I got a wonderful surprise on Saturday when a few messages started coming in saying something along the lines of, “Congratulations on your Ditmar nomination!” I hadn’t realised the Award shortlist had been released, but it only took a moment to see social media alive with the news (at least, spec fic related social media in Australia.) It turns out that my story, Not the Worst of Sins, published in issue 133 of Beneath Ceaseless Skies magazine, has been noninated in the Best Short Story category. Thanks so much to everyone who voted for that, it’s a real honour. The Ditmars are an Australian national award decided by popular vote. Anyone active in the SF scene and fandom can nominate works, then anyone who was at the previous year’s NatCon (National SF Convention) or has a full or supporting membership for this year’s NatCon can vote for the winners.
This year, the NatCon is Continuum X in Melbourne in June. The awards ceremony will be held there. If you went to Conflux in Canberra last year, or you’re going to Continuum this year, you can vote in the Ditmars. I really recommend that you do vote, as the more people who get involved, the more the winners will reflect the opinion of the wider community. If you’re not going to the cons, but you want to vote, you can buy a supporting membership for Continuum X for just $35, which gives you several benefits including voting rights. And you can vote online in a matter of minutes. Couldn’t be easier! Voting is open now until one minute before midnight AEST (ie. 11.59pm, GMT+10), Wednesday, 28th of May, 2014.
I’ll post the full list of nominated works in all categories below, but here are a few relevant links:
You can vote for your choice of winners (as per conditions above) online here.
You can learn all about Continuum X and get your membership here.
You can read my nominated story free online here at BCS. (If you like it, I’d love to get your vote.)
So please do get involved. My own inclusion notwithstanding, I honestly think this is one of the strongest Ditmar Award ballots for years, in every category. You could do worse than getting hold of everything on this list (and anything on the Aurealis Awards list from last month) and you’d be set up with some fantastic reading of Aussie spec fic.The AAs and now the Ditmars are showing very clearly that Australian spec fic is stronger than ever.
So, get your membership and get voting (or if you went to Conflux last year, just get voting!) and if you’re going to NatCon this year in June, I’ll see you there!
Here’s the full list of nominations for the 2014 Ditmar Awards:
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)
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