03 Mar 2026 3 min read News

My First... Awards Nominations and Results

It's enough to be considered. This year, A Lion's Head was entered for the UK-based Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2025 AND the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association's Aurora Prix Awards for 2025.

THE CANADIAN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY ASSOCIATION (CSFFA) AURORA PRIX AWARD

I'm Canadian. Local recognition is important. To win this award my writing must connect with the CSFFA member community. To get nominated is to introduce my book to a larger body of serious fantasy readers.

Being selected for this award carries weight. The final vote will be robust, considered by members of the CSFFA, and will be an indicator of whether the book holds merit.

https://csffa.ca to nominate A Lion's Head and cast your vote.

$10 entry for CSFFA membership grants you Epubs of all nominated entries for thorough consideration.

After becoming eligible, you need to be officially nominated by at least 5 members of the CSFFA. This award is a popularity test. Perhaps I have enough reader fans, but more likely, I do not have enough who are Canadian and members of the association who will vote.

THE WISHING SHELF BOOK AWARDS

“A smartly plotted, ‘myths and legend’ adventure for young adults.” Wishing Shelf Book Awards, 3/5 Stars

The Wishing Shelf Book Awards are based in the UK. They are a not-for-profit. More importantly, they get the book in front of real, live readers. A Lion's Head was read by 15 IRL teenagers, and their feedback was collected. This award provided me with the feedback collected. Authors have a choice to publish the review. I chose to have them publish their results.

IMHO, any feedback/review is good feedback/review.

3 Star review by The Wishing Shelf Book Awards, text is copied below.

SPECIFIC FEEDBACK FROM 15 READERS

9 would read another book by this author.
6 thought the cover was good or excellent.

OVERALL STATS FROM 15 READERS

Editing: 7/10 | Writing Style: 6/10 | Content: 6/10 | Cover: 2/5

15 felt it was easy to follow.
9 would recommend this book to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 10 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
Of all the readers, 2 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
Of all the readers, 3 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
10 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
9 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.

READER'S COMMENTS

“I think this will be the first book of a set. I enjoyed it. It’s got a ‘mythical’ feel to it. I didn’t like the cover much as it looks sort of boring. But I liked the story.” Boy,
aged 13

“Isha is the best character as he develops the most in the story. If you enjoy adventure books, I think you’ll probably like this.” Girl, aged 13

“It’s not a very long novel, but that’s okay. I liked the writing style. The beginning is slow, but the second half is better. If you enjoy myths and legends in school, this
book is for you.” Girl, aged 15

“Liked the plot. That was the best part.” Boy, aged 14

“This is what I’d call a good fantasy story. But it’ not a wow book. You know when you read a book that’s so original, it’s amazing – like Harry Potter or THGs. This book isn’t so original. It’s a myths and legends novel which is okay, but I couldn’t relate to the character like, say, Katniss Everdeen. It lacks a character YA can root for and relate to.” Girl, aged 15

“I felt the title was a bit off putting; it didn’t pull me in. The writing style is good though. Will they defeat the king? There was good suspense. I’d read the second book. I’ll try and get hold of a copy and see what happens next.” Boy, aged 15