In early February, I bemoaned the fact that I had had two (excellent) rejections in two days. Personalized responses with reasons for the rejections. While I was participating in the age old rite of fighting with my ego having taken a beating and pulling myself up by my bootstraps to get those rejected stories out in the world again, one of my readers on social media commented, “Oh, wow, Jennifer. It didn’t occur to me that you were still out there submitting. I thought you were always in demand.”

This struck me a little odd, as it never occurred to me to not submit my stories. Yes, I do get invitations and I adore them but that doesn’t mean I automatically get into those markets. Also, I frequently have stories I just want to write. Once they are written, I look for markets to sell them in. And I get rejections.

To be in demand is to create demand and you can only do that by getting your name and your stories out there. Many professional authors I know still write and submit work. It is an unending process. Short stories are a good way to keep connected with readers, to get background stories for novels out there, and to explore character development you might not get to do in a novel.

I suspect most professional authors not vocal about their rejections. Most of the time I’m not but this particular time, I needed a little ego boosting and the internet can be great for that.

I guess I wanted to get across to one and all, even when you are a successful writer, you still submit stories to markets. You still get rejected. Then, you get back on the horse and send that story back out. It’s just one of the facets of being an author.

***

I attended the Rainforest Writers Retreat again this year. It was very productive. I accomplished everything I set out to do and a little bit more. I wrote two short stories, two blog posts, and outlined NEVER LET ME DIE, Melissa Allen #3. More than that, I wrote a two page synopsis for NLMD, and, with the help of a medical professional attending the retreat, worked out some sticky medical problems with the series.

Then, since the Husband had joined me, we went to La Push, WA for three days of hiking and ocean watching. He needed the time off from work, and we wanted a real vacation together. So, a good time was had by all.

Just took me a week to post about it after getting home.

The Spark of Inspiration

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Heard that one before? That’s nothing. I found a picture that has so far been worth over 270,000 words.

I can’t show you the picture, unfortunately, since I don’t know who drew it or where it came from and I don’t want to breach any copyright that the artist may be entitled to. It landed on my Facebook page one day and caught my attention.

Let me describe the picture to you. It shows little Alice Liddell from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Dorothy Gale from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz sitting under a tree drinking tea. Alice is contemplating her tea cup with a rather thoughtful expression on her face. Toto the dog and Dinah the cat sit at their feet. The caption reads, ‘I’ve seen some weird shit.’

This picture got me thinking. What if Alice and Dorothy really did meet up? What would happen? I know there had been Alice and Dorothy mash-ups before, and certainly other books using the characters, but I was struck with the idea of an adult-oriented, horror story in which Alice and Dorothy join forces to combat some evil of a very deadly nature.

So I sat down to write what I thought was going to be a novella of about 40,000 words. Half-way through writing it Permuted Press became interested in the work and negotiations with them led to a series based on the idea. It took off from there and the story became what is now a trilogy of full-length novels collectively titled The Jabberwocky Book.

A single image led to an idea that led to two years of writing. You never know where inspiration is going to take you.

The work now consists of three books, the first of which, The Red King, is due out this month. The second book, An Unkindness of Ravens, and the third, The Looking-Glass House, will be published later this year and next year.

It was fun extrapolating the characters, and researching the time in which the series is set, Edwardian England. There was a real Alice Liddell, on whom the fictional character in Carroll’s books was based, and I thought about what sort of woman the fictional Alice might grow up to become, and also how her adventures might have affected her psychologically and emotionally. That was a lot of fun, too.

But none of that would have happened if that image hadn’t landed in my computer. I didn’t ask for it, it was just a picture someone (probably illegally) shared around. But it set something off in my brain that had me tapping away at a keyboard for a long time. Of course, if Permuted Press hadn’t put up their hand and indicated interest it would probably have stayed a novella and been less detailed and far less of a challenge.

Inspiration doesn’t just come from many sources – it can come from any source. Unexpectedly. That light-bulb moment where the writer asks the most magical question in the world: “What if…?”

Recognising the inspirational idea is the first thing. Hammering away at it until it resembles what you want is the hard part. That takes time and sweat and tears and not a little frustration. But if that initial spark of inspiration is there, it becomes easier, and (hopefully) a  source of joy to others.


