Hurry up and wait

I wish I could say I had news about the future of Battletech fiction, but nothing at yet. These things take time, and I hope they sort out soon.

But Brent Evens did drop a few hints when he answered a couple of fans questions on the "Ask the Lead Developer" board on the official Battletech forum. In one answer, he says the following:

From start to finish, 2018 is going to be a big year for BT with lots of reasons to roll dice and blow stuff up. One of the big pushes here is to once again use fiction (novels & novellas) to drive the storyline, heroes and conflicts. From book stores to websites there will lots of ways immerse yourself in BattleTech. (Italics mine)

 In another thread, Brent answers a series of questions, including this one:

[Question] Where do YOU PERSONALLY see Battletech going under your reign as Lead Developer for the next year?
[Answer] Two totally different flavors to that question so I'll answer both. In universe BattleTech will go through and beyond the battles promised in ilClan. The storyline blazes forward - with FICTION driving the IP narative (not sourcebooks.) In the real world though BT will absolutely be 'going' into the hands of new players, with box sets and support products that serve as gateway products into the game. (Again, Italics mine)

And this question and answer:

[Question] Will we get novels about the Home World Clans during the Wars of Reaving?
[Answer] Actually no, not in the short term, and if you had the power you wouldn't change that. Novel content releases at a really slow pace and there are much more important universe-plot-driving stories that need to be told. I'd love to see a series of Novellas telling those tales, but the chaffing you are feeling about that content is a downside of using sourcebooks to drive an IP (which was a reality Herb/Ben faced but which has changed for my tenure in the role.) Like I said, the industry is evolving, and we have to fit the stories we want/need to tell into a solicit-able schedule. Hope that makes sense. (and yet again, Italics mine)

So, along with the answer to other questions (Everything Brent said was posted a public forum, and he hasn't come out and told us freelancers what's happening, because plans are still being put into place), The impression I'm getting (and is is my opinion only, based on only what Brent has said publicly) is that he wants to have Battletech hit the ground running in 2018 --- with product and fiction, with Fiction leading the way forward in the universal story.

What does it mean to us writers? Not a clue. As I said, plans are still not in place, and we haven't been given anything to go on at this time. Is it frustrating? Yes! I want to sink my literary teeth into stories, maybe even novellas, and hope for a shot at a novel down the road (Novels are assigned to veteran writers, and I don't think I'm quite at that level yet.) I've done one or two side project relation to Battletech, but my writing ATM is in other areas (See my other blog --- Trboturtle's Writing Pad --- Life, the Universe and NaNoWriMo..... --- for details.

So, right now,. we are in a hurry up and wait mode, until all the pieces are in place. I don't know when that will be or what needs to be done, so all I can do is wait with the other writers until we are given the path we must follow into the next Battletech age.

Later!

Craig