Writerly updates

Last month I went to Lexicon, the New Zealand Science Fiction convention. I loved the location, Lake Taupo, where the air seems to suit my health. My hair doesn’t frizz, my skin feels soft, my lungs feel clear. And with the massive lake, filled with mystery and beauty, and things stick out of the water, I was creatively inspired as well! To be surrounded by that environment, and by clever, funny, creative people…what a great weekend it was.

Grace Bridges is chairing the 2019 Convention, which will likely be held at Rotorua. They asked me to return as a guest and I absolutely agreed!

Lots of exciting things happening during the Conflux Science Fiction Convention which runs Friday September 29 to Monday October 2. I’m lucky enough to be MC for the event, which has two incredible guests: Ellen Datlow! and Angela Slatter! We’ll be doing a one hour event at Muse Bookshop, one of my favourite places in Canberra, on the Thursday night. Conflux is such a good convention for meeting writers, publishers and editors and for finding inspiration in words.

 

 

My story “Mine Intercom”, which I consider one of my scariest, appears in the 2015 Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror. Edited by Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene, this book is a beauty with great stories from Australian writers. This story first appeared in Review of Australian Fiction.

 

Possibly the biggest news is the awards! “The Grief Hole” has become the first Australian novel to win the Aurealis Award, the Shadows Award and the Ditmar Award. Absolutely thrilled! It also one the Canberra Critics Circle Award, and I’m beginning to the think they are the predictors of what’s to come, because they also gave me the award for “Through Splintered Walls” and “Slights”, my other two most awarded books!

Here is the book its awards. Admittedly the Shadows Statue is my one from last year, but I couldn’t wait to post the news!

 

 

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Ditmar Awards

The Ditmar Award nominations are out and a damn fine list it is too!

Official:
The Ditmar subcommittee are pleased to announce that voting for the Australian SF (“Ditmar”) Award for 2010 is now open, and will remain
open until one minute before midnight Perth time on Wednesday, 1st of September, 2010 (ie. 11.59pm, GMT+8).

Best Novel

* Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld (Penguin)
* Liar, Justine Larbalestier (Bloomsbury)
* World Shaker, Richard Harland (Allen & Unwin)
* Slights, Kaaron Warren (Angry Robot Books)
* Life Through Cellophane, Gillian Polack (Eneit Press)

Best Novella or Novelette

* “Siren Beat”, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Twelfth Planet Press)
* “Black Water”, David Conyers (Jupiter Magazine)
* “After the World: Gravesend”, Jason Fischer (Black House Comics)
* “Horn”, Peter M. Ball (Twelfth Planet Press)
* “Wives”, Paul Haines (X6/Couer de Lion)

Best Short Story

* “The Piece of Ice in Ms Windermere’s Heart”, Angela Slatter (New Ceres
Nights, Twelfth Planet Press)
* “Six Suicides”, Deborah Biancotti (A Book of Endings, Twelfth Planet
Press)
* “Black Peter”, Marty Young (Festive Fear, Tasmaniac Publications)
* “Seventeen”, Cat Sparks (Masques, CSFG)
* “Tontine Mary”, Kaaron Warren (New Ceres Nights, Twelfth Planet Press)
* “Prosperine When it Sizzles”, Tansy Rayner Roberts (New Ceres Nights,
Twelfth Planet Press)

Best Collected Work

* The New Space Opera 2, edited by Jonathan Strahan and Gardner Dozois
(HarperCollins)
* New Ceres Nights, edited by Alisa Krasnostein and Tehani Wessely
(Twelfth Planet Press)
* Slice Of Life, Paul Haines, edited by Geoffrey Maloney (The Mayne
Press)
* A Book of Endings, edited by Deborah Biancotti, Alisa Krasnostein and
Ben Payne (Twelfth Planet Press)
* Eclipse Three, edited by Jonathan Strahan (Night Shade Books)

Best Artwork

* Cover art, New Ceres Nights (Twelfth Planet Press), Dion Hamill
* Cover art, The Whale’s Tale (Peggy Bright Books), Eleanor Clarke
* Cover art and illustrations, Shards: Short Sharp Tales (Brimstone
Press), Andrew J. McKiernan
* Cover art, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #42, Lewis Morley
* Cover art, “Horn” (Twelfth Planet Press), Dion Hamill
* Cover art, Masques (CSFG), Mik Bennett

