In case you were wondering...


1. I might or might not have been mistaken for author Patricia Briggs.
Answer: True. The gentleman was confused and apologetic.

2. I might or might not have stolen a drink from author Phoebe Kitanidis.
Answer: False. Phoebe is far too lovely a woman to steal from.

3. I might or might not have taken compromising pictures of Talebones editor Patrick Swenson.
Answer: False. Patrick is a scholar and a gentleman. He would never do anything compromising.

4. I might or might not have wandered off alone with author Mary Robinette Kowal.
Answer: False. While I did wander off to talk with Mary, we were never alone. There were always people around. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

5. I might or might not have forced author Jeff Soesbe to entertain IROSF's editor Stacy Janssen.
Answer: True. It was at a party. I introduced them. Then I had to leave and told Jeff to entertain Stacy. Apparently it wasn't a hardship.

6. I might or might not have dodged a pen thrown at me by author Marti McKenna.
Answer: True. This one was a trick statement. I dodged the pen by standing still. It landed between my feet.

7. I might or might not have bribed author Alma Alexander with chocolate.
Answer: True. You will never get the reason of why out of me.

8. I might or might not have flirted with authors William F. Nolan and Jason V. Brock.
Answer: False. We were too busy talking shop and Sunni was right there and my husband was right there, too. It would have been crass. The shop talk was more fun.

9. I might or might not have abandoned editors Maggie Jamison and Deb Taber at a party.
Answer: True. I had to go back to my hotel room to write. I'm on a deadline

10. I might or might not have teased author Lizzy Shannon mercilessly at her book party.
Answer: False. I didn't have to. Everyone else was teasing her.

I am pleased to announce that we have a new Edge of Propinquity author for 2010. seanan_mcguire has joined the team. Read about her and her TEoP Universe, SPARROW HILL ROAD.

I went to my first OryCon as a pro-guest over Thanksgiving Day weekend with my husband. For 2.5 days, it was amazingly packed. There was so much for me to do and, somehow, I managed to get everything that was required of me done even if I didn't get to go to all of the panels and readings I wanted to go to.

I had 8 panels to speak on. I would say this is a record but I've done more at GenCon. Still, it was a whole lot. By the end of the day, my words had fled. Ditto with my memory. There were two guys, Patrick and Sean/Scott(?), that I kept mixing up. Either that or it was just one guy that was really messing with me.

I went to my first SFWA meeting and got to meet Mary Robinette Kowal. I'm pretty impressed with her, her ability to speak and her willingness to entertain questions. I had a couple of contract questions that she, while not being able to answer directly, had some good advice on.

I got to meet Maggie Jamison (submissions editor) and Deb Taber (senior editor) from Apex Publications! I've been emailing them back and forth since I joined the Apex team and it was lovely getting to meet and hang out with them. I really like both and we plan to meet up again soon. When I was not at panels, eating or writing, I was in the dealer's room at the Apex table. Which means I wasn't there nearly as much as I wished I could have been.

I wrote 4000 words over the three days of the convention. Normally, it is not hard to crank out 4000 words. However, doing it at a convention is another matter. It's not something I recommend anyone do. I did it because I'm on a deadline and it did force me to leave the parties early because I had not gotten my word count done for the day. On the bright side, no hangovers to contend with.

It is hard to put down on paper all of the things that happen at a convention: the meets-and-greets, the inside jokes, the funny mistakes, the advice given or received, the reconnections, meeting someone you admire and thousands of other things that invariably happen when a large quantity of like-minded people get together.

So, I'm going to borrow a bit from my Apex Overlord, Jason, and give you 10 things that might or might not have happened while at OryCon 2009. Five of these happened. Five of them did not. You guess which is which.

1. I might or might not have been mistaken for author Patricia Briggs.

2. I might or might not have stolen a drink from author Phoebe Kitanidis.

3. I might or might not have taken compromising pictures of Talebones editor Patrick Swenson.

4. I might or might not have wandered off alone with author Mary Robinette Kowal.

5. I might or might not have forced author Jeff Soesbe to entertain IROSF's editor Stacy Janssen.

6. I might or might not have dodged a pen thrown at me by author Marti McKenna.

7. I might or might not have bribed author Alma Alexander with chocolate.

8. I might or might not have flirted with authors William F. Nolan and Jason V. Brock.

9. I might or might not have abandoned editors Maggie Jamison and Deb Taber at a party.

10. I might or might not have teased author Lizzy Shannon mercilessly at her book party.

It was a good time and I hope to be invited back. The one complaint I had (that the readings were not put in with the rest of the panels) was told to CS Cole and she put it down on her list of programming reviews. I suspect, if I am invited back I will be happen to attend in 2010.

