2014 Sir Julius Vogel Awards

The winners of the 2014 Sir Julius Vogel Awards, recognizing the excellence in the Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror of New Zealand, have been announced:

Best novel:

“Heartwood” by Freya Robertson (Angry Robot Books)

Best youth novel:

“Raven Flight” by Juliet Marillier (Pan Macmillan)

Best novella:

“Cave Fever” by Lee Murray (“Regeneration”/Random Static)

Best short story:

“By Bone-Light” by Juliet Marillier (“Prickle Moon”/Ticonderoga Publications)

Best collected work:

“Baby Teeth” edited by Dan Rabarts & Lee Murray (Paper Road Press)

Best professional artwork:

Emma Weakley for the cover of “Regeneration: New Zealand Speculative Fiction 2” edited by Anna Caro & Juliet Buchanan (Random Static)

Best professional production/publication:

“WearableArt” (Craig Potton Publishing)

Best dramatic presentation:

“The Almighty Johnsons” (Season 3) - Created by James Griffin & Rachel Lang, Producer - Mark Besley, Executive Producers - James Griffin, Chris Bailey, Kelly Martin, John Barnett (South Pacific Films)

Fan Award Nominees:

Best fan production/publication:

“Phoenixine” - John & Lynelle Howell

Best fan artwork:

“Gorgth Goes Shopping” by Matt Cowens (Au Contraire 2013 convention book)

Best fan writing (tie):

Alan Parker

Lynelle Howell

Best new talent:

Dan Rabarts

For publication of over a dozen short stories in the past 3 years for professional and semi-professional payment, for editing and producing the charity horror anthology Baby Teeth - Bite-sized Tales of Terror to benefit Duffy Books in Homes, and for producing fiction narrations for a range of speculative fiction podcasts and for the Baby Teeth audiobook.

Year of First Release 2011 (1 story publication), 2012 (2 story publications), 2013 (10 story publications), 2014 (3 stories scheduled for publication so far)

Dan’s work has appeared in a number of publications, including Paper Road Press, Ticonderoga Publications, Beneath Ceaselss Skies, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, Random Static, Dragon Moon Press, Aurealis Magazine, Wily Writers Audible Fiction, and more (see http://dan.rabarts.com/fiction/)

Service to fandom:

The League of Victorian Imagineers

While many people would have been involved in this over the years that it took streampunk in NZ and the steampunk artwork in Oamaru to evolve to what it is today, their contribution is the most well-known across NZ due to the steampunk conventions that are now occurring across New Zealand. The conventions along with the festivals, exhibitions and fashion parades have done a lot to highlight the steampunk movement in New Zealand, and Oamaru in particular.

There have been a few genre authors from overseas who have visited New Zealand and Oamaru in particular, who have noted the steampunk attractions on their public websites. Included on this list is Walter Jon Williams who visited NZ in 2012.

And Jay Lake who visited here in 2013

Oamaru is even mentioned in the Lonely Planet Travel Guide and the AA magazine for its steampunk attractions. Lonely Planet and the AA are not genre publications, so it is a strong indication that Oamaru is now well-known as the steampunk capital of NZ.

Why Oamaru as the Steampunk Capital of NZ? According to the Steampunk NZ website here is the short history with the most important snippet here:

"Anything can be influenced by Steampunk. Literature, art, music, film, fashion, technology, invention, war, jewellery, sculpture and transport. This exhibition, “Steampunk: tomorrow as it used to be”, brings a flavour of the the steampunk culture to Oamaru. Here, we celebrate our Victorian heritage every year. With authentic architecture, an original harbour and  a core of committed enthusiasts, it is a natural backdrop for this genre. We have in our community a large number of incredibly creative and talented people, some of whom have contributed to this, the first, Steampunk exhibition".

Services to Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror:

Helen Lowe

Helen has reached out to make sure that Australasian writers are seen by the rest of the world. She has used her blog and her space in SF Signal and her presence at events to inform the world and has done it with grace and good humour. Unlike many writers, she doesn’t just focus on new work or known authors, but gives space to writers who otherwise would not be seen and for work that is beginning to go unnoticed. This is just one of the ways in which she supports SF, fantasy and horror. She has done this despite being affected by the Christchurch earthquakes. It has made a big difference to a number of people in the field, particularly in this time of publishing uncertainty.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Cover art - "The Voyage of the Basilisk" by Marie Brennan

