Douglas Smith | Writer of Fantasy and Science Fiction

The voting ballot is now available for the 2011 Aurora Awards, the official awards of the Canadian SF and Fantasy Association.

I am thrilled that this year my first full collection, Chimerascope, is one of five finalists under the category "Related Work." Your vote would be truly appreciated.

Why Does Chimerascope Deserve Your Vote?

Fair question. I'm a little biased, but here are some reasons:

• It is currently also a finalist for the Sunburst Awards, Canada's only juried award for speculative fiction, sharing the ballot with the likes of Guy Gavriel Kay, Robert J. Sawyer, and Charles de Lint.
• Earlier this year, Chimerascope was on the final ballot for the national CBC "Bookies" awards, sharing the ballot with the likes of Stieg Larsson, Suzanne Collins, William Gibson, and Robert J. Sawyer.
• It has consistently received rave reviews in Canada and around the world.
• It contains 16 of my best stories, including an Aurora Award winner, a Best New Horror selection, nine Aurora Award finalists, and three Year's Best Fantasy & Horror honourable mentions
• Still not convinced? Why not download a free ebook of any story in Chimerascope? Just grab your free coupon code and make your selection in my bookstore

How to Vote

The voting process this year involves two steps (but two simple steps, honest):

Step 1: Go to the Aurora Membership page
If you didn't participate in nominating for the Aurora's earlier this year, then you need to click on the "Register" link at the bottom of the above page (or click here to register). Registration is free and is a one-time process only. In future years, you will not need to register again, and it saves the Aurora volunteers the work each year to validate that you're eligible to nominate and vote. It also allows you to receive updates and info on the Auroras if you wish. All registration information is solely for the use of Aurora voting and will never be shared with other groups.

If you did nominate anything for the Auroras earlier this year, then you're already a registered member. Just enter your email address that you used in that process and your society number that you were assigned at registration in the boxes on this page. This will log you in and take you to your membership page, where you can vote.

If you've forgotten or lost your society number, then click on the link "Forgot your Society Number?", and it will be emailed to you.

Step 2: Vote
At the bottom of your membership page, you will see either a "Buy now" or a "Vote now" link.

If you're registered for SFContario, the convention that is hosting the Aurora Awards, your voting fee is already included in your membership, and you'll see the "Vote Now" link at the bottom.

If you're not attending SFContario, you'll see a "Buy Now" link. Click on that to pay the $5.50 voting fee via PayPal or credit card. Either way is both quick and secure.

You will then be taken to the actual voting ballot page. Follow the instructions (remember this is a preferential ballot -- your first pick is #1, second #2, etc.). You don't need to vote in all categories, and you don't need to enter a vote for all entries in the categories that you do vote in.

To vote for Chimerascope, page down to the category "RELATED WORKS" and enter your vote.

Any Canadian citizen (not necessarily living in Canada) or permanent resident may vote. The voting period closes October 15, 2011.

About the Auroras

This will be the 31st year that the "Auroras" will be presented. On a per-capita basis, the Aurora Awards have the largest voter turnout of any national SF award in the world, exceeding that of the American-dominated Hugos, the Japanese Seiuns, the British Arthur C. Clarke Awards, and the Australian Ditmars. Each year, a different convention or group hosts the awards ceremony.

Read more

The finalists for the 2011 Aurora Awards have been announced, and my collection Chimerascope is on the ballot, under the category, "Best English Related Work." The full ballot is shown below.

Congratulations and best of luck to all the finalists.

PROFESSIONAL AWARDS

Best English Novel

Black Bottle Man by Craig Russell, Great Plains Publications
Destiny's Blood by Marie Bilodeau, Dragon Moon Press
Stealing Home by Hayden Trenholm, Bundoran Press
Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay, Viking Canada
Watch by Robert J. Sawyer, Penguin Canada

Best English Short Story

"The Burden of Fire" by Hayden Trenholm, Neo-Opsis #19
"Destiny Lives in the Tattoo's Needle" by Suzanne Church, Tesseracts Fourteen, EDGE
"The Envoy" by Al Onia, Warrior Wisewoman 3, Norilana Books
"Touch the Sky, They Say" by Matt Moore, AE: The Canadian Science Fiction Review, November
"Your Beating Heart" by M. G. Gillett, Rigor Amortis, Absolute Xpress

Best English Related Work

Chimerascope, Douglas Smith (collection), ChiZine Publications
The Dragon and the Stars, edited by Derwin Mak and Eric Choi, DAW
Evolve: Vampire Stories of the New Undead, edited by Nancy Kilpatrick, EDGE
On Spec, edited by Diane Walton, Copper Pig Writers Society
Tesseracts Fourteen, edited by John Robert Colombo and Brett Alexander Savory, EDGE

Read more

The nomination period is now open for the 2011 Aurora Awards, the official awards of the Canadian SF and Fantasy Association.

