girliejones has posted about the Hugo eligibility of all the Twelfth Planet Press stories published in 2009. This includes my:

“Siren Beat” (novelette)
“Prosperine When it Sizzles,” New Ceres Nights (short story)
“Like Us,” Shiny (short story)

And that, because I’ve been a one-publisher woman for short fiction for the last couple of years (aka lazy) completely covers me as far as Hugo eligibility goes.

It would be awesome to see some Australian names on the Hugo ballot this year since there are a lot more of us eligible to nominate than most years – which should at least in theory mean that more people who read Aussie fiction are eligible to nominate! I’m ridiculously excited about getting to nominate, and keep going back as I think of new good ones to put in there.

My favourite Australian-written spec fic stories of the year were:

Paul Haines, “Wives,” x6 (novella)
Margo Lanagan, “Ferryman,” Firebirds Soaring (short story)
Peter M. Ball, “On the Destruction of Copenhagen by the War Machines of the Merfolk,” Strange Horizons (short story)

and I also really liked:

Peter M. Ball, Horn, Twelfth Planet Press (novella)
Deborah Biancotti “This Time, Longing,” A Book of Endings (short story)
Thoraiya Dyer, “The Widow’s Seven Candles,” New Ceres Nights (novelette)
Dirk Flinthart, “Debutante,” New Ceres Nights (short story)
Trent Jamieson, “Iron Temple,” x6 (novella)
Margo Lanagan, “Sea-Hearts,” x6 (novella)
Cat Sparks, “Seventeen,” Masques (short story I think?)

Peter M Ball is also eligible for the John W. Campbell Award

You can see my whole list of great short stories published worldwide in 2009 over at Last Short Story, and the combined recommended reading list of all the Last Short Story readers here. If you have some reading to catch up with before you nominate, you might get some good ideas of where to start over at those lists.

What favourite stories of the year, Australian or otherwise, would you like to see on the Hugo ballot?

I was going to spend NYE footling around on the computer, as we never go out for it (hate crowds, hate expectation of having fun, all potential babysitters have more active social life than we do) but it was too damn hot (38 degrees, insane for Hobart let alone anywhere else, and it didn’t start coming down below 30 until an hour before midnight) and we had thunder and lightning which meant we unplugged all the computers and just watched TV. Dinner was icecream and dessert was champagne. The most entertaining part was watching Raeli trying to decide whether thunder and lightning was scary or AWESOME – she changed her mind several times. Dealing with Jem was less fun, as I spent most of the day and night anxious about her hydration levels, and breastfeeding is not fun when two bodies touching raises both temperatures.

Anyway, today is nicer, and tomorrow we are being invaded by Flintharts and welcoming GJ back for her last stay before she jets home. So time for a little summing up of my reading in 2009.

I read 115 books, which fell just shy of my target of 10 a month. I can live with it. I could possibly have squeezed in another 5 if I had talked to GJ less during her visit, but what would be the point of that?

I genuinely loved roughly half of what I read, which goes to show how well I’m doing at selecting for my current tastes and interests – I filter what I read pretty highly, and my limited reading time adds another filter which is my short attention span for books I’m not completely into. I’ve talked about most of the books I liked best throughout the year, but here they are again. I’m including spec fic YA under the SF and Fantasy categories, so the YA category itself is a general one.

As with the previous year, the majority of what I’m reading is YA, and the majority of the spec fic I read is fantasy. I read more non fic this year, largely chosen because of favourite blogs. I enjoyed it a lot and plan to read more in 2010. Other than that I have no particular reading goals for next year – but I would like to crack 120.

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I end this decade richer for two children, one doctorate, several novels both published and unpublished, and many friends. I had quite a few stoppings and startings in putting this post together, largely because I kept forgetting parts, thinking of new things to add, or realising I had put things in the wrong years. I’m sure I have forgotten many more things, but if I don’t post it now it will be another week. Feel free to remind/correct me of extra details/events in the comments!

