The Nebula Award weekend was great fun but busy.  Since I was there as both a nominee and an officer, my schedule was packed.  For instance, on Friday the board members had a six-hour meeting.

Six hours sounds horrendous but the fact is that it would take months to get the same amount of work done online.  We’ve got a really good board right now and I’m so grateful to them.

But between the meetings and the rest of the weekend, it’s sort of a blur.

In particular, I want to congratulate the writers who took home Nebula awards.

• Novel: Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (Spectra)
• Novella: “The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers Beneath the Queen’s Window” by Rachel Swirsky (Subterranean Summer ’10)
• Novelette: “That Leviathan Whom Thou Hast Made” by Eric James Stone (Analog 9/10)
• Short Story (tie): “Ponies” by Kij Johnson (Tor.com1/17/10) and “How Interesting: A Tiny Man” by Harlan Ellison (Realms of Fantasy 2/10)
• Ray Bradbury Award: Inception
• Andre Norton Award: I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett (Gollancz; Harper)

The biggest reason I hear from people who haven’t is that they just haven’t read much this year. I understand that. But here’s the thing, if you read anything that you really liked this year you should put that on your ballot. Maybe it won’t make the final ballot but maybe your nod will be the one vote needed to push it into the running.

Did you know that last year there was a five-way tie leading up to the final day? Your vote. Yes, yours, could have been the deciding vote.

The way I figure it, if you didn’t have time to read much this year there must be something extraordinary about the things that you did make time to read.  So vote for them or it.

And if you’re the only one who votes for a work? It will make that author’s day just to have the story on the long list.

So, participate. Please?

Online Ballot: http://sfwa.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=1728

You must cast your nomination ballot by tonight, Feburary 15th, 23:59 PST.

To login, you’ll need Your Name, with spaces, as it appears in the SFWA Directory.

If you need your password you may reset it here:
http://www.sfwa.org/forum/ucp.php?mode=sendpassword

If you have already participated, thank you. Now please, guilt one other person into doing it too

The highlight for me was the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis.

I was amazed at how emotional I got as it lifted off. I’d heard about the sound, which beat at my chest and was felt rather than heard but the light of the fire stunned me. It was like watching the sun.

Being there really drove home the fact that we are strapping a team of people to the top of a bomb, shooting them into airless space and saying, “Go, do science.” Really, this was the very definition of “Boldly go.”

The picture is of the mushroom cloud that lingered for about ten minutes after Atlantis lifted off.

Oh, and I was elected to Vice President of SFWA.

The biggest reason I hear from people who haven’t is that they just haven’t read much this year. I understand that. But let me propose a scenario.  Read the nominees the way you would if you were an editor and could only pick one to buy.  In other words, you only have to read far enough to know that you wouldn’t vote for it.

Maybe that seems unfair, but it is an accurate reflection of how our industry works. Trust me, the nominees are so wildly different that even if you read only the first three pages to narrow it down, you’ll have a solid sense of which stories you connect with.  You don’t have to vote in all of the categories, either, just the ones in which you have an opinion.

So, participate. Please?

Online Ballot: http://www.sfwa.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=1160

You must cast your nomination ballot by tomorrow, March 30th, 23:59 PST.

To login, you’ll need Your Name, with spaces, as it appears in the SFWA Directory.

If you need your password you may reset it here:
http://www.sfwa.org/forum/ucp.php?mode=sendpassword

If you have any questions or need additional help please let me know. And if you have already participated, thank you. Now please, guilt one other person into doing it too.

The system is new and I have to be able to oversee the volunteer team without introducing a conflict of interest.

I had dinner with Doselle Young and Shana Cohen tonight at a very nice restaurant. It’s so nice to go out with other foodies.  I’m now ensconced in a truly gorgeous hotel room and about to collapse in bed. After I finish two or three more things…

• 12:49 Worried about Maggie. Rob and I realized that neither of us saw her eat yesterday. She has no interest in food today. Not even the treats. #
• 13:22 Just loaded an unprotesting Maggie into the cat carrier. The vet has an opening today. She’s drinking water at least, so that’s good. #
• 13:33 We’re in the cab and there’s NOTHING wrong with her vocal cords. Man, that’s a lot of volume from such a small cat #
• 14:35 Maggie and I are on the way home. She weighs 5 lbs 10 oz, which is way too light. They are doing bloodwork. #

The vet gave Maggie an appetite stimulant and pumped her full of fluids.  The suspicion is that it’s kidney trouble which isn’t uncommon in older cats.

