Nothing Without Us Too is a Prix Aurora Award Nominee!

On 12 May 2023 By Cait (like Kat) GordonIn anthology, Awards, SFF Fiction, Spoonie challenges, This blog's posts4 Comments

I’m telling you, it was so hard to keep this information to myself. Both Talia and I felt our brains were going to explode. We were completely stunned to discover that the second anthology we co-edited, Nothing Without Us Too, received a nomination for the 2023 Prix Aurora Award in the Best Related Work category. We had previously received a nomination in the same category for the first anthology, Nothing Without Us, but we did not expect lightning to strike twice!

It was a heck of a mental health journey, curating an anthology of disability fiction during a global pandemic where eugenics messaging was almost daily. We knew how much weight many disabled creatives carried and how hard it was for a lot of us to create at all. So, this anthology feels like a collection of collective resilience. We were so saddened that Melissa Mead died before we could send out our acceptance but are really grateful to her family for letting us include her story, “Pest.” We also dedicated the book to her as well.

So, many emotions emoted during the production of Nothing Without Us Too. And even though awards aren’t everything, and there were so many stellar books that didn’t get nominated, we have to admit that receiving peer recognition of this kind does feel good. Thanks a ton to all who cast their nominations for this work. We do appreciate it!

Now this anthology can join their older sibling, which was a 2020 Prix Aurora Award finalist. I have no idea if Nothing Without Us Too will win in our category, but Talia and I agree that the big win was getting the anthology out there despite so many obstacles set against us. Anything else is bonus!

Voting for the actual Prix Aurora Awards will take place in June. I will keep you posted if you’d like to vote for our work and other amazing works! You just have to be a member of the Canadian Science Fiction and fantasy Association (CSFFA). Canadian citizens and Permanent Residents can apply to be members. It’s only $10 a year! And you can get a voters package with a bunch of free books and stories! Learn more at https://csffa.ca.

A greyscale close-up of me, standing in front of a blank background. I am a white woman with short silver hair cropped closely on the sides. I am wearing dark metallic rimmed glasses with rhinestones on the side. I’m wearing silver hook earrings with flat beads and a plaid shirt.

Cait Gordon is an autistic, disabled, and queer Canadian writer of speculative fiction that celebrates diversity. She is the author of Life in the ’Cosm, The Stealth Lovers, and the forthcoming Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space (2023). Cait also founded the Spoonie Authors Network and joined Talia C. Johnson to co-edit the award-nominated, multi-genre, disability fiction anthologies Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too.

Voting is open to nominate works in the Prix Aurora Awards—and I have two works eligible this year!

On 10 Mar 202330 Apr 2023 By Cait (like Kat) GordonIn Awards, SFF Fiction, This blog's posts, WritingLeave a comment

The Prix Aurora Awards are given to works and orgs under the speculative fiction umbrella by the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA). They have a three-step process for issuing the award:

Listing works or organizations that are eligible to be nominated.
Nominating the works or organizations to appear on the final ballot.
Voting from the ballot, that is, the lists of finalists in each category. This vote determines the winner of the award.

As of this post, we’re in Step 2. So, for example, my poem, Adrift, appears in the Best Poem category, and the multi-genre disability fiction anthology, Nothing Without Us Too (edited by myself and Talia C. Johnson), appears in Best Related Work. They’re not officially nominated yet, but eligible to be nominated.

If you would like to vote for my works to be nominated as finalists (to appear on the official ballot), and you’re a Canadian citizen or Permanent Resident, you can join the CSFFA for only 10$ a year! And what’s really cool is that when the finalists are named, you get a voter’s package of the written works to help you make your final decision about who wins the Auroras. So, free reads! Sometimes the reads are an excerpt, but I have bought books from loving those excerpts too!

And there is no pressure about voting for my stuff. You can vote for whomever you wish! There are a lot of great stories, poems, books, and more!

To learn more about the Prix Aurora Awards and how to join the CSFFA, please visit the CSFFA website. You can choose who should be nominated for the final ballot from now until April 22 at 11:59 EST.

Thanks so much for considering my works!

Cait Gordon is an autistic, disabled, and queer Canadian writer of speculative fiction that celebrates diversity. She is the author of Life in the ’Cosm, The Stealth Lovers, and the forthcoming Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space (2023). Cait also founded the Spoonie Authors Network and joined Talia C. Johnson to co-edit the multi-genre disability fiction anthologies Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too.

Featured photo is the aurora sky banner on the CSFFA website.

A whole bunch of wooden Scrabble letters

Awards Eligibility 2022

On 13 Dec 202230 Apr 2023 By Cait (like Kat) GordonIn anthology, Awards, disability advocacy, poetry, publishing, short stories, This blog's posts, Writing2 Comments

So, this has been a full year for me, even though my name is only on one book. Since that book happens to be an anthology where I am co-editor, I will already take that as a win! It’s not the quantity, but the quality, as they say. And in the case of this collection, we have both!

