Parsec Awards

While I was making other plans…

by Doc Coleman on July 26, 2013 · 4 comments

in Asides

A lot can change in a year, and yet, a year can speed by you so fast, leaving so much undone.

This time last year, I was looking back at what I had done since my last birthday, and making plans for how I was going to move forward over the next year. Looking at it now, it sure seems like a lot of the things I had planned out last year didn’t end up happening. At least, the way things developed certainly was not what I originally planned. Whether that will turn out to be for good or for ill, time will tell. Perhaps I’ll know next year. [click to continue…]

Tagged as: ACX, Balticon 46, Balticon 47, Crackle & Bang, Every Photo Tells..., MoPO, Nifty Tech Blog, Novels, Panels, Parsec Awards, Podcast, Short Stories, Steampunk, Swimming Cat Studios, The Bright Lands, The Cross of Columba, The Perils of Prauge, The Shrinking Man Project, The Way of the Gun, Voice Work, Welcome to Paradox, Writing

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2013 Parsec Finalists Announced!

by Doc Coleman on July 20, 2013 · 0 comments

in Parsec Awards, Pimpin' Your Friends

For podcasters, the Parsec Awards aren’t the only awards around, but they are one of the most prestigious. The Parsecs recognize excellence in speculative fiction podcasting, and include categories for best story in a several formats, best behind the scenes podcast, and best fan podcast. The actual categories vary somewhat each year. Nominations for the Parsec Awards begin each year on April 1st and conclude on Memorial Day, although this year the nominations were extended to June 1st. Eligible podcasts must have been released between May 1st the previous year and April 30th. Anyone can nominate a podcast. And each year, around the end of July, the finalists are announced. These are the top 5 podcasts in each category. The chosen few who will continue on in the competition, one of which will win the Parsec at the Parsec Awards Ceremony at Dragon*Con each year. And today, this year’s Finalists were just announced! [click to continue…]

Tagged as: Every Photo Tells..., MoPO, Parsec Awards, Pimp Your Friends, Podcast, The Cross of Columba

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Half done is well begun.

by Doc Coleman on July 3, 2013 · 0 comments

in Asides

Wow. Will you look at that. It’s July now. July. 2013 is half over. Halfway done. I’ve set some ambitious goals for the latter half of the year. Perhaps I should also take some time to take stock of what I’ve done so far. Let’s see how it breaks down… [click to continue…]

Tagged as: ACX, Balticon 46, Balticon 47, MoPO, Novels, Panels, Parsec Awards, Short Stories, Steampunk, Swimming Cat Studios, The Bright Lands, The Cross of Columba, The Perils of Prauge, The Way of the Gun, Voice Work, Writing

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RavenCon 2013

by Doc Coleman on April 10, 2013 · 2 comments

in Asides

Well, it has been a long and tiring week. A big part of the week was a trip to Richmond, Va for RavenCon. This was our first time going to RavenCon, so we weren’t quite sure what to expect. Considering my previous sci-fi convention experience was Balticon, I found RavenCon to be considerably smaller. This did have some advantages, and a few disadvantages.  [click to continue…]

Tagged as: Panels, Parsec Awards, RavenCon 2013, Steampunk

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Great is the enemy of Good.

by Doc Coleman on August 30, 2012 · 0 comments

in Asides, Short Stories

Things have been progressing slowly of late. If you’ve been listening to me on Galley Table of late, you’ll have noticed that I’ve been talking about the story that I’m doing for the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences for quite a long time. In fact, if I’d done the recording right after I’d finished the story, I could have gotten it out in time to qualify for this year’s Parsec Awards. Obviously, that didn’t happen.

[click to continue…]

Tagged as: MoPO, Parsec Awards, Short Stories, Steampunk, The Cross of Columba, Voice Work, WIP, Writing

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The Wayback Machine: The Shrinking Man Project: Episode 19 – The Medical Mystery Tour

by Doc Coleman on July 3, 2012 · 0 comments

in Parsec Awards, The Shrinking Man Project

Time once again for another trip through the Wayback Machine. Today we’re going back to April 26th, 2011, and an episode of The Shrinking Man Project. This episode was right after they discovered the blood clot in my right arm, and it is a tale of woe, stupidity, and medical neglect. And my bad attempts to sound like the Beatles. Sorry about that folks. There’s other good stuff in there to make it worth putting up with my singing. Really.

So, just sit back, relax, and enjoy this little trip into the past.

Show notes included below.

