2014 Chronos Awards Shortlist.

Congratulations to all those who have been shortlisted for a Chronos award. These works are all worthy and these names deserve to be on this list.

Having said that, this shortlist is a very shortlist. And I'm surprised by that. In fact, it's embarrassingly short. OK, the first category is full, but apart from that?

I've resisted posting about this for some time, simply because I wasn't sure what to say or how to phrase it.  But here goes.

Why is the list so short? Surely it's not from a shortage of eligible works. That list was long enough. Is it apathy from the nominating public? Not enough awareness of the nominated works? Not enough promotion? Is our state and this convention simply too small to operate these awards? Is the continuum membership more interested in the 'pop culture' side of the convention, and not so much in the 'speculative' side? All, some, one or none of the above?

I certainly don't know the answer.

One thing I noticed this year, in the lead up to both the Chronos and Ditmar awards, was how little self-promoting and touting there seemed to be from those who were eligible. At least that's how I saw it on Facebook. I'm not so sure how it was on other social media. Is this lack of promotion a symptom of how these awards are perceived in writing and fandom?

Now, I'm not one of those rushing to suggest the Hugos need to be cancelled because I don't like certain nominations. Simply vote on which nominee you believe to be the most worthy. And I'm not suggesting the Chronos awards needs to be discontinued. But I do think the Chronos awards need reviewing.

My thoughts? Either the SF community needs to value and support these awards, and make them relevant, or we have to accept the state is too small to continue with them.

Here's the shortlist.

Best Long Fiction (including collected works)

• Gamers' Rebellion by George Ivanoff (Ford Street Publishing)
• This Mutant Life: A Neo-Pulp Anthology edited by Ben Langdon (Kalamity Press)
• The Beckoning by Paul Collins (Damnation Books)
• Tales of Australia: Great Southern Land edited by Stephen C. Ormsby and Carol Bond (Satalyte Publishing)
• Caution: Contains Small Parts by Kirstyn McDermott (Twelfth Planet Press)

Best Short Fiction

• "Fairy Pie" by George Ivanoff in Stories for Girls (Random House Australia)

Best Artwork

• Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan (Hachette Australia)

Best Fan Writer

• No award

Best Fan Publication in any Medium

• The Angriest by Grant Watson
• SF Commentary edited by Bruce Gillespie

Best Achievement

• Gamers' Rebellion book trailer by Henry Gibbens

More Award Nominations And Another Sale.

I'm having a great run at the moment.

I've recently posted about this. I had two personal rejections from quality pro-level magazines, a positive review in Publishers Weekly, the release of After Death, a sale to Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine and a nomination for a Ditmar Award.

Then, to top things off, yesterday I received a copy of After Death, and it truly looks fantastic. Congratulations to the editor, Eric J. Guignard. During the afternoon I received word that I'd finally sold my Melbourne vampire-noir story. I'm truly excited about that one. And then late last night I was informed I'd been nominated for two Chronos Awards - Best Short Story for Fireflies (in Epilogue, published by FableCroft) and Best Fan Writer. (For my reviews in Dark Matter and this blog)

Voting for these awards is important. And, of course, I would appreciate any support from anyone who deems my work worthy.

Eligibility and voting information for the Ditmar Awards can be found here.

Eligibility and voting information for the Chronos Awards can be found here.

Congratulations to all the nominees.

A Week Indeed.

Ten days, actually.

After a long drought on the 'seeing results from my writing' front, I've had an excellent time recently at Chateau Cameron. The best time in writing I've had in more than six months.

A couple of personal rejections from some big target markets.

I was shortlisted for a Ditmar award - Best New Talent. My second year running.

The forthcoming 'After Death' anthology was reviewed in Publishers Weekly, and my story (I Was The Walrus) was one of those mentioned by name.

I sold a story to Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. Another market I've been chasing for a few years.

And to top it all off, I received my copy of Thoraiya Dyer's new 12th Planet collection, Asymmetry.

As I said, an excellent time.

Ditmar Awards, 2013.

I had a pretty good year last year.  I sold half a dozen stories and earned some positive reviews. And so, for the second year in a row, I've been shortlisted for a Ditmar Award - Best New Talent.

Last year it was won by Jo Anderton, deservedly so. This year I'm up against other worthy writers, including my good friend David McDonald. (I also need to congratulate David on a total of four nominations)

Congratulations to all the nominees. Voting is open, and can be found here.



