Category: News

IAFSA SCIENCE FICTION BUNDLE ALL 99 CENTS!

Published on by Bryan Thomas Schmidt

GUYS, I’m proud to be a member of International Association of Science Fiction Authors. IASFA regularly offers bundles and interviews with indie authors through their newsletter to over 10,000 subscribers. And this month, I am pleased to have two novels be a part of their promotion. SIMON SAYS and SHORTCUT!

It’s an All Science Fiction Novel Bundle, with a bunch of great novels for 99 cents or free and it runs from Sept. 24 (today) through Sept. 28 (Thursday).

To get to the good stuff, click here: 99 CENT BOOKS

Here’s a brief interview I did with IAFSA about SHORTCUT:

Bryan Thomas Schmidt, author of Shortcut

I write hard science fiction thrillers. I love the real world stuff and how it drives the story, from ride alongs with actual police to science and maths, even pop culture. For me, I love being able to learn new things and then use it to make the movie in my head come alive in words. At least that’s how I hope it works out.

The research is a lot of work but worth it. But I spent hours and even years on Shortcut. It’s nice to be able to build on that now beyond just the novel to do some other stories. With John Simon, I spent hours up all night riding through the most dangerous neighborhoods in Kansas City with the police doing real world research. I visit all the real settings and take notes. I love being able to use that to make things more vivid and real, even when I’m inventing new locations, people, and things.

If you like good adventure and suspense mixed with humor and fascinating characters, even a bit of real science and math, you should enjoy my stuff.


Dear Reader Letter-The Hitherto Secret Experiments of Marie Curie

Published on by Bryan Thomas Schmidt

Dear Reader,

Today is a big day. April 11, 2023 is the release of my latest anthology, THE HITHERTO SECRET EXPERIMENTS OF MARIE CURIE (Blackstone Publishing), co-edited by Henry L. Herz (buy here) and we debuted at #1 in hardcover. It’s been a real whirlwind the past few years with COVID, among other things—an odd time, in some ways, to create books, but The Hitherto Secret Experiments of Marie Curie was born. Fittingly, it tells fictionalized stories of the youth of one of the world’s most famous scientists, Marie Curie, whose own life was filled with tragedy and struggles—not just as a female pioneer in STEM, but with deaths in her family, oppression of her people, and more. Unlike COVID, Marie has left the world a much better place, however, and she did so at great cost. It is widely believed she died due to the effect of radiation exposure from her great discovery of radium. Marie was not one to let obstacles stop her. She pushed and she worked and she fought and she conquered time and again. She’s an inspiring and fascinating woman, and we hope our stories are inspiring too.
These stories are fictional. Although they are based on real characters in real situations and real history, but none of these events actually happened. Instead we invited 18 of the top Young Adult and horror writers (line-up here) working today to collaborate on fun misadventures filled with mischief, mystery, monsters, and yes, science, as they imagined what life might have been like for young teenage Marie. Marie’s life was largely shaped by the tragic loss of her mother and sister at a young age and so are these stories, but Marie conquered adversity time and again, and she does here too.
THE HITHERTO SECRET EXPERIMENTS OF MARIE CURIE won’t change the world but it can entertain and inspired. We hope these stories inspire you to face any obstacles you encounter with courage, drive, and determination. Women can change the world in STEM or anywhere else. We celebrate possibilities and great futures and wish the same for you.
Thank you for reading. The book is now available on hardcover, audiobook and CD and ebook here.

ISBN: 9781665047036 (hardcover) / B0B9HNBW47 (Ebook) / B0B8M2D1CF (audio)

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Luckily for humanity, scientist Marie Curie applied her brilliant mind and indomitable spirit to expanding the frontiers of science, but what if she had instead drifted toward the darkness?

At the cusp of between child- and adulthood, at the crossroads between science and superstition, a teen Marie Curie faces the factual and the fantastic in this fabulous collection of stories that inspire, delight, and ask the question: What if she had used her talents for diabolical purposes?

The Hitherto Secret Experiments of Marie Curie includes twenty short stories and poems by award-winning writers including New York Times bestselling authors Seanan McGuire, Scott Sigler, Jane Yolen, Alethea Kontis, and Jonathan Maberry, plus Sarah Beth Durst, Lissa Price, Christine Taylor-Butler, Mylo Carbia, Jo Whittemore, Dee Leone, Susanne L. Lambdin, Steve Pantazis, Emily McCosh, Henry Herz, Bryan Thomas Schmidt & GP Charles.

