Best Novella/Novelette

• “The Message” by Andrew J McKiernan – originally appeared in Midnight Echo #2 from AHWA. Short listed for both Aurealis and Australian Shadows Awards: “The Message by Andrew J. McKiernan is the absolute standout in this issue. Again, a grounding in real life events gives this story real impact. There’s a real emotional hit to this one that will linger long after you’ve closed the magazine.” OzHorrorScope
• “Daivadana” by Andrew J McKiernan – originally appeared in In Bad Dreams 2: Where Death Stalks from Eneit Press: “‘Daivadana’ by Andrew McKiernan, [is] my favourite kind of story, epic and action packed and filled with ancient and nasty magicks. He writes stories that I wish I’d written. Damn his eyes.” Martin Livings.

Best Short Story

• “The Dumbshow” by Andrew J McKiernan – originally appeared in Masques from CSFG: “The Dumbshow is a noir carnival that shows off Andrew McKiernan’s considerable prowess, effectively conveying the mute character’s emotions and dialogue through the unlikely medium of written mime…his characters are crystal clear and throbbing with life.” Specusphere

Best Artwork

• “Shards: Short, Sharp Tales” by Shane Jiraiya Cummings, illustrated by Andrew J McKiernan from Brimstone Press: “McKiernan shows a brilliant sense of what stands out in the mind of a reader and then brings those images to life with a frightening style and ability beyond most artists working today in the smaller presses.” gnbraun.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-reviews-up-this-weekend.html

Eligible works by Shane Jiraiya Cummings (links now disabled) are:

Collected Work

SHARDS (Brimstone Press)

Almost forty short, sharp tales – all illustrated by Andrew J. McKiernan

Described by bestselling author Jonathan Maberry as “a guided tour of the darkest backroads of the imagination … wonderfully moody and creepy” and ScaryMinds’ Jeff Ritchie thusly: “Shane Jiraiya Cummings with Shards shows he is not only a master of the flash fiction style of writing but has pretty much written the definitive statement on how it should work.”

Shards is Shane’s debut collection and represents the best of his flash fiction drawn from pro and semi-pro markets such as Shadowed Realms, Dark Wisdom, Horror Literature Quarterly, ASIM, Borderlands, and Shadow Box. Several of the stories therein are award nominees or honourable mentions in Year’s Best anthologies. This collection is the real deal and well worth your attention!

Best Novella

Phoenix and the Darkness of Wolves (Damnation Books)

Shane’s best work of fiction published to date, Phoenix is the quintessential Australian post-apocalyptic dark fantasy story.

Stephen M. Irwin said of Phoenix: “Robert E. Howard meets Cormac McCarthy? Lovecraft meets London? Imagine no longer; Phoenix and the Darkness of Wolves weaves its own unique magic, binding ancient sorcery and modern apocalypse together on the plains of Western Australia.”

Want to read a story that’s crosses the mythology around bushfires with Stephen King’s The Gunslinger. This is it. Enjoy!

Best Short Story

Chasing Jormungand (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #38)

What can I say about this story? It’s Shane’s first published humorous SF story. It was written at Clarion South. It’s written in second person perspective. Best of all, it’s about rival groups of scientist chasing yawns through Sydney’s subways. Yes, scientists chasing yawns.

You’ll never guess how the protagonist defuses the situation when it turns life threatening. For all its perceived silliness, this is, in fact, a finely crafted story.

Read it and I bet you won’t be able to resist yawning!

At the very least, check out Shards…it’s brilliant and you can purchase the book from Brimstone Press (See my full review HERE).

Also, if you are interested in reading my own Boneyard Smack, it’s available for free download from Legumeman Books HERE –> (pdf file)

‘A great start from this promising author. A gritty tale that will give readers a sample of what Braun is capable of. Keep your eyes peeled, it’s only going to get better.’
Scott Tyson
~ Author of Dear Santa (Festive Fear 2)

‘Short, nasty and scarily realistic!’
Trost

~ Author of Hoffman’s Creeper and The Legend of Redback Jack

‘Braun gives us 2 minutes trapped in the mind of a junkie trying to get a fix…a short, sharp shock. Nothing scarier than real life.’
Daniel I. Russell
~ Author of Samhane, Fluffs and Shutterbug

‘Who is this fuckhead, and what’s this shit he calls writing?’
Colonel Glipshit
~ Author of We, the Moral Minority and Beatnix Under the Bed

Read, enjoy, nominate if you feel they are worthy.

Make your vote count, it comes but once a year!