Here’s something funny.  I found out not so long ago, courtesy of a Mr Hirohide Hirai, that a short story of mine, “Carry The Moon In My Pocket”, had just won an award in Japan: the 2011 Seiun Award for Best Translated Short Story (scroll down a bit).  Hurrah, fab, groovy, and all that.  A nice surprise.  But a surprise in another way, because I wasn’t aware that the story had been translated into Japanese or even appeared in Japan.

Turns out the tale, originally published in Peter Crowther’s Moon Shots all the way back in 1999, was included in an anthology called The Astronaut From Wyoming And Other Stories, edited by Toro Nakamura.  I got in touch with the publisher, Hayakawa Publishing Inc., to enquire whether or not they had actually bought the rights to translate the story.  I suggested politely that there had perhaps been some sort of administrative error or oversight.  It seems there had.  A very nice editor called Akira Yamaguchi explained that there’d been “some miscommunication between Hayakawa’s staff”.  A contract is on its way, as well as payment, so all’s well that ends well.

The Seiun is Japan’s equivalent of the Hugo, so the award is a huge honour.  I’ve sent an acceptance message, via Mr Hirai, to be read out at the awards ceremony, as I can’t afford to fly over to Tokyo and pick it up myself.

I’m rather fond of “Carry The Moon…” (which can be found, in its original English, in my collection Diversifications).  It’s got some personal resonance for me, even though I’m not old enough to remember the moon landings with any clarity, and it’s a nice, gentle little tale.

On a completely unrelated front, the ebook version of Gig is now ready to go and will be on sale in September, courtesy of Anarchy Books and the indefatigable (and much scarier-looking than you) Andy Remic.  As you may or may not know, I’ve composed and recorded some music to enhance the reading experience, in the form of four songs and four instrumental pieces, all of it relating to the action in the book.  The eight tracks are a free download, and a sampler may be found here, alongside a preview image of the ebook’s cover.

Handsome hardcopies of Gig are, of course, still available.