Jennifer's Apex Slush Pile Scorecard for 2009
(The other submission editors have their own scorecards.)

303 total submissions

303 total submissions read.

301 total rejections.

00 total submissions currently kept for round-robin editorial evaluation.

02 published in Apex Digest

00 submissions to go.

Stories rejected because:
1. Not enough Horror.
2. Not enough Science Fiction
3. Fantasy story
4. Boring, stale, incoherent


TEoP Slush Pile Scorecard for 2010

49 total submissions

49 total submissions read.

41 total rejections.

03 total submissions kept for rereads ('maybe' reactions).

05 total "Yes!" responses.

00 submissions to go.

Stories rejected because:
1. Not set in a modern era.
2. Not set in a hidden world within mundane society.
3. Not on theme.
4. Not interesting.

The rare twitter roundup of my friends' "Cyber Monday" sales:

@gudmagazine: Cyber Monday? GUD's "Pay What You Want" -- it doesn't get better than that. http://tr.im/gudpwyw

@aaronace: #cybermonday offerings: http://aaronace.livejournal.com/147225.html

@sandykidd: Today is your VERY LAST DAY to preorder the @crossedgenres Year 1 Anthology: http://tinyurl.com/yj7n3sj #cybermonday

@flamesrising: Cyber Monday Special at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop: http://www.flamesrising.com/cyber-monday-rpgnow/

@apexjason: Apex Cyber Monday sale--30% off all orders today only! Enter code CYBERMONDAY on checkout! http://www.apexbookstore.com

Remember, I will be at OryCon this weekend. If I'm not in a panel, I will probably be in the Dealer's Room at the Apex Publications table. Come by and say hello.

OryCon Programming Schedule

Friday, Nov 27, 4-5pm: Bribing Your Muse
Friday, Nov 27, 5-6pm: Stalking the wild anthology - tips for success
Friday, Nov 27, 6-7pm: The physics of magic

Saturday, Nov 27, 10am-11am: SFWA meeting (Hawthorne)
Saturday, Nov 27, 11:30am-12pm: Reading
Saturday, Nov 27, 12pm-1pm: Accounting for writers, artists and fen
Saturday, Nov 27, 1pm-2pm: My villain is too mwa ha ha. Help!
Saturday, Nov 27, 3pm-4pm: Writing for the RPG industry
Saturday, Nov 27, 8pm-9pm: Self-Publishing, Indie and Vanity

Sunday, Nov 28, 1pm-2pm: All our cats are green

I am joining Monica Valentinelli's December Writing Marathon. It is a 20,000+ word stretch that gets to encompass everything I need to get done before the end of the year. So, why not join. It's a little added bonus towards something I'm already doing. Sometimes, the dark of winter is hard on the motivation.

So, things I must get done before the end of the year:

Continue: Shanghai Vampocalypse for Talisman Studios. (Actual word count unknown based on how much I'm doing in November. 10,000+ words)

Start: Serial fiction for Colonial Gothic with Dylan Birtolo, 6 months worth (6000 words)

Start: Adventure series for Pathfinder, 3 months worth (7500 words)

Start: Serial fiction for Pathfinder with Filamena Young, 3 months worth (3000 word)

I swear, in January, I'm going to take a bit of a break so I can let my creative well recharge.

"If anyone told me a few years back that I actually would quit a very well paying job to spend a whole year doing nothing but writing and following the necessary steps for a writing career, I think I would have thought they were crazy. But I'm doing it. Have done it. I had my exit interview at Endeavor on Wednesday. I am now, officially, nothing but a freelance author." –November 25, 2006

Today is a good day. It is like any other day in my current routine: I got up, got my breakfast, and started my internet tour. Answered questions from an editor. Asked questions from the Apex Book Company slush readers. Read Twitter. Remembered to advertize that I have a new PDF setting for Colonial Gothic out: historical horror in 1776 Plymouth. Paused in everything else to discuss archives from the Edge of Propinquity with the author, the editing and the story's future.

Next up, I'm going to settle in to work on an RPG book for Talisman Studios before working on some pays-the-bills writing for Amazon.

