Mondy's Adventure

Sophie Z and the Ditmars 2013

ianmond@tpg.com.au — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 02:13:00 GMT

For those of you not on Twitter, Facebook or my contacts list, 9 days and three hours ago Sophie Zara Mond was born.

Sister to a non plussed Joshi, (the cutest is when he asks her questions expecting answers like ‘Why are you crying?”) Sophie is currently being fed while I type this. They say that having a second child is easier – and maybe it is – but even if that child is perfect it’s still going to wake up at least three times a night. And because I’ve decided to be the supportive husband this time around, rather than the lazy schlob I was with Joshi, I’m waking up as well. (Though, sometimes Jules has pity on me and let’s me sleep through the last feed if I don’t wake up on my own. Thank you Jules).

All that tiredness and weariness aside, life is good. Having a pigeon pair (where does that phrase come from?) is a blessing that I’m thankful for.

So here’s Sophie.

She’s a spitting image of her brother Joshi at the same age who looked like this:

Also something to be thankful is winning awards. Last night Kirstyn and I won our second Ditmar for Writer and The Critic. To say I’m happy would be a bit obvious, so instead I’ll say I’m proud and thank all those that nominated and voted for us. Kirstyn made it clear, both in the acceptance speech and on Twitter, that she’s keeping this award. I’m OK with that… I just want my Lego Ditmar from 2012 in return. (I believe they were being constructed at the award ceremony).

I’d also like to congratulate everyone else who won. Unless my Google-fu is shit, I can’t seem to find a full listing of the winners on the interwebs. So I stole the results from Tansy instead:

Novel: Sea Hearts, Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin)
Novella or Novelette: “Sky”, Kaaron Warren (Through Splintered Walls)
Short Story: “The Wisdom of Ants”, Thoraiya Dyer (Clarkesworld 12/12)
Collected Work: Through Splintered Walls, Kaaron Warren (Twelfth Planet)
Artwork: Cover art, Kathleen Jennings, for Midnight and Moonshine (Ticonderoga)
Fan Writer: Tansy Rayner Roberts, for body of work including reviews in Not If You Were The Last Short Story On Earth
Fan Artist: Kathleen Jennings, for body of work including “The Dalek Game” and “The Tamsyn Webb Sketchbook”
Fan Publication: The Writer and the Critic, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond
New Talent: David McDonald
William Atheling Jr. Award for Criticism or Review: Tansy Rayner Roberts, for “Historically Authentic Sexism in Fantasy. Let’s Unpack That.” (Tor.com)
Norma K. Hemming Award: Sea Hearts, Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin)
Peter McNamara Award: Nick Stathopoulos
Chandler Award: Russell Farr (Ticonderoga)

Congrats to all those wonderful people – including Tansy who won two Ditmars of her own for some brilliant fan writing. Hopefully, she follows it up with a Hugo.

Future blogging is likely to be sporadic for the next few months, but you can expect regular episodes of Shooting the Poo and Writer and The Critic from May.

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