Marie Brennan’s “A Natural History of Dragons” is a gorgeous little novel, one of my delights of this reading year. I know I keep saying that I need to find a little time to put my thoughts of my readings in a proper form, so nothing new there I am afraid, but hopefully that would finally become true sooner rather than later. Anyway, “A Natural History of Dragons” is not only a wonderful reading, but also a very attractive book because of its cover artwork and interior illustrations. As a matter of fact, after I finished reading Marie Brennan’s “A Natural History of Dragons”, I returned with great pleasure several times to view again all its illustrations. Responsible for the situation is none other than the master Todd Lockwood. And since “A Natural History of Dragons” is the first novel in the “Memoirs of Lady Trent” series, not only that I’ve welcomed with delight the sight of the second novel’s cover, “The Tropic of the Serpents”, released on March (I am waiting for my copy of the novel so I can lose myself within the interior illustrations too), but also thrilled by Todd Lockwood’s artwork for the cover of the third novel, “The Voyage of the Basilisk”. This artwork follows wonderfully the line of the previous covers, but also adds something extra this time. The feeling of a scientific treaty, the true sense of a journal keeping track of a naturalist’s studies, is increased this time by the image presenting the dragon in length comparison with other species, a picture fit for any excellent zoological atlas, real or fictive. Even more, this cover holds the promise of adventure as well, the presence of the rowing boat next to the dragon hints at Isabella Camherst’s new extraordinary exploits. A gorgeous piece of art by Todd Lockwood, one we can admire at comfortable leisure since Marie Brennan’s “The Voyage of the Basilisk” is out in March 2015.

Shimmer Magazine changes its publishing format

Ever since I discovered it a couple of years ago Shimmer Magazine has become one of my favorite speculative fiction periodicals. Providing excellent short stories with each issue and a medium for discovering new writing talents I become fonder of Shimmer with its every single appearance. After 18 issues, released since 2005 in both print and digital format, Shimmer Magazine takes a step forward nowadays and changes its publishing model. Starting with the 19^th issue, Shimmer will have a new 4 story appearance every other month, in digital format. Each issue will be delivered to the subscribers of the magazine in convenient DRM-free digital formats at the beginning of every month when Shimmer is published, while for the readers who enjoy their fiction free the 4 stories of each issue will be made available on Shimmer’s website one every two weeks. This year Shimmer plans four such appearances, on May, July, September and November. It doesn’t mean that Shimmer will renounce its print appearance completely, the stories published during a year will be collected in an annual print anthology released in early December. The table of contents for the 19^th issue is already available and the readers can expect the following stories:

“The Earth & Everything Under” by K.M. Ferebee (available on website from May 6)

“Methods of Divination” by Tara Isabella Burton (available on website from May 20)

“Jane” by Margaret Dunlap (available on website from June 3)

“Lists of Items Found in Valise on Welby Crescent” by Rachael Acks (available on website from June 17)

To celebrate the change of format Shimmer Magazine is also holding a giveaway for 3 subscriptions. Anyone helping to spread the word of this change on Twitter, linking to the Shimmer website and using the hashtag #NewShimmer, enters in a contest for a chance to win a 6-issue subscription. The winners will be announced on Friday, April 18^th, at noon, MT.

2014 Sir Julius Vogel Awards nominees

The nominees for the 2014 Sir Julius Vogel Awards have been announced. The Sir Julius Vogel Awards are awarded each year and recognize the best works published the previous year in New Zealand science fiction, fantasy and horror. The awards were presented for the first time in 1989 as a fan award and from 2002 are run by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand (SFFANZ) and aimed at the professional science fiction and fantasy community. The winners of the 2014 Sir Julius Vogel Awards will be announced on Saturday, 26^th April in a ceremony held at The Surrey Hotel, Auckland, during ConClave 2, the 35^th New Zealand National Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention.

Best novel:

“Heartwood” by Freya Robertson (Angry Robot Books)

“Journey of Shadows” by Sam J. Charlton

“A Cold Day in Hell” by Sharon Hannaford

“Night’s Favour” by Richard Parry

“Crystal Venom” by Steve Wheeler (Harper Voyager)

“The Wind City” by Summer Wigmore (Steam Press)

Best youth novel:

“Talisman of Vim” by Robert Wainwright (Makaro Press)

“Pratibhashali (The Talented)” by Sanjay Joshi (Silver Leaf Publishing)

“Raven Flight” by Juliet Marillier (Pan Macmillan)

“Fountain of Forever” by K.D. Berry (Bluewood Publishing)

“When We Wake” by Karen Healey (Little Brown)

Best novella:

“Cave Fever” by Lee Murray (“Regeneration”/Random Static)