Books

Book cover: a watercolour of a brick wall in teal, brown, and beige bricks. Black graffiti says “Nothing without US.” And dark orange-red graffiti says “TOO.” Editors and author names are also on the cover.

Nothing Without Us Too is the second book of Talia C. Johnson’s and my disability fiction series where the authors and their protagonists are disabled, d/Deaf, Blind or visually impaired, neurodivergent, Spoonie, and/or they manage mental illness.

This multi-genre collection has fantasy, space opera, romance, paranormal, and a vampire story that takes a bite out of expected tropes. It also has realistic/literary fiction. But whether LitFic or SpecFic, the characters are relatable and their journeys are unforgettable.

Produced during a pandemic where in real life we disabled and higher-risk creatives were pummelled nearly daily with eugenics-based messaging about how only we were at risk for serious illness, the title of this work feels a declaration for society to remember us in publishing and in this world. Nothing without us, too, folks!

Available at Chapters-Indigo and these online booksellers.

Released: September 2022

Poetry

I versed this year!

Adrift, by Cait Gordon (Polar Borealis Issue 21, May 2022)

This short space opera poem is a metaphor for what neurotypical publishing circles can feel like when one is a neurodivergent person. I drew upon an experience of being at a crossroads several years ago, then realizing the path I had to take. It can often seem like being adrift for a while, until one finds one’s footing. Or the course one must plot!

Here is where you can read the poem. The magazine is a PDF.

That’s it! Here’s anticipating what next year will bring!

Have a happy and safe holiday season.

Cheers!

Cait Gordon is an autistic, disabled, and queer Canadian writer of speculative fiction that celebrates diversity. She is the author of Life in the ’Cosm, The Stealth Lovers, and the forthcoming Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space (2023). Cait also founded the Spoonie Authors Network and joined Talia C. Johnson to co-edit the multi-genre disability fiction anthologies Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too.

Featured image by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Snapshot from the ceremony. Aurora sky background with Talia's and my headshots. Text: Nominated for Prix Aurora Award, best Related Work Category, Nothing Without Us, Cait Gordon and Talia C. Johnson

Reflection on my first award ceremony: There are no losers

On 16 Aug 202016 Aug 2020 By Cait (like Kat) GordonIn Awards, Cons, Events, This blog's posts4 Comments

My little neurodiverse brain likes pondering about my experiences. Yesterday was my birthday, and later that evening, I attended the 2020 Prix Aurora Award ceremony, done virtually via the When Words Collide conference with charming emcee Mark Leslie Lefebvre.

Now, the only good thing about 2020 for me has been these virtual events. I’ve been able to participate from the comfort of my own home, regardless of how my disabled self is doing. I can’t tell you how I wish this continues going forward. And yesterday, I was in 20/10 pain from a shoulder injury, but I still tuned in.

And it was fun. I always like joining people in the live chat, too.

When it came to the category in which Nothing Without Us was a nominee, I felt my heart race like I was running from the Law. (Joke’s on the Law—I can’t run.) And when we didn’t win, I went, “Awww…” Then I clapped for the winner.

Immediately I received messages of support about our anthology from my friends and peers, but my brain went, “No. I don’t need consoling. This is not what it’s about.”

What I wanted to do right away was send a message to our authors. So I ran one by Talia, and then posted this on Facebook:

Talia and I want to send an encouraging message tonight. Even though NWU didn’t win the Prix Aurora Award, it didn’t lose anything. The very fact that this anthology exists means we won a huge battle.

We want to thank everyone who voted for us. It’s so vital that disabled, Deaf, neurodiverse, and mentally ill people write their own heroes, their own protagonists in genre fiction. There’s a real hunger out there for stories told in our voices.

Many thanks to Nathan Fréchette of Renaissance press for accepting my accidental pitch when I was thinking out loud, and for recommending Kohenet Talia C. Johnson to be co-editor. (Pinky and The Brain forever!) Special thanks to the sensitivity editors and the copy editors for making this anthology shine. And a billionty thanks to our 22 amazing authors. This book would LITERALLY be nothing without any of you.

Lastly, we would like to thank all of our supporters of this project: Those who backed the project, our wonderful readers, and also to Derek Newman-Stille, who taught this anthology as part of a disability curriculum at Trent University.

YOUR STORIES WERE TAUGHT IN UNIVERSITY, FOLKS!!!

You see, when I had the idea of gathering stories from Spoonie authors, it was never with the intention of winning an award. And when Renaissance approved the idea and Talia was working with me, we never had that goal either. Nothing Without Us was always about authors from our community crafting their own protagonists. Most disabled characters are pathetically written by abled authors with all the tropes. This was a chance to get own-voices main characters so we would be the heroes, not the sidekicks.

