Category Archives: Kelly Fiction

Aurora Twin Powers, Activate!

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Dua in Fancy DudsKelly and I couldn’t be in Calgary last night for When Words Collide, so we were rewatching Forsyte Saga and keeping one eye tuned to Twitter when word came that Kelly had won the Prix Aurora Award for “Waters of Versailles.” Delightful news, and I am thrilled for her (and, I admit, just a bit smug about having used the words “awards-quality” to describe it before it had even gone out to market).

About ten nail-bitey minutes after that, we found out that A Daughter of No Nation had won the Aurora in the Novel category. Our brother Bill Robson accepted both awards for us, kindly giving up an evening to hobnob with Canada’s SF luminaries. He called to congratulate us, and sent a pic of himself holding both trophies, both certificates, and our nominee pins.

Here’s the speech I sent to Calgary:

Being nominated for an Aurora is one of those things that I believe all Canadian SF authors aspire to. I always did, so it was a thrill and an honor to be on this shortlist with so many great authors whose work I love. I am thankful to my wife, Kelly Robson, to my family, to the people at Tor Books and to all the many friends and colleagues who’ve helped me, over the years, with everything from research and proofreading to unstinting moral support. 
Last year, when I had the opportunity to present one of these trophies myself, I was blown away by my good fortune. I feel lucky to be working among such a lively community of brilliant creators, people who celebrate writing, genre fiction, and, above all, each other. I am touched and gratified that you liked A Daughter of No Nation so much; thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
Incidentally, the reason we weren’t in Calgary was that next week we’re going to be in Kansas City for MidAmericon II. Here’s my schedule:

 

The Re-emergence of Environmental Speculative Fiction
Thursday 18:00 – 19:00, 2503A (Kansas City Convention Center)
This used to be a booming field but has only recently re-emerged. Why is this and how do today’s tropes differ from the ecological dystopias of the 1970s?
Mr. Peadar O Guilin (M), Brenda Cooper, Alyx Dellamonica
Oceans: The Wettest Frontier
Friday 10:00 – 11:00, 3501F (Kansas City Convention Center)
James Cambias, Mrs. Laurel Anne Hill, Patricia MacEwen, Christopher Weuve (M), Alyx Dellamonica
We Deserve Better: Lesbians and Bi Women for Change
Friday 15:00 – 16:00, 2209 (Kansas City Convention Center)
TV SPOILERS! TW: Character Deaths.
Alyx Dellamonica (M), Jaylee James, Nina Niskanen, Jay Wolf
Reading: Alyx Dellamonica
Sunday 13:30 – 14:00, 2203 (Readings) (Kansas City Convention Center)

House of Treasure, House of Fun

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imageToday Kelly and I are taking our show on the road, to ChiSeries Guelph, where the two of us will be reading with Marian Thorpe at the Red Brick Cafe at 8 Douglas Street. Be there or… well, be somewhere else, with my best wishes, and we’ll catch you next time.

(Unless you want to be square, or trapezoidal. Then be that. Hey, I’m not the boss of you.)

As many of you may have already heard, Kelly’s “Waters of Versailles” is now on the World Fantasy Award ballot, along with having been nominated for an Aurora Award and a Nebula. That’s quite the luminous hat trick, and I am exceedingly proud and excited.

“Two Year Man,” meanwhile, is on the short list for the Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, (more correctly, I believe she’s on the first ever short list for short fic for the Sunburst) and “The Three Resurrections of Jessica Churchill” is on the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award list. You can read all three stories at her site.

As for me, I am on the verge of wrapping up two glorious semesters as a creative writing professor at the University of Toronto’s Scarborough Campus, and I have also landed one of those gigs that, due to Non-Disclosure Agreements, is officially one of those I can’t talk about it but it’s cool, so cool gigs. And there’s a fair prospect of knocking another thing off my writerly bucket list soon. If I pull that one off, I’ll be crowing very loudly indeed.

 

Nom Nom Aurora Hunter

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cover image for "The Nature of a Pirate," by Cynthia Sheppard

Cover image for “The Nature of a Pirate,” by Cynthia Sheppard

As I dictate these words, I am sitting on the Go train, headed to UTSC to pick up some things I left in the sessional office. Even though I am teaching in summer, too, they clean out everything between quarters… which makes sense, if they don’t want the shared office to become a cluttered den of crap. It’s a good task for what I hope will be my last day of reduced activity due to the cold.  An almost recreational commute, a quick errand, and then back home to see what else I can make of the day.

Next term I will be on campus Thursday afternoons and evenings for the next level of the same speculative fiction class. I am excited about being there, both for the sake of the teaching, which is delightful, but also to see what it is like there in the summer. Fewer icicle photos, more flowers, is my guess.

In other pleasing news, I am currently up for two awards: A Daughter of No Nation is nominated in the Best English Novel category for an Aurora Award, and I am in the running for something called the K.M. Hunter Artist Award. Kelly’s novella “Waters of Versailles,” meanwhile, is in the running for an Aurora too, in the Best English Short Fiction category. If the cool around our house runs any deeper, we will have to issue hip waders at the door.

Three Resurrections of Jessica Churchill, by @kellyoyo, makes a Year’s Best!

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Kelly Robson and the miracle of mirrors.

Kelly Robson and the miracle of mirrors.

A few entries back I mentioned that Kelly’s novella “Waters of Versailles” was on SFWA’s suggested reading list for the Nebulas. I didn’t mention, at that point, that “The Three Resurrections of Jessica Churchill” was on the list too, in the short story category, mostly because I wanted to spread out the joy.

Folks, this is a remarkable story. Blood-chilling, heartbreaking and immaculate in its every turn of phrase. If you’d rather hear it than read it, the podcast version is here. And yes, of course I’m subjective, but now no less a curator than Gardner Dozois has put his official seal of approval on it. He has announced today that Kelly’s story will be in the Thirty-Third Year’s Best SF, along with stories by Ann Leckie, Geoff Ryman, Ian MacDonald, Madeline Ashby and Carrie Vaughn (for starters!)

This story deserves every scrap of praise it gets. If you haven’t had a chance to experience it yet, do yourself that favor today… and then spread the word. And Kelly? Congratulations!!

Bonding around the house

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CZP-LicenceExpired-INVITEThe always awesome Corey Redekop has been interviewing the authors who participated in the all-Canadian James Bond anthology License Expired. Here’s what I had to say about “Through Your Eyes Only,” my Moneypenny story set in 1974 Saigon. And here’s Kelly’s interview on “The Gladiator Lie.”

Kelly, in case you haven’t noticed, is having an outstanding rookie year. I’m proud to say her “Waters of Versailles” is on the Nebula suggested list in the novella category. You can read it for free at Tor.com, and I guarantee you won’t be sorry. For a list of her other fiction, check out this list on her site.