Ditmar Awards Again

Nominations have opened for the 2014 Ditmar Awards.

I'm eligible with a whole bunch of stories, but there are two in particular that have achieved some success and recognition.

Holland:1944 

published by Mike Resnick in Galaxy's Edge #7. It has garnered some great reviews, and was selected by Mike for inclusion in The Best of Galaxy's Edge.

The Last of the Butterflies

published by Keith Stevenson in Dimension6 #3. Again some great reviews, and reprinted in Dimension6: Annual Collection 2014.

Should you feel these stories are worthy of a nomination, I would certainly appreciate the support.

Nominations for the 2015 Australian SF (“Ditmar”) awards are now open and will remain open until one minute before midnight Perth time on Sunday, 1st of February, 2015 (ie. 11.59pm, GMT+8). Postal nominations must be postmarked no later than Friday, 30th of January, 2015.
The current rules, including Award categories can be found HERE.

You must include your name with any nomination. Nominations will be accepted only from natural persons active in fandom, or from full or supporting members of Swancon 40, the 2015 Australian National SF Convention. Where a nominator may not be known to the Ditmar subcommittee, the nominator should provide the name of someone known to the subcommittee who can vouch for the nominator’s eligibility. Convention attendance or membership of an SF club are among the criteria which qualify a person as “active in fandom”, but are not the only qualifying criteria. If in doubt, nominate and mention your qualifying criteria. If you received this email directly, you almost certainly qualify.

You may nominate as many times in as many Award categories as you like, although you may only nominate a particular person, work or achievement once. The Ditmar subcommittee, which is organised under the auspices the Standing Committee of the Natcon Business Meeting, will rule on situations where eligibility is unclear. A partial and unofficial eligibility list, to which everyone is encouraged to add, can be found HERE.

Online nominations an be made via this form.

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

Ditmar Awards 2014.

The shortlist for the 2014 Ditmar Awards has been announced.

The Ditmars have been awarded annually since 1969 to recognise achievement in Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror, and operate in a similar manner to the Hugos, although on a national rather than international scale.

It's always great to see friends and acquaintances on the list. Congratulations to all those nominated.






Best Novel

• Ink Black Magic, Tansy Rayner Roberts (FableCroft Publishing)
• Fragments of a Broken Land: Valarl Undead, Robert Hood (Wildside Press)
• The Beckoning, Paul Collins (Damnation Books)
• Trucksong, Andrew Macrae (Twelfth Planet Press)
• The Only Game in the Galaxy (The Maximus Black Files 3), Paul Collins (Ford Street Publishing)

Best Novella or Novelette

• "Prickle Moon", Juliet Marillier, in Prickle Moon (Ticonderoga Publications)
• "The Year of Ancient Ghosts", Kim Wilkins, in The Year of Ancient Ghosts (Ticonderoga Publications)
• "By Bone-Light", Juliet Marillier, in Prickle Moon (Ticonderoga Publications)
• "The Home for Broken Dolls", Kirstyn McDermott, in Caution: Contains Small Parts (Twelfth Planet Press)
• "What Amanda Wants", Kirstyn McDermott, in Caution: Contains Small Parts (Twelfth Planet Press)

Best Short Story

• "Mah Song", Joanne Anderton, in The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories (FableCroft Publishing)
• "Air, Water and the Grove", Kaaron Warren, in The Lowest Heaven (Jurassic London)
• "Seven Days in Paris", Thoraiya Dyer, in Asymmetry (Twelfth Planet Press)
• "Scarp", Cat Sparks, in The Bride Price (Ticonderoga Publications)
• "Not the Worst of Sins", Alan Baxter, in Beneath Ceaseless Skies 133 (Firkin Press)
• "Cold White Daughter", Tansy Rayner Roberts, in One Small Step (FableCroft Publishing)

Best Collected Work

• The Back of the Back of Beyond, Edwina Harvey, edited by Simon Petrie (Peggy Bright Books)
• Asymmetry , Thoraiya Dyer, edited by Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press)
• Caution: Contains Small Parts, Kirstyn McDermott, edited by Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press)
• The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories, Joanne Anderton, edited by Tehani Wesseley (FableCroft Publishing)
• The Bride Price, Cat Sparks, edited by Russell B. Farr (Ticonderoga Publications)

Best Artwork

• Cover art, Eleanor Clarke, for The Back of the Back of Beyond by Edwina Harvey (Peggy Bright Books)
• Illustrations, Kathleen Jennings, for Eclipse Online (Nightshade Books)
• Cover art, Shauna O'Meara, for Next' edited by Simon Petrie and Rob Porteous (CSFG Publishing)
• Cover art, Cat Sparks, for The Bride Price by Cat Sparks (Ticonderoga Publications)
• Rules of Summer, Shaun Tan (Hachette Australia)
• Cover art, Pia Ravenari, for Prickle Moon by Juliet Marillier (Ticonderoga Publications)

Best Fan Writer

• Tsana Dolichva, for body of work, including reviews and interviews in Tsana's Reads and Reviews
• Sean Wright, for body of work, including reviews in Adventures of a Bookonaut
• Grant Watson, for body of work, including reviews in The Angriest
• Foz Meadows, for body of work, including reviews in Shattersnipe: Malcontent & Rainbows
• Alexandra Pierce, for body of work, including reviews in Randomly Yours, Alex
• Tansy Rayner Roberts, for body of work, including essays and reviews at www.tansyrr.com

