Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: surprised
  • Music: Dar Williams, "If I Wrote You."

Whatever walked there, walked alone...

The ballot for the 2010 Shirley Jackson Award has been announced. Shirley Jackson is one of those writers I've admired since before I really fully understood that the people whose names were on the front of books had written them, rather than nurturing them in strange gardens, where they were watered with blood and cream, and bloomed only under the light of the full moon. Although maybe, that's what writers really do, and when we talk about "writing," we really mean "plundering the hearts of our neighbors for seeds." Who knows?

Shirley Jackson wrote "The Lottery," and The Haunting of Hill House, which has scared the crap out of me on a regular basis since I was seven. The Shirley Jackson Awards were established with the approval of her estate, to honor "outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic."

This year, Feed is on the ballot.

To quote the website, the award is "voted upon by a jury of professional writers, editors, critics, and academics, with input from a Board of Advisors." It's a jury of my peers, and whether I'm found guilty or not, it is truly an honor to be brought before them. I'll be really honest here: I never expected this. I don't think of myself as writing the kind of books that get nominated for awards, no matter how much I love them. My garden bears strange fruit, but not the kind that takes the ribbon at the County Fair.

But there I am. On a ballot with Peter Straub and Robert Jackson Bennett and Neil Gaiman and Michelle Paver...and it's amazing.

It's just amazing.
Tags: awards and stuff, feed, good things, mira grant, so the marilyn
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copperwise

April 15 2011, 01:15:45 UTC 6 years ago

I KNEW Feed would make the Jackson ballot. I just KNEW it.

<3

seanan_mcguire

April 15 2011, 03:23:01 UTC 6 years ago

You coulda told me!

oneminutemonkey

April 15 2011, 01:16:39 UTC 6 years ago Edited:  April 15 2011, 01:16:49 UTC

Man, screw Peter Straub. I'd vote for you if I could vote. Just because. :)

seanan_mcguire

April 15 2011, 03:29:27 UTC 6 years ago

Thanks, sweetie.

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seanan_mcguire

April 15 2011, 14:50:03 UTC 6 years ago

Thank you!

firynze

April 15 2011, 01:25:03 UTC 6 years ago

Shirley Jackson lived in the town I now live in. One of my good friends grew up with her kids. Shirley Jackson was/is the BOMB.

Congratulations!!!

seanan_mcguire

April 15 2011, 14:52:50 UTC 6 years ago

Thank you!

maya_a

April 15 2011, 01:33:39 UTC 6 years ago

This is fabulous, of course! And Seanan, if you haven't read We Have Always Lived in the Castle, read it. Right now.

bunsen_h

April 15 2011, 03:42:22 UTC 6 years ago

Ah yes, Mary Kat and Rayseline: women with issues.

It would be interesting to read Rayseline's story from her point of view... betrayed by her protector, cuckolded, virtually abandoned by her parents. With the back-story told only in bits and pieces, it would be really creepy.

seanan_mcguire

6 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

6 years ago

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filkertom

April 15 2011, 01:33:43 UTC 6 years ago

Okay, we are talking some serious Whoo-Hooing now. So, so many congratulation, hon!

seanan_mcguire

April 15 2011, 14:55:37 UTC 6 years ago

Thank you!

alicetheowl

April 15 2011, 01:34:55 UTC 6 years ago

Hooray!

I just ordered Shirley Jackson: Novels and Stories from Amazon, because I got free money from my insurance company. I'd reread all the short stories recently, but my library system didn't have a SINGLE copy of anything with The Haunting of Hill House. I was actually getting twitchy with my craving to read it.

seanan_mcguire

April 15 2011, 14:56:17 UTC 6 years ago

Wow.

kitrinlu

April 15 2011, 01:38:06 UTC 6 years ago

Congratulations! ♥

seanan_mcguire

April 15 2011, 14:57:23 UTC 6 years ago

Thank you!

jenjen4280

April 15 2011, 01:40:18 UTC 6 years ago

Congrats on the nomination! That's high praise, indeed.

seanan_mcguire

April 15 2011, 14:57:34 UTC 6 years ago

It really is. I'm staggered and overjoyed.

judifilksign

April 15 2011, 01:40:46 UTC 6 years ago

As an English teacher and bibliophile, I often have trouble completely enjoying books, because I am driven crazy by writers who tell you about a story, rather than telling an enthralling tale.

