Peacemaker won an Aurealis Award for Best SF novel last night. It feels kind of surreal writing that… it was truly unexpected. It’s been hard slog the last few years, publishing is MEH, I’ve had a brush with breast cancer, my kids left home, some of my nearest and dearest have had terrible struggles, and other life dramas happened – we all have our stuff. So I’ve come to believe that when you get some good news in life you have to jump and sing and squeee and generally be a dork about it for a while. It’s good for the soul! So that’s what I’m doing today.
More than anything though, I want to use this space to thank a whole lot of people, starting with Margo Lanagan, my friend and extraordinary writer, who read my acceptance speech. Here it is:
I’m truly delighted that PEACEMAKER has been commended by the Aurealis judging panel. My dad brought me up on a diet of pulp Westerns and, eventually, I inherited his complete Zane Grey collection. For many years, I wanted to write my own version of a Western as a thank you to him, and because those stories were my first, intense fictional love. My sister still gets a kick out of telling people how at eight years of age I would only answer to the name of one of Zane Grey’s cowboys.
But writing a western, SF, paranormal mash-up is one thing. Publishing it is quite another. I’d like to thank Lee Harris, Marc Gascoigne, Caroline Lambe and everyone at Angry Robot for giving this story a chance when it was well outside the purview of most speculative publishers. I hope this award, in some small way, rewards them for the gift they bestowed on me. I’d also like to thank Tara Wynne, my long time agent and friend who supports whatever creative direction I take.
Long live the Aurealis Awards and the community who celebrates them!
So that was the short thank you! Here is the longer one:
Thanks to Joey HiFi for a truly sensational cover; Mike Underwood for tireless promotion in the US; my family, Paul, Col, Nicci and Simon who have celebrated and encouraged me throughout my career, and remind me often to enjoy the moment and not always look ahead; to my staff here at MDPWeb (you know who you all are!), who are just the best bunch of people in the world, and continue to help me promote and celebrate reading and books; to some special writing people in my life: Trentonomicon, Paula Weston, Alisa Krasnostein, and Isobelle Carmody; to my sons who I love to the end of the universe and back; and to my partner, Nick, who has held my hand through all the bad times.
My win is your win.
Congrats to all the winners and the shorlistees — particularly Graham Storrs, whose arm I had to twist to even get him to send his stories out into the world. Australian spec fic is in great shape!
Marianne x