Best Fan Artist

• Nalini Haynes, for body of work, including "Defender of the Faith", "The Suck Fairy", "Doctor Who vampire" and "The Last Cyberman" in Dark Matter
• Kathleen Jennings, for body of work, including "Illustration Friday"
• Dick Jenssen, for body of work, including cover art for Interstellar Ramjet Scoop and SF Commentary

Best Fan Publication in Any Medium

• Dark Matter Zine, Nalini Haynes
• SF Commentary, Bruce Gillespie
• The Writer and the Critic, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond
• Galactic Chat Podcast, Sean Wright, Alex Pierce, Helen Stubbs, David McDonald, and Mark Webb
• The Coode Street Podcast, Gary K. Wolfe and Jonathan Strahan
• Galactic Suburbia, Alisa Krasnostein, Alex Pierce, and Tansy Rayner Roberts

Best New Talent

• Michelle Goldsmith
• Zena Shapter
• Faith Mudge
• Jo Spurrier
• Stacey Larner

William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review

• Reviews in Randomly Yours, Alex, Alexandra Pierce
• "Things Invisible: Human and Ab-Human in Two of Hodgson's Carnacki stories", Leigh Blackmore, in Sargasso: The Journal of William Hope Hodgson Studies #1 edited by Sam Gafford (Ulthar Press)
• Galactic Suburbia Episode 87: Saga Spoilerific Book Club, Alisa Krasnostein, Alex Pierce, and Tansy Rayner Roberts
• The Reviewing New Who series, David McDonald, Tansy Rayner Roberts, and Tehani Wessely
• "A Puppet's Parody of Joy: Dolls, Puppets and Mannikins as Diabolical Other", Leigh Blackmore, in Ramsey Campbell: Critical Essays on the Master of Modern Horror edited by Gary William Crawford (Scarecrow Press)
• "That was then, this is now: how my perceptions have changed", George Ivanoff, in Doctor Who and Race edited by Lindy Orthia (Intellect Books

Awards And Such.

Awards season is here, and although I don't really feel comfortable promoting myself in this manner, I recognise it is necessary to at least mention which works are eligible for nomination.

For those who are eligible to nominate in both the Ditmar and Chronos Awards (and if you have to ask, you probably aren't), a quick look at my bibliography page will show what was published last year.

I guess the work that received the most recognition is I Was The Walrus, my John Lennon re-incarnation story which was published in the Bram Stoker Award nominated After Death collection. This piece had many favourable reviews, including one in Publishers Weekly.

While I would dearly love to be recognised for my work and the progress I'm making, I would encourage you all to nominate in these awards, and to nominate the works you feel most deserving.

Which, if it happens to be mine, would make me very happy.

Ditmar rules:

http://wiki.sf.org.au/Ditmar_rules

Ditmar  nominations:

http://ditmars.sf.org.au/2014/nominations.html

Chronos rules:

 http://confound.wikispot.org/Chronos_Awards

Chronos nominations email:

awards@continuum.org.au

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    

I Gotta Wear Shades.

Like any other skilled activity, the writing experience is a series of improvements punctuated with plateaus where not much seems to happen - either in sales or personal writing growth. Or at least that's how it has been with me.

Recently I've felt that I've been stuck, wheels spinning and not advancing, not getting anywhere at all - although no doubt I was improving and honing my skill. I was just too close to see it myself. But I've recently started to feel that I was getting closer to another burst of improvement.

I've got two stories on hold, two stories just sold and another re-subbed after a rewrite request. And I have high hopes for a couple of others.

Yesterday, I came away from Jack Dann's workshop with some excellent criticism on my subbed story from my fellow participants and Jack, along with positive and encouraging words. And while I don't agree with everything that was said about my story, I will look at everything, consider carefully, and rewrite parts as appropriate.

Continuum is creeping up on us, and I'm looking forward to catching up with a bunch of people. I've signed up to be on a panel with my friend, David McDonald - and that should be a lot of fun. It's a shame Gitte Christensen won't be able to make it, but it was lovely catching up with her yesterday and I look forward to reading her current work-in-progress. Once it's completed, of course.

I must admit I'm also very excited about hearing my name listed among the nominations for both the Chronos and Ditmar awards. And, of course, attending the launch of Epilogue.

Timbuk 3, anyone?

Nominated.

Boy, that came out of the blue!

I certainly didn't expect to be nominated for Best New Talent in this year's Ditmar Awards. Thank you to all those who voted. And congratulations to Jo Anderton and Alan Baxter, who also happen to be shortlisted with me. Both writers produce great pieces, and are really cool in person.

I also need to mention my crit buddy, David McDonald, who has been nominated for the William Atheling Jr Award, as part of a team alongside Tansy Rayner Roberts and Tehani Wessely. Well done and congratulations.

And congratulations to everyone else who made the list. It's great to be recognised and receive validation by being shortlisted at national level. I, for one, really appreciate it.