While Talia and I were thrilled for the Prix Aurora Award nomination, and it’s nice to be recognized by Canadian publishing peers, we’d already felt we won when Nothing Without Us was taught in Trent University by Derek Newman-Stille in a disability studies class. We co-editors were invited as guest lecturers, and I think that will always be a highlight of my career and a milestone as a disability advocate.

Sure, when my silver Prix Aurora Award pin arrives the post, I shall wear it proudly and think of this project where I believe almost everyone involved behind the scenes was disabled or neurodiverse. This wasn’t Talia and myself against an abled publishing staff. We were all well-acquainted with own-voices experiences.

I sincerely mean it when I say there are no losers, only winners and finalists. An award doesn’t improve the content of your work. Those who didn’t win still have much to be proud of.

There might be circles that think only of winners and losers, but that’s not how I roll.

Because at the end of the day, it’s the readers who should matter to us authors/anthology editors the most. If we marginalized writers make even one reader cry, “IT ME!” or have a non-marginalized reader say, “Whoa, I never realized…” then those reactions are worth more than any award on this planet.

So, my heartfelt congratulations to all the 2020 winners and finalists. Hope you are all having a nice wind-down Sunday. Might I recommend that calories don’t count on this day? 😉

And now… onward and forward with the alphabet arranging! I have WIPs that need my attention.

Cait Gordon is a disability advocate who wants everyone to be wise and prevent the spread of COVID-19!

She’s also the author of Life in the ’Cosm and The Stealth Lovers. When Cait’s not writing, she’s editing manuscripts and running The Spoonie Authors Network, a blog whose contributors manage disabilities and/or chronic conditions. She also teamed up with Kohenet Talia C. Johnson to co-edit the Nothing Without Us anthology (a 2020 Prix Aurora Award finalist) in an attempt to take over the world.

I’ll be at the Prix Aurora Awards and on a humour panel at When Words Collide this weekend!

On 14 Aug 202016 Aug 2020 By Cait (like Kat) GordonIn Awards, Events, This blog's posts, Writing2 Comments

Hey, folks!

So, some cool things happening for my birthday weekend.

Saturday August 15, starting at 7pm (EDT): The 2020 Prix Aurora Awards

My BFF and co-editor Talia C. Johnson and I will be virtually attending this award ceremony as first-time nominees. Our anthology, Nothing Without Us is up for Best Related Work. You can watch the awards live on YouTube at:

Sunday August 16, 4pm (EDT), Injecting Humour into Speculative Fiction

Ira Nayman from Amazing Stories magazine will moderate this panel, featuring guest authors Jen Frankel, Timothy Carter, Hugh Spencer, Zachry Wheeler, and lil’ ol’ me.

From WWC's panel description: You got your humour in my science fiction! No, you got your science fiction in my humour! For this panel, people who write humorous speculative fiction will explain how the magic is performed. The good news: understanding how humour works will not spoil your enjoyment of it. The better news: you don’t have to understand the ancient cultural reference at the beginning of this description to enjoy, and even learn something, at this panel!

Watch it live at:

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/9333687872?pwd=Y0t3czFaZ0l0TE1aMmp0czRHSC8yZz09

Should be a fun time! Hope you can join us!

Cait Gordon is a disability advocate who wants everyone to be wise and prevent the spread of COVID-19!

She’s also the author of Life in the ’Cosm and The Stealth Lovers. When Cait’s not writing, she’s editing manuscripts and running The Spoonie Authors Network, a blog whose contributors manage disabilities and/or chronic conditions. She also teamed up with Kohenet Talia C. Johnson to co-edit the Nothing Without Us anthology (now a 2020 Prix Aurora Award nominee) in an attempt to take over the world.

Voting for the 2020 Prix Aurora Awards is now open!

On 25 Jun 202016 Aug 2020 By Cait (like Kat) GordonIn Awards, This blog's posts, WritingLeave a comment

I’m really excited about this year’s ballot because I know many of the nominees. That makes it fun for me because there’s an added level of excitement and anticipation.

Also, for the first time ever, I have a work on the ballot! Nothing Without Us is a nominee in the Best Related Work category. Kohenet Talia C. Johnson and I are the editors of this multi-genre collection where the authors and their protagonists identify as disabled, Deaf, neurodiverse, Spoonie, and/or they manage mental illness.

You can learn more about this anthology, read reviews, and check out author interviews at the Nothing Without Us website!

If you’re a member of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA), you can cast your vote for your favourites to win Prix Aurora Awards in their categories until July 25, 2020, 11:59 pm EDT! To cast your votes and/or find out how to become a member of the CSFFA (only $10 to join), please visit prixaurorawards .ca.

I enthusiastically thank everyone who has supported this anthology—readers, listeners, reviewers, and those who nominated us for this award. You’re sending us a clear message that our voices are also welcome in speculative fiction.

