Last year I decided to take a break from writing and from the blog for a number of reasons. I figured I needed a month or two. I had no idea it would last this long.
Last week I decided I needed to get a move on. I needed to return. I figured I'd post something soon. And then yesterday, I realised the time was ripe, just after I received a wonderful email informing me that I had been shortlisted for an
Aurealis Award.
Lodloc and The Bear was originally published last October by
Keith Stevenson in
Dimension6, a free magazine that is well worth reading. (
Go, download and read it. And please, if you can spare a few bucks, pay to download the yearly collections instead and support small press in Australia.)
This is a favourite story of mine, and so I was delighted and thrilled by its shortlisting. I was also a little shocked, as I really didn't expect this. I feel so honoured.
Thanks to everyone who has sent comments and messages of congratulations. I appreciate them all.
And congratulations to my fellow finalists, especially my friends on the list -
Sean Monaghan, Michelle Goldsmith, Clare McKenna,
Amie Kaufman, Kaaron Warren, Joel Shepherd and Michael Pryor.
The winners will be awarded at a ceremony in Brisbane on Friday, 25th March, 2016.
2015 Aurealis Awards – Finalists
BEST CHILDREN’S FICTION
A Week Without Tuesday, Angelica Banks
The Cut-Out, Jack Heath
A Single Stone, Meg McKinlay
Bella and the Wandering House, Meg McKinlay
The Mapmaker Chronicles: Prisoner of the Black Hawk, A.L. Tait
BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL / ILLUSTRATED WORK
The Undertaker Morton Stone Vol.1, Gary Chaloner, Ben Templesmith, and Ashley Wood
The Diemenois, Jamie Clennett
Unmasked Vol.1: Going Straight is No Way to Die, Christian Read
The Singing Bones, Shaun Tan
Fly the Colour Fantastica, various authors
BEST YOUNG ADULT SHORT STORY
“In Sheep’s Clothing”, Kimberly Gaal (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #61)
“The Nexus Tree”, Kimberly Gaal (The Never Never Land)
“The Miseducation of Mara Lys”, Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children,)
“The Heart of the Labyrinth”, DK Mok (In Memory: A Tribute to Sir Terry Pratchett)
“Blueblood”, Faith Mudge (Hear Me Roar)
Welcome to Orphancorp, Marlee Jane Ward (Seizure)
BEST HORROR SHORT STORY
“Bullets”, Joanne Anderton (In Sunshine Bright and Darkness Deep)
“Consorting with Filth”, Lisa L Hannett (Blurring the Line)
“Heirloom Pieces”, Lisa L Hannett (Apex Magazine)
“The Briskwater Mare”, Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children)
“Breaking Windows”, Tracie McBride (Aurealis #84)
“Self, Contained”, Kirstyn McDermott (The Dark)
BEST HORROR NOVELLA
“Night Shift”, Dirk Flinthart (Striking Fire)
“The Cherry Crow Children of Haverny Wood”, Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children)
“The Miseducation of Mara Lys”, Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children)
“Wages of Honey”, Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children)
“Sleepless”, Jay Kristoff (Slasher Girls and Monster Boys)
“Ripper”, Angela Slatter (Horrorology)
BEST FANTASY SHORT STORY
“The Giant’s Lady”, Rowena Cory Daniells (Legends 2)
“The Jellyfish Collector”, Michelle Goldsmith (Review of Australian Fiction Vol. 13 Issue 6)
“A Shot of Salt Water”, Lisa L Hannett (The Dark)
“Almost Days”, DK Mok (Insert Title Here)
“Blueblood”, Faith Mudge (Hear Me Roar)
“Husk and Sheaf”, Suzanne Willis (SQ Mag 22)
BEST FANTASY NOVELLA
“Lodloc and The Bear”, Steve Cameron (Dimension6)
“Defy the Grey Kings”, Jason Fischer (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
“Broken Glass”, Stephanie Gunn (Hear Me Roar)
“The Flowers that Bloom Where Blood Touches the Earth”, Stephanie Gunn (Bloodlines)
“Haunting Matilda”, Dmetri Kakmi (Cthulhu: Deep Down Under)
“Of Sorrow and Such”, Angela Slatter (Tor.com)
BEST SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY
“2B”, Joanne Anderton (Insert Title Here)
“The Marriage of the Corn King”, Claire McKenna (Cosmos)
“Alchemy and Ice”, Charlotte Nash (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #61)
“Witnessing”, Kaaron Warren (The Canary Press Story Magazine #6)
“All the Wrong Places”, Sean Williams (Meeting Infinity)
BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVELLA
“Blood and Ink”, Jack Bridges
“The Molenstraat Music Festival”, Sean Monaghan (Asimov’s Science Fiction)
“By Frogsled and Lizardback to Outcast Venusian Lepers”, Garth Nix (Old Venus)
BEST COLLECTION
The Abandonment of Grace and Everything After, Shane Jiraiya Cummings
Striking Fire, Dirk Flinthart
Cherry Crow Children, Deborah Kalin
To Hold the Bridge, Garth Nix
The Fading, Carole Nomarhas
The Finest Ass in the Universe, Anna Tambour
BEST ANTHOLOGY
Hear Me Roar, Liz Grzyb (ed.)
The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2014, Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene (eds.)
Bloodlines, Amanda Pillar (ed.)
Meeting Infinity, Jonathan Strahan (ed.)
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume 9, Jonathan Strahan (ed.)
Focus 2014: highlights of Australian short fiction, Tehani Wessely (ed.)
BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL
In The Skin of a Monster, Kathryn Barker
Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club, Alison Goodman
The Fire Sermon, Francesca Haig
Day Boy,Trent Jamieson
Illuminae, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
The Hush, Skye Melki-Wagner
BEST HORROR NOVEL
No Shortlist Released
BEST FANTASY NOVEL
In The Skin of a Monster, Kathryn Barker
Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club, Alison Goodman
Day Boy,Trent Jamieson
The Dagger’s Path, Glenda Larke
Tower Of Thorns, Juliet Marillier
Skin, Ilka Tampke
BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL
Crossed, Evelyn Blackwell
Clade, James Bradley
Illuminae, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Their Fractured Light, Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Renegade, Joel Shepherd
Twinmaker: Fall, Sean Williams
SARA DOUGLASS BOOK SERIES AWARD
The Chronicles of King Rolen’s Kin, Rowena Cory Daniells
The Watergivers, Glenda Larke
The Lumatere Chronicles, Melina Marchetta
Sevenwaters, Juliet Marillier
The Laws of Magic, Michael Pryor
Creature Court, Tansy Rayner Roberts
