Tag: James Tiptree

2013 James Tiptree Award Winner and Honor List Announced

I’m not sure when exactly this happened; I was too preoccupied with moving since late January to continue with my obsessive refreshing of the Tiptree website.

Recently the honor list and winner of the 2013 James Tiptree Award were announced. I’m not sure when exactly this happened; I was too preoccupied with moving since late January and surgery + recovery this week to continue with my obsessive refreshing of the Tiptree website (some of you may remember my book was nominated).

I’d like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to N.A. Sulway, author of Rupetta, winner of the 2013 Tiptree Award.

I’d also like to extend congratulations to the members of the honor list: Eleanor Arnason, Aliette de Bodard, Nicola Griffith, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Ann Leckie, Bennett Madison, Sarah McCarry, Janelle Monae, Helene Wecker, and S.M. Wheeler.

I didn’t expect Bellica to win the Tiptree, but I did entertain some hopes of being short-listed. I would be lying if I said my pride weren’t a little bit stung right now.

But I can see the logic. Bellica was my first novel and it was incredibly long. It’s not terribly revolutionary. It’s good, but perhaps it’s not award or short list material. (And who knows — Canada Post says the copies of the book arrived on time, but perhaps they didn’t. That would suck, but it would also be my fault for not getting the books out earlier.)

Bottom line: I’m okay with Bellica not winning or making the list. I think my other books will have a better chance at being listed for awards, even if I never win any (with which I am also okay). I have a lot of faith in my latest book, Stranger Skies, and the rest of the series that will follow.

Though my pride is stung — I am a Leo, after all — I do not harbour any bitterness or resentment towards the judges or the winners. The authors on that list worked hard for this achievement and they deserve it. I wish them well, and I will add their works to my To Be Read list.

I encourage you to do the same.

-Katje

PS: for the record, Stranger Skies is eligible for the 2014 Tiptree. If you feel it should be nominated, you can do so here: 2014 Tiptree Nomination Form.

Please do not nominate it unless you truly feel it deserves to be considered. (This requires that you have read it.)

2013 in retrospect

I want to focus on the good, and work towards making 2014 much better. With that in mind, here is my list of pretty cool/awesome things that happened this year.

I was recovering from the cold from hell, but today my health has taken a nose-dive again. I am now the Plague Cat, and I demand snuggles chicken noodle soup. (I do demand snuggles, but only from the Ogre.)

So I thought I’d do a brief counting of the good things that happened to me this year, seeing as 2013 ends tomorrow. (AUGH.)

Overall 2013 wasn’t a really great year for me — I’m still struggling financially and honestly, that sort of badness makes everything else suck a lot more. I had a lot of plans this year that didn’t happen, because the year started with a bang that put me in the hole, financially, and I haven’t been able to crawl out. (I ended 2012 doing pretty well, and at the end of last year those plans looked possible.)

However, I don’t want to focus on the bad. I want to focus on the good, and work towards making 2014 much better. With that in mind, here is my list of pretty cool/awesome things that happened this year.

  • Finished my second novel. In January, I finished the first draft of my second book, Stranger Skies. It’s now been published in ebook form, and we’re working on getting the print books out the door.
  • Got engaged to the love of my life. Yeah, the Ogre and I made it official — the same weekend I finished Stranger Skies, actually. That was a good weekend.
  • Finished the first draft of my third novel. The Jade Star of Athering is still in rewrites and edits, so it’s not really finished. But the first draft — the skeleton of the story — is complete, and I do expect to finish it and publish it in 2014.
  • Got nominated for an award. Bellica, my first novel, got nominated for a James Tiptree, Jr. Award. Review copies have been sent off to the judges and I wait anxiously to hear if I make the honor list. Regardless what happens — this is a HUGE deal.
  • I finished my last course at VIU and will be graduating in January. This was supposed to happen last year, and I was supposed to graduate in January 2013 — but it didn’t, and I had to take an extra course. I’m counting it as a good thing, even though it pissed me off, because I’ll be done with my BA very soon.
  • Thanks to the generosity of friends, I was able to raise the funds to put through the paperwork on my change of name. I don’t think it’ll be done in time for graduation, which was my deadline, but that’s okay — I can get the degree re-printed if need be, and soon enough my real name will become my legal name.

Tomorrow, I’ll post my list of goals/resolutions/whathaveyous that will make 2014 a much better year for me.

-Plague Cat

PS: Those of you waiting for a new episode/chapter of Fifty Shades of Drinking, I’m sorry, it’ll be a bit longer than I anticipated. I was going to get one done after Christmas but I have been far too ill to tackle it. Likely the next episode will be posted early January. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Accomplishments

Yesterday I finished proofing the print copy of Stranger Skies, made edits to the file, and sent the files off to the printer’s.

I’m glad I actually sat myself down and proofed the thing. I was feeling a bit “BUT I’VE DONE IT SO MANY TIMES ALREADY” when I got it and didn’t want to proof it. Turns out there were a few rather large errors in it, which of course means I need to update the ebooks again.

Still, feeling accomplished about getting the print book done. We should have the first run printed by the end of the week, hopefully. They will be ready to ship by Christmas.

I’m doing a special on pre-orders, so if you want a paperback of Stranger Skies for $16.95 instead of the regular $19.95, this is your chance. Will ship to anywhere in Canada for five dollars. Still working on US shipping, so if you’re in the US stay tuned for that.

Other accomplishments:

– Didn’t get crying-drunk at the Christmas party last night, like I did last year. To be fair, last year they had eggnog and rum, which I’d never tasted before. This year there was no eggnog and I just had my own Bailey’s, so it was far easier to moderate my intake. Hooray!

(I don’t often get crying-drunk; in fact it usually never happens. But eggnog + rum tastes really good and I got super excited last year over it and…yes. Couldn’t moderate. So this year it was a goal to not get so drunk at the party. Because crying-drunk is just fucking depressing.)

– Went and shipped 7 boxes today! 6 of them held copies of Bellica for the James Tiptree Award judging panel! They might actually arrive on time. Send prayers please.

– I watched Love, Actually today with Jenny Trout and a bunch of awesome folks on Twitter. I guess maybe it wasn’t an accomplishment? But I feel accomplished, so there.

Now, dinnertime. I am off to stuff my face.