Tis not only the time of year for lists, but also for thanking my 2015 contributors, who by definition are awesome. 🙂

However, to fully acknowledge their awesome (as is only right and proper) here is the 2015 Contributors’ Roll of Honour.

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Rebecca Fisher and Big Worlds On Small Screens

Rebecca took a short vacation from Big Worlds On Small Screens this year (although I suspect it was more of  a study break) but otherwise she has been posting every fortnight for 2.5 years — no small achievement, I’m sure you’ll all agree. It is perhaps no surprise, therefore, that she won this year’s Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Fan Writing.

I can think of no better evidence for how well-deserved the award was than when you read her speech from the small celebration put on by SpecFicNZ and held at Fendalton library:

Rebecca Fisher: Best Fan Writer
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AJ Fitzwater, Our  “Best New Talent”

While on the topic of the (now previous!) year’s Sir Julius Vogel Awards, the award for Best New Talent also went to a Christchurch local, AJ (Amanda) Fitzwater, who very kindly contributed her speech from the SpecFicNZ celebration.

Do check out:

A. J. (Amanda) Fitzwater: Best New Talent (2014)

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Andrew Robins & 58 Eridani

I am always open to featuring something new, so when Andrew (who has done several book reviews here) suggested serializing the log (think Stardate: Captain’s Log, yanno) from his free-form roleplaying game, 58 Eridani, I said “why the heck not?”

58 Eridani was introduced on 12 December, with the first instalment on the 13th, and we managed to squeeze a further two episodes into 2015 — and I have to say I think it’s reading really well. So if you haven’t checked it out yet, click on:

Introducing “58 Eridani” — A Game Log.

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Janis Freegard & A Character Interview

 Janis Freegard is a former Tuesday Poet, but also a prose writer, and I very much enjoyed her short story, The Magician, which featured in the Tales For Canterbury (Random Static, 2011) anthology.

So when her debut novel, The Year Of Falling, was published in mid-2015, I was delighted to feature her interview with three of its characters: Selina, Smith, and Quilla.

As I said at the time, I thought it was a really fun way to approach the book, so if you haven’t read it already, read it now:

Janis Freegard & “The Year Of Falling”
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June Young: A Report On Sasquan, The 73rd World Science Fiction Convention

June Young and her partner, Simon Litten, headed to this year’s Worldcon in Spokane, Washington State. As soon as I knew they were going I put in a special request for a report back on June’s personal experience of the Con(vention).

The result is a first hand account of writers and editors, kaffeeklatsches and “literary beers”, signings and strolls — and a considerable amount of smoke (from wildfires.)

I think June’s article provides a great window into a fan’s experience of a Con. Well worth your time to read or re-read:

June Young and A Summer Convention in Spokane
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Four “Avid Readers” & Their Top Reads From 2015

December—like early January 😉 — is the time of year for lists. But since I hadn’t done so much reading myself in ’15 I thought I’d ask some avid readers of my acquaintance to share their top reads of 2015  — and  a little about “why” the books featured were their “top” picks.

In order of publication, the avid readers were:

Jennifer Lowe

Jennifer has an MA in History and works in the justice sector. She doesn’t get to read fiction nearly as much as she would like, but primarily reads historical and mystery-thriller fiction. Books that combine elements of both and are well-written and researched, tend to be favourites.

To discover her “Top 5” click on:

Jennifer Lowe’s Top 5 Reads
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Paul Weimer

Paul is a writer, gamer, blogger, podcaster and ubiquitous genre enthusiast. At venues ranging from Skiffy and Fanty, to SF Signal, SFF Audio and beyond, he can be found exploring the world of science fiction and fantasy. He can be found on his own website http://www.skyseastone.net/jvstin, on twitter @princejvstin, and many other places on the internet.

Check out his 2015 picks on:

Paul Weimer’s Top 5 Reads
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Karen McMillan

Karen is the author of Unbreakable Spirit and The Paris of the East — but despite this typically modest bio there is a great deal more to Karen’s writing and industry career, which you can read about in more detail here. She is also on Twitter: @KarenMcMillanNZ

Karen is also an avid reader and reviewer so her 2015 highlights are definitely worth a look:

Karen McMillan’s Top 5 Reads
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Janine Sowerby

Janine is a town planner who dabbles in writing and may one day be a writer who dabbles in town planning. She has had poetry and short stories (fiction and non-fiction) published, including in Kokako, Takahe, The Press and NZ Poetry Society and other anthologies, such as Crest to Crest and A Foreign Country. She has also co-written short screenplays as part of NZ’s annual 48 hour film-making competition.

Janine only had 3 books on her list—to find out what they are, click on:

Janine Sowerby’s Top 3 Reads

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So there you have it—a mighty array of contributors and contributed posts. I hope you’ve had fun re-meeting them today and I suspect many, if not all, will return to “…on Anything, Really” in 2016.

I’m looking forward to it. 🙂