So as you have probably figured out by now, I didn’t win the Stoker. The award went to the very deserving Hailey Piper for her novel Queen of Teeth. 

Of course, I’d have liked to win, but I’m still over-the-moon tickled to be a Stoker finalist. Tidepool is a very personal, meaningful book to me far beyond it being my debut novel, and it means the world that HWA members thought it was worthy of that recognition. 

If you’ve ever wondered if being nominated for a major genre award makes the impostor syndrome go away, though, I’m afraid the answer is an emphatic No. There’s always that evil little voice murmuring “How’d you get in there?” and “You know you didn’t really deserve that, right?” Always.

So it was very nice to get on Twitter on Thursday morning and find out that Tidepool has been nominated for the 2021 Ladies of Horror Fiction Award for Best Debut Novel. Two award nominations? I’m blushing. 

I’m especially grateful that this recognition comes from Ladies of Horror Fiction. As the name suggests, they do a lot to promote women horror writers, as horror has often been a man’s game in the past. It’s truly an honor that they’ve chosen Tidepool as one of their Best Debut nominees. 

The full list of nominees is here. These are all great writers, and it’s a thrill to see my work among them. Again, I don’t write just for recognition. But it’s still awesome when Tidepool gets some.