So, yesterday morning I woke up to an email. It was very early by my standards, my eyes were a bit fuzzy, and to be honest I wasn’t sure why I had been sent it. I could see that a story from an anthology my friend had published had been shortlisted for an award, which was lovely in of itself, but I wouldn’t normally expect a direct email about it at that time of the morning. Normally I’d find out about something like that from Twitter or Facebook  when I was awake enough to process it.

Then my eyes opened properly, and I realised I had been shortlisted, too! To say I was surprised would be an understatement….

The WSFA Small Press Awards have had a number of illustrious winners and nominees…I started listing names here but it really is a glittering list of some of my writing idols. They have also historically been very good to Aussies, with the wonderful Tansy Rayner Roberts winning TWO, and people like Jason Nahrung and Jo Anderton nominated in the past. I mean, seriously, talk about quality!

And the shortlist this year is no less impressive. Seeing my name next to writers of that calibre is…surreal. As you can guess, I am honoured and humbled and hyperventilating. I certainly don’t expect to win, but I truly am just happy to be on the list.

It was also very nice to two other Aussies on the list. I’m delighted for D.K. Mok, an extremely talented writer, and also thrilled that Fablecroft are represented again – Fablecroft are one of my favourite publishers. And, another story from the anthology I was in is there, the amazing Sean McMullen making an appearance. The fact that two Satalyte Publishing stories appear tells you what a great job Steve and Marieke are doing. and why Satalyte is rapidly becoming one of the top publishers in Australia.

The full list  and details about the awards are here. Congrats to all the nominees!

• “Acts of Chivalry” by Sean McMullen, published in Tales of Australia: Great Southern Land, edited by Stephen C. Ormsby and Ellen Mae Franklin (Satalyte Publishing, December 2013)
• “Bits” by Naomi Kritzer, published in Clarkesworld Magazine, edited by Neil Clarke (October 2013)
• “Explaining Cthulhu to Grandma” by Alex Shvartsman, published in Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show, edited by Edmund R. Schubert (Hatrack Publishing, April 2013)
• “Like a Bat Out of Hell” by Jonathan Shipley, published in After Death, edited by Eric C. Guignard (Dark Moon Books, April 2013)
• “Morning Star” by DK Mok, published in One Small Step, an anthology of discoveries, edited by Tehani Wessely (FableCroft Publishing, May 2013)
• “Set Your Face Towards the Darkness” by David McDonald, published in Tales of Australia: Great Southern Land, edited by Stephen C. Ormsby and Ellen Mae Franklin (Satalyte Publishing, December 2013)
• “The Traditional” by Maria Dahvana Headley, published in Lightspeed, edited by John Joseph Adams (May 2013)
• “Trap-weed” by Gemma Files, published in Clockwork Phoenix 4, edited by Mike Allen (Mythic Delirium Books, July 2013)