Sir Julius Vogel Award Results - 2017

Best Novel

Into the Mist

Lee Murray
(Cohesion Press)

Best Youth Novel

Light in My Dark

Jean Gilbert and William Dresden
(Rogue House Publishing)

Best Novella / Novelette

The Convergence of Fairy Tales

Octavia Cade
(Book Smugglers)

Best Short Story

“Splintr”

A.J. Fitzwater, published in At the Edge
(Paper Road Press)

Best Collected Work

At the Edge

Edited by Dan Rabarts and Lee Murray
(Paper Road Press)

Best Professional Artwork

Cover artwork for At the Edge

Emma Weakley
(Paper Road Press)

Best Professional Production/Publication

That Kind of Planet

Emma Weakley
(Random Static)

Best Dramatic Presentation

This Giant Papier Mache Boulder is Actually Really Heavy

Andrew Beszant and Christian Nicholson
(Little Hero Productions)
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/170397598

Best Fan Production/ Publication

Summer Star Trek: Mirror, Mirror

Enterprise Entertainment

Best Fan Writing

Octavia Cade

For Food and Horror Column Series
(Book Smugglers)

Best Fan Artist

Keith Smith

Contributions to Novazine

Best New Talent

Eileen Mueller

Eileen Mueller’s first short story was published in 2013. Since then, she's had many short stories published in NZ & Australasian anthologies, and three children's novels published. Eileen has also won a Sir Julius Vogel Award award and some writing contests and is an active member of NZ's science fiction and fantasy community.

Awards:

2016 Sir Julius Vogel Award: Best Youth Novel Dragons Realm, A You Say Which Way Adventure

Writing contests:

2016: NZ Flash Fiction MicroMadness, Finalist

2013 SpecFicNZ Going Global, 1st place

2013 New Zealand Society of Authors NorthWrite Collaboration, 1st equal.

Novels:

Attack on Dragons Realm, (Phantom Feather Press, 2016)

Dragons Realm, A You Say Which Way Adventure (Fairytale Factory, 2015)

Mystic Portal, A You Say Which Way Adventure (Fairytale Factory, 2016)

Anthologies, collections and boxed sets including Eileen’s work:

Baby Teeth - Bite-Sized Tales of Terror, (Paper Road Press, 2013) 2014 Sir Julius Vogel Best Collection

Disquiet, (Creativa, 2014)

The Best of Twisty Christmas Tales (Phantom Feather Press, 2014)

Lost in the Museum (Phoenix Writers, 2014) 2015 Sir Julius Vogel Best Collection.

Dragon Tales (Phantom Feather Press, 2015)

At the Edge (Paper Road Press, 2016)

Fangtastic Dragon Jokes (Phantom Feather Press, 2016)

Clawsome Dragon Limericks (Phantom Feather Press, 2016)

4 More You Say Way Adventures (Fairytale Factory, 2016)

Best of You Say Which Way Adventures (Fairytale Factory, 2016)

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I’m nominating Eileen Mueller for Best New Talent. She’s an accomplished author who sprang onto the local speculative fiction writing scene with her contributions to “Lost in the Museum,” a Sir Julius Vogel Award winning compilation. A compilation that she did a lot of behind the scenes work for.

She won the 2016 Sir Julius Vogel Award: Best Youth Novel with Dragons Realm, A You Say Which Way Adventure and has also placed first equal with “Ahi Ka” a short story entry to New Zealand Society of Authors NorthWrite Collaboration (co-written with A.J Ponder), which placed 1st equal. A 2016 NZ Flash Fiction MicroMadness finalist and also winner of SpecFicNZ’s “Going Global” competition. Eileen has been steadily growing her body of work, and her development as an author over the last three years has been profound.

Eileen has proved herself a diverse new writer prepared to work on her craft and work within the SF community. Writing middle grade and young adult fiction, some of writing’s toughest critics, Eileen is an author to watch.

Services To Science Fiction, Fantasy And Horror

Lee Murray

Lee works tirelessly for the New Zealand and Australian specfic/horror genre communities. Besides judging various awards in NZ and for the Australian Horror Writers Association (AHWA), Lee kindly writes and edits and offers advice for The Refuge Collection series of books, all for charity with no payment. Besides being hard-working and passionate, Lee is also imaginative, courteous, diligent and talented.

I have nominated Lee Murray for this award because, besides being an award-winning writer and editor in her own right, Lee tirelessly - and without other avenues of recognition for most of this work - serves New Zealand’s science fiction, fantasy and horror communities through a variety of advocacy, community-building and mentorship programmes, including the following:

• Co-founder with Piper Mejia of the Beyond This and Write Off Line series of speculative writing competitions and anthologies of short stories and poems by New Zealand intermediate and secondary school students.

• Responsible for co-editing four of the above journals, and judging another two.

• An ongoing facilitator/presenter of writing workshops for children and young people. These are run annually in conjunction with Tauranga Writers, Young Writers NZ, and, more recently, with SpecFicNZ and SFFANZ.

• Lee co-edited (with Dan Rabarts) the charity flash fiction anthology Baby Teeth (2013) which also served to strengthen ties amongst science fiction, fantasy and horror writers in New Zealand. In 2016, this was extended to include Australian speculative writers with the publication of At the Edge (also co-edited with Dan Rabarts). Both works have achieved considerable attention in New Zealand and abroad.

• Again for charity, Lee has played a very active role as writer, reviewer and editor in several of the tales in The Refuge Collection, and won an award for her own short story contribution, all of which helped reunite a family from Syria on Australian soil, which demonstrates the real-world impact the genre community can achieve.

