Last week was a banner week for my good friend Sandra Kasturi and ChiZine Publications.  Both the Aurora and Sunburst Awards were announced and the tally for CZP and friends was impressive.

Sunburst Awards 2018

Best Novel:  The Bone Mother by David Demchuk (published by CZP)

Best Short Story:  “The Beautiful Gears of Dying” by Sandra Kasturi, from the anthology The Sum Of Us

Copper Cylinder Award, YA novel:  A tie between The Scion of the Fox by S.M. Beiko (a long-time CZP compatriot, editor, and designer) and Weave A Circle by Kari Maaren, whose songs have often made ChiSeries attendees laugh until we cry.

I was thrilled for everyone but the award for Sandra was special.  Without her encouragement and badgering, I would never have joined the Bellefire Club and finished Cold Hillside.  She has been so generous with her time and energy as a publisher and editor that her own writing comes more slowly than we’d all like.  When she sent “The Beautiful Gears of Dying” to the Club, we all knew it was something important.  She brings her poetic gifts and sensitivity to a story that is profoundly revealing about what it means to be human.

The Sunburst Awards were presented to Sandra, David, and Kari at the ChiSeries reading night but the celebrations went on much longer.  It was the best possible excuse for cake and champagne we could ever have wanted.

If you’d like to read this beautiful, heartbreaking story, you can find it here.  Or get the entire anthology, which is well worth your time.