Vera Brook

Writer

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Vera’s highlights from Confluence 2022

This weekend (July 29-31) I attended my first Confluence in Pittsburgh, and I’m so glad I did!

Confluence is a small but incredibly fun, welcoming & inspiring conference that brings together writers, editors, readers & fans of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. It’s organized by Parsec, Pittsburgh’s speculative fiction organization, and I highly recommend it. I had a blast.

Confluence logo. Beige text on black background.

Here are some highlights.

Meeting friends, old and new

Writing can get lonely, and I haven’t been to any writerly event since the pandemic started, so the biggest highlight of the conference for me was the people (isn’t it always?).

I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to catch up with old friends, see some of my Twitter friends face to face for the first time, and make new friends & connections. (I wish I remembered to take more photos!)

It was lovely to finally meet Susan Kaye Quinn, a scientist-turned-science-fiction-writer like myself, and my long-time inspiration and role model in the indie publishing world. Like Susan, I crave and try to write science fiction that’s hopeful & optimistic, at least to some degree, including solarpunk. After all, science fiction can do more than identify problems and warn of dangers ahead. It’s also a laboratory for ideas and a testing ground for solutions. (In my excitement, I forgot to take a photo with Susan. Next time!)

It was also terrific to hang out with my writer friend Marie Vibbert; to talk short fiction with Scott H. Andrews (editor of Beneath Ceaseless Skies), Neil Clarke (editor of Clarkesworld), and Charlie Oberndorf; to swap novels with Shannon Eichorn (I can’t wait to read Rights of Use); to chat about the writing life with Herb Kauderer; to play board games with Michelle Steiner and Mowgli Assor, both librarians extraordinaire; and to meet so many other amazing writers, editors, publishers, and fans.

A selfie of Vera Brook and her friend Marie Vibbert, both smiling at the camera. Marie is wearing awesome crystal cube earrings.
Marie Vibbert (left) and Vera Brook (right) at Confluence 2022.

Conference programming

Another highlight of the conference was the programming. Lots of fun & informative sessions to attend! But don’t take my word for it – see for yourself. The full Confluence 2022 schedule can be found here.

I had the pleasure of moderating two panels (with thanks to the Confluence organizers for trusting me with the job!):

  • “Reading Short SF: Why You Should Be Reading Short Fiction, Both Classic and New“ – with panelists Neil Clarke (Confluence’s Guest of Honor) and Michael Swanwick, and moderated by yours truly
  • “Suspended animation, FTL, AI: Which common SF ideas may become reality (and which are unlikely)” – with panelists Marianne Porter, Alan Katerinsky, Charles Oberndorf, and Barton Paul Levenson, and moderated by yours truly

Writing workshop

Finally, I participated in “Your Story’s First Five Pages” writing workshop taught by Scott H. Andrews, and it was excellent! A lecture on short-fiction craft from a long-time editor is always a treat, but we also submitted, read, and discussed each other’s work (the first five pages of a short story, as the name of the workshop suggests). Thank you, Scott! The workshop was super helpful. Now to apply it to my own short fiction…

In conclusion, I can’t wait for Confluence 2023!

Clarion West Write-a-Thon 2022!

I am thrilled that the 2022 Clarion West workshop is back in person, and a new cohort of writers gets to travel to Seattle and write, read & discuss speculative short fiction for 6 weeks. Congratulations & best wishes to all of them!

And to celebrate, I’m participating in the online Clarion West Write-a-Thon again. Both to get some serious writing done and to help to fundraise for the future Clarion West workshops.

My writing goals

My goal for this Write-a-Thon is to make progress on my current writing projects. That’s all. These projects include my neuroscience-inspired thriller and a handful of short stories, since I always juggle multiple manuscripts. Anything counts: words added to the manuscript, notes in a notebook, tweaks to an outline.

In addition, every day, I will feature a different speculative short fiction magazine, with links to their website and to their listing on the Submission Grinder. 

Speculative short fiction magazines

There are so many excellent magazines out there, publishing amazing flash, short stories, novelettes, and novellas, that I decided to highlight only the newer, smaller ones. The order is random. (I literally wrote down the magazine names on pieces of paper and drew one name for each day.) 

My writing & publishing year in review: 2021

I won’t lie: it feels presumptuous to be writing this post, even if I don’t mention “award eligibility.”

I have been writing and self-publishing for five years, but in many ways I’m still finding my voice and learning the ropes. It’s definitely not a quick or easy journey!

But, in the spirit of treating my fiction writing as a career as well as a passion, I want to get in the habit of reflecting on what I accomplished in terms of both writing and publishing, and use it to set better goals for the future.

So here is my 2021 in review, divided into three categories:

  1. The work I published
  2. The work I wrote but haven’t published or even finished yet
  3. Other writing-related endeavors

1. My Work Published in 2021

> SAND RUNNER SERIES BUNDLE (BOOKS 1-3)

My first series bundle collects the first 3 books in my YA near-future science fiction series about extreme racing and bionic tech: SAND RUNNER (Book 1), CAGE RUNNER (Book 2), and GHOST RUNNER (Book 3). Published in February 2021 exclusively on Kobo (for now).

Sand Runner Bundle Cover

> OF BUGS, DEBTS, AND DISTANT PLANETS

Science fiction flash fiction (995 words) published in Fifth Di… in June 2021.

