Shocking everyone, especially myself, I found out at the beginning of the month that Winging It had made the shortlist for the 2026 Aurora Awards!
The Best Young Adult Novel category has six finalists, meaning there was a tie, which is exciting! More books for you to read when the electronic package is released! I am incredibly honoured to be included alongside these other fantastic authors.
BEST YOUNG ADULT (YA) NOVEL (alphabetical by title) Breath of the Dragon, Shannon Lee & Fonda Lee, Wednesday Books Fireboy, Edward Willett, Shadowpaw Press A Lion’s Head, D.M. De Alwis, Ahasae Tharu Publications Minotaur, Jamieson Wolf, Rebel Satori Press One Morning Sun, Avi Silver, Molewhale Press Winging It, Jen Desmarais, Renaissance Press
The Aurora Awards, which are for Canadian science fiction and fantasy writers and artists, are open for nominations for the 2025 works! (Nominations are open until April 5) This means the LONG lists of eligible works are being narrowed down to 5-6 per category.
Once they have a list of nominated works, every single person who signed up and paid the $10 membership fee gets ALL the nominated works as downloads. That’s all the adult novels, YA novels, novellas, short stories, graphic novels, and related works (usually anthologies), so about 36 works, for just $10 CAD, which is a great deal.
Getting nominated for an Aurora Award is a BIG DEAL in the speculative fiction writing community. You get a nomination pin (only once, so I’m terrified I’ll lose mine!), and you’re part of an elite group of people.
It would mean a lot to all of us if you’re willing to nominate us! (Categories are in alphabetical order by work)
Eligibility Category 2 – Best Young Adult Novel
The Copper Tarnish by Éric Desmarais
Winging It by Jen Desmarais
Eligibility Category 3 – Best Novelette/Novella
The Scarlet Thread Irregulars by Éric Desmarais
Eligibility Category 4 – Best Short Story
Harvest Special by Jen Desmarais
I am Snowman by Éric Desmarais
Plants, Fungus, and Zombies! by Éric Desmarais
Snow Day by Jen Desmarais
The Puzzles of Everdome by Éric Desmarais
The Summer of ’99 and How I Died by Éric Desmarais
Eligibility Category 6 – Best Poem/Song
The Ballad of the Phantom and the Wraith by Jen Desmarais, found in Winging It by Jen Desmarais
Eligibility Category 7 – Best Related Work
Connections! The Unexpected First Collection by Jen and Éric Desmarais
Eligibility Category 9 – Best Fan Writing/Publication
JenEric Movie Reviews by Éric Desmarais
The Travelling TARDIS by Jen Desmarais
In case you’re wondering why Winging It is not included in the best cover art category, it’s because our cover artist is Vietnamese! Only Canadian creators are eligible, unfortunately. We forgot to include The Copper Tarnish in this category because we’re not used to having art made by us! Éric did the cover for it. Thank you so much for your time, attention, and support. If any of the above does make it through the nomination round, which ends April 5, we’ll write another post for the voting round, which will be taking place starting in June 2026.
The Aurora Awards, which are for Canadian science fiction and fantasy writers and artists, are open for nominations for the 2024 works! (Nominations are open March 2 – April 5) This means the LONG lists of eligible works are being narrowed down to 5-6 per category.
Once they have a list of nominated works, every single person who signed up and paid the $10 membership fee gets ALL the nominated works as downloads. That’s all the adult novels, YA novels, novellas, short stories, graphic novels, and related works (usually anthologies), so about 36 works, for just $10 CAD, which is a great deal.
Getting nominated for an Aurora Award is a BIG DEAL in the speculative fiction writing community. You get a nomination pin (only once, so I’m terrified I’ll lose mine!), and you’re part of an elite group of people. This would be Adrien’s first nomination, so my fingers are crossed!
Not only do Éric and I have quite the list of eligible works, but Pegasus (for his work last year in his kindergarten homeschooling, and the short story he wrote and illustrated) and Dragon (for the short story she wrote and illustrated) are eligible as well! By the way, nomination forms are not ranked.
It would mean a lot to all of us if you’re willing to nominate us! (Categories are in alphabetical order by work)
Eligibility Category 1 – Best Novel
Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests by Jen and Éric Desmarais
Eligibility Category 3 – Best Novelette/Novella
Red Day, Ere the Sun Rises: A Sun Speaker Story by Éric Desmarais
Eligibility Category 4 – Best Short Story
A Concert Tail by Jen Desmarais
Costume Magic by Éric Desmarais
Escaped by Pegasus Desmarais (age 4)
Funky Looking Chickens by Éric Desmarais
O Tannen-bomb by Jen and Éric Desmarais
The Hole in the Playground by Dragon Desmarais (age 7)
What Scares Pre-teen Monsters? by Jen Desmarais
Eligibility Category 6 – Best Poem/Song
Shadows Live for the Light by Jen Desmarais, found in Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests by Jen and Éric Desmarais
Eligibility Category 8 – Best Cover Art/Interior Illustration
Escaped by Pegasus Desmarais (age 4)
The Hole in the Playground by Dragon Desmarais (age 7)
Eligibility Category 9 – Best Fan Writing/Publication
JenEric Movie Reviews by Éric Desmarais
Pegasus Flight School: Kindergarten education through genre media (second semester) by Jen and Pegasus (age 4) Desmarais
The Travelling TARDIS by Jen Desmarais
In case you’re wondering why Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests is not included in the best cover art category, it’s because our cover artist is Vietnamese! Only Canadian creators are eligible, unfortunately.
