As you all know, KillerCon was this weekend and the Splatterpunk awards were on Saturday night. I was nominated for two awards this year: Best Anthology for Dark Disasters and Best Novella for Sirens & Seaweed.
Even though I did not win, I thought that you might like to see what my speeches would have been. There were so many well-deserving authors and books on the ballot that it was next to impossible to predict the winners.
I am very happy for all the winners including the amazing "We're Here: an anthology of LGBTQ+ Horror," from Gloom House Press, Lucas Mangum for his novella "Snow Angels," Stephen Kozeniewski for his short story "My Octopus Master," which tied with Chet Williamson for his story "Blood Harmony." Author CJ Leede won best novel for Maeve Fly, and Ryan Harding won for his collection, "Transcendental Mutilation."
Of course, we cannot forget the J. F. Gonzalez Lifetime Achievement award. This year, the recipients were Ray Garton, Craig Spector, and Wrath James White. All highly deserved by these absolute legends in the industry.
The Splatterpunk Awards are highly important to me as it was one of the first awards that I won when I began my writing career. Having been nominated for three years is a huge honor for me and my speeches focused on that journey and where it has taken me, which is why I am still sharing them here. There are many that I need to thank and still do wish to thank and wish to see or hear these words, so they are posted below.
If you are someone that has supported my journey in any way, this speech is for you as well. I thank you; I appreciate you, and I'm honored.
Best Anthology. Dark Disasters
If you are hearing these words, then lightning has struck for the third time. If this is indeed the case, then picture me here sobbing right now as I try to read these words before handing them to the closest person to read for me. Since I could not be there with you, I chose Rebecca Rowland to handle the job for me.
For almost five years, I have been pursuing this dream of being an author. Most of that time, I have kept my head down and just worked, barely taking time to fully recognize exactly what all I have accomplished in that time frame, so afraid to breathe and possibly break the spell, to maybe have to realize that it had all been a dream.
This week, however, the enormity of everything that I have accomplished finally hit me and on this past Monday, please know I collapsed into ugly sobs around noon, overwhelmed, in shock, in awe, and so goddamn proud of myself, for real, for maybe the first time.
Let me explain my last two weeks.
July 27, I was in Richardson, Texas, presenting Joe R. Lansdale with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Monday, August 5, a new anthology put together by Tom Deady was revealed, showcasing my name on the cover directly beneath that of Stephen King, along with so many incredible authors that I was stunned into silence. I had no idea of what the cover would look like prior to the moment.
And, following right on the heels of that moment, was the approach of the Splatterpunk Awards. My third straight year of being nominated but this time for two awards, I was now waiting to see if lightning would indeed strike once more, having won both years prior.
Enter the tears.
On Monday, I had this massive moment of realization of all that I had done.
The authors I have worked with and mentored, the icons and legends that I’ve met, the work that I have put out into this world, not only my own stories, but those that I have edited, have formatted, have helped bring to life in one way or another. The honor that I feel every time I am asked to blurb an author, or mentor one.
It all finally hit me. And for once, I stopped moving; I absorbed it. I relished it. I allowed myself to feel something that I had rarely felt before: absolute total pride in myself.
I’m almost done, I promise.
To the founders of the Splatterpunk awards, Brian Keene and Wrath James White. Thank you for this event, for this recognition, for the incredible icons that you both are and for the legacies that you have created.
To the very first group that put their trust in me, that brought me to my first award, the Baker’s Dozen crew. Thank you for your trust in me. For sharing your words with me. For welcoming me.
To this new group, all the authors of Dark Disasters, I would not be here without you all. This award is ours, as a group. Be proud. I am grateful to you all and deeply honored that your words brought me here once more.
To all my fellow nominees, thank you for your stories. For being my colleagues, my peers, and my friends. I congratulate you all. There are no losers here tonight. You are all wonderfully talented authors that I am honored to be in the industry with.
I’ll end with this. It is because of every single one of you that I cried on Monday. It is because of the welcome, of the friendship, of the encouragement, and of the home I was given in the industry that I love so much that I finally learned what it felt like to be seen, and to be proud.
Thank you.
The Novella speech was exactly the same, except I removed the paragraph about the Dark Disasters anthology. Below is what Rebecca would have read in the event that I had won a second award, rather than her reading the same speech over again with the minor adjustment.
IF Both Awards Are Won.
Well, shit. Have I worn out the lightning strike thing? Let’s just go with thank you to everyone involved, to everyone that nominated me, to everyone that has read my work, or supported me in any way. A big thank you, again, to Rebecca Rowland, for accepting these awards on my behalf. I’m truly honored, and probably ugly crying on Facetime right now with someone in the audience, secretly watching all this. LOL. Have a great night out there and remember, be kind and drink your water.
Fun Note:
With regards to the lightning strike line, I used this same line to open my acceptance speech last year, when I won the Best Anthology award as the editor for Camp Slasher Lake, vol. 1. I suppose I will have to find a new line for next year, but hey, if it ain't broke, why fix it?!
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