2010 Aurealis Awards, winners in bold

CHILDREN’S FICTION (told primarily through words)
Grimsdon, Deborah Abela, Random House
Ranger’s Apprentice #9: Halt’s Peril, John Flanagan, Random House
The Vulture of Sommerset, Stephen M Giles, Pan Macmillan
The Keepers, Lian Tanner, Allen & Unwin
Haggis MacGregor and the Night of the Skull, Jen Storer & Gug Gordon, Aussie Nibbles (Penguin)

CHILDREN’S FICTION (told primarily through pictures)
Night School, Isobelle Carmody (writer) & Anne Spudvilas (illustrator), Penguin Viking
Magpie, Luke Davies (writer) & Inari Kiuru (illustrator), ABC Books (HarperCollins)
The Boy and the Toy, Sonya Hartnett (writer) & Lucia Masciullo (illustrator), Penguin Viking
Precious Little, Julie Hunt & Sue Moss (writers) & Gaye Chapman (illustrator), Allen & Unwin
The Cloudchasers, David Richardson (writer) & Steven Hunt (illustrator), ABC Books (HarperCollins)

YOUNG ADULT Short Story
‘Inksucker’, Aidan Doyle, Worlds Next Door, Fablecroft Publishing
‘One Story, No Refunds’, Dirk Flinthart, Shiny #6, Twelfth Planet Press
‘A Thousand Flowers’, Margo Lanagan, Zombies Vs Unicorns, Allen & Unwin
‘Nine Times’, Kaia Landelius & Tansy Rayner Roberts, Worlds Next Door, Fablecroft Publishing
‘An Ordinary Boy’, Jen White, The Tangled Bank, Tangled Bank Press

YOUNG ADULT Novel
Merrow, Ananda Braxton-­‐Smith, black dog books
Guardian of the Dead, Karen Healey, Allen & Unwin*
The Midnight Zoo, Sonya Hartnett, Penguin
The Life of a Teenage Body‐Snatcher, Doug MacLeod, Penguin
Behemoth (Leviathan Trilogy Book Two), Scott Westerfeld, Penguin

BEST ILLUSTRATED BOOK/ GRAPHIC NOVEL
Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Nicki Greenberg, Allen & Unwin
EEEK!: Weird Australian Tales of Suspense, Jason Paulos et al, Black House Comics
Changing Ways Book 1, Justin Randall, Gestalt Publishing
Five Wounds: An Illustrated Novel, Jonathan Walker & Dan Hallett, Allen & Unwin
Horrors: Great Stories of Fear and Their Creators, Rocky Wood & Glenn Chadbourne, McFarlane & Co.

BEST COLLECTION
The Library of Forgotten Books, Rjurik Davidson, PS Publishing
Under Stones, Bob Franklin, Affirm Press
Sourdough and Other Stories, Angela Slatter, Tartarus Press
The Girl With No Hands, Angela Slatter, Ticonderoga Publications*
Dead Sea Fruit, Kaaron Warren, Ticonderoga Publications

BEST ANTHOLOGY
Macabre: A Journey Through Australia’s Darkest Fears, edited by Angela Challis & Dr Marty Young, Brimstone Press
Sprawl, edited by Alisa Krasnostein, Twelfth Planet Press
Scenes from the Second Storey, edited by Amanda Pillar & Pete Kempshall, Morrigan Books
Godlike Machines, edited by Jonathan Strahan, SF Book Club
Wings of Fire, edited by Jonathan Strahan & Marianne S. Jablon, Night Shade Books

HORROR Short Story
‘Take the Free Tour’, Bob Franklin, Under Stones, Affirm Press
‘Her Gallant Needs’, Paul Haines, Sprawl, Twelfth Planet Press
‘The Fear’, Richard Harland, Macabre: A Journey Through Australia’s Darkest Fears, Brimstone Press
‘Wasting Matilda’, Robert Hood, Zombie Apocalypse!, Constable & Robinson Ltd
‘Lollo’, Martin Livings, Close Encounters of the Urban Kind, Apex Publishing

HORROR Novel
After the World: Gravesend, Jason Fischer, Black House Comics
Death Most Definite, Trent Jamieson, Orbit (Hachette)
Madigan Mine, Kirstyn McDermott, Pan Macmillan*