----
Russell Proctor is an Australian writer, but has also been many other things in his working life, including a lawyer, teacher, professional actor, medical project manager and even a pizza delivery boy. At present he is semi-retired, tutoring school and university students in the evenings and writing during the day. His interests include hiking, astronomy and cats. He has travelled extensively throughout the world, preferring out of the way places to modern civilization, for example having visited Antarctica, walked the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. He does not describe himself as a thrill-seeker, but certainly prefers his travels to include adventures rather than just “tourist traps”. A skeptic and futurist, Proctor has examined the methods and ideas of science and pseudo-science in his  novel Plato’s Cave, which satirizes humanity’s endless quest for meaning in life and conflicting beliefs about the nature of reality. His professional acting days included working in film, TV and stage productions. He has also written and directed plays and musicals. Further information about him and his work can be found at his website, www.russellproctor.com.


LINK TO PRE-ORDER SITE FOR “THE RED KING”:
http://www.amazon.com/Red-King-Jabberwocky-Book-ebook/dp/B00U9VD3UE/

Lots of editing on my plate right now for AIP and for freelance clients. So, here's a fun little Bubble and Squeek for you.

Just Cause: Video of the inside-out grilled cheese sandwich. I've done this twice now and it really is the best darn grilled cheese sandwich I've ever had.

Interview: I was interviewed on Layers of Thoughts. This was a great interview. Good questions.

MIND MELD: The Intersection of SF/F Games and Genre Fiction. I had a good time answering this Mind Meld.

Sale: My short story collection, Apocalypse Girl Dreaming, is only $0.99 on Amazon! If you were waiting, wait no more!

Cover Reveal:  And the cover for Chimera Incarnate (which is available for pre-order) is too perfect for words. It is exactly as I imagined for the scene that Karen is in. Perfect.

Along with me and my stuff being eligible for the Hugo Awards, I wanted to post some other recommendations. These are works that I have really enjoyed.

Novel
The Martian, Andy Weir
Symbiont, Mira Grant

Novella
"The Day the Dead Came to Show and Tell" Mira Grant
“Yesterday’s Kin” Nancy Kress
“Dead Weight" The Tombs” M. Todd Gallowglas

"Novelette
“Rappacini's Crow” Cat Rambo
“A Necessary Being” Octavia Butler
"The Ghosts of Bourbon Street" Seanan McGuire

Short Story
“The Meeker and the All-Seeing Eye”, Matthew Kressel
“The Lambs”, Seanan McGuire
“Goodnight Stars”, Annie Bellet

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short
“And the Apple of Discord" The Librarians
“Korra Alone” Legend of Korra

Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form)
Edge of Tomorrow
Guardians of the Galaxy
Interstellar

Best Editor (Short Form)
Christie Yant
Dawn Vogel
Ellen Datlow
Jennifer Brozek
Bryan Thomas Schmidt

Best Editor (Long Form)
Toni Weisskopf – BAEN
Jim Minz – BAEN
Sheila Gilbert – DAW

Best Related Work
Chicks Dig Gaming, Jennifer Brozek, Robert Smith?, Lars Pearson, Mad Norwegian Press
Invisible, Jim Hines
http://www.reddit.com/r/fantasy group

Best Artist
Chris McGrath
Aly Fell

Campbell Award
Andy Weir
Django Wexler
Beth Cato

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.

RustyCon was interesting in the fact that I felt like I was the living embodiment of balanced karma. If something bad happened, something good happened, too. And, vice versa. Here's a bunch of good things that happened:

• Got my first meal for free.
• Spent a bit of time with Timothy Zahn and compared typos in published works. (His was worse by far. One of his books had his first name spelled "Tymothy" on the hardcover spine.)
• Timothy and his wife, Anna, came to my release party. It was super keen to sign my books to people like Timothy and Anna.
• I felt like I really contributed on all my panels.
• Got to spend some time chatting with Katie about EGM and some future plans. Good things are on the horizon.

You get to figure out what the karmic balance to all that goodness was.

I'm almost done editing NEVER LET ME LEAVE. I have edits for CHIMERA INCARNATE waiting for me and I just heard from my editor that edits for Melissa Allen #1, NEVER LET ME SLEEP will drop in February. This gives me enough time to finish my Mech short story and start one of the other two short stories on contract. While I do everything else, of course.

Busy-busy as usual but still happy.

I will be at RustyCon this weekend. Come by and see me. No shyness around me

6-11 pm APOCALYPSE GIRL DREAMING Release Party and Evil Girlfriend Media Open House.

You do not need to be a member of the convention to come. A bunch of authors will be reading. There will be food and drink. But no alcohol.