2000 – The first year of my doctoral studies. Wrote a new version of ‘Cafe Girl’ (later Cafe la Femme) with an Arts Tasmania grant. Went to Swancon for the first time, and discovered while there that my publisher didn’t like the 3rd Mocklore book. Spent a large part of this trip coming up with a proposal for an alternative 3rd book, but too little too late.

2001 – This was my year of short stories, in which I submitted over 100 pieces through the year, teaching myself to write in different genres, and resting the novel part of my brain. It was also the first ROR in Montville – I brought a YA novel (Green – something, I forget) I had written in a hurry to be part of the gang. Margo brought along the ms of Black Juice and we totally told her that she would get a World Fantasy Award for “Singing My Sister Down.” Thanks to a uni scholarship,  aifin and I went overseas together for the first time, spending a month in Rome, passing through Paris and spending Christmas in London.

2002 – Our trip concluded with visits to Nottingham, York and Surrey, as we spend time with my cousin Marianne and her family. ASIM launched at Convergence in Melbourne, along with AustrAlien Absurdities (which Chuck McKenzie and I had been working on for the past two years) and Agog. This con is generally heralded as the one where the post-Worldcon energy started producing actual stuff. I met Tehani and several ASIMites for the first time. (Ben? Was this the first time we met for reals?) I wrote the 3rd Mocklore novel for the sake of completion, knowing it wouldn’t find a publisher.

2003 – Became Chair & co–convenor of Thylacon 2005 and worked on that for the next two years. Attended my second Swancon, much more fun than the first because I knew many more people. ROR at Varuna, with Trent added to the mix – I brought Drak Magic (Mocklore #3) to be workshopped. Edited issue #9 of ASIM.

2004 – Pregnant with ‘Button’. Went to Conflux (with a condensed ROR beforehand), and to Brisbane to teach at EnVision for a week. Worked on Power and Majesty (book 1 of the Creature Court) until putting it on pause to complete thesis before my supervisor left the uni and my baby was born. Didn’t get back to novel for some time. Thesis was not finished in time either. Failed driving test for the first time. We started our Thursday night tradition with C.  godiyeva and her family moved back to Tasmania. The ABC repeated old Doctor Who throughout the year, making me happy that the music my baby would hear most often in the womb was the theme music.
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I’m not doing anything to commemorate the end of the decade because I can barely contemplate the concept and short of a meme to tell me how to organise said thoughts, I’m ignoring it for now (cough okay while I was putting this together people came up with a meme, I’ll get to it eventually). The year is another matter.

Here with commentary is the wishlist I set out for 2009 a year ago:

*get my driver’s licence
Achieved in March, after great suffering and stress (and failing in January and February). My honey was a rock through this utterly torturous process and I broke at least one more driving instructor in the process. I am particularly grateful to  godiyeva who helped me bridge the gap between Raeli starting school & me finally getting my license by “carpooling” with me for the school run, and letting me practice at the same time. Nine months on, I still love my car and the independence of driving, and still do not take it for granted. Driving out last week to pick  girliejones from the airport made me feel ridiculously grown up.

*go to my first Aurealis Awards ceremony
This was just the most fun ever. I was nearly three months pregnant when I left and I knew that this (and ROR, two months later) would be one of my only chances to do the pro writer abroad thing without consideration of baby baby baby. I got to play the grown up again, picking myself up from the airport, catching a train to the city to meet my Pulp Fiction Press editor Diane and go to high tea, and then again catching a taxi out to the apartments where  girliejones and I were staying. It was a lovely weekend of talking and thinking like a writer, meeting new friends and connecting with old ones.

*start logging the books I read in a spreadsheet again
It might not seem like much, but while the time I took off from logging my reading worked to take some of the Must Read pressure off, I did miss the record. I read 115 books this year, and I doubt that’s going to change between now and midnight. I really wanted to make 120 but – not a bad tally, considering.

*see my daughter start kindergarten
This was a big one. Watching Raeli blossom at school has completely justified all the work it took to get her through the early entry process. She has enjoyed her two days of school a week so much that she became quite snobbish about going to daycare on the other days. She particularly loves music class. Seeing her become more confident on the play equipment, make friends, and advance from knowing her alphabet to being able to read has been beyond awesome.
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