I was at the Viable Paradise Workshop, where I’m writer-in-residence this week, when I received the news that Cross Fire had been named Best YA Novel at the 2019 Aurora Awards for best Canadian speculative fiction. I’m delighted by this win; even though sequels are often harder to write and better than their predecessors, they are so rarely recognized when it comes to awards. Thank you very much to the members of the Canadian Science Fiction & Fantasy Association for this honor.