Guest blog and giveaway

Today I'm blogging over at Marie Treanor's Romantic Theme Party. Marie has a week of SF writers guest blogging, so don't forget to check back each day.

I'm giving away my books as well as an exclusive Children of Scarabaeus bookmark - just comment over on that blog post (not here).

Judges' report on Song of Scarabaeus

I found something today I thought must exist but couldn't previously find even though it's sort of in plain sight: the Judges' Report on the 2010 Aurealis Awards finalists, which is linked from the Aurealis Awards main page. I'm not sure when it went up but I only just stumbled upon it. Generally speaking I'm interested in what others think of my work, as I'm sure most authors are. In this case I was interested in finding out why Song of Scarabaeus was nominated. Anyway, the judges called the book a "well balanced" and "excellent debut" with "the feel of a contemporary thriller in the way it pulls the reader through a number of emotional and action-based conflicts."

The award went to Marianne de Pierres' Transformation Space. I'm reading the first in that four-part series now - unfortunately slow going because I'm concurrently reading three other books. This mirrors my writing process - I'm working on multiple things. Focus has not been my strong suit lately.