I am over the moon! My story, “The Yellow Crown,” from Under Twin Suns: Alternate Histories of the Yellow Sign, is on the Preliminary List–as is the anthology itself! Edited by James Chambers and published by Hippocampus Press.

It’s important to note that this does NOT mean it is nominated for the Bram Stoker Award. This is just the short list that people have recommended. There is a first ballot going out to HWA Active and Lifetime members this month, and the actual nominations and final ballot will likely come on February 23ish. But I am indeed delighted that many people liked my story well enough to recommend it, and am honored to be in such good company:

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction

Gwilym, Douglas – “Year Six” (LampLight Magazine, Volume 10, Issue 1) (Apokrupha)

Gyzander, Carol – “The Yellow Crown” (Under Twin Suns: Alternate Histories of the Yellow Sign) (Hippocampus Press)

Joseph, R.J. – “I Just Want to Be Free” (Paranormal Contact: A Quiet Horror Confessional) (Cemetery Gates Media)

Joseph, R.J. – “Soulmates” (Dark Dispatch Issue #2: Deadly Love) (Dark Dispatch)

Murray, Lee – “Permanent Damage” (Attack From the ‘80s) (Raw Dog Screaming Press)

O’Quinn, Cindy – “A Gathering at the Mountain” (The Bad Book) (Bleeding Edge Books)

Oreto, Frank J. – “The Care and Feeding of Household Gods” (Beyond the Veil) (Flame Tree Press)

Taborska, Anna -“Two Shakes Of A Dead Lamb’s Tail”(Terror Tales of the Scottish Lowlands) (Telos Publishing)

Ward, Kyla Lee – “A Whisper in the Death Pit” (Weirdbook #44) (Wildside Press)

Yates, Pauline – “The Best Medicine” (Midnight Echo Issue 16) (AHWA)

Many thanks to editor James Chambers for inviting me into the anthology, and congratulations to him for the awesome book appearing on the Preliminary List for anthologies! There are so many wonderful stories in here. It’s in some tremendous company as well:

Superior Achievement in an Anthology

Chambers, James – Under Twin Suns: Alternate Histories of the Yellow Sign (Hippocampus Press)

Cluff, Michael and Becker, Willow – Humans are the Problem: A Monster’s Anthology (Weird Little Worlds)

Datlow, Ellen – When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson (Titan Books) 

French, Aaron J. and Landry, Jess – There is No Death, There are No Dead (Crystal Lake Publishing)

Guignard, Eric J. – Professor Charlatan Bardot’s Travel Anthology to the Most (Fictional) Haunted Buildings in the Weird, Wild World (Dark Moon Books)

HOWL Society – Howls From Hell (HOWL Society Press)

Johnson, Eugene – Attack From the ‘80s (Raw Dog Screaming Press)

Schlossberg, Josh – The Jewish Book of Horror (Denver Horror Collective) 

Showers, Brian J. – Uncertainties: Volume V (Swan River Press)

Thomas, Ben – Tales from Omnipark (House Blackwood)

And a huge thanks to our publisher, Derrick Hussey of Hippocampus Press!

Congratulations as well to Ellen Datlow, also from HWA NY Chapter, for her anthology on the list. Seriously, it’s a huge honor just to be on here with her. And, great job to all my friends and other writers on these lists!

I’ve got a lot of reading to do!