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I am thrilled to announce that my urban fantasy novel, The Hollow Boys: The Dream Rider Saga, Book 1, is a finalist for Canada's 2023 Aurora Awards for Best Young Adult Novel.

The Auroras are fan-voted awards recognizing the best of Canadian SF & Fantasy published the previous year. You can view the full 2023 ballot here.

Any Canadian citizen or permanent resident may vote for the Auroras. If that's you, I hope you'll consider voting for me.

Below, I explain how to vote, as well as how to download the Voter Package with your complimentary copy of all the nominated works.

How to Register to Vote

To vote, you must be a 2023 member of the Canadian SF & Fantasy Association, the body that administers the Auroras.

(If you nominated works for this year's awards, you're already registered and can skip this step. Just jump down to "How to Vote.")

To register for 2023, go here and click on "Not a Member Yet?"

Enter your info, then select a username and password. (If the password box contains black dots, hold down "DELETE" to clear the box, then enter a password.)

Registration costs $10 CAD, which lets you vote and download all the nominated works.

Registration closes at midnight July 22.

How to Vote

Log in to the Aurora Awards site, then go to the Member's Home page. From there, click on "Voting," which will take you to the live 2023 Aurora voting ballot.

The Auroras use a ranked voting method (more info here).

To vote, sort your choices from 1 (your favourite) to 5 (your least favourite), by dragging your selections with your mouse (or finger for touch screens).

Drag your choices above the voting line (the line that says, “No pick underneath this line will be counted”).

As you do this, your choice will display its ranking. If you make a mistake, just move your choice to a different position or back below the voting line.

You do not have to rank all nominated works in a category, and you do not have to vote in all categories.

However...

I hope you will at least vote for my novel, The Hollow Boys: The Dream Rider Saga, Book 1, nominated under the category "Best Young Adult Novel." Here are some reasons to consider the book.

The Hollow Boys

The book has been widely praised by the top publishing review sites. You can see some review highlights in the graphic at the right and can read the full reviews here.

Readers agree, rating The Hollow Boys from 4.8 to 5 stars (out of 5) across the major retailers and book social media sites:

• Amazon 4.8 ⭐
• Barnes & Noble 5.0⭐
• Kobo 4.8⭐
• Apple 5.0⭐
• Google Play 4.8⭐
• BookBub 4.9⭐

Hopefully, you've read the book and agree with those reviews and ratings. If you haven't read it yet, read on to find out how to get it as part of the Voter Package.

Submitting Your Ballot

When you've ranked all your choices for the categories you’re interested in, click the “Send Ballot” button at the bottom of the form. This will lock and submit your selections.

Do NOT submit your ballot until all your selections are done. Unlike the nomination process, you will not be able to edit your ballot once submitted. Also, if you close your ballot before submitting it, your choices will be cleared and not saved, and you will have to start again.

In other words, don't start to vote until you know everything you wish to vote for and can complete your voting in one session.

Remember, for your ballot to count you must click the “Send Ballot” button at the bottom of the form. Voting closes at midnight on Thursday July 29.

The Voter Package

The Voter Package contains electronic versions of all nominated works, made available through the generosity of the nominees and publishers so that voters may read the nominated works and make an informed decision when voting.

