Every December, the Brunette Games team gets together to celebrate the year and ring in the holidays. This year, we spent an evening at a St. Louis board game bar and café called Pieces. The writing team introduced Lisa and Anthony to Superfight, a game that allowed everyone to flex their creative muscles (and resulted in some highly-entertaining debates surrounding the efficacy of Darth Vader teaming up with Pikachu in a fight against Robin Hood).

We also held a white elephant gift exchange, the spoils of which included punctuation-inspired Christmas tree ornaments, a card deck of writing prompts, and a bag of coffee (an essential tool in any writer's arsenal).

The Bru Crew at the Brunette Games 2022 Christmas party.

Because each of our team members works from their own home office, we value any time we get to spend together in person. This year's holiday party was no exception!

From the Brunette Games Press...

It's the perfect time of year to snag copies of the Dreamslippers Series for your own collection during Smashwords' end-of-year sale. Get the first ebook in the series for free, the boxed set for 75% off, or the second and third books for 50% off, each. 

Brunette Games wishes you happy holidays and a Happy New Year! We look forward to an even more successful and exciting 2023.

While our studio focus is designing and writing for games, we have made noted forays into traditional book publishing. This includes Anthony Valterra's publication of a roleplaying guide governing the romantic lives of characters from the bestselling fantasy RPG (The Book of Erotic Fantasy) and our founder Lisa Brunette's mystery series, The Dreamslippers. While the former is now sadly out of print, the latter is alive and well, and it's the subject of a big sale on ebooks. During 'Read an Ebook Week' from March 6-12, you can download copies at deep discounts from Smashwords.

A global ebook distributor, Smashwords offers book lovers an opportunity to discover thousands of independently published ebooks. Over 140,000 authors around the world collectively publish and distribute more than 500,000 ebooks through Smashwords.

This week only, you can get copies of all 3 books in the Dreamslippers Series - plus the boxed set with bonus content - for the sale prices shown below.

Book #1 - Cat in the Flock - 75% Off!

Cat McCormick comes of age both as a Dreamslipper and a private investigator in this debut. Following a mother and daughter on the run, she goes undercover in a fundamentalist church.

"Gripping, sexy, and profound..." - Jon Talton, author of the David Mapstone Mysteries

Book #2 - Framed and Burning - 25% Off!

It was supposed to be a much-needed vacation in Miami, meant to snap Cat out of a persistent depression. But when her great uncle’s studio goes up in flames, killing his assistant, Cat must find out who’s really to blame.

"A brilliant, suspenseful whodunit..." - Qiu Xiaolong, Author of Shanghai Redemption, named one of the Wall Street Journal's Best Books of 2015

Book #3 - Bound to the Truth - 25% Off!

What happens when your client thinks she knows who the killer is, but you don’t believe her? Cat and Granny Grace don't believe Nina Howell fell under the spell of a domineering, conservative talk show host... until he starts to look guilty.  The case brings powerful new developments in Cat’s dreamslipping skill as she works to find the truth.

"A great mystery with lots of action." - JBronder Book Reviews

The Boxed Set + Bonus Story - 50% Off!

Get all three books in this boxed set, plus a bonus novella prequel - Work of Light, Granny Grace's origin story - only available in the boxed set.

You don't need a special coupon code to get the discount; it will be given automatically at checkout. The books are available in multiple ebook formats, too - one purchase, and you gain access to all of them.

While you're getting your dream on, check out some of the other great buys in the Smashwords catalog, and happy e-reading!

We're excited to share that Brunette Games CCO Lisa Brunette's latest piece for ironSource LevelUp is live! The Top 5 Mistakes Game Mystery Writers Make - and How to Avoid Them covers everything from how to develop your characters with a light hand to how to keep from revealing too much too soon, or too little too late. With hundreds of mystery game titles to her credit, not to mention a bestselling novel series in the genre, Brunette's expertise is tried-and-true:

To avoid the pitfalls of character design, don't be afraid to torture your good guys, or to lend a sympathetic ear to your crooks. We'll feel your hero's win all the more if she's had to prevail against her own worst judgment in order to get there. And a villain is all the more diabolical for her charm.

Read the full article on ironSource's Medium page.