Prix Aurora Awards Nominations are Open: Nominate My Stories and Books!

Calling all Canadians, at home and abroad, and landed immigrants in Canada: our national science fiction awards, the Prix Aurora Awards, are now open for nominations. This year, I have three short stories, one novel, and one anthology eligible to be nominated in the following categories:

Eligible for Best Short Fiction:

"Cloned to Kill", Infinite Space, Infinite God II, Twilight Times Books

"The Polar Bear Carries the Mail", The Dragon and the Stars, DAW Books

"Family Tradition", Night to Dawn, issue 17, April 2010

Eligible for Best Novel:

The Shrine of the Siren Stone, Orchard House Press.

Eligible for Best Related Work:

The Dragon and the Stars by Derwin Mak and Eric Choi, Editors, DAW Books

To learn more about the Prix Aurora Awards and to nominate stories and editors, visit:

http://www.prixaurorawards.ca/wordpress/

There is no fee or cost to nominate stories.

To nominate stories, go to the above website and register for a free membership in the in the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association. Receive your Society number by email, then go back to the Aurora Awards website and submit your nominations. You can submit nominations online (due April 30, 2011) or with the mail-in paper ballot (due April 22, 2011).

You can view my short stories and excerpts from The Shrine of the Siren Stone for free during the nomination period at:

http://www.derwinmaksf.com/Auroras.html

Infinite Space, Infinite God II has its Canadian book launch at Futurecon on New Year's Eve 2010-2011

Photo: Liana K., Futurecon's chairperson (and host of the TV series This Movie Sucks! and Ed and Red's Night Party) and I hold a copy of Infinite Space, Infinite God II. I'm not wearing a costume; that's my St. John Ambulance mess dress uniform.

Infinite Space, Infinite God II, an anthology of Roman Catholic-theme science fiction stories, edited by Karina and Robert Fabian, had its Canadian book launch at Futurecon, a science fiction convention and New Year's Eve party held in Richmond Hill, Ontario. The launch occurred during the cocktail hour that preceded the banquet.

Infinite Space, Infinite God II includes my story "Cloned to Kill", which is about a teenage clone girl who rebels against her creator with the help of a former army chaplain. Editor Karina Fabian says, "'Cloned to Kill' goes beyond the ethics of cloning to explore the nature of free will, forgiveness and belonging to community. As such, it's a story not so much about clones as about us." She also said that the main character, Lorraine, reminded her of Cameron from the TV series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Futurecon was the best New Year's Eve ever! It was a unprecedented idea: a posh party for science fiction fans, with an upscale dress code (semi-formal or formal or SF-fantasy-anime costumes), hors d'ouevres served with plates and forks, and a code of conduct somewhat based on Russian Empress Catherine the Great's Rules for the Behaviour of Those Entering These Doors. We had none of the ragged clothes and people eating junk food with their bare hands that one sees at most science fiction convention room parties! The live entertainment was splendid, and I felt like I was in one of those parties in War and Peace or Brideshead Revisited combined with SF-fantasy-anime cosplay.

Many thanks to the convention committee: Liana K., Phil Gotfried, Emily Schooley, Steven Kerzner, David Ross, Tina Olah, Lori Dawn Antaya, Marcus Antaya, and Declan Dennehy.

Buy Infinite Space, Infinite God II at Amazon.com and Amazon.ca, and remember, "Cloned to Kill" is eligible to be nominated for a 2011 Prix Aurora Award in the category of Best Short Fiction.

www.derwinmaksf.com/ISIG_II_main.html

The Dragon and the Stars: 5th bestselling mass market book in 2010 at Bakka-Phoenix Science Fiction Bookstore

This was the best news that I could receive for New Year's Eve. The Dragon and the Stars had not only gotten into the Top 10 but had also ranked 5th in the mass market book sales of 2010 at Bakka-Phoenix Books, Toronto's famous science fiction bookstore. See the Bakka-Phoenix announcement here:

http://www.bakkaphoenixbooks.com/2010/12/30/2010-bestsellers/

The Top 10 bestselling mass market books at Bakka-Phoenix in 2010 were:

Mass Market

1. Wake, Robert J. Sawyer

2. Sandman Slim, Richard Kadrey

3. Lord of the Changing Winds, Rachel Neumeier

4. Julian Comstock, Robert Charles Wilson

5. Dragon and the Stars, Derwin Mak & Eric Choi, eds.

6. Gaslight Dogs, Karin Lowachee

7. Enchantment Emporium, Tanya Huff

8. Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss

9. On the Edge, Ilona Andrews

10. Unseen Academicals, Terry Pratchett

I owe many thanks to my co-editor Eric Choi and to all the authors for creating such a wonderful anthology: Tess Gerritsen, Tony Pi, Charles Tan, William F. Wu, Emergy Huang, Crystal Gail Shankuan Koo, Emily Mah, Eugie Foster, Melissa Yuan-Innes, Shelly Li, Gabriela Lee, E.L. Chen, Susan Ee, Brenda W. Clough, Urania Fung, Wen Y Phua, and Ken Liu.