… and the winner is … me …
And what was it like? It was great. Exhausting, but quite overwhelming.
Last week, I went to Leipzig Book Fair. I only tend to go to big fairs, when I have something to do there. Just strolling from booth to booth would be a little too tedious for me. But this year, I really could not complain. Four readings. A Meet & Greet with literary bloggers at the Heyne (Random House) stand. An interview with a nice blogger couple. And several visits to my agent, who this time had his own booth.
The big news, however, is: I won the SERAPH – Best Book 2014 !
Together with Oliver Plaschka , who was also was nominated, I sat in the audience and waited for the decision. I really did not believe I would win the award. Accordingly, I was pretty speechless when “Schwingen aus Stein” (Wings of Stone) was announced to be the winner. A book set in the Bavarian forest – that was a bit weird and unusual, but it may just have helped to make “Schwingen aus Stein” the winner.
I probably spouted a lot of nonsensical blather as I accepted the trophy handed over by Kai Meyer. I truly don’t remember what I said. At least I did not shed any tears, but I truly hope my ramblings will not make the rounds on YouTube.
Anyway, I was happy and overwhelmed and – ah – not speechless although I somehow wish I had been. The pretty statuette now lives on my shelf together with the Deutsche Phantastik Preis (German Speculative Fiction Award) which I got back in 2009 for ” Obsidianherz” (Obsidian Heart), flanked by a SAM and a Pegasus Award, which I got for filk songs I wrote.
The award for the best newcomer novel went to Catherine Hartwell “Das fremde Meer“ (The alien sea).
After the ceremony we went into the city. The special Seraph reading was to take place at the Stadtwerke Leipzig, who had sponsored the newcomer award. It took us a long time to get there after the show because there were traffic jams all around the fair. I was scared that we would never get there. But we somehow managed and the event was very enjoyable. I was rather tired – if you get up at 04:30 clock , travel and run around all day at the show, you are no longer fresh as a daisy – but sleep is for the weak and sickly.
There was a second SERAPH winners’ reading on Saturday morning at the fair. Here we had a really humungous amount of listeners, a fact we probably have to thank Kai Meyer for, who was on before us and sort of shared his numerous fans with us (they were waiting for the signing). Thank you, Kai!
The utter disinterest of the “traditional” press was not precisely a surprise. They either completely forgot about the event or decided not to grace it with their culturally superior attendance. The so called “quality journalism” only reported about those events they predictably feature every single year. NEWS looks much better when it is a little dusty and people know what to expect.
My last reading was at the RPG Exhibitors’ Party. The RPG people always offer gaming rounds at the Leipzig Book Fair. The party was held in the premises of a very cozy student pub – in Leipzig readings are always distributed all across the city. Very nice people. I read from “Die Quellen der Malicorn” (The wells of the Malicorn). I believe the role players liked it.
On the way home on the train on Sunday, I really wanted to work on my new book, but I fear I was wrestled down by Mr. Sandman who had rather convincing arguments.
