Pop along to Helen’s blog to find out more about Cat, and read a teasing snippet from her first published short story “The Wrong Camera”, set in the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences world created by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris.

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Have you been holding your breath? We hope so, because finally we can reveal the winning entries in the Twitter Love 2013 Microfiction Contest!

This year was even more exciting than last time around. After the last few days of the contest ticked over with four entries locked up in a battle for third place, a tie-breaking vote finally rolled in to break the deadlock. As the dust settled, it became clear that there is a new champion in the world of micro-fiction, and that both first and second place, by a long way, had been snapped up by Immi Paterson, while Freya Roberston had beaten out three other contenders for the honour of taking third place.

Our winners have accepted their prize credit and chosen their spoils. Immi will be eagerly looking forward to copies of Pip Ballantine’s Hunter & Fox, Ripley Patton’s Ghost Hand, and The Bridge, by Jane Higgins, while Freya will soon be receiving her signed edition of Heir of Night by Christchurch fantasy author and Morningstar Award winner Helen Lowe.

Before we reveal the winning entries, Pip Ballantine would like to share some words of thanks and congratulations with the winners:

Pip says: Thanks for choosing my book, Immi. I hope you enjoy Hunter and Fox. It’s a story that was very much influenced by my life in New Zealand, so it’s fitting that it ends up as a prize there!

Now, onto the winners!

Third Place: Freya Robertson

“A good kiss is supernova bright, sunspot hot, rare as Halley’s comet, long as a Jupiter year and sweet as stardust on a warm summer night.”

Second Place: Immi Paterson

“I’m at his birth, and he’s at mine, though we’re centuries apart. I stand beside his mother as she pushes him into time. I love him always.”

First Place: Immi Paterson

(Drum Roll)

(That does’t count towards the 140 characters, mind you)

“I followed ‘Interspecies Speed Dating Tip #7′ and subtly asked my date if she had the normal set of 4 rectums. She choked on her kumara.”

So congratulations to all our winners, and a huge thanks to everyone who submitted and voted, and encouraged their friends to vote. This has been our most successful Twitter contest yet, and we look forward to running more in the future. Look out around November for the second annual Scared Twitless: Twitter Horror Microfiction Contest!

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This week on Helen Lowes blog series ‘Here’s SpecFicNZ-Christchurch’, member and author Amanda Fitzwater gives insight into what she writes, what inspires her writing, and how to eat water with a knife and fork.  Visit Helen’s blog – ‘Helen Lowe…On anything, really’ - for full instructions!

We’d also like to congratulate Amanda for her most recent publication – her story ‘Me Myself I’ is published in Daughters of Icarus. Woot!

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Helen Lowes blog series ‘Here’s SpecFicNZ-Christchurch’ continues this week, with SpecFicNZ member and author Kevin Berry introducing himself. You may know Kevin better as one half of K. D. Berry, and if that confuses you…pop along to Helen’s blog – ‘Helen Lowe…On anything, really’ - for an explanation!

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The book is due to be launched at Au Contraire in Wellington in July of this year, so mark your calendars and make it along to the convention if you possibly can.

Many of the contributors to this anthology are also SpecFicNZ members. You’ll see stories here from members Matt Cowens, Tim Jones, Mary Brock Jones, Grace Bridges, I.K. Paterson-Harkness, Debbie Cowens, J.C. Hart, Simon Petrie, Anna Smith, Elizabeth Gatens, Jonathan James Todd, A.J. Fitzwater, Fran Atkinson, Anna Caro, Grant Stone, Dan Rabarts, Lee Murray and Tony Wi.

So here’s a big round of applause to all the contributors, and to Random Static for making this book a reality. We look forward to welcoming it into the world very soon.

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Head over to the SFFANZ site to take a look at the full ballot of finalists.

And how, you might ask, can I vote for these fine works? Voting is open to all members of SFFANZ and anyone attending this year’s national SFF convention, Au Contraire, being held in Wellington in July. If you can’t make the convention, supporting memberships are available. Check out the Au Contraire website for more details, or the SFFANZ site for details on joining.

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Helen Lowe, award winning author, SpecFicNZ member, and truly generous supporter and promoter of all things spec-fic and NZ, recently invited the Christchurch area members to introduce themselves to the readers of her blog. And who could resist, when her blog receives a whopping 1000-1200 distinct visitors per week? Visitors on average come from:

NZ: 40%

US: 30%

UK: 15%

Aus: 10%

Other: 5%

Her series of ‘Here’s SpecFicNZ-Christchurch: Featuring…’ will run weekly, starting today with Elizabeth Gatens.

Pop on over to Helen’s blog ‘Helen Lowe…on anything, really’ and say ‘hi’.

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What’s involved?

We’re glad you asked that. Just head to your SpecFicNZ member’s profile, take a look at it, and think about the ways in which it could be gussied up. Maybe your bio needs to be embiggened. Maybe what you’ve got there at the moment doesn’t truly capture your vivacious, zany, off-the-wall persona. Maybe your Profile Pic is too KeyboardCatlike, too low-res, too lacking in bling. Maybe you don’t even have a Profile Pic, and if so, shame on you, because everybody needs a Profile Pic. Maybe you haven’t included links to your blog, to your website, to the places where people can buy your wonderful fiction. So assess the situation, and Put It To Rights. Anytime from … oh, about Now, until the end of April.

What do I get?

We’re glad you asked that. A rosy glow, from the satisfaction of a Job Well Done. The approval of your peers (or commoners, as the case may be). And … prizes. The prizes are:

First Prize: Aquasynthesis, ed. Grace Bridges (Splashdown Books); Silverhawk, Beaulah Pragg (CreateSpace); Seizure Magazine (issue 2, SF)

Second Prize: Aquasynthesis, ed. Grace Bridges (Splashdown Books); Seizure Magazine (issue 2, SF)

First Prize: Seizure Magazine (issue 2, SF)

All prizes are actual physical things, lovingly handcrafted from dead vegetative matter and garnished with genuine dried ink.

How is it judged?

We’re glad you asked that. Our Reptilian Overlords will ruthlessly—sorry, that’s another contest entirely. Forget we said that. There’ll be online voting, open to all SpecFicNZ members. (Committee members can vote, but are ineligible for prizes.) The winners will be spared—sorry, wires crossed again—rewarded the appropriate prizes. And then loaded onto the mothership for–

Are there prizes?

We’re sorry you asked that. It shows you haven’t been paying enough attention. Our Reptilian Overlords will not be pleased.

Is there anything else I need to know?

Yes. No. Maybe. What are you asking us for?

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The entries are all in and now the voting can begin!

Head over to the voting site and read through our fantastic entries in this year’s Twitter Love microfiction contest. You can vote for one entry only, so make sure you fall in love with it.

Remember, our entrants are now in the running to win credit from SpecFicNZ which they can use to purchase works of their choosing from SpecFicNZ members. Show your support by spreading the love around, and fire this link off to everyone you know!

Thanks for taking part, and best of luck going out to all those who have sent us entries.

Update: Voting closes midnight, April 24th, unless there is a tie, in which case we may extend the deadline.

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