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Author of speculative fiction

Author of speculative fiction

Tag Archives: Planetary Awards

And the nominees are…

09 Friday Feb 2018

Posted by amidtheimaginary in Messages

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Fantasy, Planetary Awards, Planetary Defense Command, Science-Fiction, Self Published Book

It’s been a year since the last Planetary Awards season! I’ll spare you the where-did-the-time-go shtick (but seriously, where DID it go??). As it was last year, there are two categories: Shorter Story (under 40,000 words) and Longer Story (novels). Now, let’s get right to the meat of the matter: My nominations for 2017

Short Story

The Bitten Body by A. C. Spahn

Published November 1, 2017

monster_mash_by_natelovett-d5xnhsv

Art by Nate Lovett Deviantart

I’ve come across a great Fantasy series published on Daily Science Fiction from self-published author A. C. Spahn titled “Cara Watt, P.I.” The P.I. stands for Paranormal Investigator, naturally. These are quick, clever little two-minute monster mysteries. I’m nominating the first installment, The Bitten Body, for a Planetary Award.

You can read the full series for free here on Daily Science Fiction.

Longer Story

The Rogue Prince (Sky Full of Stars, Book 1)

Published April 16, 2017

RoguePrinceWeb-685x1024

I’ve got to nominate “The Rogue Prince” for the novels category. This is a fun YA coming-of-age Sci-Fi series by Lindsay Buroker. Lots of action, hilarious dialogue, and a quirky heroine. I just enjoyed it so much. You can read my full review of the series here.

Good luck to all the nominees this year!

If you’d like to learn more about the Planetary Awards (and the other nominations), check out its dedicated site here

Vote for the best stories of 2016

20 Monday Feb 2017

Posted by amidtheimaginary in Messages

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Tags

Book Awards, Book Giveaway, Fantasy, Planetary Awards, Science-Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Teen Domestic Violence

It’s time to vote for best short story/novella and novel of 2016! The voting base this year has been expanded so have a look to see if you can cast your ballot for the winners!

You can check out my nominations in a somewhat bumbling post here

Also, a reminder that the book giveaway that I’m sponsoring in honor of Teen Domestic Violence month ends tomorrow. If you’d like a chance to win one of the awesome books I’m offering, have a look here (Look toward the bottom of the post for the giveaway info)

Happy voting and Happy Monday!!

Planetary Awards

We’re expanding the voting pool for the awards this year, so read this entire post to find out if YOU are eligible to vote.

But first, here are the 2016 stories nominated by book bloggers across the internet:

Short Stories / Novellas

“Athan and the Priestess” by Schuyler Hernstrom, found in Thune’s Vision

“Awakening” by Susan Kaye Quinn

“Edge” by Russell Newquist, found in Between the Wall and the Fire

“The Gift of the Ob-Men” by Schuyler Hernstrom, found in Cirsova #1

“The Glass Flower” by George RR Martin, found in Volume 2 of Dreamsongs  [DISQUALIFIED]

“Images of the Goddess”by Schuyler Hernstrom, found in Cirsova #2

Paper Cut by Aeryn Rudel, found in Issue 1 of Red Sun Magazine

“Purytans” by Brad Torgersen, found in the July-August issue of Analog Magazine

Novels

Arkwright by Allen Steele

Babylon’s Ashes by James SA Corey

The Girl with Ghost Eyes by MH Boroson…

View original post 243 more words

2016 Planetary Awards Nominations

06 Friday Jan 2017

Posted by amidtheimaginary in Messages

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Book Awards, Fantasy, Indie Author, Planetary Awards, Science-Fiction, Self Published Book

The time has come again for me to make my nominations for the Planetary Awards for 2016 and oh boy am I ready!

For those unfamiliar with these awards, they are granted to Science-Fiction and Fantasy writing, nominated and voted for by book bloggers, podcasters, and booktubers. Last year has some great winners and nominees. You can check out more about the awards and 2015’s results on the Planetary Awards website.

Things have been simplified this year and there are two categories:

  1. Shorter story (under 40,000 words/160 paperback pages)
  2. Longer story (novels)

I’m super pleased to announce my novella nominee for Shorter story:

SUNBOLT by Intisar Khanani

Sunbolt

An awesome and utterly unique Fantasy story, I can’t rave about it enough (although I’ve tried). You can read my review here or for the link lazy, here’s the synopsis:

The winding streets and narrow alleys of Karolene hide many secrets, and Hitomi is one of them. Orphaned at a young age, Hitomi has learned to hide her magical aptitude and who her parents really were. Most of all, she must conceal her role in the Shadow League, an underground movement working to undermine the powerful and corrupt Arch Mage Wilhelm Blackflame.