But first, I really must sit back and appreciate my life. Three years ago, I leapt off of that cliff and changed my profession from SQA engineer to full-time author, not knowing if it would stick but knowing that I had to try. Had to. I'm so happy I took the chance. I decided that I really needed to see if I could make a go of it as a full-time writer and here I am, three years later doing just that.

I'm not sure what else there is to say about it except that I'm glad I followed my dream and I'm glad that it has worked out so far.

Happy Anniversary to me.

Finding My Voice 1 - http://jennifer-brozek.livejournal.com/77923.html

Following up on the idea that I am finding my voice with the help of professionals in the business, there were some interesting responses to my previous post. Some felt it was someone else telling me what I should write and that, really, I should write what I want to write while others felt it was good advices and something I already knew but didn't realize.

My response to everyone is, essentially, you are all correct. I should write what I want to write. I should write what I'm good at. I should take the advice of professionals. I should listen to my own heart. This may seem like a conflict but, really, it is not. I'm lucky in the fact that everything has pointed me in the same direction: while I like traditional/epic fantasy, it is not my best genre and I've been struggling with it for years. I am much more comfortable with modern urban fantasy, soft science fiction and horror. Plus, most of what I sell is SF and Horror.

On FaceBook, someone (who has a vested interest in what I write) asked about short stories and fantasy. To me, short stories are a completely different animal. Short stories take a different voice and different language than novels. There's a lot less time to set the scene and get a feel for the world. In a way, it is a kind of short hand writing that I seem to excel at no matter the genre. I know how to write to give impressions rather than details. Short stories are situations with sketched backgrounds. I work well with that.

I'm not completely shelving the idea of writing traditional fantasy novels but it does mean they get to go on the backburner for a while (unless something really strikes my fancy). It means that I choose (and it is my choice) to focus more on my SF and horror writing. I'm good at that. It is what the agents I am interested in are looking for and that is a win-win situation for me.

(Of course, I may have to finally buckle down and write a weird western story or two that I have banging around in my head.)

http://www.apexbookcompany.com/blog/2009/11/everywhere-like-quicksilver-part-1/

http://www.apexbookcompany.com/?p=1273

by Jason Sizemore
Apex editors and authors are all over the Internet. We have blogs, websites, and Twitter accounts. Occasionally, we’ll say something funny or interesting. For example, just this morning I was stopped at a red light on the drive to the day job and randomly tweeted “Red lights can bite my butt.”

See what you’re missing?

Today, I’ll list places where you find Apex editors on Twitter and Facebook.

Twitter:
Jason Sizemore - @apexjason
Jennifer Brozek - @jenniferbrozek
Chris Einhaus - @chriseinhaus
Sarah Brandel - @initialdescent
Justin Stewart - @justin3000
Apex Book Company - @apexbookcompany
Mari Adkins - @mariadkins

Facebook: (Editor's Note: All of the links are at the article. I'm too lazy/busy to stop and link each one.)
Apex Publications
Chris Einhaus
Deb Taber
Jennifer Brozek
Justin Stewart
Mari Adkins
Sarah Brandel
Maggie Jamison

http://www.monsterlibrarian.com/zombies.htm#The_World_Is_Dead_edited_by_Kim_Paffenroth__

Review for The World is Dead anthology at Monster Library - "The World is Dead is one of the strongest zombie anthologies that have come out recently and should be definitely be added to a library collection."

As some of you know, I spent a lot of this year searching for an agent. I have received a lot of good feedback from my search, including a fistful of rejections—a handful of them personal and very nice. All of the personal ones have meant a lot to me. I know how busy these agents are.

In the feedback I have received, something that has come up more than once is that my "author's voice" isn't that suited to fantasy. So far, everyone has liked the fantasy novel I've turned in but really, the thought my author's voice was much stronger with the other writing I've done—non-fiction, horror, modern gothic/paranormal and science fiction.

In a way, this surprised me. I like fantasy. I read it a lot. But, when I really look at my favorite books and favorite authors… most of them are horror, modern gothic/paranormal and science fiction. This is something I've never really noticed. Or, I knew it but I didn't really realize it. It's cool that these agents were able to pick that out from what I sent them while I could not.

It is also cool because now I have something to narrow my focus down to work on. Instead of wondering which project I'm going to work on next, I can cut all of my fantasy stuff out of the picture and focus on the sci-fi and horror stuff. To tell you the truth, this is a relief. I've flailed around for some time working on this project and that when, now, I have some direction based on where my strengths lie.

