I’m linking to Crankynick’s post without much comment because he has said it all far better than I’d ever have the balls to do. But what I would like to add is this. As someone who did not lobby for or solicit Ditmar nominations or votes, I was extremely disappointed by the folks who claimed the outcome of the awards was somehow rigged. Not sure of the exact stats, but somewhere in the vicinity of 50 people apparently voted in this years Ditmars. Twelve votes would probably be enough to secure a win. If such a small number of people aren’t voting for your stuff, perhaps… you fill in the blanks.
Swancon
Caught the red eye flight back from Perth, a thoroughly uncomfortable experience for some reason — usually I don’t mind flying but this time everything seemed ridiculously cramped. I drifted in and out of sleep — or at least I think I did. Rob did much the same at the wheel while driving us back down the ‘Gong. Not so good but luckily we made it.The weather sunnied up just long enough to convince me to slam on a couple of loads of washing. The sky is now cloud grey and the dryer’s convulsive death rattle is scaring the crap out of the cats. Ah well, you win some you lose some, as they say.Swancon 36 was an utter blast. Best con in ages. Possibly even the best con I’ve ever been to. A mellow vibe, so many of my favourite people in the same place at the same time.…
that time of year again…
The Ditmars (AKA Australian SF ("Ditmar") Award, and "Australian Science Fiction Achievement Award") are the Australian version of the Hugo awards. They are a popular award, nominated by the SF community at large and voted on by the memberships of the current and previous Australian National Convention.If you’re eligible to nominate, please do so. A list of eligible material can be found here.Nominations are open until March 14th. Online nomination form here.
Ditmars in motion
I really love this ‘motion capture’ sequence of photos of me and Peter taken by at the Ditmars. She captured the moment when Rob’s best fan writer score was announcedand then I got one for best short storyand Kaaron, our roomie, got best novel!Kathryn’s full Ditmar photo set can be viewed here.
ditmars 2010
Note – This post is probably only of interest to Aussie spec fic community membersThe 49th National SF Convention is going to be Dudcon III, held in conjunction with Aussiecon 4, the 2010 Worldcon. There will be a single programming stream – namely a business meeting and a Ditmars award ceremony. Membership of Dudcon 3 entitles you to vote in the 2010 Ditmars. The trophy, pictured above, has been designed and costed. There are varying grades of membership available. If you have even half an interest in such matters, why not sling them a few bucks? I did. Drop the co ordinator Paul Ewins a line at paulewins@optusnet.com.au
ditmars
I must admit to being rather impressed by how seriously people seem to be taking the Ditmars this year (that’s Aussie Hugos for the foreign folks). The way things are going we might actually end up with a shortlist representing the best of a years work! Here are the rules. If you’re eligible to nominate, go here. If you’re not sure of what you might like to nominate, several folks are giving away free fiction to help you make up your minds (check out Ellen Datlow, , Margo Lanagan and Jonathan Strahan’s sites.I have some eligible stuff, notably my stories ‘Sammarynda Deep’ from the Paper Cities antho, ‘Palisade’ form the Clockwork Phoenix antho, the cover art of Rob Hood’s Creeping in Reptile Flesh collection and Scary Food in the best fan production category.If you’re an Aussie spec fic type, go nominate some stuff right now!