Awards Eligibility 2020

I had two short stories published in 2020 that are eligible for upcoming fantasy and science fiction awards if one deems them worthwhile. Both are solidly in the science fiction domain, so nominate accordingly 🙂

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Memento Amicum (3400 words) appeared in Issue #3 (September 1, 2020) of Cossmass Infinities.

People, events, practices, and cultural touchstones pass away and slip into the past, kept alive only within the memories of those still around, and only for as long as they care to and can remember. In the future, we may not be the ones doing the remembering, our creations may end up taking on that responsibility–intentionally or not, until they too power down.

“Memento Amicum” by Marc A. Criley is the poignant and touching story of a graveyard populated with AI versions of the deceased.

— Gwen C. Katz, in The Future Fire

(Right now Memento Amicum is only available by purchasing that issue, though the stories are incrementally released online over time. I will add a link here when it becomes available.)

He stepped around to the front of the headstone and waited. The mementa screen opaqued, masking the splendidly etched-in-granite rendition of Ellanora Hawks. A moment later her mementa’s well-worn but equally splendid visage resolved on the screen

Be grateful for friends that will remember you.

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Glory Whales (4700 words) was published August 23, 2020 in Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores.

An unraveling comet! Doomed spaceship! Explosions! Alien artifacts! WHALES!!

Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores has a lovely story in August with “Glory Whales” by Marc A. Criley.  A happily married couple [are] diverted to check out an interstellar voyager. [W]ill they live to see what grows from the seeds dispersed by the visitor?

— Karen Burnham, Locus (Recommended Reading)

I squinted past the reflected comet dazzle on her visor. Yep, a smile that outshone Mars, this blazing comet, and the incandescent golden jewel of the sun. A smile that’s taken me from one end of the solar system to the other.

Come for the whales, stay for true love.

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Thanks for your time and any consideration for awards you may give to these stories!