Auroras

The nomination period is now open for the 2023 Aurora Awards, recognizing the best of Canadian SF & Fantasy published in 2022.

This year, I have two works that are eligible to be nominated:

• The Hollow Boys: The Dream Rider Saga, Book 1 is eligible under "Best YA Novel"
• "Gypsy Biker's Coming Home" is eligible under "Best Novelette / Novella"

Any Canadian citizen or permanent resident may nominate for the Auroras. If that's you, I'd truly appreciate any consideration you'd give to nominating me.

I explain how to nominate below, but first, let me talk up my two works, because I'm very proud of them, and both have received a lot of critical notice.

The Hollow Boys: The Dream Rider Saga, Book 1

This first book in my new trilogy has received universal praise, sitting at between 4.8 and 5.0 stars on all the major retailers plus garnering great reviews from top book review sites:

"This arresting series kickoff from Smith grips from the start as it introduces its inventive milieu, its flawed but fantastically powered hero, its playful worldbuilding, and a host of tantalizing mysteries. … Takeaway: Thrilling YA fantasy." —BookLife (Editor's Pick)

"An assured, confident novel with strong world-building, sharp dialogue and the perfect balance between action and emotional growth for its main characters. … In short, this is a must-read story for YA fantasy fans." —Blueink Review (★ Starred review)

"Inventive, engaging, and boundless fun. … I enjoyed The Hollow Boys a great deal, turning pages long after I should have been abed. Smith has produced the best Canadian superhero adventure since James Alan Gardner's Dark vs. Spark novels." —The Ottawa Review of Books

If you haven't read The Hollow Boys but would like to, here are some options.

• You can read the first four chapters for free here.
• I am also offering a discount from my website store here. Use the coupon code "AURORAS23" at checkout to get the ebook for $0.99 (Regular $4.99 US). Note: this coupon expires when the nomination period ends April 22 and is restricted to the first 100 downloads.

"Gypsy Biker's Coming Home"

The story has also received recent recognition. It's currently a finalist for the Alberta Magazine Awards under the "Fiction" category, as I wrote about earlier. So, yeah, it's a good story. Thanks to the same Alberta Magazine Awards, the story is available to read online.

How to Nominate in the Auroras

To nominate, you need to register to be a member of the CSFFA (Canadian SF & Fantasy Association). Go here and click on "Not a Member Yet?" to register for 2023.

Fill out your name, email, and home province, then select a username and password for the site. NOTE: one weirdness with this form—you'll find the first box to enter your password is filled with black dots. To get rid of them, just click in the box, then hold down your "DELETE" key until they all disappear. Then enter your password in that box and in the one below to verify it.

Registration costs $10 CAD, but this allows you to both nominate (this step) and vote on the final ballot. Not much to pay, imo, to support Canadian SF & fantasy.

Once you're logged in, click on the "Pay Membership Fee with PayPal" button at the bottom to be taken to a PayPal screen. Don't use PayPal? You'll have the option to pay by debit or credit.

You'll then be taken back to the Awards site. Click on "Log in" under "You Are A Member?" then enter your brand new username (or email) and password. You'll then be on the Aurora Awards main page. Select "Nominate" from the middle of the screen to access the online nomination form.

You can nominate up to five works in each category, but you don't need to nominate in every category or that many in any category.

To nominate a work, just click on one of the boxes under the category and select the appropriate title of the work you wish to nominate from the dropdown list of eligible works. Click on the "Update nominations" button for the category, then move to your next category.

The Hollow Boys is eligible under "Best YA Novel" and "Gypsy Biker's Coming Home" is eligible under "Best Novelette / Novella."

The nomination period closes at 11:59 pm on Saturday, April 22, 2023.

Thanks again for any consideration you give to nominating my writing!

The voting ballot is now available for the 2011 Aurora Awards, the official awards of the Canadian SF and Fantasy Association. I am thrilled that this year my first full collection, Chimerascope, is one of five finalists under the category "Related Work." Your vote would be truly appreciated.

Why Does Chimerascope Deserve Your Vote?