Coming June 21: PREDATOR-Eyes Of The Demon (Line-up)

Published on by Bryan Thomas Schmidt2 Comments

Since the cover finally went live last night, I can finally reveal the author lineup of my latest endeavor in the film universe of PREDATOR. My third such book over all—after PREDATOR: IF IT BLEEDS (2017) and ALIENS VS. PREDATORS: ULTIMATE PREY (March 2022) also from Titan Books—EYES OF THE DEMON is filled with great authors and stories and I guarantee you will see Predators, both male and female, like you have never seen them before. We have some awesome stories with unique approaches and settings. It’s not just the usual shoot ém up. And we did not focus on the historical time travel angle either. There’s even a new story featuring Dutch Schaefer that ties together the first two movies like never before and fills in gaps in the universe. So, along with the cover, here’s the list of great writers participating:

Linda Addison – Peter Briggs – Robert Greenberger – Ammar Habib – Stephen Graham Jones – Gini Koch – Michael Kogge – Tim Lebbon –Jonathan Maberry – Kim May – Yvonne Navarro – Joshua Pruett –AR Redington – Bryan Thomas Schmidt – Scott Sigler

As some may notice, several of these authors have written in this universe before as with my last books: Tim Lebbon, Jonathan Maberry, Robert Greenberger, Yvonne Navarro, Scott Sigler, and myself. But also screenwriter Peter Briggs makes his fiction debut. He’s the guy who in the 1990s sold a spec screenplay for Aliens Vs. Predator that launched a franchise (even though his script was never actually used).

We’re talk 16 all new tales here, folks. And this will be one of three Predator books Titan releases this year. That’s a lot to look forward to! We can’t wait for you to see it. Preorder now here: https://amzn.to/3IEEcUg

WriteTips Schedule Change

Published on by Bryan Thomas Schmidt

Some of you may have noticed my WriteTip production has fallen off. I often struggle or fail to produce four new WriteTips a month as I used to every Wednesday. And sometimes I post old classics. The reasons for this have to do with many things but most responsible is the fact that after posting tips for eight years or so, I am running out of fresh ideas that seem worthy of them four times a month, so from now on I am designating the second and fourth Wednesday of each month WriteTips day. I will try and post them regularly those days, though I may do reruns of classics worth revisiting on occasion. I will continue my weekly Writing Fodder posts, as these are compiled throughout the week with links I find of interest and post that might serve as inspiration or education for writers. But the WriteTips have to slow down, at least for a while, and I hope you understand.

You can always revisit all the WriteTips by going to the WriteTips tab under the Blog menu on my site and scrolling through them back to the very beginning. Believe me, there’s plenty there. Hundreds of posts, and I doubt most of you have seen them all. They are probably the most complimented and signal boosted posts I make and many of them served as inspiration for my nonfiction book How To Write A Novel, portions of which I later turned into WriteTips of their own. In fact, I posted 85% of that book in segments as WriteTips. I appreciate your understanding and your interest. Happy and successful writing!

Announcement—Coming December 2021

Published on by Bryan Thomas Schmidt1 Comment

I am pleased to announce my return to the world of my beloved Yautja movie universe. My seventeenth anthology as editor, and 4th for Titan will be my latest collaboration with Jonathan Maberry:

ALIENS VS PREDATOR: ULTIMATE PREY, Edited by Jonathan Maberry & Bryan Thomas Schmidt is a collection of all original stories that bring these two powerful franchises into collision. These stories will be more than bug hunts or monsters fighting one another. We’re amassing a slate of diverse writers who will elevate the themes to feature tales of racism, intolerance, culture clashes, and the horrors of war. Stories will run the gamut from intense psychological drama to nail-biting paranoid horror to humor to poignant tales of people and cultures caught in the grip of war.

Authors: David Barnett – Roshni “Rush” Bhatia – Maurice Broaddus – Curtis Chen – Delilah Dawson – Jess Landry – Jonathan Maberry & Louis Ozawa Changchien – Susanne Lambdin – Seanan McGuire – E.C. Myers – Yvonne Navarro – Chris Ryall – Bryan Thomas Schmidt – Steven Sears – Scott Sigler

15 new stories set in the movie universe, coming in December 2021 from Titan Books. It’s the one anthology fans have most been requesting and Jonathan and I have wanted to do it for 3 years, ever since he did Aliens: Bug Hunt and I did Predator: If It Bleeds, both for Titan, which were great successes.

These are studio approved tie-ins. We’ll reveal more details when the time comes but this exciting project has been fast tracked for quick release and we look forward to bringing it to fans.

Announcement: Coming in 2022–my 16th anthology, second Young Adult anthology

Published on by Bryan Thomas Schmidt

I am pleased to announce that Blackstone Publishing has bought a pitch for my 16th anthology project, and second YA anthology which is The Hitherto Secret Experiments Of Marie Curie (working title). Co-edited with Henry Herz, the anthology will feature 18 dark stories of science fiction, fantasy, and/or horror set during Marie Curie’s high school years in Poland telling tales of her and her classmate’s antics. Our authors are: Scott Westerfeld, Jane Yolen, Mylo Carbia, Alethea Kontis, Jonathan Maberry, Scott Sigler, Stacia Deutsch, Seanan McGuire, Sarah Beth Durst, Lissa Price, Christine Taylor-Butler, Jo Whittemore, Dee Leone, Susanne Lambdin, Emily McCosh, Steve Pantazis, Henry Herz, and Bryan Thomas Schmidt & GP Charles.