Thank you so much for your time, attention, and support. If any of the above does make it through the nomination round, which ends April 5, I’ll be making another post for the voting round, which will be taking place starting in June 2025.
The Voter’s Package is available for download! Make sure you’re logged in, and then go get your books.
Voting started June 8 and runs until July 13. Please consider The Travelling TARDIS, nominated in the Fan Writing and Publication category. Thank you to all who nominated us!
Happy reading!!!
What are the Aurora Awards?
The Aurora Awards are awards “for excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy works and activities.” They are administered by the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association.
It’s a fan-voted award with awesome people.
In Conclusion
Sign up, get ebooks, read, and then vote for your favourites. It’s a great deal and you’ll love the books.
Now the Voter’s Package is available for download! Make sure you’re logged in, and then go get your books.
Voting starts on June 8 and runs until July 13. Please consider The Travelling TARDIS, nominated in the Fan Writing and Publication category. Thank you to all who nominated us!
Happy reading!!!
What are the Aurora Awards?
The Aurora Awards are awards “for excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy works and activities.” They are administered by the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association.
It’s a fan-voted award with awesome people.
In Conclusion
Sign up, get ebooks, read, and then vote for your favourites. It’s a great deal and you’ll love the books.
I’m so proud of Jen, this is her 7th nomination in seven years. It’s the TARDIS’s sixth.
The Travelling TARDIS
The Travelling TARDIS moves, with the power of timey-yarney crochet, through time and space visiting and taking pictures with cosplayers, landmarks, celebrities, and cute babies.
Thanks to all who nominated. You really made a difference.
Now, it’s onto the voting! You will receive an email on how to download the voters package sometime in mid-May. If not, check the website when you’re logged in, and follow the instructions.
The Travelling TARDIS isn’t part of the package because you can access it for free on this site.
Voting
If you think The Travelling TARDIS is worthy of your vote, voting for the Auroras will be open on June 8th.
Thank you to everyone who nominated and especially to everyone who reads and enjoys our content.
The Aurora Awards, which are for Canadian science fiction and fantasy writers and artists, are open for nominations for the 2023 works! (Nominations are open March 2 – April 6) This means the LONG lists of eligible works are being narrowed down to 5-6 per category.
Once they have a list of nominated works, every single person who signed up and paid the $10 membership fee gets ALL the nominated works as downloads. That’s all the adult novels, YA novels, novellas, short stories, graphic novels, and related works (usually anthologies), so about 36 works, for just $10 CAD, which is a great deal.
Getting nominated for an Aurora Award is a BIG DEAL in the speculative fiction writing community. You get a nomination pin (only once, so I’m terrified I’ll lose mine!), and you’re part of an elite group of people. This would be Pegasus’s first nomination, so my fingers are crossed! Our category is stacked with popular works.
Not only do Éric and I have quite the list of eligible works, but Pegasus (for his work this year in his kindergarten homeschooling) are eligible as well! By the way, nomination forms are not ranked.
In case you’re wondering why Crushing It is not included in the best cover art category, it’s because our cover artist is Vietnamese! Only Canadian creators are eligible, unfortunately. It is also not included in the YA Novel category because, although it takes place in a world of magic, the main POV character for 90% of the book has no idea it exists. Fortunately, the POV character for the novelette at the end is aware of the hidden magical world, so that is eligible in category 3. Thank you so much for your time, attention, and support. If any of the above does make it through the nomination round, I’ll be making another post for the voting round, which will take place June 8 – July 13, 2023.
Something to remember this time around; order matters. In order to concentrate our voting power, Éric and I have agreed to focus on The Travelling TARDIS, as it is more well-known in the community. Therefore, please vote for it first, and the JenEric Movie Reviews second.
Voting is June 17 – July 29, 2023. We’ll write a reminder post before it ends. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!
Thank you all so much for your time, attention, and support. It means the world to us!
Something to remember this time around; order matters. In order to concentrate our voting power, Éric and I have agreed to focus on The Travelling TARDIS, as it is more well-known in the community. Therefore, please vote for it first, and the JenEric Movie Reviews second.
Voting is June 17 – July 29, 2023. We’ll write a reminder post before it ends. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!
Thank you all so much for your time, attention, and support. It means the world to us!
