Getting ready for the launch party

A booze sampler. Custom labels courtesy Kelly Christianson.

I've Been nominated!

Opened my email and what do I find?

Dear finalists,

I am pleased to announce that a short story you either wrote or published has been chosen as a finalist for The Harper's Pen Award 2009.

The Harper's Pen Award (formerly the Ham-Sized Fist Award) is given in honor of the best Heroic Fantasy or Sword and Sorcery short fiction published during a given year. The award is sponsored by The Sorcerer's Guild. By establishing this award, we hope to encourage authors to continue to explore heroic fantasy and sword and sorcery fiction, as well as to reward those who continue to publish it.

The rules are simple. Any heroic fantasy or sword and sorcery short fiction story published through an established editorial process - that is, not self-published - is eligible. Any subgenre of heroic fantasy or sword and sorcery is eligible, including but not limited to: historical, modern, sword-and-planet, etc. The nominated story must have been published between January 1 and December 31 of the contest year. Final determinination of story eligibility is at the sole discretion of the judge or judges.

The Finalists for 2009 are:
"Slow Stampede" by Sara Genge (Asimov's)
"Where Virtue Lives" by Saladin Ahmed (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
"The Face in the Sea" by John C. Hocking (Black Gate #13)
"Tomb of the Amazon Queen" by Michael Ehart (Dark Worlds 3)
"Bright Wings in the Ebony Hall" by Dale Carothers (Electric Spec)
"The Last of His Kind" by Bill Ward (Heroic Fantasy Quarterly)
"Serpents Beneath the Ice" by Carl Walmsley (Rage of the Behemoth)
"The Dark Blessing" by James Lecky (Silver Blade)
Congratulations to the finalists! I will announce the winner in a week or so.

The winner of the The Harper's Pen Award (2009) will receive:


Publisher - $200 and a handsome certificate of recognition
Author - $200, a handsome certificate, and this handmade pen by Syzygy Pens, engraved in recognition of the award
I have been unable to find contact information for some of the authors, so please pass this news along them. And feel free to share with everyone!

Sincerely,

Jeff Crook

Best of luck to all! I am certainly in good company.