One hundred goddamned degrees, that’s how hot. I just made a short walk to and from the post office, and I felt as if I had been hiking across the sands of Tattooine, or through the southern wastes of Arrakis. I fully expected to be attacked by Tusken raiders on 30th Avenue or swallowed by a spice worm on 43rd Street.

And why, you might ask, did I willingly venture out into such scorching weather?

I was mailing out copies of my most recent Star Trek Mirror Universe novel, The Sorrows of Empire, to the headquarters of the IAMTW (International Association of Media Tie-in Writers) and the judges of its Speculative Fiction–Original jury for the Scribe Awards.

This is my fifth time entering a novel into the Scribe Awards, and I am hoping to continue my perfect record: four consecutive years and not a single nomination. This year I had a difficult choice to make: enter Sorrows, a work I am quite proud of that was published in January, or wait until October to submit my next Star Trek novel, Typhon Pact: Zero Sum Game.

In the end, I decided that I wanted to give the judges plenty of time to consider why they were snubbing my work this year, so I elected to send them The Sorrows of Empire, and I look forward to seeing what books make the final Scribes ballot in its place.