When the League gets word that Blackflame intends to detain—and execute—a leading political family, Hitomi volunteers to help the family escape. But there are more secrets at play than Hitomi’s, and much worse fates than execution. When Hitomi finds herself captured along with her charges, it will take everything she can summon to escape with her life.

This novella is currently FREE on InstaFreebie if you want to pick up a copy. You can read more about that here

The sequel, Memories of Ash (a full length novel), came out in 2016. Seriously, get started on these books if you haven’t already!

On to my nominee for best novel:

The Legacy Human (The Singularity Series) by Susan Kaye Quinn

legacy

Really, the whole series is amazing, each one it’s own fully realized section of the story without pulling a devastating cliffhanger on its readers. This Sci-Fi story is unlike anything I’ve read and should be on the radar for any fan of the genre. Here is my full review of the series and below is the synopsis:

What would you give to live forever? Seventeen-year-old Elijah Brighton wants to become an ascender—a post-Singularity human/machine hybrid—after all, they’re smarter, more enlightened, more compassionate, and above all, achingly beautiful. But Eli is a legacy human, preserved and cherished for his unaltered genetic code, just like the rainforest he paints. When a fugue state possesses him and creates great art, Eli miraculously lands a sponsor for the creative Olympics. If he could just master the fugue, he could take the gold and win the right to ascend, bringing everything he’s yearned for within reach… including his beautiful ascender patron. But once Eli arrives at the Games, he finds the ascenders are playing games of their own. Everything he knows about the ascenders and the legacies they keep starts to unravel… until he’s running for his life and wondering who he truly is.

I actually had a hard time deciding which shorter story/novel to nominate this year as I’ve been fortunate to have had some fantastic reads. Excited to see what worlds and universes await my reading eyes in 2017!

UPDATE 1/13/17: Okay, because I’m an idiot I nominated books not published in 2016 but that I’ve read in 2016 (obviously not the same thing, duh me). The sequels to the books of this post were also spectacular though both are novels, which leaves me with a little problem since I’m supposed to nominate one in that category. But then, huzzah! solution!, the Singularity series also has short stories in its universe that I adore, one of which was published in 2016, woooooo!

So, here are my new nominations, though I still heartily recommend with full tilt enthusiasm the books above.

For the novel category:

Memories of Ash (The Sunbolt Chronicles Book 2) by Intisar Khanani

Ash

I’m not including the synopsis to avoid spoilers but if you’ve read Sunbolt you can find my review of its sequel here

For the short work category:

Awakening (Stories of Singularity #5) by Susan Kaye Quinn

awakening_cvr_lrg-360x570

Sister Amara prays she won’t be the last of the twelve sisters to reach her awakening—after all, the salvation of their Masters depends on them. But with the interrogations growing more deadly, being last may be best… especially when you’ve been created to touch the face of God.

Awakening is a standalone novella that provides a glimpse into a dark corner of the Singularity novel series.

The Stories of Singularity can be read independently from the Singularity novel series.

There you have it and thanks for bearing with me and my blunders!

The Planetary Awards: My Nomination

18 Monday Jan 2016

Posted by amidtheimaginary in Messages

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Book Awards, Book Review, Planetary Awards, Self Published Book

The Hugo. The Nebula. You’ve all heard of these two big Fantasy/Sci-Fi book awards. As you’ve probably heard, those have gotten rather political and ugly lately.

Well, there’s a new kid in town: The Planetary Awards

Created by the Commander at Planetary Defense Command, this award is one in which book bloggers, podcasters, and booktubers can nominate their favorite science fiction and fantasy books and short stories published in 2015. One of the three categories for an award is for, you guessed it, the self-published author. And thus, I give you my nomination for this award:

Blood Toy by B. K. Raine

blood toy

In 2015 I gave this gem of a book a five star rating, a score which I reserve for those books that go beyond the “I really liked it” to the “I loved this damn book!”. (For the review click here)

Why this book and not one of the others that received the max rating? It was a hard choice, to be honest. I actually made a list with all of them, citing what I loved, why I loved it, and what made each work special in its own way. In the end, it came down to a final factor: Risk taking.

While each of the other books are ones I recommend frequently to others, Blood Toy is the one that really stuck its neck out there and played with themes that many shy away from. It’s Uncensored. Unflinching. And it doesn’t apologize for it. In fact, if you expected such a thing from the main character, Diane, she’d probably kick your ass for the bother.

If there’s one thing I love in art, it’s when the creator risks pissing off a lot of people in pursuit of the character’s story. This is aside from the fact that she reinvigorated my love of the vampire for the terrifying creature of the night that it is.

Bravo, B. K. Raine, you have my nomination and my fervent hope for a win.

Now, gimme my sequel.

Amid the Imaginary

I'm a Hapa Haole Hawaiian girl living in chilly Minnesota, reading, writing and working full-time while raising my family.

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