Aurora awards

Nominate for the Aurora Awards 2025

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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.

How do you nominate?

  1. Go to this website: https://www.csffa.ca/members-home/
  2. Join, pay membership fee
  3. Nominate up to 5 works per category https://www.csffa.ca/members-home/nomination/

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.

Aurora Awards Voting is Open

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Hello Friends, Family, and Fans;

The Travelling TARDIS is nominated for the Aurora Awards.

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?

aurora

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.

So go to https://www.csffa.ca/ and click on the “Become a Member” button.

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

Aurora Awards Voter’s Package

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Hello Friends, Family, and Fans;

As we’ve mentioned The Travelling TARDIS is nominated for the Aurora Awards.

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?

aurora

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.

So go to https://www.csffa.ca/ and click on the “Become a Member” button.

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

Travelling TARDIS Nominated for Aurora

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Hello friends, family, and fans!

The nominations are up!!!

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.

Thank you!

Éric

Aurora Awards Nominations End Tomorrow!

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Hello once again!!

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.

How do you nominate?

  1. Go to this website: https://www.csffa.ca/members-home/
  2. Join, pay membership fee
  3. Nominate up to 5 works per category https://www.csffa.ca/members-home/nomination/

It would mean a lot to all of us if you’re willing to nominate us! (Categories are in alphabetical order by work)

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.

Aurora Awards Event

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Hello!

The Aurora Awards are being presented this Saturday! (Tomorrow!)

It will be live streamed on both YouTube and Facebook on August 19th starting at 7pm EDT (5pm MDT, and 4pm PDT). Here are the links:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FlRl0g279U

Facebook: The 2023 Aurora Awards | Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/events/2014114358935372)

Here is the itinerary for the evening:

– Opening Segment

– Territorial Acknowledgement

– Introductory Bits about this year’s Celebration

– The Hall of Fame inductees

– The Awards

  1. Fan Related Work
  2. Fan Writing and Publications
  3. Cover Art
  4. Related Work
  5. Poem/Song
  6. Graphic Novel/Comic
  7. Short Story
  8. Novelette/Novella
  9. YA Novel
  10. Novel

A reminder for the categories in which we have been nominated:

  • 2. Fan Writing and Publications (both Jen for Travelling TARDIS and Éric for Movie Reviews)
  • 4. Related Work (Jen’s short story is included in Nothing Without Us Too)

No matter who wins, we are very honoured to have been nominated and we appreciate your support immensely. I hope you enjoyed reading all the books!

Jen and Éric

Aurora Voting Ends this Saturday (July 29th)

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Hello friends, family, and fans!

Voting ends on July 29th (this Saturday)

Thanks to all who nominated. You really made a difference.

In case you missed it, the Voters package is available for download! Make sure you’re logged in!

The four categories in which Jen, Éric, and family are nominated:

  • Category 2 – Best YA Novel
    • Black Hole Radio – Ka’Azula by Ann Birdgenaw
  • Category 7 – Best Related Work
    • Nothing Without Us Too by Cait Gordon and Talia C. Johnson (Jen has a short story Semper Ubi Sub Ubi in this one!)
  • Category 9 – Best Fan Writing/Publication (these will not be included in the voters package, as they are available online)

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!

JenEric

Vote JenEric for the Aurora Awards

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Hello friends, family, and fans!

The voting round is NOW OPEN!!!

Thanks to all who nominated. You really made a difference.

In case you missed it, the Voters package is available for download! Make sure you’re logged in!

The four categories in which Jen, Éric, and family are nominated:

  • Category 2 – Best YA Novel
    • Black Hole Radio – Ka’Azula by Ann Birdgenaw
  • Category 7 – Best Related Work
    • Nothing Without Us Too by Cait Gordon and Talia C. Johnson (Jen has a short story Semper Ubi Sub Ubi in this one!)
  • Category 9 – Best Fan Writing/Publication (these will not be included in the voters package, as they are available online)

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!

JenEric

We were nominated for Auroras!

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Hello friends, family, and fans!

The nominations are up!!!

Thanks to all who nominated. You really made a difference.

Now, it’s onto the voting! You should have received an email on how to download the voters package by now. If not, check the website when you’re logged in, and follow the instructions.

There is EXCELLENT news: Our Aunt Ann, writing as Ann Birdgenaw, will receive her Aurora nomination pin!! We’re so proud of her!

The four categories in which Jen, Éric, and family are nominated:

  • Category 2 – Best YA Novel
    • Black Hole Radio – Ka’Azula by Ann Birdgenaw
  • Category 7 – Best Related Work
    • Nothing Without Us Too by Cait Gordon and Talia C. Johnson (Jen has a short story Semper Ubi Sub Ubi in this one!)
  • Category 9 – Best Fan Writing/Publication (these will not be included in the voters package, as they are available online)

Something to remember this time around, is that the 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 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!

JenEric

This Saturday! Support Dragon and Jen at the Auroras

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Hello family and friends!

Just wanted to let you know that the Aurora Awards are happening this Saturday (virtually)!

As you may be aware, Dragon and I were nominated for an award in the Best Fan Related Work category.

Here are links to the live-streaming awards ceremony. They are open to the public so you can watch:

The ceremony begins at 7pm EDT (5pm MDT) on Saturday, August 13th. Here is a quick overview of the order of what is happening at the ceremony:

  • Introduction 
  • Announce the first time nominees (Dragon will not be on camera at this time, but she will be named)
  • Hall of Fame Inductees
  • Update about the awards program and a look at this year’s trophy
  • Aurora Awards:
    • Fan Related Work (this is our category!)
    • Fan Organizational
    • Fan Writing and Publications
    • Artist
    • Visual Presentation
    • Related Work
    • Poem/Song
    • Graphic Novel
    • Short Story
    • Novella/Novelette
    • Young Adult (YA) Novel
    • Novel
  • Closing Remarks

We were nominated for How I Taught My Dragon: Kindergarten education through genre media.

It would mean a lot to us to have your support by watching the show.

Thank you!

Jen