Locus Awards

Just when I'd resigned myself to not being on any Awards Lists like, ever again (because it would really help if I published something this year, wouldn't it?), I get this lovely sideswipe from the cosmos:

The Locus Awards nominations are out and we’re all on it. Eclipse Three makes an appearance in the Best Anthology category, and stories from the book by Nicola, Karen and Maureen are on the list.

That's the anthology's editor, the wonderful Jonathan Strahan, in a note he sent to all the book's contributors this morning. The story of mine that's in it is Dulce Domum, which I posted about some here as it progressed. It's a story I'm very proud of, that I'd been trying to write for a long, long time, and it was Jonathan who ~~harassed~~ encouraged me til it was done - even through the unspeakable "Um, here's a rough draft and if it doesn't work for you just tell me and I'll quietly go away" stage, which not every editor will do for ya, believe me.

While it is, of course, possible that everyone who voted to nominate Eclipse Three thought Dulce Domum was the single bad story in a book full of rich & glorious jewels, I prefer to think that's not the case.

It is a book full of rich & glorious jewels, though; when I got my copy and started dutifully reading through, I was gobsmacked & stimulated by the quality of the work therein. I do hope that all these nominations make a lot more people aware of this original anthology.

Ahem.