We’ve turned that corner and awards season is upon us, especially the Hugo Awards. This is a big deal in the publishing industry and one of the pie in the sky goals for me. First, to be nominated. Second, to win. Though, I think at this point, I would be over the moon to be nominated. Especially since Worldcon/Sasquan is in Spokane, WA this year—which is practically in my backyard.

The Hugo nomination period is open from late January to March and is open to everyone who went to Worldcon last year, is going this year to Worldcon/Sasquan, or is a supporting member.

I’m eligible for nomination in two categories.

Best Editor (Short Form): Jennifer Brozek
I work hard as an editor and would be pleased to be nominated for this category. In 2014, I edited, or co-edited, the following published anthologies: Shattered Shields (Baen Books), Chicks Dig Gaming (Mad Norwegian Press), Bless Your Mechanical Heart (Evil Girlfriend Media), and Beast Within 4: Gears & Growls (Graveside Tales).

Best Related Work: Chicks Dig Gaming (Editors: Jennifer Brozek, Robert Smith? and Lars Pearson; Publisher: Mad Norwegian Press)
This collection of women game designers, artists, and gamers brings forth a series of personal essays that look at gaming, social constructs, literary criticism, and so much more. It is a positive book on women and gaming. I’m very proud of this book and would be so pleased to see it nominated.

There you go. My best offerings for the Hugo Awards. I really appreciate your consideration. I would love to have a “home town girl does good” experience.

Now that I’ve had some time to think about it, I’ve got some goals and plans for 2015. With the amount of travel I have planned, I don’t think I’ll get the same word count I did as 2014. Despite the amount of stuff listed, it’s all doable. I don’t make unrealistic work goals for myself.

To Write

• Never Let Me Leave, Melissa Allen #2 (finish edits)
• Never Let Me Die, Melissa Allen #3 (Title tentative)
• Outline and begin SF YA trilogy
• 6 short stories (3 are already contracted)

Scheduled to be Published

• January: Apocalypse Girl Dreaming, fiction collection, Evil Girlfriend Media.
• February: Colonial Gothic: Roanoke Island, RPG Sourcebook, Rogue Games.
• March: Chimera Incarnate, Book Four of the Karen Wilson Chronicles, novel, Apocalypse Ink Productions.
• June: Never Let Me Sleep, Melissa Allen #1, Young adult SF-thriller novel, Permuted Press.
• December : Never Let Me Leave, Melissa Allen #2, Young adult SF-thriller novel, Permuted Press.
• TBA: Doc Wagon 19, Shadowrun novella, Catalyst Game Labs.

Convention Events

• Jan 16-18, RustyCon: panelist, release party.
• Feb 25-Mar 1, Rainforest writers retreat: 2nd session.
• Apr 1-5, Norwescon: panelist, dealer.
• May 22-24, Crypticon: dealer.
• Jun 3-7, Origins Game Fair: panelist, dealer.
• Jun 25-29, LepreCon: GoH.
• July 30-Aug 2, Gen Con: panelist.
• Aug 19-23, WorldCon: panlist.
• Nov 6-8, Gamehole: GoH.

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

• “The Bathory Clinic Deal” - The Future Embodied anthology - Simian Publishing, March 2014
• “Ley of the Land” - Time-Traveled Tales 2 anthology - Silence in the Library, April 2014
• “Kelpie Storm” - MONSTERS! Origins Game Fair anthology - Rio Grande Games, June 2014
• “Janera” - Athena's Daugthers anthology - Silence in the Library, June 2014
• “Dreams of a Thousand Young” novelette - Jazz Age Cthulhu anthology - Innsmouth Free Press, November 2014
• “For the Love of a Troll on a Mid-Winter's Night” - Night Terrors III anthology - Blood Bound Books, December 2014
• “Written in the Wind” - No True Way: All-New Tales of Valdemar anthology - DAW, December 2014

1 RPG supplement

• Colonial Gothic: Lost Colony, Sourcebook - Rogue Games, February 2014

2 novels

• The Nellus Academy Incident, YA Battletech novel - Catalyst Game Labs, January 2014
• Keystones: Book Three of the Karen Wilson Chronicles, novel - Apocalypse Ink Productions, April 2014

4 anthologies

• Bless Your Mechanical Heart anthology - Evil Girlfriend Media, Editor, April 2014
• Beast Within 4: Gears & Growls anthology - Graveside Tales, Editor, October 2014
• Chicks Dig Gaming non-fiction anthology - Mad Norwegian Press, Co-Editor (with Robert Smith? and Lars Pearson), November 2014
• Shattered Shields anthology - Baen Books, Co-Editor (with Bryan Thomas Schmidt), November 2014