Well, this is all kinds of cool!  In the midst of an impressive ballot list, it turns out I’ve been shortlisted for two Ditmar Awards: Best Novella/Novelette for “After the World:Gravesend”, and Best New Talent.

As always, it’s great to make such a shortlist, and actually humbling when I look at how many folks I truly admire on this ballot.  Regardless of the outcome, I’m hanging out with good company, and that alone has made my day 🙂

The 2010 ballot is as follows:

Best Novel
—————————————————————–
* Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld (Penguin)
* Liar, Justine Larbalestier (Bloomsbury)
* World Shaker, Richard Harland (Allen& Unwin)
* Slights, Kaaron Warren (Angry Robot Books)
* Life Through Cellophane, Gillian Polack (Eneit Press)

Best Novella or Novelette
—————————————————————–
* “Siren Beat”, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Twelfth Planet Press)
* “Black Water”, David Conyers (Jupiter Magazine)
* “After the World: Gravesend”, Jason Fischer (Black House Comics)
* “Horn”, Peter M. Ball (Twelfth Planet Press)
* “Wives”, Paul Haines (X6/Couer de Lion)

Best Short Story
—————————————————————–
* “The Piece of Ice in Ms Windermere’s Heart”, Angela Slatter (New Ceres
Nights, Twelfth Planet Press)
* “Six Suicides”, Deborah Biancotti (A Book of Endings, Twelfth Planet
Press)
* “Black Peter”, Marty Young (Festive Fear, Tasmaniac Publications)
* “Seventeen”, Cat Sparks (Masques, CSFG)
* “Tontine Mary”, Kaaron Warren (New Ceres Nights, Twelfth Planet Press)
* “Prosperine When it Sizzles”, Tansy Rayner Roberts (New Ceres Nights,
Twelfth Planet Press)

Best Collected Work
—————————————————————–
* The New Space Opera 2, edited by Jonathan Strahan and Gardner Dozois
(HarperCollins)
* New Ceres Nights, edited by Alisa Krasnostein and Tehani Wessely
(Twelfth Planet Press)
* Slice Of Life, Paul Haines, edited by Geoffrey Maloney (The Mayne Press)
* A Book of Endings, edited by Deborah Biancotti, Alisa Krasnostein and
Ben Payne (Twelfth Planet Press)
* Eclipse Three, edited by Jonathan Strahan (Night Shade Books)

Best Artwork
—————————————————————–
* Cover art, New Ceres Nights (Twelfth Planet Press), Dion Hamill
* Cover art, The Whale’s Tale (Peggy Bright Books), Eleanor Clarke
* Cover art and illustrations, Shards: Short Sharp Tales (Brimstone
Press), Andrew J. McKiernan
* Cover art, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #42, Lewis Morley
* Cover art, “Horn” (Twelfth Planet Press), Dion Hamill
* Cover art, Masques (CSFG), Mik Bennett

Best Fan Writer
—————————————————————–
* Tansy Rayner Roberts, for body of work
* Chuck McKenzie, for work in Horrorscope
* Robert Hood, for Undead Backbrain (roberthood.net/blog)
* Tehani Wessely, for body of work
* Bruce Gillespie, for work in Steam Engine Time

Best Fan Artist
—————————————————————–
* Dave Schembri, for work in Midnight Echo
* Kathleen Jennings, for body of work
* Dick Jenssen, for body of work

Best Fan Publication in Any Medium
—————————————————————–
* Interstellar Ramjet Scoop , edited by Bill Wright
* A Writer Goes on a Journey (awritergoesonajourney.com), edited by
Nyssa Pascoe et al
* ASif! (asif.dreamhosters.com), edited by Alisa Krasnostein, Gene
Melzack et al
* Australian Science Fiction Bullsheet (bullsheet.sf.org.au), edited by
Edwina Harvey and Ted Scribner
* Steam Engine Time , edited by Bruce Gillespie and Janine Stinson

Best Achievement
—————————————————————–
* Alisa Krasnostein, Liz Grzyb, Tehani Wessely, Cat Sparks and Kate
Williams, for the New Ceres Nights booklaunch
* H. Gibbens, for the Gamers’ Quest CGI-animated book trailer
* Ruth Jenkins and Cathy Jenkins-Rutherford, for the children’s program
at Conjecture
* Amanda Rainey, for the cover design of Siren Beat/Roadkill (Twelfth
Planet Press)
* Gillian Polack et al, for the Southern Gothic banquet at Conflux

Best New Talent
—————————————————————–
* Pete Kempshall
* Kathleen Jennings
* Thoraiya Dyer
* Jason Fischer
* Simon Petrie
* Christopher Green
* Peter M. Ball

William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review
—————————————————————–
* Chuck McKenzie, for “The Dead Walk! … Into a Bookstore Near You” (Eye
of Fire #1, Brimstone Press)
* Ian Mond, for reviews on his blog (mondyboy.livejournal.com)
* Grant Watson, for reviews and articles for Eiga: Asian Cinema
(www.eigaasiancinema.com)
* Helen Merrick, for The Secret Feminist Cabal: a cultural history of
science fiction feminisms (Aqueduct Press)

Voting for the Ditmar Award is conducted in accordance with the rules
specified at http://wiki.sf.org.au/Ditmar_rules, and is open to members
of Dudcon III (including supporting members) and to members of
Conjecture who were eligible to vote in the 2009 Award. Voting in all
award categories is by the optional preferential system, and each
eligible individual may vote only once. All ballots (including emailed
ballots) should include the name and address of the voter. If you have
questions regarding the ballot or voting procedure, please email
ditmars@sf.org.au.