Friday 4 May 2012

Aurora Awards for Rotting Heads

So, for the few of you who don't yet know, my short story, The Legend of Gluck (When the Hero Comes Home, ed. by Gabrielle Harbowy and Ed Greenwood, Dragon Moon Press), is nominated for an Aurora Award in the short fiction category!!  I can't thank you all enough for being so supportive of a rotten head (you're all a little twisted and I like that about you).

The ramble
Because it's Friday and I like to ramble. There's actual useful info in the next section, if you want to skip ahead. But, why would you want to???

I found out about this year's Aurora Award nomination during a super busy and stressful week.  I hadn't really put the word out there about my eligible works, just a simple post that said "vote if you wanna, don't worry if you don't wanna."  More or less.

The organizers had been trying to reach me by phone to inform me of my nomination, but I was out a lot that week.  Roomy was working overtime since it was a crazy busy period at work, so I was out grocery shopping by myself, which is super boring.  No one was there to shake their head at me as I spoke to little fruit or danced in the aisle.  Quite dull. 

This was also the day they'd moved everything around at our local Farm Boy, so it was a bit of a discombobulated experience (I was also very sleep deprived, did I mention that?) 

A scrunched up Ukranian (?) woman grabbed my arm as I was examining jars of pickled things and we became shopping buddies.  I have no clue what she said as she spoke in an East European dialect, but we worked it out. I helped her get bread (she was really scrunched up), and she helped me select yogourt.  S'all good.

So, after that experience, she tottered off to another cash and I lined up at my own.  I pulled out my iPhone to e-mail Roomy and see how things were going at work, when I noticed an e-mail from the Aurora Awards Committee, marked as urgent.  I read it, eyes wide, and did a little dance (my feet went on their own - I totally had no control. Totally).

I now confess - we're not supposed to tell anyone about our nomination before the ballot is announced, but I told the Scottish-accented man in line in front of me.  He said: "Well, congratulations, lass!"  He had no clue what I was talking about cause I was rambling, but he seemed as pleased as a muddy pig so he was a good audience.

Anyway, on to the actual point of this blog...

How to vote

To vote, you go here: http://www.prixaurorawards.ca/.  (Canadians only.)

Those that nominated don't need to pay again - it's part of the one-year membership fee.  Those who did not nominate but still wish to partake of the voting fun may do so by joining now. The fee is $10, but this year, the Aurora Awards Committee is offering a voter's package, which includes full novels, short stories, poems, etc.  Considering the titles on that list, it's worth the price of admission.

I have lots of friends on this year's ballot, including some that are in the same category as me.  I wish them all the best. It's an impressive line-up!  Seriously - Canadian speculative fiction rocks!

Again, thank you for your support. You inspire me to blow up more villages, showcase more rotting bodies and destroy more lives. Terribly, irreparably. 

Sniff.  Isn't that beautiful?

2 comments:

  1. Awesome news Marie! And definitely well deserved. We need more rotting head stories on the Aurora ballot.

    ReplyDelete