Let me sum up Gen Con: Busy, exhausting, awesome.

As usual, way too many things happened for me to talk about them all. I’m going to hit some highlights.

Melissa Allen Trilogy
I discovered that Melissa Allen #1: Never Let Me Sleep is on TV Tropes! There’s an author bucket list checkmark!

Arkham Horror: To Fight the Black Wind
I have never had so many fans come up and be so complimentary about any of my tie-in fiction before. People told me that, because of my novella, Carolyn Fern was now their favorite Arkham Horror character. That To Fight the Black Wind was “the holy grail” of the Arkham Horror novellas to find. That there is even a subreddit discussing To Fight the Black Wind that was complimentary. (Another author buckle list checkmark). I was even asked to sign the Carolyn Fern Arkham Horror card game card (checkmark!). I really am thrilled at how much people enjoyed my novella.

Cat Labs (So Many Projects)
BattleTech – The Nellus Academy Incident sold out at both the Cat Labs booth and mine. Several people came to find me with the book they’d bought elsewhere to get it signed. A huge number of BattleTech fans came to as about the new YA Rogue Academy BattleTech trilogy and say nice things about Nellus Academy.

Shadowrun – I got to see all the Cat Lab people and thank Jason Hardy for all he does to protect his authors. I got compliments on Doc Wagon 19 and asked if I was writing more Shadowrun…. To which I could say Yes! I’m writing the first YA Shadowrun novella, A Kiss to Die For. I don’t know when it’ll be out. I also got to meet the people behind the MyViolentLife Shadowrun podcast. I’ll be working with them later in the year on Shadow Bytes, short Shadowrun podcast fiction.

John Helfers
Of course, there was all kinds of cool stuff with one of my favoritest editors, John. We all got to sign the Masters of Orion anthology that he edited and I wrote for. I had meetings with him on a couple of “sekrit” projects that promise to be very exciting, some time in the future.

Misty Lackey
Breakfast with Misty was a joy and a relief. Especially after her scary adventure. Check out her FB page for more, entertaining details.


We made it home in good time with only a handful of books to spare. Someday, I will completely sell out of all my books. This was close, but not quite there, yet.

Yes, I’m going to WorldCon. Schedule soon.

Life has been busy, busy, busy, but good.

Writing
I've finished Rogue Academy: Iron Dawn, polish-edited it, and turned it in. I feel accomplished and actually pretty good about the manuscript. Of course, now I’m in that “I finished a novel, now what?” flail. It’s not that I don’t have stuff to work on. I do. It’s the fact that it feels like I’m doing “procrastination work” – which is what writing flash fiction, editing, and outlining is while I’m novel drafting. I’ll shake my brain out soon enough.

What am I working on now?

• Shadow Bytes – five pieces of Shadowrun flash fiction for a podcast.
• Editing the stories for A Secret Guide to Fighting Elder Gods Lovecraft anthology.
• Prepping to write a Shadowrun novella, A Kiss to Die For.

What does my brain want to work on? After a call with my agent, a far future oceanic novella that I've been noodling over for about a year now. It might become a good Wit'n'Word writing group project.

Conventions
August – I have two major conventions coming up in August: Gen Con and WorldCon. I am a dealer at both and a panelist at WorldCon. I’ll find out this week if I have any panel things to do for Cat Labs at Gen Con. I’ve got my house/cat sitters in place. I’ve started my plans for packing. Gen Con will be more complex than WorldCon, but all of it is doable.

September – I’m participating in the North Coast Redwoods Writers’ Conference. I’ll be reading Friday night, 21 Sep, and teaching two workshops on Saturday, 22 Sep.

Household Stuff
Back patio – Our house is 30+ years old. We’re the second owners. We’re slowly making it look less like a 30+ year old house. The latest project is replacing the back red-brick patio with pretty grey paver stones. The Husband did most of the work. It’s involved and still ongoing. There’ll be a blog post about it soon. It’s not done because it includes replacing the deck stairs on the patio side of things.

Eating from the pantry – Twice a year, the Husband and I do what we call “eating from the pantry.” We don’t eat out. We don’t grocery shop except for fresh veggies and milk. We eat from what we have in the pantry and the deep freeze for the full month as a way of cleaning out the older / soon-to-expire dry goods. It’s also a way to save money. Of course, this means we end up with some strange meals by the end of the month. Bubble-and-Squeak for the win!

Kitties
All four of them are fat and happy. I’m sure you can see that from my Twitter and Instagram. Feel free to join us there.

“The End.”