• Frequently judges national and international literary awards including, for the New Zealand Society of Authors, SpecFicNZ, the Australian Horror Writers Association (AHWA), and the SQ Mag Story Quest competition.

• Lee actively develops ties with overseas publishers, genre and writing groups, where she has been an ardent advocate and promoter of New Zealand science fiction, fantasy and horror.

• She is an articulate presenter, and has appeared on professional panels and workshops at various conferences and conventions in New Zealand, Australia and the United States.

• She is a respected blogger and frequent reviewer of New Zealand genre work.

• Lee is an active member of a wide range of professional organisations including The Horror Writers Association (HWA), The AHWA, Tauranga Writers, Bookrapt, Freelance, and SFFANZ

• Lee has served two years on the Core of SpecFicNZ.

• In 2016, she was the writing programme coordinator (with Dan Rabarts) of New Zealand’s 37th Science Fiction and Fantasy conference, Au Contraire 2016.

• A mentor and assessor specialising in genre fiction for the New Zealand Society of Authors for the past six years, Lee donated hundreds of hours of professional time, providing free support and critique for over one hundred genre writers in the past year alone. The fact that many of Lee’s mentees since found publishers for their work, with several shortlisted and a few winning international writing awards, is a testament to her mentor and leadership abilities in the genre communities.

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Lee Murray is a tireless supporter of genre fiction in New Zealand, pouring hours of time and buckets of energy into promoting local authors and books, mentoring and assisting new writers, and driving projects which showcase NZ genre writers both nationally and internationally. She has been the editor behind several NZ anthologies, including a number dedicated to fostering young kiwi writers and encouraging an interest in science fiction and fantasy.

She has also been involved in planning and facilitating events at a number of New Zealand's Science Fiction Natcons, demonstrating her commitment to the science fiction community as a whole. As well as this, she has volunteered on the committees of both SFFANZ and SpecFicNZ.

As a successful, award-winning novelist with a rapidly growing international presence, Lee maintains a strong commitment to paying it forward, helping other writers with her promotional, editorial and organisational skills, and in so doing, is improving the landscape of science fiction and fantasy in New Zealand accordingly.  

Lee is a tireless helper of other authors whether they are new talent or well established. Notably, Lee has mentored young authors as a partner in the New Zealand Society of Authors Mentoring scheme. She reads manuscripts for that society and for a wide circle of genre authors privately. She has advocated for us through Spec Fic and Creative NZ. At her cost she has traveled to overseas conventions where she has shown the work of many authors and spoken about our work as a panellist and in social spaces. She has funded awards for writing competitions and helped organise conventions and other events. She goes to so much effort for horror, science fiction and fantasy writing in New Zealand that this award is utterly merited.

Lee Murray is a gifted author with a talent for lifting those around her, inspiring others, and ensuring the entire science fiction, fantasy and horror community benefits from her knowledge, wisdom and enthusiasm.

As well as writing gripping thrillers, culturally rich middle-grade novels and top-notch short stories, Lee has edited numerous anthologies, free of charge. Besides several horror collections, she has also edited many anthologies for school children, our emerging future writers. While attending the 2016 Bram Stoker Conference, she promoted the work of other kiwi authors, at her own cost. Her personal investment, in time, means, patience and talent should be acknowledged.

Services To Fandom

Lynelle Howell

For a nominee for Services to New Zealand Fandom, one need not look further than Lynelle Howell, one of the New Zealand’s best-loved and busiest fans. Actively involved in our fandom for over 20 years, Lynelle is a workhorse, the sort of person who is prepared to roll up her sleeves and tackle any task the community requires of her, tasks she undertakes with tact and enthusiasm. For example, Lynelle has chaired two national conventions, and was a member of the convention committee for a third. Up to date with community trends, she is regularly called upon as a speaker or panellist, her contribution always positive and engaging.

Lynelle was a founding member of SFFANZ ‒ the Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand ‒ and has been a sitting member of its board since its inception in 2002. Except, Lynelle has never been content to simply ‘sit’, instead taking on the myriad administrative tasks that ensure the smooth running of the organisation. As is often the case, Lynelle’s work is largely invisible, due to her seamless, effortless approach, derived in part from her huge knowledge of the community and its people. For example, she has administered the Association’s Sir Julius Vogel Awards (SJVs) for the past ten years. It’s a mammoth task, one which grows every year as the award gains prestige, and one that demands a great deal of time behind the scenes. To the outside world, the awards ‘just happen’ as if by magic, and this perception can be attributed to Lynelle’s efficiency and discretion.

In terms of local involvement, Lynelle is an active member of Wellington’s Phoenix Science Fiction Society, and has been co-editor of the club’s award-winning magazine, Phoenixine, for over a decade. This year, Lynelle was elected as New Zealand’s FFANZ representative and will be travelling to Continuum 13 in Australia in June. Already, Lynelle is contacting writers and creatives, and preparing to promote and support New Zealand fandom to our neighbours across the ditch. It is an honour to nominate Lynelle for Services to Fandom, an award she thoroughly deserves.

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Lynelle Howell is a lady of many talents. Every year at national Science Fiction and Fantasy conventions, she is a dynamo. She plans, helps to keep things flowing, and oversees the Sir Julius Vogel Award process, from nominations to voting and presentation of the awards. Lynelle is a keen organizer, a great fan and a supporter of writers and fans alike. She has  great passion for science fiction and fantasy, shown by her many years of service to SFFANZ, Phoenix SF Society  and the national convention committees and SJV organizers. It is fitting that Lynelle’s work be recognized by writers and fans alike, as she makes a worthy contribution for this award.