You are listening to a Clark's World magazine podcast. Can I just tell you how absolutely delighted I am at the amount of email and comments that were left regarding my little

April Fool's joke.

I have to say I didn't anticipate such a big response and it gave me the warm and fuzzies knowing that at least a couple of you out there, actually more than a couple, would be disappointed had I actually left Clark's World Maxine.

And even a few of you said it was the only joke that got you that day,

not expecting in April Fool's joke to be included in the podcasting world. So I don't know, maybe I pioneered it and maybe I'll have to think of something extra special to do next April.

So before we get into our story for the second podcast of the month of April 2011,

we have just a couple bits of good news to share with you.

One of our first stories in January of 2010

was Peter Watts's The Things.

Aside from being nominated for a PARSEQ Award in the Best Short Story category and included in numerous years best anthologies,

we got word that Peter Watts's story has been shortlisted for the Shirley Jackson Awards.

So if you haven't listened to that one, it's an amazing story.

You have to go back through the archives and listen or read it.

It's in the January 2010 issue.

For those of you who aren't fatalists out there,

in deeming the world, it is going to end in 2012.

You want to plan for something maybe in 2013?

The World Fantasy Convention is going to be held in England that year in Brighton and October.

So it's actually pretty exciting. I guess it's only the second time that the World Fantasy Awards have actually

been held outside of the United States.

And also if you're listening to this on the 15th of April, this is your last day to send

in your results for the locus poll and survey.

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