Meanwhile, my first thought when I looked at the Stoker ballot was “Where are the non-Americans?”. Not that there are so many on the Nebula ballot–China Miéville might be the only one, actually–but while plenty of top-notch SF/F was published in the U.S., there is no question in my mind that the best horror of 2009 was published by ChiZine Publications in Canada and HarperCollins’s new Angry Robot imprint in the U.K. Slights should absolutely be on that ballot, and Nekropolis, and Monstrous Affections or at least a couple of stories from it, and probably a selection or two from Horror Story and Other Horror Stories (which I haven’t read, but have heard very good things about).For the record: it is okay that I didn't end up on the Stoker ballot. I have a Bram Stoker Award already, for mine and Edo Van Belkom's short story Rat Food. I received a very nice Black Quill Award, for Monstrous Affections, just the other week. People are buying and reading Monstrous Affections, so ChiZine is making a profit on the money they invested in me, and I am too.
Labels: Monstrous Affections