Best Fan Writer

* Tansy Rayner Roberts, for body of work
* Chuck McKenzie, for work in Horrorscope
* Robert Hood, for Undead Backbrain (roberthood.net/blog)
* Tehani Wessely, for body of work
* Bruce Gillespie, for work in Steam Engine Time

Best Fan Artist

* Dave Schembri, for work in Midnight Echo
* Kathleen Jennings, for body of work
* Dick Jenssen, for body of work

Best Fan Publication in Any Medium

* Interstellar Ramjet Scoop , edited by Bill Wright
* A Writer Goes on a Journey (awritergoesonajourney.com), edited by
Nyssa Pascoe et al
* ASif! (asif.dreamhosters.com), edited by Alisa Krasnostein, Gene
Melzack et al
* Australian Science Fiction Bullsheet (bullsheet.sf.org.au), edited by
Edwina Harvey and Ted Scribner
* Steam Engine Time , edited by Bruce Gillespie and Janine Stinson

Best Achievement

* Alisa Krasnostein, Liz Grzyb, Tehani Wessely, Cat Sparks and Kate
Williams, for the New Ceres Nights booklaunch
* H. Gibbens, for the Gamers’ Quest CGI-animated book trailer
* Ruth Jenkins and Cathy Jenkins-Rutherford, for the children’s program
at Conjecture
* Amanda Rainey, for the cover design of Siren Beat/Roadkill (Twelfth
Planet Press)
* Gillian Polack et al, for the Southern Gothic banquet at Conflux

Best New Talent

* Pete Kempshall
* Kathleen Jennings
* Thoraiya Dyer
* Jason Fischer
* Simon Petrie
* Christopher Green
* Peter M. Ball

William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review

* Chuck McKenzie, for “The Dead Walk! … Into a Bookstore Near You” (Eye
of Fire #1, Brimstone Press)
* Ian Mond, for reviews on his blog (mondyboy.livejournal.com)
* Grant Watson, for reviews and articles for Eiga: Asian Cinema
(www.eigaasiancinema.com)
* Helen Merrick, for The Secret Feminist Cabal: a cultural history of
science fiction feminisms (Aqueduct Press)

The official ballot paper, including postal address information, may be
downloaded as a PDF format file from:

http://ditmars.sf.org.au/2010/2010_Ditmar_Ballot.pdf

Votes can be sent via email to:

ditmars@sf.org.au

Online voting will be available shortly, at:

http://ditmars.sf.org.au/2010

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Australian Shadows Awards

I’ve just heard that Slights won the Australian Shadows Best Long Fiction Award! Very, very thrilled to win this one, as I was up against some very, very strong books.

Deb Biancotti’s “Six Suicides” from her collection A Book of Endings won Best Short Fiction, beating my “Gaze Dogs of Nine Waterfall.”

Grant’s Pass, edited by Amanda Pillar and Jennifer Brozek, won Best Edited Publication.

Great news all round! Thank you to the judges. It’s a huge amount of work and so important to those of us with books and stories to be considered.  Craig Bezant, Stephanie Gunn and Chuck McKenzie (Confessions of a Pod Person) whittled the short list, and Martin Livings (Carnies) chose the winner in my section.

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Awards

Slights has made the longlist of the British Fantasy Awards!

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Australian Shadows

The Australian Shadows Awards finalists have been announced. What an incredibly strong year for Australian Horror Fiction!

