Whatever walked there, walked alone...: seanan

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.

judifilksign

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

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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.