“Wings, Fangs and Shadows” by Cindy Hargreaves

“In a World Full of Birds” by I.K. Paterson-Harkness (“Regeneration”/Random Static)

“This Other World” by Anna Caro (Crossed Genres)

“At the Bay of Cthulhu” by Matt & Debbie Cowens

Best short story:

“Waking the Taniwha” by Dan Rabarts (Wiley Writers)

“Ahi Kā” by Eileen Mueller & Alicia Ponder (NorthWrite 2013)

“All That Glitters” by Dan Rabarts (“Ministry Protocol – Thrilling Tales of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurances”/Imagine That Studios)

“Love Hurts” by Jan Goldie (“Baby Teeth”/Paper Road Press)

“By Bone-Light” by Juliet Marillier (“Prickle Moon”/Ticonderoga Publications)

“Lockdown” by Piper Mejia (“Baby Teeth”/Paper Road Press)

Best collected work:

“Beyond This Age” edited by Lee Murray & Piper Mejia (Oceanbook)

“Baby Teeth” edited by Dan Rabarts & Lee Murray (Paper Road Press)

“Twisty Christmas Tales” by Eileen Mueller, Alicia Ponder & Peter Friend (Phantom Feather Press)

“Regeneration: New Zealand Speculative Fiction 2” edited by Anna Caro & Juliet Buchanan (Random Static)

“Prickle Moon” by Juliet Marillier (Ticonderoga Publications)

Best professional artwork:

Samara Kirkham for the cover of “Beyond This Age” edited by Lee Murray & Piper Mejia (Oceanbook)

Emma Weakley for the cover of “Regeneration: New Zealand Speculative Fiction 2” edited by Anna Caro & Juliet Buchanan (Random Static)

Best professional production/publication:

“The Hobbit: Unexpected Journey, Chronicles: Creatures and Characters” by Daniel Falconer (HarperCollins)

“WearableArt” (Craig Potton Publishing)

“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Chronicles: Art and Design” by Daniel Falconer (HarperCollins)

Best dramatic presentation:

“The Almighty Johnsons” (Season 3) - Created by James Griffin & Rachel Lang, Producer - Mark Besley, Executive Producers - James Griffin, Chris Bailey, Kelly Martin, John Barnett (South Pacific Films)

“Eternity” - Written, directed and produced by Alex Galvin (Eternity Productions)

Fan Award Nominees:

Best fan production/publication:

“Novazine” - Jacqui Smith

Filking concert at Au Contraire 2013 - Murderous Little Toys (Daphne Lawless, Alastair Gibson, Tanya Gardner, Tricia Hall)

“Angels in the Fog” - Live-Action Role-Playing Game created by Russ Kale

“Phoenixine” - John & Lynelle Howell Best fan artwork: “Gorgth Goes Shopping” by Matt Cowens (Au Contraire 2013 convention book) Best fan writing: Alan Parker Steve Litten Alan Robson and Jane Lindskold Lynelle Howell

Sam J. Charlton

Jacqui Smith

Best new talent:

Sharon Hannaford

Dan Rabarts

Robert Wainwright

Angela Oliver

R.L. Stedman

Service to fandom:

The League of Victorian Imagineers

Services to Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror:

Helen Lowe

HarperCollins NZ

Congratulations and good luck to all the nominees!

Cover art - "The Hellsblood Bride" by Chuck Wendig

Yet another gorgeous cover artwork from Joey Hi-Fi. This time for Chuck Wendig’s “The Hellsblood Bride”, the second novel in the Mookie Pearl series, coming in December from Angry Robot Books.

Yes, we’re going back deep underground for another twelve rounds with Mookie Pearl.

Father, barkeep, former Mafioso, ruler of his subterranean crime-kingdom. The Organization is back, and they’ll do anything to get Mookie on board, but Mookie has gone legit, and it’s taking every ounce of effort for him to keep his new bar from crashing and burning.

To top it all, his daughter is missing, and when Nora’s not in plain sight, that’s usually a sign of bad things to come! On one hand, the Organization. On the other, Nora.

Why can’t Family ever be easy..?

