Last week, the fine ladies and gentlemen behind the Parsec Awards announced their illustrious finalists for the year of our Lord 2012. The Parsecs is truly one of the most prestigious awards in æthercasting, now in its seventh year of presentation. It is bestowed to æthercasts portraying the finest content focused on Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. (Pictured here is the 2011 Parsec brought home by the fine, upstanding gentlemen of Technorama.) As it has been the custom, the Parsec Awards celebrates the best in speculative fiction as part of the hellfire club festivities known as Dragon*Con.
The announcement of this year’s Parsec finalists involves the Ministry quite heavily. No, nothing peculiar (although as it is Dragon*Con, the peculiar is to be expected) but on the contrary — most extraordinary!
With our own intrepid journalists highlighted, here are the finalists for the Parsec Awards 2012 Short Story (Small Cast, Short Form) category:
Best Speculative Fiction Story: Small Cast (Short Form)
- “A Ruby in Rain†by Grant Stone (from The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences)
- “Darkest Before Darkwater†by Tee Morris (from The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences)
- “Night’s Plutonian Shore†by Jack Mangan (from The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences)
- “Precarious Child†by Pip Ballantine (from The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences)
- “Sins of the Father†by Tee Morris (from The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences)
Yes, the Ministry has most effectively shut out the Short Story Small Cast category for this year’s Parsec Awards, automatically making our podcast an award-winning venture.
I do believe Miss Braun would say we are “quite chuffed” about this little accomplishment. With such honours (not to mention the distinction of claiming the category for our own) for the Ministry, we were prepared to accept our accolades and pay respects to finalists in other categories…
Then, to our astonishment, we reviewed the other categories. As before, with the Ministry and our journalists emphasised…
Best Speculative Fiction Story: Large Cast
- “Beachcombing†by Ray Cluley (from The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine)
- “From Paris, with Regret†by Starla Hutchton (from The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences)
- The Guild of The Cowry Catchers, Book 3: Ashes by Abigail Hilton
- “Dream Engine†by Tim Pratt (from Journey Into)
- “The Seven†by P.C. Haring (from The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences)
Best Speculative Fiction Magazine or Anthology Podcast
- Beneath Ceaseless Skies Magazine
- Drabblecast
- The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine
- The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences: Tales from the Archives, Vol.1
- Toasted Cake
Best Podcast about Speculative Fiction Content Creation
- The Dead Robots Society
- Pendragon Variety Podcast
- The Roundtable Podcast
- The Shared Desk
- Writing Excuses
Oh what fun!
To our esteemed colleagues joining us in the Final Round of this fine award, congratulations. It is such an honour to be in your company. To the talented authors of our Tales from the Archives, Eliza and I are quite proud of you all. It is your talent, your imagination, and your efforts wherein our journalists created an æthercast worthy of such merits. Thank you one and all.
The best of luck to everyone! We will see you in the former Colonies later this summer!
Congrats on all the Tales that made it! All are amazing ones and should be showcased. 🙂