Best Novel
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Sea Hearts, Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin)    
* Bitter Greens, Kate Forsyth (Random House Australia)    
* Suited (The Veiled Worlds 2), Jo Anderton (Angry Robot)    
* Salvage, Jason Nahrung (Twelfth Planet Press)    
* Perfections, Kirstyn McDermott (Xoum)    
* The Corpse-Rat King, Lee Battersby (Angry Robot)    

Best Novella or Novelette
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* “Flight 404”, Simon Petrie, in Flight 404/The Hunt for Red Leicester (Peggy Bright Books)
* “Significant Dust”, Margo Lanagan, in Cracklescape (Twelfth Planet Press)    
* “Sky”, Kaaron Warren, in Through Splintered Walls (Twelfth Planet Press)    

Best Short Story
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* “Sanaa’s Army”, Joanne Anderton, in Bloodstones (Ticonderoga Publications)  
* “The Wisdom of Ants”, Thoraiya Dyer, in Clarkesworld 75    
* “The Bone Chime Song”, Joanne Anderton, in Light Touch Paper Stand Clear (Peggy Bright Books)  
* “Oracle’s Tower”, Faith Mudge, in To Spin a Darker Stair (FableCroft Publishing)    

Best Collected Work
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Cracklescape by Margo Lanagan, edited by Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press)  
* Epilogue, edited by Tehani Wessely (FableCroft Publishing)  
* Through Splintered Walls by Kaaron Warren, edited by Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press)  
* Light Touch Paper Stand Clear, edited by Edwina Harvey and Simon Petrie (Peggy Bright Books)    
* Midnight and Moonshine by Lisa L. Hannett and Angela Slatter, edited by Russell B. Farr (Ticonderoga Publications)    
* The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2011, edited by Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene (Ticonderoga Publications)    

Best Artwork
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Cover art, Nick Stathopoulos, for Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine 56 (ASIM Collective)    
* Cover art, Kathleen Jennings, for Midnight and Moonshine (Ticonderoga Publications)    
* Illustrations, Adam Browne, for Pyrotechnicon (Coeur de Lion Publishing)    
* Cover art and illustrations, Kathleen Jennings, for To Spin a Darker Stair (FableCroft Publishing)     
* Cover art, Les Petersen, for Light Touch Paper Stand Clear (Peggy Bright Books)    

Best Fan Writer
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Alex Pierce, for body of work including reviews in Australian Speculative Fiction in Focus  
* Tansy Rayner Roberts, for body of work including reviews in Not If You Were The Last Short Story On Earth    
* Grant Watson, for body of work including the “Who50” series in The Angriest     
* Sean Wright, for body of work including reviews in Adventures of a Bookonaut  

Best Fan Artist
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Kathleen Jennings, for body of work including “The Dalek Game” and “The Tamsyn Webb Sketchbook”  

Best Fan Publication in Any Medium
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* The Writer and the Critic, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond  
* Galactic Suburbia, Alisa Krasnostein, Tansy Rayner Roberts, and Alex Pierce  
* Antipodean SF, Ion Newcombe  
* The Coode Street Podcast, Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe  
* Snapshot 2012, Alisa Krasnostein, Kathryn Linge, David McDonald, Helen Merrick, Ian Mond, Jason Nahrung et. al.  
* Australian Speculative Fiction in Focus, Alisa Krasnostein, Tehani Wessely, et. al.  
* Galactic Chat, Alisa Krasnostein, Tansy Rayner Roberts, and Sean Wright    

Best New Talent
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* David McDonald  
* Faith Mudge  
* Steve Cameron    
* Stacey Larner  

William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Alisa Krasnostein, Kathryn Linge, David McDonald, and Tehani Wessely, for review of Mira Grant’s Newsflesh, in ASIF  
* Tansy Rayner Roberts, for “Historically Authentic Sexism in Fantasy. Let's Unpack That.”, in tor.com   
* David McDonald, Tansy Rayner Roberts, and Tehani Wessely, for the “New Who in Conversation” series  
* Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene, for “The Year in Review”, in The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2011  
* Rjurik Davidson, for “An Illusion in the Game for Survival”, a review of Reamde by Neal Stephenson, in The Age    

Shiny Things.

Ditmar and Chronos Award nominations have opened.

I've heard a few people recently complain about these awards. About how they have little value because our pool of writers in Victoria and Australia is too small, about how not enough people vote, and about how blocs of friends voting for friends can unduly influence winning.

While there is some truth in these arguments, and the awards system is not perfect, I truly believe having these awards is vital. And actively encouraging people to vote for them is one way to improve their reputation and legitimacy.

I was fortunate enough to be nominated for both a Ditmar (Best New Talent) and a Chronos (short story) last year. I didn't win either, but it meant a great deal simply to be shortlisted.