You can download the Voter Package from the Member's Home page (or directly here). Access to the Voter Package closes at midnight July 22, the same day registration closes and a week before voting closes

~~~

Thanks for any consideration you might give to voting for The Hollow Boys. Regardless, thanks for being a fan and supporter of my writing.

Many people who follow me here are writers as well as readers. If that applies to you, you'll definitely want to keep reading.

Announcing The 2023 Write Stuff Bundle, brought to you by StoryBundle and curated by multi-award-winning author and editor, Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

Here's Kris on why you should buy this bundle:

These days, anyone can write and publish a book. The rise of electronic books has made publishing easy and quick. However, not everyone can have a writing career.

Writing careers take patience and a willingness to learn. Writers must learn the basics of craft, which they've always needed to know. But now, writers also need to learn how to run a small business. They must also understand that at times, they'll have to try a few other things to keep their writing business afloat.

Through it all, they must maintain their enthusiasm and avoid pitfalls that have prevented promising writers from having actual careers.

This bundle helps with all of that and so much more.

For craft, look no farther than Darcy Pattison's Start Your Novel. That first book always takes a leap of faith. Darcy makes it easy, by breaking the process into six simple steps. Ron Collins gets even more specific with his latest nonfiction writing book, On Creating (And Celebrating) Characters.

Then we have the process books, such as the Bundle on Productivity. That lovely volume is a bundle within a bundle, all geared at helping writers become more productive. Inside the bundle within a bundle, you'll find four books and a lot of examples on how to be productive, even if you have health issues.

Of course, having a writing career assumes that writers make money at their craft. We have two books to help with that directly. Douglas Smith's Playing The Short Game on how to make money at writing short stories has become a classic in the field. Then there is an online workshop that will teach writers effective ways to increase their writing income, called How To Make More Than Coffee Money.

Another great review for The Hollow Boys: The Dream Rider Saga, Book 1, this one from Publishers Weekly:

"Smith imbues this series opener with otherworldly intrigue, developing an elaborately layered plot via bouncy prose that capably shifts between the dream realm, with its monstrous inhabitants, and Will’s insular life. Depictions of close-knit relationships shine brightest throughout the novel, especially the familial bonds between Will and his parents and between Case and Fader, as well as the protagonists' budding romance." —Publishers Weekly

The Hollow Boys is currently on sale at all major retailers (ebook edition) for just $0.99, but this sale ends on June 11.

The latest praise for The Crystal Key: The Dream Rider Saga, Book 2 comes via fellow speculative fiction writer, Robert Runté, in the Ottawa Review of Books. Here are the highlights of the review:

"If you've already read The Hollow Boys, you don't need me to tell you to buy the sequel. … Smith surprised me again with The Crystal Key, tapping into my deep nostalgia for Saturday matinee serials. … Smith manages to update the genre with an ethnically diverse cast and strong female characters. Smith's take on superheroes and serials is both modern and original, but it recreates the same energy, the same yearning for superpowers, the same subconscious fear of dark places and boogeymen as the best stories of our own remembered youth. High adventure leavened with romance and mystery. …

[Smith] keeps things moving at a fast clip. No spoilers, so all I can say about the plot is that it involves the multiverse, astral travel, ancient cults, hypnotic powers, criminal gangs, private mercenaries, romance, and betrayal. …

Overall, great fun. While it is common for the middle of a novel, or the middle book of a trilogy, to drag a bit, that is definitely not the case here. The Crystal Key has everything that made The Hollow Boys work and turns it up a few notches. I can't wait for the conclusion in The Lost Expedition. "

—Robert Runté, Ottawa Review of Books

The Crystal Key is available in ebook, trade paperback, and hardcover from all major retailers.

Craig Tuch and Roland Hulme of Hidden Gems Books interview me here on their "Fully Booked" podcast for authors about "Untangling the Complexities of Short Story Rights." Here's the teaser:

Just as writing short stories is very different to writing novels, there’s a lot more to selling them as well. Generally, a short story is sold for a fixed amount to a publisher, meaning you don’t get ongoing royalties – but if you do things properly, you can have the opportunity to sell that same story to other publishers again and again.

The most important thing is to understand all your rights. That way, you can only sell which rights are strictly necessary to each publisher, while ensuring that at some point most of these rights revert back to you. Multi-award-winning author Douglas Smith is an expert in this subject, having written extensively on how authors can maximize the value of their short story rights. Today, he sits down with Craig and Roland to go through everything you need to know on the subject: From understanding the different markets, to the format you’re selling in, to the various dimensions of rights that need to be considered like geography, language and occurrence.