When I picked up FEED, it was one of the very few books that sucked me in and made me CRY. It has craftmanship as well as heart.

And I've had to watch who I try to read after I've read one of your books, because you set the bar pretty high! I hope FEED does win, and I'm also hoping you get a HUGO, too, to add to your Campbell.

I predict that you are going to be not just a midlist author, but a famous one whose writing style and depth and awesomeness will raise the bar and inspire others. People world-wide will know your name.

I'm just say'n. Because I believe it.

artbeco

April 15 2011, 02:13:45 UTC 6 years ago

Yeah, this.
*hugs*

seanan_mcguire

6 years ago

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themysteriousg

6 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

6 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

April 15 2011, 14:59:10 UTC 6 years ago

Thank you!

shaharazad

April 15 2011, 01:41:07 UTC 6 years ago

Congratulations!

seanan_mcguire

April 15 2011, 14:59:16 UTC 6 years ago

Thank you!

ladymondegreen

April 15 2011, 01:41:18 UTC 6 years ago

Holy cow!

*does the dance of awesome news*

Feed is that wonderful. Really.

seanan_mcguire

April 15 2011, 15:00:52 UTC 6 years ago

I'm so stunned.

brithistorian

April 15 2011, 01:48:34 UTC 6 years ago

Congratulations! Wow! That's wonderful!

seanan_mcguire

April 15 2011, 15:01:09 UTC 6 years ago

Thank you!

emmalyon

April 15 2011, 01:51:33 UTC 6 years ago

I saw that earlier, well done!!!

seanan_mcguire

April 15 2011, 15:01:19 UTC 6 years ago

I'm really thrilled.

spectralbovine

April 15 2011, 01:57:24 UTC 6 years ago

Eeeeeeeee! Take the ribbon! Take the ribbon and STRANGLE PEOPLE INTO ZOMBIES.

seanan_mcguire

April 15 2011, 15:01:26 UTC 6 years ago

SIR YES SIR!

dimloep_suum

April 15 2011, 02:00:43 UTC 6 years ago

Awww hells yeah.

*dance party*

seanan_mcguire

April 15 2011, 15:02:29 UTC 6 years ago

Woo!

Deleted comment

seanan_mcguire

April 15 2011, 15:02:42 UTC 6 years ago

I'm so like...wow.

icebluenothing

April 15 2011, 02:09:07 UTC 6 years ago

Congrats! And good luck!

And man, yeah, Haunting of Hill House. I can't even be upset by the fact that I'm never going to write a paragraph as absolutely perfect as the one that opens that book; I'm just glad someone did.

seanan_mcguire

April 15 2011, 15:03:01 UTC 6 years ago

I know, right?

Deleted comment

seanan_mcguire

April 15 2011, 15:03:11 UTC 6 years ago

Hee! Awesome. :)

poltr1

April 15 2011, 02:11:51 UTC 6 years ago

Yee-HAW! Congratulations!

seanan_mcguire

April 15 2011, 15:03:19 UTC 6 years ago

Thank you!

deakat

April 15 2011, 02:23:52 UTC 6 years ago

Oh, yes. You are a rock star. So happy for you!

seanan_mcguire

April 15 2011, 15:03:26 UTC 6 years ago

I'm overjoyed.

apocalypticbob

April 15 2011, 02:24:59 UTC 6 years ago

When you watch award shows on tv, there is always someone who says, "It is an honor just to be nominated."

In this case, I'd say that definitely holds true, and it's an honor you completely earned.

Congratulations!

seanan_mcguire

April 15 2011, 15:04:27 UTC 6 years ago

It really and truly is an honor just to be nominated.

dormouse_in_tea

April 15 2011, 02:29:15 UTC 6 years ago

Oh, good. World is working as it ought.

Now, as long as Feed gets on the Hugo ballot, I shouldn't have to destroy the world for MONTHS.

seanan_mcguire

April 15 2011, 15:04:33 UTC 6 years ago

Hee.

mutantenemy

April 15 2011, 02:31:09 UTC 6 years ago

I couldn't decide between a zombie icon or a jack-o-lantern one, so instead I give you zis.

The Great Pumpkin has grinned upon you with an awesome ballot blessing.

Congrats. It is well deserved.

The Zombies obviously love you.

seanan_mcguire

April 15 2011, 15:04:44 UTC 6 years ago

Thank you!

DANCE PINKIE PIE DANCE.

ladymondegreen

6 years ago

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