A Calculated Life is Nominated for Philip K Dick Award

Yesterday afternoon I received the astonishing news that my first novel is one of seven nominated works for the Philip K. Dick Award.

I’m a long time fan of Philip K. Dick’s writing and I’ve enjoyed so many screen adaptations of his work. I’m sure many people have started reading science fiction as a result of seeing, for example, Blade Runner, Minority Report, The Adjustment Bureau, Total Recall.

Seven novels have reached the shortlist. Congratulations to all the nominees and thank you to the judges! A Calculated Life is 47North’s first book to receive a nomination for a major award so I expect there’s a bit of celebrating on the other side of the pond.

The winner and any special citations will be announced on Friday 18 April at Norwescon 37 in Seattle. I had already booked to attend! So I’m hoping to meet the other nominees as well as the judges and award administrators. And I’ll be meeting face-to-face for the first time with the 47North team including my editor David Pomerico.

Here is the list of nominees:

A CALCULATED LIFE by Anne Charnock (47North)

THE MAD SCIENTIST’S DAUGHTER by Cassandra Rose Clarke (Angry Robot)

SELF-REFERENCE ENGINE by Toh EnJoe, trans. Terry Gallagher (Haikasoru)

ANCILLARY JUSTICE by Ann Leckie (Orbit)

LIFE ON THE PRESERVATION by Jack Skillingstead (Solaris)

SOLARIS RISING 2: THE NEW SOLARIS BOOK OF SCIENCE FICTION edited by

Ian Whates (Solaris)

COUNTDOWN CITY by Ben H. Winters (Quirk Books)

The 2013 judges are Elizabeth Bear (chair), Siobhan Carroll, Michael Kandel, Jamil Nasir, and Timothy Sullivan.

So get reading if you want to feel part of the buzz in April! I started reading Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice this week.

And a little more about the award:

The Philip K. Dick Award is presented annually with the support of the Philip K. Dick Trust for distinguished science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States. The award is sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and the Philip K. Dick Trust and the award ceremony is sponsored by the Northwest Science Fiction Society. Last year’s winner was LOST EVERYTHING by Brian Francis Slattery (Tor Books) with a special citation to THE LOVESTAR by Andri Snær Magnason (Seven Stories Press).

Thank you!!

Many of you who visit this blog, first read A Calculated Life as a self-published eBook or paperback and I’m enormously grateful that you were willing to pick my book and give it a go! Thanks, everyone.