Fair question. I'm a little biased, but here are some reasons:

• It is currently also a finalist for the Sunburst Awards, Canada's only juried award for speculative fiction, sharing the ballot with the likes of Guy Gavriel Kay, Robert J. Sawyer, and Charles de Lint.
• Earlier this year, Chimerascope was on the final ballot for the national CBC "Bookies" awards, sharing the ballot with the likes of Stieg Larsson, Suzanne Collins, William Gibson, and Robert J. Sawyer.
• It has consistently received rave reviews in Canada and around the world.
• It contains 16 of my best stories, including an Aurora Award winner, a Best New Horror selection, nine Aurora Award finalists, and three Year's Best Fantasy & Horror honourable mentions
• Still not convinced? Why not download a free ebook of any story in Chimerascope? Just grab your free coupon code and make your selection in my bookstore

How to Vote

The voting process this year involves two steps (but two simple steps, honest):

Step 1: Go to the Aurora Membership page If you didn't participate in nominating for the Aurora's earlier this year, then you need to click on the "Register" link at the bottom of the above page. Registration is free and is a one-time process only. In future years, you will not need to register again, and it saves the Aurora volunteers the work each year to validate that you're eligible to nominate and vote. It also allows you to receive updates and info on the Auroras if you wish. All registration information is solely for the use of Aurora voting and will never be shared with other groups. If you did nominate anything for the Auroras earlier this year, then you're already a registered member. Just enter your email address that you used in that process and your society number that you were assigned at registration in the boxes on this page. This will log you in and take you to your membership page, where you can vote. If you've forgotten or lost your society number, then click on the link "Forgot your Society Number?", and it will be emailed to you.

Step 2: Vote At the bottom of your membership page, you will see either a "Buy now" or a "Vote now" link. If you're registered for SFContario, the convention that is hosting the Aurora Awards, your voting fee is already included in your membership, and you'll see the "Vote Now" link at the bottom. If you're not attending SFContario, you'll see a "Buy Now" link. Click on that to pay the $5.50 voting fee via PayPal or credit card. Either way is both quick and secure. You will then be taken to the actual voting ballot page. Follow the instructions (remember this is a preferential ballot -- your first pick is #1, second #2, etc.). You don't need to vote in all categories, and you don't need to enter a vote for all entries in the categories that you do vote in. To vote for Chimerascope, page down to the category "RELATED WORKS" and enter your vote. Any Canadian citizen (not necessarily living in Canada) or permanent resident may vote.

The voting period closes October 15, 2011.

About the Auroras

This will be the 31st year that the "Auroras" will be presented. On a per-capita basis, the Aurora Awards have the largest voter turnout of any national SF award in the world, exceeding that of the American-dominated Hugos, the Japanese Seiuns, the British Arthur C. Clarke Awards, and the Australian Ditmars. Each year, a different convention or group hosts the awards ceremony.

The finalists for the 2011 Aurora Awards have been announced, and my collection Chimerascope is on the ballot, under the category, "Best English Related Work."

The full ballot is shown below. Congratulations and best of luck to all the finalists.

PROFESSIONAL AWARDS

Best English Novel

• Black Bottle Man by Craig Russell, Great Plains Publications
• Destiny's Blood by Marie Bilodeau, Dragon Moon Press
• Stealing Home by Hayden Trenholm, Bundoran Press
• Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay, Viking Canada
• Watch by Robert J. Sawyer, Penguin Canada

Best English Short Story

• "The Burden of Fire" by Hayden Trenholm, Neo-Opsis #19
• "Destiny Lives in the Tattoo's Needle" by Suzanne Church, Tesseracts Fourteen, EDGE
• "The Envoy" by Al Onia, Warrior Wisewoman 3, Norilana Books
• "Touch the Sky, They Say" by Matt Moore, AE: The Canadian Science Fiction Review, November
• "Your Beating Heart" by M. G. Gillett, Rigor Amortis, Absolute Xpress

Best English Related Work

• Chimerascope, Douglas Smith (collection), ChiZine Publications
• The Dragon and the Stars, edited by Derwin Mak and Eric Choi, DAW
• Evolve: Vampire Stories of the New Undead, edited by Nancy Kilpatrick, EDGE
• On Spec, edited by Diane Walton, Copper Pig Writers Society
• Tesseracts Fourteen, edited by John Robert Colombo and Brett Alexander Savory, EDGE