This year, my first full collection, Chimerascope, is eligible under the category "Related Work." Your support by way of a nomination would be truly appreciated.

Why Nominate Chimerascope?

Fair question. I'm a little biased, but here are some reasons:

• Chimerascope recently made the final ballot for the national CBC "Bookies" awards for Best Collection, sharing the ballot with the likes of Stieg Larsson, Suzanne Collins, William Gibson, and Robert J. Sawyer
• It has consistently received rave reviews in Canada and in the US
• It contains 16 of my best stories, including an Aurora Award winner, a Best New Horror selection, nine Aurora Award finalists, and three Year's Best Fantasy & Horror honourable mentions
• Still not convinced? Why not check out excerpts from all 16 stories right here

How to Nominate

The nomination process this year involves two steps (but two simple steps, honest):

Read more

The voting ballot is now available for the 2011 Aurora Awards, the official awards of the Canadian SF and Fantasy Association.

I am thrilled that this year my first full collection, Chimerascope, is one of five finalists under the category "Related Work." Your vote would be truly appreciated.

Why Does Chimerascope Deserve Your Vote?

Fair question. I'm a little biased, but here are some reasons:

• It is currently also a finalist for the Sunburst Awards, Canada's only juried award for speculative fiction, sharing the ballot with the likes of Guy Gavriel Kay, Robert J. Sawyer, and Charles de Lint.
• Earlier this year, Chimerascope was on the final ballot for the national CBC "Bookies" awards, sharing the ballot with the likes of Stieg Larsson, Suzanne Collins, William Gibson, and Robert J. Sawyer.
• It has consistently received rave reviews in Canada and around the world.
• It contains 16 of my best stories, including an Aurora Award winner, a Best New Horror selection, nine Aurora Award finalists, and three Year's Best Fantasy & Horror honourable mentions
• Still not convinced? Why not download a free ebook of any story in Chimerascope? Just grab your free coupon code and make your selection in my bookstore

How to Vote

The voting process this year involves two steps (but two simple steps, honest):

Step 1: Go to the Aurora Membership page
If you didn't participate in nominating for the Aurora's earlier this year, then you need to click on the "Register" link at the bottom of the above page (or click here to register). Registration is free and is a one-time process only. In future years, you will not need to register again, and it saves the Aurora volunteers the work each year to validate that you're eligible to nominate and vote. It also allows you to receive updates and info on the Auroras if you wish. All registration information is solely for the use of Aurora voting and will never be shared with other groups.

If you did nominate anything for the Auroras earlier this year, then you're already a registered member. Just enter your email address that you used in that process and your society number that you were assigned at registration in the boxes on this page. This will log you in and take you to your membership page, where you can vote.

If you've forgotten or lost your society number, then click on the link "Forgot your Society Number?", and it will be emailed to you.

Step 2: Vote
At the bottom of your membership page, you will see either a "Buy now" or a "Vote now" link.

If you're registered for SFContario, the convention that is hosting the Aurora Awards, your voting fee is already included in your membership, and you'll see the "Vote Now" link at the bottom.

If you're not attending SFContario, you'll see a "Buy Now" link. Click on that to pay the $5.50 voting fee via PayPal or credit card. Either way is both quick and secure.

You will then be taken to the actual voting ballot page. Follow the instructions (remember this is a preferential ballot -- your first pick is #1, second #2, etc.). You don't need to vote in all categories, and you don't need to enter a vote for all entries in the categories that you do vote in.

To vote for Chimerascope, page down to the category "RELATED WORKS" and enter your vote.

Any Canadian citizen (not necessarily living in Canada) or permanent resident may vote. The voting period closes October 15, 2011.

Read more

And yet another great review for my first collection, Impossibilia, and its lead story "Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase, by Van Gogh," this one from Matt Cardin in the review magazine Dead Reckonings (No. 5, Spring 2009). Here's what he says:

On Impossibilia:
"Both thematically and stylistically, these stories sometimes recall the work of better known authors, including Harlan Ellison, Theodore Sturgeon, and Ray Bradbury. But Smith puts such a personal stamp on his stories, and invests them with such depth of feeling, that they transcend the dangers of … imitation and emerge as wholly original. … There is a certain exhilaration that comes from reading the book’s complex and powerfully emotional stories couched in that deft and smooth prose. It is easy to see why PS Publishing considers Smith an author who deserves more attention. … [Smith deserves] to be known to by a very wide audience indeed."

Read more

I finally came across a review of my story "Doorways," which first appeared in Postscripts 17 in December and is currently nominated for the 2009 Aurora Awards. Here's what Kelly Jensen had to say in her review on SF Crowsnest:

"A couple months ago I was introduced to Douglas Smith by way of his collected short stories (also by PS Publishing), 'PS Showcase #5: Impossibilia'. So I was looking forward to his story 'Doorways' and was not disappointed.