A couple of years ago I made the decision not to tout myself for any awards. Not to push, cajole, beg or repeatedly mention my eligibility. I decided I would simply state this once, and then let my work speak for itself.

So this is me, mentioning my work. And, if you believe I'm worthy, I would appreciate your support. I'm eligible for Best New Talent in the Ditmars, and for Short Story in the Chronos. (Particularly for my story, Fireflies)

Ditmar information is available here.

Chronos information is available here.

Thanks.

Ditmars And Chronii.

My first awards night, at least the first one where I was nominated. And it's a real thrill to hear your name called out as part of the shortlist.

I told Jo Anderton and Alan Baxter I was hoping for a three-way tie. At least that's what I told them. I didn't really mean it. Jo deservedly won the Ditmar for Best New Talent. Elsewhere Paul Haines won the Chronos for Best Short Story with his amazing story, The Past Is A Bridge Best Left Burnt.

OK, so I would have loved either one of those little trophies, but the truth is Jo and Paul both deserved them for their work, and no-one can begrudge either of them. I've been writing for only about two and a half years, so simply to be nominated was a thrill and a validation.

Congratulations to all other winners, and look out for me in the future.

Craftonomicon.

Have you bought a membership and made your reservations yet?

June 8th is almost upon us and the community from around Australia will then gather for Continuum 8.  It was only a few years ago I discovered this whole writing/fandom event even existed. I signed up for my first convention without knowing anything about it. I was nervous about attending, I didn't know what to expect, didn't really know anyone there and felt as though I was intruding.

Of course that all quickly changed and I'm now a regular attendee and participant. I'm on three panels this time around and I must say I'm really looking forward to them. It'll be great to catch up with friends, meet new people and spend hours and hours talking complete crap with them.

The schedules have just been posted, and the panels look fantastic. I've also discovered I'll be doing a reading with David McDonald, Jo Anderton and Dirk Flinthart as 'FableCroft authors'. Exciting, and terrifying at the same time. I'm also very excited about the awards ceremony, as I'm on the ballots for my first Ditmar and Chronos awards. Simply being shortlisted is thrilling.

But whatever happens, the convention will be as valuable as ever.

This Week Had Seven Days.

An insanely busy week.

I had parent-teacher interviews on Thursday night which does not, as someone recently said, mean you get to just sit down and chat. They take a lot of preparation, and there's always the possibility of aggressive or hostile parents. Fortunately the parents that came to see me were fine. The ones I needed to see never came.

I also finished my university assignments and submitted those. Since I was overseas for a few weeks, I had quite a bit of catch up reading and writing to do. But they're done now and out of the way.

Jack Dann's writing workshop continues full steam ahead. During the week I somehow found some time to read and critique the stories for yesterday's class. Some nice moments and some good writing, and a couple of stories I'd like to see developed further. And I learned quite a bit. I'm already re-imagining future stories in my head to make them tighter. This course is doing exactly what I hoped it would.

There was a Ditmar nomination a few days ago, and I'm thrilled by that. I'm also very appreciative of the comments made and emails people have sent me. Especially since some of those came from writers whose work I had on my shelf but had never met only a year or so ago. Thanks. I currently have a couple of stories on hold, which I was hoping I'd have had more news about by now. Many friends (or at least writers I know) have been nominated for awards, which is always exciting.

All I need is some time to write some new stuff.

The sun is out and the sky is blue. My new audio system sounds great. I'm enjoying my work (apart from parent-teacher interviews) and my dogs are fine.

A busy week, but a great one.

Wabbit Season? No, It's Awards Season!

Chronos Award nominations close today, Ditmar Award nominations have just opened and Aurealis Awards short-lists should be announced soon.

Yep, we're right in the middle of awards seasons.

The Aurealis Awards are judged by panels, and are (hopefully) awarded on the merit of the work. Ditmar Awards (national) and Chronos Awards (state) are voted by conventioneers.

So just how much is a writer supposed to tout his or her own work?

I know of some writers who push their work quite a bit, while others sit back and just hope they are noticed. I'm eligible for So Sad, The Lighthouse Keeper in the short story category, and for my reviewing in Dark Matter in the Fan Writing and Review categories. I've tried to mention the awards only once or so, and pretty much simply to remind voters I'm eligible (anyone in fandom can nominate). And then I sat back and hoped for the best.