FANTASY Short Story
‘The Duke of Vertumn’s Fingerling’, Elizabeth Carroll, Strange Horizons
‘Yowie’, Thoraiya Dyer, Sprawl, Twelfth Planet Press
‘The February Dragon’, LL Hannett & Angela Slatter, Scary Kisses, Ticonderoga Publications
‘All the Clowns in Clowntown’, Andrew McKiernan, Macabre: A Journey Through Australia’s Darkest Fears, Brimstone Press
‘Sister, Sister’, Angela Slatter, Strange Tales III, Tartarus Press

FANTASY Novel
The Silence of Medair, Andrea K Höst, self-­‐published
Death Most Definite, Trent Jamieson, Orbit (Hachette)
Stormlord Rising, Glenda Larke, HarperVoyager (HarperCollins)
Heart’s Blood, Juliet Marillier, Pan Macmillan
Power and Majesty, Tansy Rayner Roberts, HarperVoyager (HarperCollins)*

SCIENCE FICTION Short Story
‘The Heart of a Mouse’, K.J. Bishop, Subterranean Online (Winter 2010)
‘The Angaelian Apocalypse’, Matthew Chrulew, The Company Articles Of Edward Teach/The
Angaelian Apocalypse, Twelfth Planet Press
‘Border Crossing’, Penelope Love, Belong, Ticonderoga Publications
‘Interloper’, Ian McHugh, Asimovs (Jan 2011)
‘Relentless Adaptations’, Tansy Rayner Roberts, Sprawl, Twelfth Planet Press

SCIENCE FICTION Novel
Song of Scarabaeus, Sara Creasy, EOS Books
Mirror Space, Marianne de Pierres, Orbit (Hachette)
Transformation Space, Marianne de Pierres, Orbit (Hachette)

Those winners I’ve asterixed I’m particularly happy about, since they were amongst my favourites of the year.

Congratulations to all the winners and nominees!

The winners and nominees (all of whom would have been equally awesome winners):

Best Novel

• Death Most Definite, Trent Jamieson (Hachette)
• Madigan Mine, Kirstyn McDermott (Pan Macmillan)
• Power and Majesty, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Voyager)
• Stormlord Rising, Glenda Larke (Voyager)
• Walking the Tree, Kaaron Warren (Angry Robot Books)

Best Novella or Novelette

• “Acception”, Tessa Kum (Eneit Press)
• “All the Clowns in Clowntown”, Andrew J McKiernan (Brimstone Press)
• “Bleed”, Peter M. Ball (Twelfth Planet Press)
• “Her Gallant Needs”, Paul Haines (Twelfth Planet Press)
• “The Company Articles of Edward Teach”, Thoraiya Dyer (Twelfth Planet Press)

Best Short Story

• “All the Love in the World”, Cat Sparks, Sprawl (Twelfth Planet Press)
• “Bread and Circuses”, Felicity Dowker, Scary Kisses (Ticonderoga Publications)
• “One Saturday Night With Angel”, Peter M. Ball, Sprawl (Twelfth Planet Press)
• “She Said”, Kirstyn McDermott, Scenes From the Second Storey (Morrigan Books)
• “The House of Nameless”, Jason Fischer, Writers of the Future XXVI (Galaxy Press)
• “The February Dragon”, Angela Slatter and Lisa L. Hannett, Scary Kisses (Ticonderoga Publications)

Best Collected Work

• Baggage, edited by Gillian Polack (Eneit Press)
• Macabre: A Journey through Australia’s Darkest Fears, edited by Angela Challis and Marty Young (Brimstone Press)
• Scenes from the Second Storey, edited by Amanda Pillar and Pete Kempshall (Morrigan Books)
• Sprawl, edited by Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press)
• Worlds Next Door, edited by Tehani Wessely (FableCroft Publishing)

Best Artwork

• Cover art, The Angaelien Apocalypse/The Company Articles of Edward Teach (Twelfth Planet Press), Dion Hamill
• Cover art, Australis Imaginarium (FableCroft Publishing), Shaun Tan
• Cover art, Dead Sea Fruit (Ticonderoga Publications), Olga Read
• Cover art, Savage Menace and Other Poems of Horror (P’rea Press), Andrew J McKiernan
• “The Lost Thing” short film (Passion Pictures), Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan

