Major Squee

Legends 2, where 'The Giant's Lady' appears, and the actual Aurealis Award for best fantasy short story

Legends 2, where ‘The Giant’s Lady’ appears, and the actual Aurealis Award for best fantasy short story

 

When I heard in February that my work had been shortlisted for two Aurealis Awards I was both delighted and surprised. In Australia the Aurealis Awards are our Big Thing.

 

Here are the short listed stories for the fantasy section:

BEST FANTASY SHORT STORY

“The Giant’s Lady”, Rowena Cory Daniells (Legends 2, Newcon Press)

“The Jellyfish Collector”, Michelle Goldsmith (Review of Australian Fiction Vol. 13 Issue 6)

“A Shot of Salt Water”, Lisa L Hannett (The Dark, TDM Press)

“Almost Days”, DK Mok (Insert Title Here, FableCroft Publishing)

“Blueblood”, Faith Mudge (Hear Me Roar, Ticonderoga Publications)

“Husk and Sheaf”, Suzanne Willis (SQ Mag 22, IFWG Publishing Australia)

 

And here is my KRK series rubbing shoulders with some of the best in the field.

SARA DOUGLASS BOOK SERIES AWARD

The Chronicles of King Rolen’s Kin [The King’s Bastard (2010), The Uncrowned King (2010),The Usurper (2010), The King’s Man (2012), King Breaker (2013)], Rowena Cory Daniells (Solaris Press)

The Watergivers [The Last Stormlord (2009), Stormlord Rising (2010), Stormlord’s Exile(2011)], Glenda Larke (HarperVoyager)

The Lumatere Chronicles [Finnikin of the Rock (2008), Froi of the Exiles (2011), Quintana of Charyn (2012)], Melina Marchetta (Penguin Random House)

Sevenwaters [Daughter of the Forest (2000), Son of the Shadows (2001), Child of the Prophecy(2002), Heir to Sevenwaters (2009), Seer of Sevenwaters (2011), Flame of Sevenwaters (2013)], Juliet Marillier (Pan Macmillan Australia)

The Laws of Magic [Blaze Of Glory (2007), Heart Of Gold (2007), Word Of Honour (2008),  Time Of Trial (2009), Moment Of Truth (2010), Hour Of Need (2011)], Michael Pryor (Random House Australia)

Creature Court [Power and Majesty (2010), Shattered City (2011), Reign of Beasts (2012)], Tansy Rayner Roberts (HarperVoyager)

 

Being shortlisted ‘made my day’.

Then, when Marianne and I were asked to co-host the awards I was both touched and honoured.  I figured I hadn’t won either award and this didn’t surprise me, not with such a strong field. Co-hosting the awards was a chance to ‘glam up’ for an evening and catch up with the friends I only see once a year. (Or in this case I haven’t been out in the ‘real world’  for over two years).

Here I am doing my Marilyn imitation (as a mother of six my life is not at all glamorous)

Here I am doing my Marilyn imitation (as a mother of six my life is not at all glamorous)

 

When I track down from photos (my camera has died) I’m going to do a separate post about the awards ceremony and the fun we had. But right now I’d like to say the things I didn’t say when I was so gobsmacked by winning the award.

I’d like to thank the team who organise the award for all their hard work. There was 55 entries (over 200 books) in the Inaugural Sara Douglas Fantasy Series Award and over 100 short stories in the fantasy section. I’d also like to thank Ian Whates for inviting me to submit to Legends 2, Stories in honour of David Gemmell. 

 

 

The full list of Aurealis winners is below. Many of these people are my friends and I am delighted for them. Others are up and coming writers and I wish them all the best with their careers. It is an honour to be included in such a talented group.

 

The Winners of the 2015 Aurealis Awards

 

aurealis2016

Congratulations to all the winners of the 2015 Aurealis Awards!

BEST CHILDREN’S FICTION

A Single Stone, Meg McKinlay (Walker Books Australia) 

BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL / ILLUSTRATED WORK

The Singing Bones, Shaun Tan (Allen & Unwin)

BEST YOUNG ADULT SHORT STORY

“The Miseducation of Mara Lys”, Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children, Twelfth Planet Press)

BEST HORROR SHORT STORY

“Bullets”, Joanne Anderton (In Sunshine Bright and Darkness Deep, AHWA)

BEST HORROR NOVELLA

“The Miseducation of Mara Lys”, Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children, Twelfth Planet Press)

BEST FANTASY SHORT STORY

“The Giant’s Lady”, Rowena Cory Daniells (Legends 2, Newcon Press)

BEST FANTASY NOVELLA

“Defy the Grey Kings”, Jason Fischer (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Firkin Press)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY

“All the Wrong Places”, Sean Williams (Meeting Infinity, Solaris)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVELLA

“By Frogsled and Lizardback to Outcast Venusian Lepers”, Garth Nix (Old Venus, Random House)

BEST COLLECTION

To Hold the Bridge, Garth Nix (Allen & Unwin)

BEST ANTHOLOGY

Bloodlines, Amanda Pillar (ed.) (Ticonderoga Publications)

BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

In The Skin of a Monster, Kathryn Barker (Allen & Unwin)

BEST HORROR NOVEL

Day Boy,Trent Jamieson (Text Publishing)

BEST FANTASY NOVEL

Day Boy,Trent Jamieson (Text Publishing)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

Illuminae, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (Allen & Unwin)

SARA DOUGLASS BOOK SERIES AWARD

The Watergivers [The Last Stormlord (2009), Stormlord Rising (2010), Stormlord’s Exile(2011)], Glenda Larke (HarperVoyager)

THE CONVENORS’ AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE

Letters to Tiptree, Alexandra Pierce and Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press)

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