Echoes advances to the CYGNUS Semi-finals

I was thrilled when I learned Echoes of the Storm advanced to the long-list of the CYGNUS Book Awards for Science Fiction. It then advanced to the short-list.

But it gets better! Echoes has moved to the semi-finals!

CYGNUS recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in sci-fi, steampunk, alternative history, and speculative fiction. To be included on a list like this is so heartening. It’s one thing when your relatives and friends say you tell a great story, but when an anonymous group of reviewers singles you out from hundreds (or thousands?) of entries – now THAT is a great feeling.

The CYGNUS award is one of many sponsored by Chanticleer Book Reviews. Submitted books go through several rounds of judging to get to the finals:

• slush pile – chapter 1 read: if it gets a ‘yes’, it advances to the long list
• long-list – 60-80 more pages read; a ‘yes’ moves you forward
• short-list – book reviewers and editors read the book; ‘yes’ advances it to semis
• semi-finals – another round of reviews; a ‘yes’ will move the book to the finals
• finals – from the finalists, Chanticleer will name the ‘first in category’

You can see why I’m so honored to have come to round 4, and be in the running for a finalist position.