. Makeda knows it’s a risk, but one she’s willing to take. In the shadows, however, nothing and no one is what they seem. Before it’s over, this already complicated run may be Makeda’s last.
John Helfers, editor and Shadowrun® novel live developer, says this about the new novel:
“I’ve been a fan of Jennifer’s intricate, character-driven fiction for years, and after the terrific stories she’s written for Battletech (The Nellus Academy Incident) and her recent Shadowrun novella DocWagon 19, I can’t wait to see the story she has in mind for her first Shadowrun® novel come to life. Action, intrigue, and suspense aboard a train speeding through 2070s Europe—what could be better?”
Jennifer Brozek is a Hugo Award-nominated editor and an award-winning author. Winner of the Australian Shadows Award for best edited publication, Jennifer has edited fifteen anthologies and is a freelance author for numerous RPG companies. Winner of the Scribe, Origins, and ENnie awards, her contributions to RPG sourcebooks include Dragonlance, Colonial Gothic, Shadowrun®, Serenity, Savage Worlds, and White Wolf SAS. Jennifer is the author of the award winning YA Battletech novel, The Nellus Academy Incident, and Shadowrun® novella, DocWagon 19. She has also written for the AAA MMO Aion and the award-winning videogame, Shadowrun Returns.
When she is not writing her heart out, she is gallivanting around the Pacific Northwest in its wonderfully mercurial weather. Jennifer is a Director-at-Large of SFWA, and an active member of HWA and IAMTW. Read more about her at her blog or follow her on Twitter at @JenniferBrozek.
Publication date is scheduled for mid 2017, so watch Catalyst Games (www.catalystgamelabs.com) and Jennifer Brozek (http://www.jenniferbrozek.com/blog/ ) for more details.
Copied from Ragnarok Publications.
March 30, 2015
Melanie R. Meadors
Press Release
For Immediate Release
DANGER LURKS IN THE SAFEST OF PLACES AFTER A NEW OUTBREAK IN DARK SPECULATIVE FICTION
Ragnarok Publications welcomes award-winning Jennifer Brozek to their author list with novella The Last Days of Salton Academy
March 27, 2015—Crestview Hills, KY—Ragnarok Publications announces dark days ahead for readers with their newest acquisition, The Last Days of Salton Academy.
Penned by Jennifer Brozek, a much celebrated editor, game designer, and author, The Last Days of Salton Academy focuses on grim and mysterious happenings at one of the last safe havens after an outbreak has ravaged the world. It is a tale of high stakes and dire consequences in a world on the brink of collapse.
“This novella began with the image of a zombie dog walking down a school hallway with a heavy chain dragging behind it,” Brozek says. “The sound of the moaning dog and the chain against tile wouldn’t leave my head. The more I thought about it, the more the story unfolded.”
Ragnarok Publications is no stranger to the zombie apocalypse, with books on their publication list like the Dead West Omnibus by J.M. Martin, Tim Marquitz, and Kenny Soward, Path of the Dead by Timothy Baker, and the Tuskers series by Duncan McGeary.
What keeps readers coming back for more zombie stories? Brozek has an idea: “Good zombie apocalypse stories are about the people and what happens when the foundations of civilization breakdown.” One only needs to look as far as their television to see this in action. With shows like AMC’s The Walking Dead, fans can see how horrendous happenings can bring out the best and worst in people, and sometimes good people must do bad things in order to survive. Zombie and other apocalypse stories explore sides of society and people that aren’t always apparent or accessible in other types of tales.
Readers can expect The Last Days of Salton Academy to arrive in March 2016, but anyone wanting a taste of Brozek’s work beforehand will have plenty to choose from. Winner of the Australian Shadows Award for best edited publications, Brozek has edited fifteen anthologies to date with multiple publishers. She has written more than sixty short stories and is also a freelance author for numerous RPG companies, having contributed to RPG sourcebooks including Dragonlance, Shadowrun, and Serenity. Her work has earned both the Origins and the ENnie awards.
“I couldn’t be happier to be signed by Ragnarok Publications,” says Brozek, concerning her new publisher. “They have a well deserved reputation for excellent genre fiction, quality products, and a knowledgeable staff. They have their act together and I appreciate being part of that.”
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
1 RPG supplement
2 novels
4 anthologies
Article: An SFSignal Mind Meld on the Best Book Openings.
Interview: Wag the Fox interviewed me about Apocalypse Girl Dreaming
Podcast: Baen Books Podcast: BFRH 2014 11 21. Bryan and I talk about Shattered Shields.
Review: SF Crowsnest reviews Shattered Shields. It appears that the review, Kelly Jensen, really liked it. Awesome.
Review: Bookwraiths review of Shattered Shields. 3 out of 5 stars but really like it.
Sale: Apocalypse Ink Productions is running a Winter Special. Code: WINTER2014. 20% entire order. If you ever wanted my Karen Wilson Chronicles, or Industry Talk… or Jay Lake’s Process of Writing… or Ivan Ewert’s Gentlemen Ghouls series… or Peter M. Ball’s Flotsam series… or Dylan Birtolo’s Sheynan series… now is the time.
Writers: I am now open to edit your work. Here are my freelance editor rates.
I’ve been sitting on some big news as all the details were hammered out. While I was at Origins Game Fair, I got an offer from Permuted Press for the first three books my young adult SF-thriller series. The Melissa Allen series (Never Let Me Sleep, Never Let Me Leave, Never Let Me Die). As I told my parents… “It’s the kind of stuff I wished early Stephen King would have written for teenagers. So, yay! Only 7.5 years after I became full time freelance author!”
I’m super excited to be part of the Permuted Press family and I have to thank Tim Long and Katie Cord for making sure me and the head honchos from Permuted met.
Here’s a bit about the first book:
NEVER LET ME SLEEP
Troubled teen, Melissa Allen, wakes to find that everyone in her house, on her street, and in her town is dead. As she learns that the unexplained massacre expands well beyond her town, she discovers she is not alone and what hunts her isn’t human. With her only support the voice of DHS Agent David Hood on the phone, Melissa must survive long enough to break the signal that murdered everyone she ever knew and stop the creatures before their plans succeed.
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.