Yesterday, I received my symbol of the year in the mail.
Yes, it is the Scythe from Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 7. Full geek points to you if you recognized it. For those of you not familiar with the show, the Scythe is a mystical weapon forged for the Slayer (into every generation she is born: one girl in all the world, a chosen one). It’s also something of a deus ex machina, but hey, we’ll let that go because of its shiny awesomeness.
This year, I get to be my own chosen one. The Scythe is a symbol of power, both external and internal. To me, it represents courage and strength: to make tough choices, to trust myself, to believe in myself, and to really go for it this year. I think I might hang it over my fireplace.
I love my Scythe.
Award Season
If you read other SF/F writer blogs, you know there is that inevitable time of year when they post a list of work that is eligible for awards. Yup, it’s that time.
My short story “Forever Sixteen,” published in Daily Science Fiction, is eligible to be nominated for the Nebulas and the Hugos.
I am also entering my first year of eligibility for the Campbell Award (for best new writer in science fiction and fantasy), which you can nominate for if you are nominating for the Hugos. Here is a list of my publications to date; if you’d like a copy of anything on the list, I’d be happy to send one to you if you leave a comment below or email me at practicalfreespirit@gmail.com.
Lastly, Catherine Schaff-Stump reminded me that I am also eligible to be nominated in the Fan Writer category of the Hugos for my work on this blog. How awesome is that? You can check out an overview of my work here on my Best Of Blog page.
Right then! Does anyone else have a symbol for the year? It doesn’t have to be a large weapon that you want to hang over your fireplace. It doesn’t even need to be something you own. If you have an idea, please share below!
The Practical Free Spirit 
That’s awesome! 😀
Thank you! I am very excited!
Good luck with the nominations, Amy!
No symbol in particular for me, but I do have a theme song!
A theme song is totally acceptable! So you are obviously pushing yourself to have a…busy and slightly zany year, possibly involving circuses in some fashion. That song definitely makes me feel more energetic!
What a lovely scythe!
Why, thank you! It is my new baby. 🙂
Most awesome thing ever!! Love your scythe.
You have to try it out! It’s actually kind of heavy. 🙂
I actually found a better theme song! : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6oUz1v17Uo
And an actually appropriate symbol, which your husband will agree is actually GOOGLE’S secret symbol: http://samueltcrown.com/?attachment_id=126
He can’t deny it. Google aims to rule the Terran Empire.
[…] Vampire Slayer fan. I’ve watched the series more than once. I have a Buffy T-shirt. I even own a replica scythe. So what I’m about to say may shock […]