The project is set for 2022 release simultaneously in print and audio, formats to be determined later. We will have more specific details, including release date and so on, as things get closer. This should be a fun and fascinating project. We hope to include as much real science and history as possible while also having fun with the subject matter and the fascinating character of one of the most important and well known female scientists in world history, a double Nobel winner.

Here’s the announcement that ran in Publisher’s Marketplace:

More to come…

Works In Progress-Big announcements coming

Published on by Bryan Thomas Schmidt

So 2020 has been kind of a bust. I put out two novels in my John Simon Thrillers and had a couple short stories out in anthologies (Surviving Tomorrow, Weird World War III) but one of those was a reprint. I also edited Surviving Tomorrow, a charity anthology funding COVID-19 test kits, but beyond that I have written two other novels that will appear in 2021 or 2022. And that’s where I stand.

However, some stuff has started happening I can’t yet reveal but that is going to happen for 2021 and 2022. Let’s just say I should have one anthology out in each year, and I expect to have three novels out in 2021 and at least one in 2022 with more to come. This is good news because with parental health issues, my own medical situation, and general depression of living under an ominous pandemic and disappointing political situation, I have struggled to stay up and productive more than usual.

That said, I also expect to have at least three short stories out in 2021 (two in anthologies) and will probably do at least two more John Simon Thrillers before starting a new series. Who knows what else will develop, but it’s been so long since I updated you all, I felt I should at least say something. Hopefully, I will be back next week or the week after with big announcements of the anthologies. Just waiting on contracts to be finalized before I can announce.

Meanwhile, I hope you all had a pleasant and safe Thanksgiving and that your holiday season is joyful despite the circumstances and limitations we all face in the COVID era. Be careful, wear your masks, social distance, and keep your heads up.

For what it’s worth…

If you’ve read and enjoyed my books, please give me two minutes of your time for an anonymous survey to help me better identify my audience.https://forms.gle/r525DJsYipNZeChj6

SURVIVING TOMORROW AND ME IN THE NEWS!!

Published on by Bryan Thomas Schmidt1 Comment

So, the local Kansas City ABC affiliate did a nice piece on Surviving Tomorrow that ran on three prime time newscasts yesterday. It’s my first time on local news (bucket list, check!) and I thought it’s be fun to share it with you. So here it is.

To read the text, click here. KMBC Reports on Surviving Tomorrow

To order your copy of Surviving Tomorrow please visit https://survivingtomorrowanthology.com.

Apology For My Blog Absence

Published on by Bryan Thomas Schmidt

When I decided to take a brief blogging break in May, I started posting reruns of classic WriteTips every Wednesday, my most popular feature. The intent was to give me time to write some new WriteTips and get ahead of my posting schedule, but unfortunately, instead, I wound up in oral surgery while dealing with a major car repair, release details of an anthology and novel, and many other deadlines converging to a point of great stress and exhaustion and then I wound up in quarantine with a COVID-19 scare. Needless to say, I never got posts written and I have yet to fully resume blogging. On top of that my host tech has had some health issues and the site has been spotty due to server issues. I want to apologize for my signal silence and promise that I am well and will resume my website duties soon.

In the meantime, I will be posting a news interview I did about Surviving Tomorrow, my COVID-19 fundraising anthology created with a bunch of awesome friends and colleagues. It’s my first time on the local news, so I hope you enjoy! You can find that here.

You can also check out the sneak peak of my forthcoming novel Milk Run here, which will be book 4 in my John Simon Thrillers.

One Week ‘Til My Next Novel: THE SIDEMAN

Published on by Bryan

On October 15th, I started a new venture. I took a book I knew readers loved, because I’d tested it, but hadn’t sold to traditional publishing yet despite editors all praising it, and put it out via a small press called Boralis Books. Since then Simon Says has not only earned back my initial investment but exceeded it and received mostly 5 and 4 star reviews in doing so, a higher percentage than any of the other 25 books I’ve done.

Simon Says was hard to sell traditionally because I mixed genres—near future science fiction and procedural thriller—in a way that has not really been tested. Only JD Robb is doing it in any noticeable way. So publishers didn’t know what to do with it. But as friends and family who’d test read the book kept asking me, again and again, when’s that book coming out, I knew I was onto something. I didn’t get that kind of enthusiasm on my prior books.

And Simon Says, while it can stand alone, is actually book one in the John Simon Thrillers series, so as part of my strategy, I planned to launch a new book every quarter in that series and eventually add other series and titles. So here we are, 4 months after release as of February 15, and I’m so excited about the next John Simon Thriller, I’m releasing it 5 days early on February 10th.

It’s called The Sideman, and preview of several chapters has actually been up since Simon Says released. (A preview of book 3, Common Source, will be posted Feb. 10 when The Sideman Releases. It’s up for preorder now via Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and IndieBound will have it soon. To see what people are already saying about The Sideman as well as those sample chapters (3) and buy links, click here.

And if you haven’t read Simon Says yet, check out the same for it here  and expect to see it on sale to celebrate the release of book 2 next week. I appreciate your support of this new venture and can’t wait for you to read my latest.  Here’s the first reader review on Goodreads: