If you spend much time following the culture of sff, you probably know that the start of each year marks “awards season,” which is a bit of a misnomer, as there are so many awards from so many different cons and organizations, the process of nominating, reading, and voting for the best of sff can take up the lion’s share of the year from January to August.

And so, around this time, writers, editors, and artists emerge from their burrows like Punxsutawney Phil spying for his shadow, sharing their awards eligibility posts. This year, I have the honor of being among them.

I’m not generally a short story writer and am only just peeking my head into the world of related works writing through soon-to-be-inaugurated column with Luna Station Quarterly, “A Place Where It Rains.” (It’s an Italo Calvino reference, for those interested.) Thus, my singular offering (and a good one, I think) is my debut novel The Nine.

The Nine, my gaslamp/clockpunk/steampunk dark literary fantasy heist about science, faith, family, redemption, murder-trees, and ogres with eyes on their feet debuted from Pyr on November 14, 2017. Black Gate magazine and Publishers Weekly have have some very fine things to say about it. It’s proud to say it’s eligible for:

• Hugo Award: Best Novel
• Nebula Award: Best Novel
• Locus Award: Best Fantasy Novel and Best First Novel (anyone can vote, and I’m eligible as a write-in)
• r/Fantasy’s Best of 2017 Stabby Award (where it is already nominated for Best Debut Novel — you can vote for it just by logging in and upvoting its post!
• The Dragon Awards: Best Fantasy Novel (anyone is free to nominate here)

And as for me, personally?

It is my great honor to at last be eligible for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. This one is particularly important to me because so many writers I love and admire have been nominated for it over the years — and many of my favorites didn’t win. To be nominated for a Campbell and lose would be a mighty achievement for me, indeed. I’d still feel as if I stood among giants. Ending up on the ballot for this award is my highest dream at this point in my career. I wouldn’t cry over a loss here in the least. I’d feel like I’d arrived.

 You can learn more about the award and its vanishingly small window of eligibility — only your first two years as a published pro writer — here. (The Campbell Award for Best New Writer takes its nominations and votes on the Hugo ballot, though it is not itself a Hugo award.)

If you’re interested in reading The Nine, of course you can buy a copy using one of the many handy links on this website (it’s available in print, audio, and ebook formats), get a copy from your local library, or read excerpts from it on this website, or on Tor.com. You’ll also find several chapters of it in the upcoming Campbell eligibility anthology Event Horizon 2018.

I hope you enjoy it, and hope you’ll give me your support if you do!