Ditmar Awards Voting is open. For the uninitiated, the Ditmars are the annual Australian peer-voted awards for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror.
What does peer-voted mean? Well, that you are either attending the National Convention (or have in recent years) or that you are ‘active in fandom’. What does the latter mean?
As I understand it: if you’ve been to a convention in Australia, or are in a discussion group (online or live), or interact regularly on social media, or are simply a fan of Australian speculative fiction, you’re eligible. Which is to say, it’s pretty damn broad. If you are new to voting in the Ditmars, feel free to nominate me as a ‘referee’ (this aspect will be clear once you’ve seen the nomination form. Note that nominations close Thursday 21 August.
Okay, enough preamble. I had two works published last year that I am very proud of – if you’d read and enjoyed them, I’d appreciate your vote (If you’ve not read them, then buy them and devour quickly my friend – why deny yourself?)
In the Novella/Novelette category, I have ‘Ghost of the Neon God’, published through Titan Books. Ghost won the Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Novella earlier this year. It’s a cyberpunk set in Australia, and therefore a rare beast indeed.
In the Novel category I have ‘The Escher Man’, also published by Titan Books. A labour of love to be sure, taking ten years to write from start to finish.
Speaking of someone other than myself (outrageous, I know), the Best New Talent category looks stacked this year, but for mine Sarah Balstrup would be a great choice.
That’s it. Whether or not you’ve read my work, I encourage you to seek out Australian authors. We’ve an incredibly talented (and largely undiscovered) crop of genre writers down here, deserving of your attention.
This post aged well!
Ha. Indeed. Probably time for an update.