For those who don’t know, I’m giving out these awards to those stories which I think are the best in certain arbitrary categories. Selection is based solely on how good I think the story is, without regard for who the author is. My self-imposed rules are:

1: My own work is not in the running. I am not an objective judge of my own stories.

2: I’m reading stuff from ff.net or Outpost Daria only. These two sites cover most of the field, and I don’t have time to go searching all over the net for stories.

3: These reviews are positive ones by their very nature. If you want to read negative reviews, go read CINCGreen.

4: I will not retract an award once it’s posted.

Dissenting opinions are not only welcome, they’re encouraged. If anyone can point out a better story than the one I’ve picked for a given award, please argue with me. That’s most of the reason why I’m doing this. The other reason is that I wish to advertise these fine pieces of work to those who may not have read them.

Remember, these are awards in name only. There’s no cash prizes, no gold statues, just the warm, fuzzy feeling you get from being recognized by your peers.