Best English Poem / Song

• "The ABCs of the End of the World" by Carolyn Clink, A Verdant Green, The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box
• "Let the Night In" by Sandra Kasturi, Evolve: Vampire Stories of the New Undead, EDGE
• "Of the Corn: Kore's Innocence" by Colleen Anderson, Witches & Pagans #21
• "The Transformed Man" by Robert J. Sawyer, Tesseracts Fourteen, EDGE
• "Waiting for the Harrowing" by Helen Marshall, ChiZine 45

Best English Graphic Novel

• Goblins, by Tarol Hunt, goblinscomic.com
• Looking For Group, Vol. 3, by Ryan Sohmer and Lar DeSouza
• Stargazer, Volume 1, by Von Allan, Von Allan Studio
• Tomboy Tara, Emily Ragozzino, tomboytara.com

Best Artist (Professional and Amateur) (An example of each artist’s work is listed below but they are to be judged on the body of work they have produced in the award year)

• Lynne Taylor Fahnestalk, "Brekky" cover art, On Spec Fall
• Erik Mohr, cover art for ChiZine Publications
• Christina Molendyk, Girls of Geekdom Calendar for Argent Dawn Photography
• Dan O'Driscoll, cover art for Stealing Home
• Aaron Paquette, "A New Season" cover art, On Spec Spring

FAN / AMATEUR AWARDS

Best Fan Publications No award will be given out in this category due insufficient eligible nominees

Best Fan Filk

• Dave Clement and Tom Jeffers of Dandelion Wine for "Face on Mars"
• CD Karen Linsley; concert as SFContario Guest of Honour
• Phil Mills, for “Time Traveller” (song writing)

Best Fan Organizational

• Andrew Gurudata, organizing the Constellation Awards
• Brent M. Jans, chair of Pure Speculation (Edmonton)
• Liana Kerzner, chair of Futurecon (Toronto)
• Helen Marshall and Sandra Kasturi, chairs of Toronto SpecFic Colloquium (Toronto)
• Alex Von Thorn, chair of SFContario (Toronto)

Best Fan Other

• Tom Jeffers, Fundraising, FilKONtario
• John and Linda Ross Mansfield, Conception of the Aurora Nominee pins
• Lloyd Penney, Articles, columns and letters of comment - fanzines

Best of luck to everyone!

And yet another great review for my first collection, Impossibilia, and its lead story "Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase, by Van Gogh," this one from Matt Cardin in the review magazine Dead Reckonings (No. 5, Spring 2009). Here's what he says:

On Impossibilia:

"Both thematically and stylistically, these stories sometimes recall the work of better known authors, including Harlan Ellison, Theodore Sturgeon, and Ray Bradbury. But Smith puts such a personal stamp on his stories, and invests them with such depth of feeling, that they transcend the dangers of … imitation and emerge as wholly original. … There is a certain exhilaration that comes from reading the book’s complex and powerfully emotional stories couched in that deft and smooth prose. It is easy to see why PS Publishing considers Smith an author who deserves more attention. … [Smith deserves] to be known to by a very wide audience indeed."

On "Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase, by Van Gogh":

"This is one of those heady and ambitious stories that throw so many different elements into the narrative mix that one wonders whether the author is going to be able to pull it off. In fact, Smith does so very skillfully, so that the plot arc, character development, and denouement come off feeling effortless and elegant, and quite satisfying."

Both Impossibilia and "Bouquet..." are nominated for the 2009 Aurora Awards.

I finally came across a review of my story "Doorways," which first appeared in Postscripts 17 in December and is currently nominated for the 2009 Aurora Awards. Here's what Kelly Jensen had to say in her review on SF Crowsnest:

"A couple months ago I was introduced to Douglas Smith by way of his collected short stories (also by PS Publishing), 'PS Showcase #5: Impossibilia'. So I was looking forward to his story 'Doorways' and was not disappointed.

After the death of his superior, Jack is summoned by the powers that be at GenTech to figure out the puzzle of the late Rainer's legacy. His house, which also contains the laboratory for his final and what is rumoured to be his greatest work. The puzzles reveal not only the secrets of Rainer's work, but also some secrets pertinent to Jack's life. This story has a cunningly satisfying conclusion.

I find a good short story falls into two categories: There is the complete story, the novel miniaturised, which is a nearly perfect art form. These are hard to capture but constantly illustrated by such writers as Douglas Smith."