I will be revisiting my sci-fi space opera story and rewriting it from scratch, using the 60,000 word novel as an outline—adding another subplot to the novel that I wanted to but didn't the first go around. Once it is done, I have a short list of agents that I will try again with.

bondo_ba clued me into this review of Premuted Press' anthology The World is Dead, edited by Kim Paffenroth on Horror Fiction Review. My story, A Bite to Remember got an honorable mention which, of course, makes me happy.

Colleen Wanglund says, "Honorable mention goes to A BITE TO REMEMBER by Jennifer Brozek which tells a good story of a very tightly controlled post-apocalyptic society, and mentions zombie terrorists and religion without expanding on something I find potentially interesting."

The whole anthology got a 4 out of 5 rating. Make with the clicky-link and read the rest of the post yourself. Other books reviewed include: DEPRAVED by Bryan Smith, DUBAKU by Edward M. Erdelac, REVOLT OF THE DEAD by Keith Gouveia, ENTER DEATH, STAGE RIGHT (MY SOUL TO TAKE PART II) by William A. Veselik and DARK ENTITIES by David Dunwoody

My science fiction story "Nothing Left to Salvage" is now up on Wily Writers. Feel free to listen (or read) and comment.

Nothing Left to Salvage
Esda and Seairth believe they have found the salvage of a lifetime. It is a derelict ship that promises riches and an easy life. What they find is a horror beyond imagining that will end their salvaging days forever. [16min]

Read by the fabulous Angel Lee McCoy aka angelmcc.

It is free to read or to listen to. I am very fond of this story. It is my "zombies in space" story and the second zombie story I've written/sold.

I have a couple of stories that are eligible this year:

"Honoring the Dead"; Wily Writers, May 2009 [short story] (This one is my favorite of these stories.)

"Three Flashes of Fang & Fur"; Relief Anthology in "The Fleas They Carried" anthology [short story]

"Nothing Left to Salvage"; Wily Writers, November 2009 (This just came out today!) [short story]

"A Bite to Remember"; Permuted Press in "The World is Dead" anthology [short story]

Volume 47: November 2009

Welcome to the Edge of Propinquity. Volume 47 is now published. The transition from fall into winter is a thrilling time with brisk winds, nosy storms and the portent of dark days to come. In this penultimate volume we have a trap sprung, a victim lead towards an ambush, a lost soul looking for guidance anywhere he can and an attempt to make amends.


Luminations - Sand by Rick Silva AKA shaharazad
Solstice - Autumn, Part Two by Ivan Ewert AKA ivan23
Danyael - Winter's Night by Nick Bergeron
Guest Author - The House of Bad Blood by Robert Mitchell Evans



Have you ever looked over the edge and seen something looking back at you?

Sincerely,
Jennifer Brozek
Editor, The Edge of Propinquity
http://www.edgeofpropinquity.net/default.asp

My Google-fu has failed me.

I am looking for the creator of this image of a destroyed Seattle.

I cannot find out anything about it. On the bottom right corner, it has the word "Scratched" and a second word I cannot make out. I think the second might be "technology" but I'm not sure.

I want to compliment the creator on the image.

I want to buy a hard copy print of it.

Let's make it a contest: The first person who can get me in contact with the creator/owner of this image, will win a copy of my post apocalyptic anthology GRANTS PASS and my sincere appreciation.

NOTE: The creator has been found. It is Scott Shepard, a Seattle local. Thank you.

…makes the editor/author/publisher cranky. About three weeks ago, when I was feeling so overwhelmed by all that I had on my plate, I made the conscious decision to play more even though I had "so much to do." That "playing more" included making time for "just-for-fun" reading. Not reading slush. Not reading to give a blurb or a review. Not reading with the editor's hat on. I decided I needed to get back to reading what I wanted, when I wanted. Otherwise, I was going to get to the point that I hated half of my job.

I'm really glad I made this decision. I've recently I read "Dune" by Frank Herbert (an old favorite) and "Old Man's War" by John Scalzi and I enjoyed both more than I expected. I forgot what fun it was to read just for entertainment and enjoyment without having a running editor/reviewer in the back of my head making notes or taking them. I'm all excited about getting my reading list that includes more Scalzi, Anton Strout, Jim Hines and Jeff Carlson. It looks like I'm going to get to them all before the end of the year – despite my crazy writing schedule.

Also, interestingly enough, I'm a lot more relaxed about the writing I'm doing now. I think it's going to show in my work.