> MIRA

Science fiction/ biopunk short story (1350 words) published in Hyphen Punk in June 2021. (The POV character, Mira, briefly appears in SAND RUNNER.)

> MUSIC THERAPY

Science fiction novelette (9950 words) inspired by neuroscience research on therapeutic effects of acupuncture — meshed with lab politics, secret romance, and irreverent humor. Published in Aphelion in November 2021.

> FRIENDS & FOES

Paranormal/ dark fantasy romance with a twist (short story, 1475 words) posted on Wattpad and my website in October 2021.

Cover for the short story Friends and Foes by Vera Brook

> THE GAME

LitRPG portal fantasy (short story, 2075 words) posted on Wattpad and my website in November 2021.

Cover for The Game short story by Vera Brook

> SECRET TEETH, HIDDEN CLAWS

Dark fantasy about the writing process (flash, 960 words) posted on Wattpad and my website in November 2021.

Cover for the short story Secret Teeth, Hidden Claws by Vera Brook

> THE KISS

Paranormal love story (11,500 words) published on Amazon (for now) in November 2021.

Promo image for The Kiss by Vera Brook

2. My Work Written (But Not Yet Published) in 2021

> YA ROMANCE ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL THEATER

This is a new series and a new genre for me: contemporary romance without any speculative elements. Romance is all about characters and relationships, so my goal is to both expand my range and strengthen my craft.

Book 1 in the series is complete at 106,000 words. I am also 68,000 words into Book 2. My plan is to write 3 books in this series and edit them together, and then publish all 3 on a rapid-release schedule. I am also writing some tie-in short fiction to gift to my readers.

Here are the two main characters, Ana and Cory, as I imagine them. (Artwork made with Artbreeder.)

> YA SCIENCE FICTION ABOUT COGNITIVE ENHANCEMENT

Same plan as above. Book 1 is finished (at about 80,000 words), but I want to write books 2 & 3 as well, edit them together, and publish the whole trilogy on a rapid-release schedule. It requires a lot of patience, but I believe it will be worth it.

> SCIENCE FICTION NOVELETTE ABOUT CONSTRUCTION WORKERS

Currently on hold with a market I really love (fingers crossed).

Lately, all my short fiction grows to novelette length. No regrets in this case, though, even if it might be harder to publish. I am very fond of the characters, and I hope my readers will enjoy them too.

3. Other Writing-Related Endeavors in 2021

This post is getting too long, so I’ll only mention 2 things here, not to torture you, kind souls who are reading it.

> AUTHOR NEWSLETTER

I had an author newsletter before, but I’ve neglected it to the point of almost murdering the poor thing.

But an email list is still considered a key marketing asset, and I subscribe to a lot of author and writing-related newsletters myself and enjoy them. So I finally got over my resistance and reanimated Vera Brook’s newsletter in 2021.

You are welcome to sign up for it here: http://eepurl.com/cTQmKD! 🙂

> CLARION WEST WRITE-A-THON 2021

I loved, loved, loved participating in the Clarion West Write-A-Thon 2021, to support their amazing Clarion West speculative fiction workshop & other events. Participants set their own goals, write alongside the Seattle workshop participants, and help raise funds for future workshops.

In addition to a daily writing goal and a fundraising goal, I pledged to read a short story a day. You can see a partial list of the amazing short stories I read, with links to where you can read them as well, on my website. I also included some writing & publishing resources. I hope you will find them useful.

And that’s all she wrote! I’ll tackle my writing & publishing goals for 2022 in a separate post.

Thank you for reading, and all the best in 2022!

THE KISS, a paranormal love story, now available to my newsletter subscribers!

This story haunted me for a few years before I figured out how to tell it. I can’t wait to share it with readers.

Sign up for my newsletter and get exclusive, early access to this edgy, unforgettable love story with a twist.

Why sign up?

You’ll get:

  • exclusive access to advance reader copies and giveaways of my books,
  • sneak peaks of my works in progress,
  • other thrilling writing and publishing news,
  • plus my eternal gratitude (since writing is hard work, and it’s the readers who make it worthwhile).
SIGN UP FOR VERA’S NEWSLETTER

Here is a teaser for THE KISS.

In the dark, without the unfamiliar face to confuse her, the embrace was achingly familiar. Every inch of her body responded to it. But how was that possible? A stranger held her. They’d never met before. Unless…

SAND RUNNER is a contender in the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC)!

I’m thrilled to report that SAND RUNNER, my near-future science fiction novel, is a contender in the inaugural 2021 Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC). What an honor! And very, very exciting.

Image credit: Hugh Howey’s blog (https://hughhowey.com/the-spsfc-begins/).

Huge thanks to Hugh Howey and Duncan Swan for organizing, and to all the book bloggers and reviewers for reading & judging the entries!

And best of luck to all my fellow indie science fiction writers! I look forward to reading your books in the future.

SAND RUNNER by Vera Brook as ebook and paperback

Update:

Sadly, SAND RUNNER did not make it to the next round of the competition. But the reviewers’ verdict was that “Fans of YA are likely to get a kick out of it.” I can live with that! 🙂

Thank you to all the SPSFC reviewers for their time and effort reviewing the submissions, and congrats & best wishes to all my fellow indie writers, no matter what the outcome. And maybe the future iterations of the SPSFC could have a separate YA category? That would be great.