Why Standard Manuscript Format matters more than ever

For the last few days I’ve been following the editorial pains of friend and fellow British Fantasy Award judge Hal Duncan on Twitter. I don’t know what it is Hall is editing, I’m just glad its not me having to do it! Like, actually, I think the Turkey City Lexicon should start with the GuessingContinue reading “Why Standard Manuscript Format matters more than ever”

British Fantasy Awards 2012 Results

The British Fantasy Awards have been announced. I was happy to be invited to be a judge this year. It was fun, and I got to read a bunch of good books. or re-read in many cases! Here are the winners: Best Novel (Fantasy): Jo Walton’s Among Others Best Novel (Horror): Adam Nevill’s The RitualContinue reading “British Fantasy Awards 2012 Results”

Writing Mind, Big Mind, Judging Mind

My friend Amy Sundberg talks about the Writing Mind, in response to Jeff VanderMeer’s missive that forcing your concentration to meet a fixed daily word count isn’t a universally good idea. Even when you aren’t writing, you can still be writing. The imagination is always busy, and sometimes it does its best work when weContinue reading “Writing Mind, Big Mind, Judging Mind”

We need a unified spec-fic award in the UK

The United Kingdom has one credible award for speculative fiction. It’s called the Clarke Award, and it is decided by a panel of experts each year. In addition we have a splintered field of popular voted awards including those organised by the British Fantasy Society and British Science Fiction Association. These awards carry little weightContinue reading “We need a unified spec-fic award in the UK”