In which I make it into the Shirley Jackson Award list

Yesterday I woke up to the realisation my headcold hadn’t gone away after all. Then the bf cursed me for making him sick, too. And that would’ve been about all that happened that day if the cats hadn’t needed feeding (I hear if you lie still too long, cats will start in on your face & not stop until they lick your toe bones clean. Could be hearsay).

So then we got up & we did what any thinking people do after rinsing cat food from their hands: we sat on the couch, sniffling, coughing, and feeling depressingly mortal – and watched all three Blade movies. That second one is a non-event, eh?

And at some point I opened my email and lo! My secret had been revealed: my ISHTAR novella has been officially nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award! I can’t tell you how thrilled to bits I am. I’m proud of that little story, & REALLY proud to see it in the same category as Elizabeth Hand & Lucius Shepard, Reggie Oliver, Michael Marano and Tim Waggoner. Some amazing talent throughout the categories, with Kelly Link, Ellen Datlow, Jack Dann, Peter Straub, M. Rickert, Genevieve Valentine, Kit Reed, Joyce Carol Oates, both Vandermeers … it really is a blast. I would have blogged this yesterday, but the strength in my upper body did not extend to hauling my computer off the desk, so I was confined to whatever an iPad allowed me. Plus, it was just fun to bask for a while.

Results will be available at Readercon in July. But, y’know? Just awesome to have made it this far. Nothing is ever a solo effort, though, & I want to thank the fantastic team I worked with: Mark Deniz, Amanda Pillar, KV Taylor, Cat Sparks and Kaaron Warren. 

One more thing: interesting to see how many in the novella section look like horror stories, eh? A BOOK OF HORRORS; THE PLAGUE YEARS; GHOSTS BY GASLIGHT… It’s a great length for horror, I’m finding, & I’m looking forward to hunting out my fellow novella-writers’ works. Yay for Gilgamesh Press being at the forefront of this awesome format.

And remember, kids, if you’d like to support a Shirley Jackson nominated work, you can buy Gilgamesh Press’ ISHTAR here, here and here. Or enter the Goodreads giveaway! Two free copies to be won. Only 402 entries so far. ;)

(Those of you I owe copies to: I should have them by Continuum-time, this June!)