Best Fan Writer

• Robert Hood, for Undead Backbrain
• Chuck McKenzie, for work in Horrorscope
• Alexandra Pierce, for body of work including reviews at Australian Speculative Fiction in Focus
• Tehani Wessely, for body of work including reviews at Australian Speculative Fiction in Focus

Best Fan Artist

• Rachel Holkner, for Continuum 6 props
• Dick Jenssen, for cover art of Interstellar Ramjet Scoop
• Amanda Rainey, for Swancon 36 logo

Best Fan Publication in Any Medium

• Australian Speculative Fiction in Focus, edited by Alisa Krasnostein et al.
• Bad Film Diaries podcast, Grant Watson
• Galactic Suburbia podcast, Alisa Krasnostein, Tansy Rayner Roberts, and Alex Pierce
• Terra Incognita podcast, Keith Stevenson
• The Coode Street podcast, Gary K. Wolfe and Jonathan Strahan
• The Writer and the Critic podcast, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond

Best Achievement

• Lisa L. Hannett, cover design for The Girl With No Hands and Other Tales (Ticonderoga Publications)
• Helen Merrick and Andrew Milner, Academic Stream for Aussiecon 4
• Amanda Rainey, cover design for Scary Kisses (Ticonderoga Publications)
• Kyla Ward, Horror Stream and The Nightmare Ball for Aussiecon 4
• Grant Watson and Sue Ann Barber, Media Stream for Aussiecon 4
• Alisa Krasnostein, Kathryn Linge, Rachel Holkner, Alexandra Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts, and Tehani Wessely, Snapshot 2010

Best New Talent

• Thoraiya Dyer
• Lisa L. Hannett
• Patty Jansen
• Kathleen Jennings
• Pete Kempshall

William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review

• Leigh Blackmore, for “Marvels and Horrors: Terry Dowling’s Clowns at Midnight” in 21st Century Gothic (Scarecrow Press)
• Damien Broderick, for editing Skiffy and Mimesis: More Best of Australian Science Fiction Review (Wildside Press)
• Ross Murray, for “The Australian Dream Becomes Nightmare – Visions of Suburbia in Australian Science Fiction” in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine 44.
• Tansy Rayner Roberts, for “A Modern Woman’s Guide to Classic Who”

There have been a bunch of lists of recommendations circulating through the blogosphere, and Tehani Wessely is compiling a list of eligible works.

My few recommendations:

Novel:

Slights, Kaaron Warren

Life Through Cellophane, Gillian Polack

Shadow Queen, Deborah Kalin

(there’s a couple of others I should add to this list, including Liar and Leviathan, but I’ve omitted them for the simple reason that I haven’t read them completely yet.)

Novella/novelette

Wives, Paul Haines

The Message, Andrew J. McKiernan

Horn, Peter M. Ball

Short story

Busking, Jason Fischer

Six Suicides, Deborah Biancotti

The Emancipated Dance, Felicity Dowker

Collection

Slice of Life, Paul Haines

Book of Endings, Deborah Biancotti

Grants Pass, ed Amanda Pillar and Jennifer Brozek

Fan Writer

Chuck McKenzie, who has been the backbone of Horrorscope for the last year.

William Atheling Jr

Chuck McKenzie

And of course, the obligatory vanity section of works I have that are eligible:

Short stories:

Narthex, In Bad Dreams 2

An Unkindness of Ravens, Grants Pass.

And I’m also eligible for fan writer for my work with Horrorscope.

Congrats to all of the winners, but I have to send out a special congratulations to Catherynne M. Valente, who is not only an incredibly talented writer, but a hell of a nice person to go along with it.

Cat is a huge inspiration to me.  She is dedicated to her work, to writing things that matter to her, no matter what else other people think.  I really, really admire that.  She’s also freaking gorgeous, but that’s neither here nor there in terms of her writing ability

I’m coming off a couple of nights of much better sleep, thanks to the sprog actually not waking every 1-2 hours at night.  Perversely, I actually feel more tired physically, but my brain is starting to wake up again.  Which leads to one thing and one thing only – I want to write.

I need to try to eke some time out, probably in the evenings, to start work on Never again.  At the very least, I want to continue my series of vignettes exploring the world.  For which I have a sekrit vignette planned, inspired by another amazing artist I know.  Watch this space.