Long Fiction

• A Book of Endings by Deborah Biancotti (Twelfth Planet Press)
• Red Queen by H. M. Brown (Penguin Australia)
• “Wives” by Paul Haines (X6, Coeur de Lion Publishing)
• The Dead Path by Stephen M. Irwin (Hachette Australia)
• Slights by Kaaron Warren (Angry Robot)

Edited Publication

• Grants Pass, edited by Jennifer Brozek & Amanda Pillar (Morrigan Books)
• Festive Fear, edited by Stephen Clark (Tasmaniac Publications)
• Aurealis #42, edited by Stuart Mayne (Chimaera Publications)

Short Fiction

• “Six Suicides” by Deborah Biancotti (A Book of Endings)
• “The Emancipated Dance” by Felicity Dowker (Midnight Echo #2)
• “Busking” by Jason Fischer (Midnight Echo #3)
• “The Message” by Andrew J. McKiernan (Midnight Echo #2)
• “The Gaze Dogs of Nine Waterfalls” by Kaaron Warren (Exotic Gothic 3)

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Hugos

Lauren Beukes, author of the brilliant novel Moxyland, has pressed me to post my Hugo-eligible short stories. I can’t vote for Moxyland till next year, but will definitely do so then.

In the meantime, I had two stories out last year.

“The Gaze Dogs of Nine Waterfall” appeared in the AshTree Press anthology Exotic Gothic 3, edited by Danel Olson. Ellen Datlow has taken this story for her Year’s Best Horror 2.

“The Edge of a Thing” appeared in the British Fantasy Society’s anthology, available only to members.

I’d be very happy to email copies of these stories to interested parties.

In the novel department, Slights (Angry Robot Books) is eligible this year. Walking the Tree and Mistification will have to wait!

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Prelim Stoker Ballot

This early list has been announced, and Slights has made the cut! The next stage is to make it to the final ballot, which will be tough, given the other fantastic first novels on the list.

Stephen H. Irwin was also nominated for Best Horror Novel at the Aurealis Awards for The Dead Path. I must grab hold of a copy of that one.

Here’s the full list. What a great to-be-read pile!

2009 PRELIMINARY STOKER BALLOT

Superior Achievement in a Novel

AS FATE WOULD HAVE IT by Michael Louis Calvillo (Bad Moon Books)
SACRIFICE by John Everson (Leisure)
ETERNAL VIGILANCE II: DEATH OF ILLUSIONS by Gabrielle Faust (Immanion Press)
TWISTED LADDER by Rhodi Hawk (Tor/Forge)
VORACIOUS by Alice Henderson (Jove)
THE BONE FACTORY by Nate Kenyon (Leisure)AUDREY’S DOOR by Sarah Langan (Harper)
PATIENT ZERO by Jonathan Maberry (St. Martin’s Griffin)
QUARANTINED by Joe McKinney (Lachesis Publishing)
CURSED by Jeremy Shipp (Raw Dog Screaming Press)

Superior Achievement in a First Novel

THE BLACK ACT by Louise Bohmer (Library of Horror)
BREATHERS by S. G. Browne (Broadway Books)
SLAUGHTER by Marcus Griffin (Alexandrian Archives Publishing)
THE DEAD PATH by Stephen M. Irwin (Hachette Australia)
SOLOMON’S GRAVE by Daniel G. Keohane (Dragon Moon Press)
DISMEMBER by Daniel Pyle (Wild Child)
THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH by Carrie Ryan (Delacorte Press/Random House)
DAMNABLE by Hank Schwaeble (Jove)
THE LITTLE SLEEP by Paul Tremblay (Henry Holt)
SLIGHTS by Kaaron Warren (Angry Robot)

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction

DREAMING ROBOT MONSTER by Mort Castle (MIGHTY UNCLEAN)
THE HUNGER OF EMPTY VESSELS by Scott Edelman (Bad Moon Books)
ROT by Michelle Lee (Skullvines Press)
THE GRAY ZONE by John R. Little (Bad Moon Books)
DIANA AND THE GOONG-SI by Lisa Morton (MIDNIGHT WALK)
THE LUCID DREAMING by Lisa Morton (Bad Moon Books)
BLACK BUTTERFLIES by Kurt Newton (Sideshow Press)
DOC GOOD’S TRAVELING SHOW by Gene O’Neill (Bad Moon Books)
LITTLE GRAVEYARD ON THE PRAIRIE by Steven E. Wedel (Bad Moon Books)
MAMA FISH by Rio Youers (Shroud Publishing)

