Hugo and other Award eligible stuff, and general update…

 

First,  a combination of the holidays and being quite sick (with an annoying gut issue called mesenteric lymphadenitis) has caused me to be unable to contribute properly to my usual postings. I apologize for this and hope to be able to resume shortly. I am now about 1/3 of the way through the sequel to Phoenix Rising, currently titled Phoenix in Shadow, and have started a couple other things.

 

Now, as the year has just ended, it's time to fantasize about getting awards. Yes, I know I don't write the sort of stuff likely to get Hugo attention, but there are other awards which I might, possibly, qualify for, and so just in case:

I had three works published for the first time last year, all of which are therefore eligible for Hugo (or other award) nomination. They are as follows, including (where warranted) Amazon links and links to partial or full content:

1. Spheres of Influence. Sequel to my most popular solo work thus far, the Golden Age space opera inspired Grand Central Arena, Spheres gives more character and political interaction as well as the first ship-to-ship action seen in the Arena. I was very happy how this one turned out and initial reaction seems pretty positive. You can find the posted snippets collected here: http://jiltanith.thefifthimperium.com/Collections/SpheresofInfluenceChapters/SpheresofInfluence_Link.php. They're also available, along with four deleted early chapters, on my own site (www.grandcentralarena.com) but not as easy to navigate to.
2. Portal. Final volume in the near-future, hard-SF Boundary trilogy, Portal wraps up the adventures of Helen, A.J. Madeline, Joe, and the rest, getting them through the aftermath of the devastating crash at the end of Threshold and adding a few more surprises. Re-reading all three, I think Portal is the best of them, although Boundary sets the stage. Portal snippets are available here: http://jiltanith.thefifthimperium.com/site/book/Portal/-nonav.
3. Skyspark. My first published short story is an alien-perspective First Contact story, set in the Boundaryverse. The link there goes to the story itself; it was contracted and paid for by Baen as an add-on or extra for readers of the series, and is available for free on their website. This one has probably had the fewest readers, but it's important to me as the first short fiction I've ever published, and one of the few pieces of short fiction I've ever written. (If my submission for the next Chicks in Chainmail anthology is accepted I'll have one more to my name).

That was my published output last year. This year's going to be thinner -- I have one new publication I expect for this year, but I may have two out in 2015.