It’s been a wonderful ride for Talia and me.

Good luck and best wishes to all the nominees!

Cait Gordon is a disability advocate who wants everyone to be wise and prevent the spread of COVID-19!

She’s also the author of Life in the ’Cosm and The Stealth Lovers. When Cait’s not writing, she’s editing manuscripts and running The Spoonie Authors Network, a blog whose contributors manage disabilities and/or chronic conditions. She also teamed up with Kohenet Talia C. Johnson to co-edit the Nothing Without Us anthology (now a 2020 Prix Aurora Award nominee) in an attempt to take over the world.

Nothing Without Us is a Prix Aurora Award Nominee! [UPDATED]

On 8 May 202025 Jun 2020 By Cait (like Kat) GordonIn Awards, This blog's posts, Writing5 Comments

IMPORTANT NEWS! The voters’ reading package is now available for Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA) members! If you become a member now (membership is $10 per year), you can download the works of the nominees! Voting will take place between June 20 and July 25, 2020 (11:59:59 EDT). Don’t forget to vote for your favourite works and creatives. And if you’d like to vote for Nothing Without Us, we’re in the Best Related Work category! Go to the CSFFA website to learn how to become a member! (You must be a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident.)

My co-editor (and BFF) Kohenet Talia C. Johnson and myself were just gobsmacked, then boingy, to discover Nothing Without Us had been nominated for a Prix Aurora Award in the Best Related Work category. We are so grateful to our amazing authors and all the supporters of this anthology. It means so much to know that our peers recognize how important it is for creatives who are disabled, Deaf, neurodiverse, Spoonie, and/or who manage mental illness to write protagonists who reflect their identities. So often disabled characters—written by non-disabled authors—are set off to the side (if mentioned at all) and are crafted using harmful tropes. That’s why it’s very encouraging to know this work is supported by the speculative fiction writing community.

So, thanks times a billionty to all those who nominated the anthology! You are all on my list of wonderful humans!

Congratulations to all! The ballot looks stupendous this year!

Okay, I still need to go bounce up and down for a bit. Stay safe and keep well!

Cait Gordon is a disability advocate who wants everyone to pummel that curve!

She’s also the author of Life in the ’Cosm and The Stealth Lovers. When Cait’s not writing, she’s editing manuscripts and running The Spoonie Authors Network, a blog whose contributors manage disabilities and/or chronic conditions. She also teamed up with Kohenet Talia C. Johnson to co-edit the Nothing Without Us anthology (now a 2020 Prix Aurora Award nominee) in an attempt to take over the world.

Nothing Without Us and The Stealth Lovers can be nominated for the 2020 Prix Aurora Awards!

On 2 Mar 202019 Apr 2020 By Cait (like Kat) GordonIn Awards, This blog's postsLeave a comment

It’s that time of year again, when members of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA) can nominate eligible works to be on the voting ballot for the Prix Aurora Awards. The Prix Aurora Awards are a big deal for Canadian speculative fiction creatives. Getting on the ballot means the work becomes a Prix Aurora Award finalist, and that alone is pretty darned cool.

So, from March 1 until April 18, 2020, you can nominate your favourites in each category!

My two works are:

The Stealth Lovers (a queer romance military space opera), listed in the Best Novel category.
Nothing Without Us, edited by Talia C. Johnson and me (an own-voices, multi-genre anthology where the authors and their protagonists identify as disabled, Deaf, neurodiverse, and/or they manage mental illness), listed in the Best Related Work category.

ID, book cover: Two Draga warriors in space flight suits about to engage in a kiss while standing on a snowy mountain top. Overhead flies a space fighter.

ID, book cover: Graffiti wall with “Nothing Without Us” spray painted in black. The list of editors and authors is included in the text of this page.

Note: In the Best Related Work category, there is another book with a similar title to our anthology, so if you wish to nominate Nothing Without Us, please make sure it’s the one edited by Cait Gordon and Talia C. Johnson.

To all the creatives eligible for nominations (and I see quite a few from authors I know), best of luck! Honestly, we’re all winners because we did a thing with words!

If you are a Canadian citizen or resident and would like to become a member of the CSFFA, if I’m not mistaken, you can join anytime. And it’s only 10$ a year! Here’s more information about this from the CSFFA website.

And if you’re curious about reading The Stealth Lovers and Nothing Without Us, please visit my All Published Books page!

Cait Gordon, in a black and white digital sketch

Cait Gordon is a disability advocate and the author of Life in the ’Cosm and The Stealth Lovers. When she’s not writing, Cait’s editing manuscripts and running The Spoonie Authors Network, a blog whose contributors manage disabilities and/or chronic conditions. She also teamed up with Kohenet Talia C. Johnson to co-edit the Nothing Without Us anthology in an attempt to take over the world. Narf.