By following Douglas’ advice, authors can maximize the reach of their stories as well as their earnings, ensuring that each one has the potential to bring in income for years to come.

If you're a writer interested in this subject, give the interview a listen here. If you want to know more, I cover all of this and much more in my writer's guide, Playing the Short Game: How to Market Sell Short Fiction.

The Crystal Key, book 2 in my YA / adult crossover urban fantasy trilogy, The Dream Rider Saga, continues to garner critical praise. The latest is from Kirkus Reviews. Some highlights:

"The author’s sequel to the excellent The Hollow Boys (2022) ups the ante for adventure and suspense and continues to deftly fuse superhero and fantasy tropes. The trio of protagonists have relatable inner struggles and compelling story arcs that work well both independently and when woven into the overarching storyline of Will’s parents’ fateful expedition. Smith excels at strong action sequences, worldbuilding (introducing engaging new characters and the concept of the multiverse), and humorous dialogue. …There is plenty here to entice readers to return for the grand finale. A fun and engrossing superhero sequel."

—Kirkus Reviews

You can read the entire review here. The Crystal Key is available from all major retailers, and if you haven't yet read the first book in the series, The Hollow Boys, you can find it here.

The Crystal Key, book 2 in my new YA urban fantasy trilogy, The Dream Rider Saga, has just been selected by BookLife as an Editor's Pick.

BookLife also made The Hollow Boys, book 1 in the trilogy, an Editor's Pick. So they're loving the series so far. You can read the entire review on BookLife, but here are some highlights:

"The richly inventive Dream Rider adventure continues in this second appealing entry, pushing the young heroes of Smith’s epic YA series to face new realms, old villains, wild dangers, and, most terrifying of all, the truths of their pasts."

Epic! Very nice, but then we have this next bit (italics are mine):

"Smith deftly blends ongoing tensions between these characters…with an exciting plot… always enlivened by the Smith hallmarks of crack dialogue, fun sleuthing and puzzle-solving, a strong throughline of emotion, a swift pace…and a principled refusal to settle for the familiar."

Wait. I have "hallmarks" in my writing? Okay, now that is cool. Please, do go on…

"Be ready for memorable beasts, weird magic, and fantasy worlds that are truly fantastic… For all the wonders, though, the series is also compellingly engaged in Toronto street life and its characters’ very human hearts. New readers should start with book one. Takeaway: This thrilling superpowered urban fantasy series continues to grip." —BookLife (Editor's Pick)

"Editor Pick" reviews by BookLife appear in Publisher's Weekly, the main trade magazine for the publishing industry, and in BookList, the journal of the American Library Association.

You can buy The Crystal Key here, and if you haven't read it yet, the first book in the series, The Hollow Boys here.

Barnes & Noble has selected my new book, The Crystal Key: The Dream Rider Saga, Book 2, as one of it's recommended titles in its Top Indie Favorites collection for April - May 2023, under their "Teens & YA" category.

Last fall, they made the same recommendation for The Hollow Boys, the first book in the trilogy, when it was released. Thanks for the love, B&N!

You can find The Crystal Key at B&N for their Nook reader and in print by clicking on the image at the right, and at all major book retailers by clicking here.

I'll be giving my entire three workshop series covering my writer's guide, Playing the Short Game, for the Markham Public Library in May.

Each workshop will be presented online via Zoom. Attendance is free, but you need to register ahead of time, and attendance is capped.

Here are the dates and registration links for the series:

Workshop #1 (May 4, 2023, 7:00-9:00pm): Topics covered include the benefits of writing short fiction, avoiding traps for the beginner, understanding rights and licensing for short fiction, finding short fiction markets, selecting the right market for your story, submitting short fiction to a market, what not to do when submitting, what to do after submitting

Workshop #2 (May 11, 2023, 7:00-9:00pm): Topics covered include understanding how editors and slush piles work, why editors choose or reject stories, what to look (and look out) for in short fiction contracts, and how to ask for changes, how to work with an editor during the editing process for your story, how to handle rejections and reviews, how much promotion is reasonable when you sell a story, cool things that might happen: Awards, “best of” anthologies…and even movies

Workshop #3 (May 25, 2023, 7:00-9:00pm): Topics covered include leveraging your backlist, selling reprints, selling in foreign languages, selling audio rights, publishing a collection, the indie option for short fiction, discoverability tools and promotion for established writers, career progression in short fiction

Hope to see you there!

My Aurora-award-winning story, "Scream Angel," has been translated and published in the Romanian magazine, Helion. This is my second translation into Romanian (and for this story, too) and comes with this very cool cover.

If you're able to read Romanian, you can read the translation here.

"Scream Angel" first appeared in the anthology Low Port from Meisha Merlin in 2003, and won the Aurora Award the following year for best speculative short fiction. It remains one of my favourite stories and one a lot of fans cite as their favourite of my SF tales.

"Scream Angel" has been translated into thirteen languages and is the opening story in my collection, Chimerascope. It's also available as a stand-alone ebook.