Lots of very cool things happened yesterday

I was already pretty excited for the first of the month, since my newest story was due to come out in the February issue of Clarkesworld Magazine. But two other very cool related things happened as well!

Clarkesworld issue 209 promo image

The first thing was from another pillar of the genre, the Locus Magazine Recommended Reading list. My story ‘Such Is My Idea Of Happiness’ from last October’s Clarkesworld was included on the list in the novelette category, which I’m absolutely delighted about. Locus is a very respected genre magazine with some really great writers and reviewers and the reading list is a reflection of what they think the very best work is from the year, as a team, so this is a real honour. This story has now been included on two longlists - this one and the BSFA Awards longlist. If you’re a BSFA member, you can vote for it now. And if you’d like to vote for it in the Locus Awards, anybody can register for an individual voting link.

Later on, my new story ‘Kardashev’s Palimpsest’ came out, which was very exciting in itself. This story has a huge scope (literally the entire history of the galaxy) and is a departure for me in a lot of ways - structurally, stylistically, emotionally and in the sheer scale it tries to work at. I’m a bit nervous to see how it’s received. We’ll see!

The final bit of exciting news came with the release of the issue, because it included the finalists for the Clarkesworld Annual Reader Poll, a survey of the magazines readers about their favourite short stories, novelettes, novellas and cover art from the year. Last year my story ‘Carapace’ was a finalist. This year, ‘Such Is My Idea Of Happiness’ is a finalist in the same category! I’m really, really chuffed to have made the finalist list two years running. If you’ve read and enjoyed the story, you can vote in the poll at the bottom of Neil’s post here until February 15th.

Thank you to all who have read, nominated and talked about my stories. It’s a huge honour.

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