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction

NUB HUT by Kurt Dinan (Chizine)
ONE MORE DAY by Brian Freeman (SHIVERS V)
WHERE SUNLIGHT SLEEPS by Brian Freeman (Horror Drive-in)
BLANKET OF WHITE by Amy Grech (BLANKET OF WHITE)
KEEPING WATCH by Nate Kenyon (MONSTROUS: 20 TALES OF GIANT CREATURE TERROR)
PLAGUE DOGS by Joe McKinney (POTTERS FIELD 3)
THE CROSSING OF ALDO RAY by Weston Ochse (THE DEAD THAT WALK)
THE OUTLAWS OF HILL COUNTY by John Palisano (Harvest Hill)
IN THE PORCHES OF MY EARS by Norman Prentiss (PS Publishing)
THE NIGHT NURSE by Harry Shannon (Horror Drive-in)

Superior Achievement in Anthology

HARLAN COUNTY HORRORS edited by Mari Adkins (Apex Publications)
HE IS LEGEND: AN ANTHOLOGY CELEBRATING RICHARD MATHESON edited by Christopher Conlon (Gauntlet Press)
MIGHTY UNCLEAN edited by Bill Breedlove (Dark Arts Books)
LOVECRAFT UNBOUND edited by Ellen Datlow (Dark Horse Books)
POE edited by Ellen Datlow (Solaris)
DARK DELICACIES 3: HAUNTED edited by Del Howison and Jeff Gelb (Running Press)
BUTCHER SHOP QUARTET 2 edited by Frank J. Hutton (Cutting Block Press)
BRITISH INVASION by Chris Golden, Tim Lebbon and James Moore (Cemetery Dance Publications)
MIDNIGHT WALK edited by Lisa Morton (Dark House)
GRANTS PASS edited by Amanda Pillar and Jennifer Brozek (Morrigan Books)

Superior Achievement in a Collection

SHARDS by Shane Jiraiya Cummings (Brimstone Press)
MARTYRS AND MONSTERS by Robert Dunbar (DarkHart Press)
DARK ENTITIES by David Dunwoody (Dark Regions)
GOT TO KILL THEM ALL AND OTHER STORIES by Dennis Etchison (Cemetery Dance)
SHADES OF BLOOD AND SHADOW by Angeline Hawkes (Dark Regions Press)
UNHAPPY ENDINGS by Brian Keene (Delirium Books)
YOU MIGHT SLEEP… by Nick Mamatas (Prime)
A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FIENDS by Michael McCarty (Sam’s Dot)
A TASTE OF TENDERLOIN by Gene O’Neill (Apex Book Company)
IN THE CLOSET, UNDER THE BED by Lee Thomas (Dark Scribe Press)

Superior Achievement in Nonfiction

WRITERS WORKSHOP OF HORROR by Michael Knost (Woodland Press)
ESOTERIA-LAND by Michael McCarty (BearManor Media)
MORBID CURIOSITY CURES THE BLUES edited by Loren Rhoads (Simon & Schuster)
CINEMA KNIFE FIGHT by L. L. Soares and Michael Arruda (Fearzone)
THE STEPHEN KING ILLUSTRATED COMPANION by Bev Vincent (Fall River Press)
STEPHEN KING: THE NON-FICTION by Rocky Wood and Justin Brook (Cemetery Dance)

Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection

DOUBLE VISIONS by Bruce Boston (Dark Regions)
NORTH LEFT OF EARTH by Bruce Boston (Sam’s Dot)
MORTICIAN’S TEA by G. O. Clark (Sam’s Dot)
STARKWEATHER DREAMS by Christopher Conlon (Creative Guy Publishing)
VOICES FROM THE DARK by Gary William Crawford (Dark Regions)
BARFODDER by Rain Graves (Cemetery Dance)
GRAVE BITS by Todd Hanks (Skullvines Press)
TOWARD ABSOLUTE ZERO by Karen L. Newman (Sam’s Dot)
CHIMERIC MACHINES by Lucy A. Snyder (Creative Guy Publishing)

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Stokers

My novel, ‘Slights‘ has scored a couple of recommendations for “Best First Novel” in the Stoker Awards, and there are a few other Aussies on the list, too. Sinister Reads will profile all those recommended over the next few weeks.

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