‘The Last of His Kind’ A Finalist for Harper’s Pen Award

Well, this is a surprise. Today I got an email from Jeff Crook telling me that my story appearing in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly’s third issue, The Last of His Kind, is one of eight finalists for the Harper’s Pen Award. The Harper’s Pen Award is the new name for what was once the Ham-Sized Fist Award, which I talked about a while ago, and which focuses on sword & sorcery and heroic fantasy short fiction.

Here is the complete list of finalists, and more about the award can be found at the Sorcerer’s Guild blogsite.

• “Slow Stampede” by Sara Genge (Asimov’s)
• “Where Virtue Lives” by Saladin Ahmed (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
• “The Face in the Sea” by John C. Hocking (Black Gate #13)
• “Tomb of the Amazon Queen” by Michael Ehart (Dark Worlds 3)
• “Bright Wings in the Ebony Hall” by Dale Carothers (Electric Spec)
• “The Last of His Kind” by Bill Ward (Heroic Fantasy Quarterly)
• “Serpents Beneath the Ice” by Carl Walmsley (Rage of the Behemoth)
• “The Dark Blessing” by James Lecky (Silver Blade)

I’m acquainted with many of the other finalists, their stories and publications– I think I even nominated one of them! I’m also really happy to see an RBE story up there, from an anthology I’m also in, and it feels sort of weird to be competing against Jason Waltz’s company as I’ve had more stories with him than anyone else. The same can be said for Black Gate, where I am a contributing editor. But it looks like a great group of stories, some stiff competition, and I’m going to try to read the ones on that list that I haven’t seen yet.

It’s a great feeling to be a finalist, and I’m sure the guys at HFQ, Adrian, David, and Bill, are excited to see their up-and-coming publication short-listed for an award as well. And that’s what I think is especially great about this award, it’s that it recognizes the publications as well as the authors, and does so as a way to encourage editors and publishers of mostly smaller ventures to keep pursuing their visions. As anyone who has been published knows, a good editorial eye is a boon beyond measure. The guys at HFQ were a pleasure to work with and a real asset in finalizing my story, and I would not be nowhere near as pleased with the final version if it hadn’t been for the errors they spotted, the considerations they raised, and the willingness they had to go through the story with a fine-toothed comb and make it as good as it could be.

And while I’m tooting on my own sackbut, Tangent Online has recently posted a very in depth survey of 2009′s short fiction, and one of my stories, ‘How Antkind Lost Its Soul’ from Kaliedotrope # 7, made their recommended reading list.