Crowdfunding campaigns - "Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat", the graphic novel & "Aghast, A journal of the darkly fantastic" edited by George C. Cotronis

There are plenty of blessings and curses to be found around the Internet, but I am fortunate enough to count more of the former than the latter. I cannot claim a dependency to the easiness with which information can be accessed, but it certainly comes in handy. As it happened in the case of Andrez Bergen’s “Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat”, one of the novels I loved reading in recent times and that without the existence of the Internet I would not have been aware of its existence. This excellent cross between post-apocalyptic and noir fiction left me dreaming of ““Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat” becoming a cult movie too if someday technology makes it possible for Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall to play in a production directed by Ridley Scott.” Well, that might not be possible any time soon, but a graphic novel based on Andrez Bergen’s novel is on the brink of coming into existence. “Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat”, the graphic novel, is written and illustrated by Andrez Bergen together with his daughter, Cocoa Bergen, and adapts the story of the novel published in 2011 to a 130+ pages comic book, while at the same time includes minor tweaks for the key characters and their world and some plot elements that were not part of the original novel. To help turn this project into reality Andrez Bergen put together a crowdfunding campaign with the stretched goal of 3,500 Australian Dollars. The campaign proves to be successful so far, with 43 days to go before this crowdfunding enterprise is over the project is funded in a proportion of almost 70%. So, if you want to back this project up or if you want to learn more about Andrez Bergen’s “Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat” graphic novel you can find details at the Kickstarter page of this project.

***

Through “Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat” not only that I discovered a wonderful novel and a very interesting writer, but I was also once again delighted with the work made by a small press. Bold and nonconformist I am thrilled to see these independent publishing houses offering most of the times delightful little gems for the readers. One such small publisher, recently born, is Kraken Press, dedicated to dark fiction. Run by the energetic George C. Cotronis, illustrator, writer and editor, Kraken Press published 3 titles so far, a novella by Adam Aresty, “Recovery”, a collection of short stories, “Staring Into the Abyss”, signed by Richard Thomas and an anthology edited by George Cotronis, “American Nightmare”, with five other titles scheduled to be released this year. Another of Kraken Press’ future projects is “Aghast”, a new, bi-annual magazine of dark fantasy and horror short fiction. “Aghast” will be available in both print and digital formats, will feature original short fiction, each issue aiming for content between 30k and 50k words and each story being accompanied by a black and white illustration made by George Cotronis, who is also the editor of the magazine. To get this magazine started and to support the publishing of the first few issues George C. Cotronis created a crowdfunding campaign with a stretched goal of 1,000 Pounds, the project being backed in a proportion of 79% with 19 days left of this campaign. The first issue of “Aghast” already looks promising, it will feature original stories by Megan Arkenberg and Tim Waggoner, while other goodies besides this initial appearance would become available if certain funding stretch goals are reached, including an issue #0 with short stories by Gemma Files, Jonathan Maberry and Jeff Strand. You can find all these stretch goals and further information about “Aghast” at its dedicated Kickstarter page.

2013 Aurealis Awards

Saturday, April 5^th, on a ceremony held in Canberra at the Australian National University the winners of the 2013 Aurealis Awards have been announced:

Best illustrated book or graphic novel (tie):

“Burger Force” by Jackie Ryan (self published)

“The Deep Vol. 2: The Vanishing Island” by Tom Taylor and James Brouwer (Gestalt Publishing)

Best children’s book:

“The four seasons of Lucy McKenzie” by Kirsty Murray (Allen & Unwin)

Best young adult short fiction:

“By Bone-light” by Juliet Marillier (“Prickle Moon” / Ticonderoga Publications)

Best young adult novel (tie):

“These Broken Stars” by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (Allen & Unwin)

“Fairytales for Wilde Girls” by Allyse Near (Random House Australia)

Best horror short fiction:

“The Year of Ancient Ghosts” by Kim Wilkins (“The Year of Ancient Ghosts” / Ticonderoga Publications)

Best horror novel:

“Fairytales for Wilde Girls” by Allyse Near (Random House Australia)

Best fantasy short fiction:

“The Last Stormdancer” by Jay Kristoff (Thomas Dunne Books)

Best fantasy novel:

“A Crucible of Souls” by Mitchell Hogan (self published)

Best science fiction short story:

“Air, Water and the Grove” by Kaaron Warren (“The Lowest Heaven” / Pandemonium Press)

Best science fiction novel:

“Lexicon” by Max Barry (Hachette Australia)

Best anthology (tie):

“The Year's Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2012” edited by Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene (Ticonderoga Publications)

“One Small Step An Anthology Of Discoveries” edited by Tehani Wessely (FableCroft Publishing)

Best collection:

“The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories’ by Joanne Anderton (FableCroft Publishing)

The Peter McNamara Convenors’ Award for Excellence:

Jonathan Strahan

Kris Hembury Encouragement Award:

Tristan Savage

Congratulations to all the winners!