The Chronos Awards, being state awards, are drawn from a fairly small pool of writers. I've also seen some criticism of these awards - suggesting they are given for popularity, or voted on by certain blocs. Already this year I've heard someone say they have nominated someone they like, without having actually read the work under consideration. That's just something we have to accept, and realise that this will occur from time to time. While this is obviously not in the spirit of things, it's the way things are. All we can do is is promote the awards, get more people to nominate and vote, and encourage voters to vote on the merits of the work.

I'm not going to be heartbroken if I'm not nominated. Awards, in the end, don't always reward quality work or success. But they can be a sign of recognition and give some validation. And I love the look of the Chronos.

It would look mighty handsome sitting on my desk.

Chronos Awards.

The awards season is upon us and I've just heard that both Kaaron Warren (for writing short fiction) and Jack Dann (for an anthology he edited) have been shortlisted for the Stoker. Congratulations. They would both surely deserve to win.

I'm eligible for a coupve been conle of upcoming awards. I'sidered for the Aurealis Awards, but it will take a little while before the shortlist is announced. And I'm also eligible for the Chronos and Ditmar Awards, both of which will be presented in June.

I truly believe last year was the breakout year for me. I stepped up my writing practices and skills and sold a number of stories to quality markets. So Sad, The Lighthouse Keeper is the first of those stories to be published, and I am very proud and honoured to have had it included in Keith Stevenson's fantastic anthology, Anywhere But Earth.

Since publication it has received excellent comments and reviews. If you have read the story and enjoyed it, (and are so inclined to do so) please consider nominating it for the Chronos Awards here.

If you haven't read it, then you should consider purchasing a copy.

I promise I'll name my first-born after you.

Tell Us About Yourself...

How do you write about yourself without sounding like an idiot?

This week I had to write my bio for my upcoming publication, and I suddenly realised I didn't know what to write. Obviously 3rd person works best in these cases, but apart from that? I had no idea. So the first thing I did was grabbed some anthologies and read what others had written. My next step was to do a quick internet search to see if there were any recommendations.  I did find one site that had some good information.

Some writers try to use humour, making self deprecating jokes or trying to show themselves as zany. I can see this works for some people, but I quickly realised it wouldn't work for me.  Which was a bit of a shame, as I had thought about paraphrasing Polly from Fawlty Towers. "With the sale of this story, Steve is now earning enough as a writer to keep him in teaching."

Hmmm, no.

Some writers also include their pets - especially if they are cats. Since cats and I are mortal enemies, that was never going to happen.  I thought about mentioning my dogs, but figured they'd never read it anyway.  No, mentioning pets just wasn't going to work for me either.

It's easier too if you have some publications behind you. Unfortunately I don't.  I considered making up a few. "Steve's work can be found in such titles as Queasy Stomach Vol.4, Uneasy, Dry Retch and I'm Making This One Up." That was just going to make me look sad if anyone ever decided to actually hunt for these things.

Same with awards.  I haven't been nominated or won anything yet. No Ditmars, Aurealises (Aurealii?), Chronoses (Chronii), or anything else.  I could have added, "Steve has a Bronze Swimming Medallion and holds Level 2 in First Aid. He has recently been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize."

Naaaah.

Same with the ubiquitous, "Steve is working on his novel."   I'm not.

In the end I decided to be honest, straight to the point and serious.  It's what works for me. Of course once I discussed this with my friends, they all volunteered to write one for me.

Now that would have been embarrassing.

We Don't All Wear Funny Costumes, You Know.

About 6 months ago I discovered the Melbourne Science Fiction Club. One Saturday I headed down to an MSFC mini-convention that I'd read about online. I had an absolutely marvelous time and joined up on the spot.  Since then I've attended a few meetings, gotten to know a few people and learned a bit about 'our' history.

Last Friday was special, an evening I won't forget in a hurry. Murray, our extremely capable President, did a fantastic job of installing Helena and Jocko as Life Members. Not only was it fascinating to hear their stories of how they became involved in the club, it was great to hear the tale of how the club started. The second longest running SF club in the world, MSFC has been running since 1952. (The longest running is in L.A. - started in the 1930s) On hand for Friday's presentation were most of the serving Life Members, including some of the founders.  And besides learning about some of the crazy things that have occurred over the years (a teddy bear shaped hole in a window, indeed!) I was able to meet some very cool people, including Ditmar. I've already cleared the spot above my desk where the award that's named after him will one day sit.

In the past few months I've had a few moments of disillusionment with certain aspects of SF publishing, about my writing and with parts of fandom. But along with Continuum 5, the MSFC has restored my faith in the future of SF. Thanks guys, and thanks especially to those who decided in 1952 that their regular social gathering needed some formalisation.