Tagged as: Master Feed, Parsec Awards, Podcast, The Shrinking Man Project, The Wayback Machine

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The Wayback Machine: Every Photo Tells…: Episode 51 – The Price of Surrender

by Doc Coleman on October 5, 2011 · 0 comments

in Every Photo Tells..., Parsec Awards

It is Wednesday, and time for another trip with the Wayback Machine. For a change, this time we are NOT going to be revisiting an episode of The Galley Table. This time we’re going to January 30th, 2011 when the Every Photo Tells… podcast released their performance of my short story The Price of Surrender. This story was nominated for a Parsec Award in the category of Best Speculative Fiction Story (Short Form), but unfortunately did not make it to the finals because of the amazingly fierce competition in that category.

The prompt for this story was a picture of a stream with clear water running over rounded stones. And a duck sitting on the end of a plank. So looking at this, it was obvious to me that magic was involved… [click to continue…]

Tagged as: Every Photo Tells..., Master Feed, Parsec Awards, Podcast, The Wayback Machine, Writing

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The Wayback Machine: Every Photo Tells…: Episode 32 – Welcome to Paradox

by Doc Coleman on September 15, 2011 · 0 comments

in Every Photo Tells..., Parsec Awards

My second submission to the Every Photo Tells… podcast went live on October 24th, 2010. This story was an interesting challenge. The prompt photo featured a shot of a spooky face graffiti-ed onto a wall, with a man lying on the sidewalk next to the wall and box sitting at his feet. The picture was oddly engaging, but left me confused as to how to proceed. The objects in the image were discordant with each other. They didn’t fit. And that became my hook. They didn’t fit. A man out of place. And that soon became a man out of time. I’ve always been fond of time travel stories, so I wrote one of my own. Welcome to Paradox, the story of a man convicted of a crime he had yet to commit, and how his sentence nearly destroyed the fabric of the universe. Sometimes, the only person you can depend on is yourself…

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Tagged as: Every Photo Tells..., Master Feed, Parsec Awards, Podcast, The Wayback Machine, Writing

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Another year over

by Doc Coleman on July 28, 2011 · 4 comments

in Asides, Balticon, Galley Table, Parsec Awards, The Shrinking Man Project, Voice Work

Some people fear birthdays. They hide them. They deny them.

Not me.

For me, a birthday is a victory celebration! Another year to stride upon this Earth, win battles, and fight off death for another day.  In the end to plunge my banner into the heart of another year and cry to the heavens that this year will not defeat me! I have taken on all that it had to dish out and I remain standing! Victorious!

But not everyone sees it like that.

[click to continue…]

Tagged as: Balticon 45, Books, DocColeman.com, Galley Table, Goodreads, Metamor City, Panels, Parsec Awards, Podcast, Steampunk, The Shrinking Man Project, Voice Work, Writing

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Parsec Dreaming!

by Doc Coleman on April 22, 2011 · 4 comments

in Asides, Every Photo Tells..., Parsec Awards, Short Stories

Giddy!  I am giddy! Want to know why? I’ll tell you why. This time last year, I was just a tech blogger with aspirations to be a podcaster.

This year, I’m a Parsec Award Nominated writer.

Let’s say that again. Now, I have my own podcast, I’m a regular on the Galley Table Podcast, I’m a contributing writer to Flying Island Press’ Flagship Magazine and the Every Photo Tells… podcast, and I am a Parsec Award Nominated writer!

Hee!

If you’ve not heard of the Parsec Awards, the Parsec is an award for excellence in Podcasting that is given out every year at Dragon*Con in Atlanta. The Parsecs are given out to shows that are deemed to embody the best of Speculative Fiction for each year. Speculative Fiction embodies Fantasy, Horror, and Sci-Fi elements in storytelling.

Mur Lafferty, Michael R. Mennenga & Tracy Hickman founded The Parsec Awards in 2006 to celebrate Speculative Fiction Podcasting, under the banner of Farpoint Media.

Podcast shows are nominated by fans, and finalists are chosen by a yearly steering committee. Those finalists are then voted on by an independent panel of judges from outside of podcasting. Awards are given in several categories ranging from content to audio quality.

So, the easiest part of the process is getting nominated. But it is still an honor because someone out there liked my work enough to nominate it. Or three someones. Because I didn’t just get nominated for one story. I got nominated for all three stories I did for the Every Photo Tells… podcast. If you’d like to check them out, those stories are Episode 24 – The Gift, Episode 32 – Welcome to Paradox, and Episode 51 – The Price of Surrender. Nominations end June 1st. At that point, we’ll have to wait and see if any of my stories move on to the Finalist stage.

If you’d like to see who else was nominated, you can check it out here.

Fingers crossed!

Doc

Tagged as: Every Photo Tells..., Flying Island Press, Parsec Awards, Podcast, Writing

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