I read slush for two magazines and for the anthologies I edit. I've discovered that I read each publication in a very different light. For the Edge of Propinquity, I read it in the vein of "do I like this enough to spend money on it and does it fit what TEoP is all about (as well as the theme)?" This is the easiest publication to read for. It is my publication. I know what I like and what I want and what I am willing to spend money on. I only answer to me.

For every other publication, it is different. For Apex Digest, I read slush looking for stories that fit the theme and genre of the magazine and then, knowing what I know of the guy, Jason Sizemore, who owns the publication, I have to think, "Do I like this story enough to ask him to spend money on it?" There is a real difference between me spending my money on a story and asking him spending his money on a story. Will the story make him smile or cringe (in a good way) or will he roll his eyes at me and wonder why he has me on staff?

When it comes to anthologies, I read those slush piles much more in the vein of Apex Digest with the added complication of "Will this story fit in with every other story I have decided is worth me asking someone else to pay for it?" Anthologies are a huge bundle of complications when it comes to looking at them because you also look at them with the mind that you can have them rewritten just a bit to suit your anthology's needs. Underneath the story cuts, you also have to look at how easy or hard it will be to work with the author for the rewrite requests and what you know of their ability to get a story done on time.

Reading slush, for me, often means I'm willing to put my reputation as a professional editor on the line for the story in question. Yes, it is about the story but it is also about who is buying the story and what you have to do to that story after it is sold.

I will be at OryCon this year as a pro-panelist and as part of the Apex Book Company table in the Dealers room. Not only that, I'm going to be selling GRANTS PASS anthologies there as well. (I just realized that I need to do flyers about upcoming books... I have six scheduled to come out in 2010.)

Come out and see me and the rest of the OryCon Apex crew. We'd love to talk with you.

OryCon Programming Schedule

Friday, Nov 27, 4-5pm: Bribing Your Muse
When ideas fail to materialize. Having trouble thinking up new story ideas? What to do when your muse skips town. - Bruce Taylor, Jennifer Brozek, Elton Elliott, Rebecca Neason

Friday, Nov 27, 5-6pm: Stalking the wild anthology - tips for success
How to get invitations to anthologies, and once you`re in, how to balance standing out vs. fitting with the anthology, how stories work in the grand scheme of total word count, and other anthology lore. - Kal Cobalt, Jennifer Brozek, William F. Nolan, Mary Robinette Kowal, Rhea Rose

Friday, Nov 27, 6-7pm: The physics of magic
Writers often talk about magic systems and magic having a cost. It's fantasy--can't you do anything you want? Should magic hold to a law of conservation of energy? The nuts and bolts of magic in fantasy, and what readers want or don't want to see. - Brenna, Christopher Lester, Jennifer Brozek, Blake Hutchins

***

Saturday, Nov 27, 11:30am-12pm: Reading
I will be reading from my upcoming collection: "In a Gilded Light"

Saturday, Nov 27, 12pm-1pm: Accounting for writers, artists and fen
Paperwork, Taxes and the IRS. Who gets paid what? Who deducts what? Can I really write off that trip to Belize and do I have to keep every receipt? When can I start treating some of my hobbies and start-ups as real businesses? - John Hedtke, Jennifer Brozek, Phoebe Kitanidis, Richard A. Lovett

Saturday, Nov 27, 1pm-2pm: My villain is too mwa ha ha. Help!
How to make your antagonists more than a cackling evil caricature without turning them into marshmallows. - Alma Alexander, Jennifer Brozek, Christopher Lester, Elton Elliott, Louise Marley/Toby Bishop

Saturday, Nov 27, 3pm-4pm: Writing for the RPG industry
A how-to workshop. - Rhiannon Louve, Michelle Lyons, Jennifer Brozek, Anthony Pryor

Saturday, Nov 27, 8pm-9pm: Self-Publishing, Indie and Vanity
What are the differences between self-publishing, independent publishing and vanity publishing? How do writers produce successful books outside the traditional publishing process? - Patrick Swenson, Jennifer Brozek, Elton Elliott, Doug Odell

***

Sunday, Nov 28, 1pm-2pm: All our cats are green
Exploration of everyday applications of science fiction technology in the lives of Joe-average characters. What are the societal consequences of transporters, and do you really want to go there with your story? What if all major diseases were conquered, or all people were immortal? - Elton Elliott, Mary Robinette Kowal, Jennifer Brozek, David W. Goldman, Richard A. Lovett