There are no sweeter words to write on the first draft of a manuscript. Today, I finished the first draft of Rogue Academy #1: Iron Dawn. It’s 84,000 words. Long for a YA novel, but it’ll break 90,000 by the time I’m done. I tend to add into my manuscripts rather than take out. Now that I have the whole story down, I know what needs to be added and where. I know what can be foreshadowed and what can be cut. It’s a beautiful feeling.

I’m going to ignore the manuscript for the next five days to get ready for and go to the Washington State Toy and Geek Fest. I’ll be there with Books & Chains as a dealer. I’ll take one day off to sleep/rest, then I’ll spend the next ten days fixing the novel before I turn it in on July 15th.

This won’t be the last time I see the manuscript by a long shot. It will need to go through a reading by the Cat Labs fiction editor, the BattleTech line developer, and the BattleTech fact checkers. I hope that’s only two iterations of edits. Then a final polish. Then proofing. There may be another iteration of edits in there. I don’t know. We’ll see.

I’ll take a couple of days off to sleep after turning in Iron Dawn. Then I’ll begin the next project. Two of them actually; both Shadowrun.

The first is five flash fiction pieces for a podcast project. The second is my Shadowrun YA novella: A Kiss to Die For. I’m looking forward to digging into both projects. I love Shadowrun and I love new projects. They’ll be a good brain palette-cleanser for when Iron Dawn is returned to me with edits/revisions and I can look at it with fresh eyes and a critical mind.

Typing “The End” is always just the beginning of any novel. A sweet one. It is also the herald of something new to work on.

This weekend, I'll be at Crypticon in Sea-Tac with Apocalypse Ink Productions and on panels. I'm going to have all of my new releases with me as well as some of the old favorites and my convention only book. If you can't come see me, I hope you enjoy the weekend.

Article: To Write the Good Fight over on Jimbo's Awesome SFF Reviews. I like to have a foot in game reality to write a ’Mech Battle. I do it with a little help from my friends.

Interview: +1 to Writing on TripleCrit. All about me as an author and an editor. This fun interview was all about me shifting between the different publishing roles.

Interview: I've got a new interview on MyLifeMyBooksMyEscape about my Arkham Horror novella, To Fight the Black Wind. I get to talk about my favorite scene in this one.

Interview with Loren Rhoads: 5 Questions for Jennifer Brozek. All about Arkham Horror: To Fight the Black Wind. This one touches on how my own dreams brought a bit of reality to the novella.

Released: Arkham Horror: To Fight the Black Wind has been released for almost a month now. Read the first chapter for free.

Review: From Jimbo’s Awesome SFF Reviews. It’s safe to say he liked BattleTech: The Nellus Academy Incident.

Cover reveal, book release: Arkham Horror - To Fight the Black Wind. To be released on April 5.

Guest Blog: Rising Shadows. Why do I write horror? Let me count the reasons… 
 
Kickstarter: Broken Eye Books - good people. It's funded. Welcome to Miskatonic University! One week to go. My story “The Librarian’s Handbook is in the second anthology. The first is funded!

In Print: Look what's in print. My award winning #BattleTech YA novel, THE NELLUS ACADEMY INCIDENT! You asked for it to be in print, and Cat Labs heard you.

Interview: An interview with me on Andrea Dawn of the Dead: The Women of Horror Literature - Jennifer Brozek - The Author's Own Words. I'm the final girl who will try to keep you alive.

Norwescon: Here is my forthcoming schedule for Norwescon. If I'm not in a panel, I'm probably at my dealer's table in the dealer's room. No shyness zone around me. Come and say hello.

THURSDAY
Dealers Table, 4:00pm to 8:00pm

FRIDAY
Dealers Table, 10:00am to 7:00pm
Whipping Out That First Draft, 11:00am - 12:00pm @ Cascade 12
Reading: Jennifer Brozek, 12:00pm - 12:30pm @ Cascade 4
Social Horror, 6:00pm - 7:00pm @ Cascade 11
Anthologies Joy, 7:00pm - 8:00pm @ Cascade 11

SATURDAY
Dealers Table, 10:00am to 6:00pm
Why Agent? 11:00am - 12:00pm @ Cascade 11
YA's Role In Genre, 1:00pm - 2:00pm @ Evergreen 1 & 2
Autograph Session 1, 2:00pm - 3:00pm @ Grand 2
The Horror Of Being Twelve, 6:00pm - 7:00pm @ Cascade 10

SUNDAY
Dealers Table, 10:00am to 4:00pm

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.