About an hour after I got home, she nibbled on some tuna which was an enormous relief.

An enormous and short-lived relief.  When I got home tonight, Rob told me that Maggie has developed diarrhea in addition to vomiting.  The poor thing is curled up on a heating pad and looks just miserable.

The Luxe Hotel has offered to reduce room rates for those who are attending the Nebula Awards. Prices have dropped to $189.00 for Superior Rooms, $209.00 for Deluxe Kings, and $229.00 for Junior Exec Kings.

In order to let visitors take advantage of these new rates, we will hold off on raising the Nebula Weekend Registration costs for another few weeks. The deadline for reduced registration fees is now April 3. The final deadline for all registrations is still April 15.

Online registration forms can be found here.

We hope to see you all at the Nebulas.

via Reduced Hotel Rates for the Nebula Awards | The Nebula Awards.

http://www.nebulaawards.com/index.php/nebulaweekend is where all the information on the weekend can be found, including hotels, our Keynote Speaker Chuck Lorre, Toastmistress Janis Ian, Grand Master Award recipient Harry Harrison and much more.

Should be a fun weekend.

SFWA is proud to announce the nominees for the 2009 Nebula Awards. The awards will be presented at the 2009 Nebula Awards® Weekend, April 24-26,2009 in Los Angeles, California. For more information on the awards and the Nebulas Weekend, please visit the Nebula Awards website.

Novels

Little Brother – Cory Doctorow (Tor, Apr08)

Powers - Ursula K. Le Guin (Harcourt, Sep07)

Cauldron - Jack McDevitt (Ace, Nov07)

Brasyl - Ian McDonald (Pyr, May07)

Making Money – Sir Terry Pratchett (Harper, Sep07)

Superpowers – David J. Schwartz (Three Rivers Press, Jun08)

Novellas

“The Spacetime Pool” – Catherine Asaro (Analog, Mar08)

“Dark Heaven” – Gregory Benford (Alien Crimes, ed. Mike Resnick, SFBC, Jan07)

“Dangerous Space” – Kelley Eskridge (Dangerous Space, Aqueduct Press, Jun07)

“The Political Prisoner” – Charles Coleman Finlay (F&SF, Aug08)

“The Duke in His Castle” – Vera Nazarian (Norilana Books, Jun08)

Novelettes

“If Angels Fight” – Richard Bowes (F&SF, Feb08)

“Dark Rooms” – Lisa Goldstein (Asimov’s, Oct/Nov 07)

“Pride and Prometheus” – John Kessel (F&SF, Jan08)

“Night Wind” – Mary Rosenblum (Lace and Blade, ed. Deborah J. Ross, Norilana Books, Feb08)

“Baby Doll” – Johanna Sinisalo (The SFWA European Hall of Fame, ed. James Morrow & Kathryn Morrow, Tor, Jun07 )

“Kaleidoscope” – K.D. Wentworth (F&SF, May07)

Short Stories

“The Button Bin” – Mike Allen (Helix: A Speculative Fiction Quarterly, Oct07)

“The Dreaming Wind” – Jeffrey Ford (The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales, ed. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, Viking, Jul07)

“Trophy Wives” – Nina Kiriki Hoffman (Fellowship Fantastic, ed. Greenberg and Hughes, DAW Books, Jan08)

“26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss”- Kij Johnson (Asimov’s, Jul08)

“The Tomb Wife”- Gwyneth Jones (F&SF, Aug07)

“Don’t Stop” – James Patrick Kelly (Asimov’s, Jun07)

Scripts

The Dark Knight – Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan, David S.Goyer  (Warner Bros., Jul08)

“WALL-E” Screenplay – Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter (Walt Disney June 2008)

The Shrine – Brad Wright (Stargate Atlantis, Aug08)

Norton

Graceling - Kristin Cashore (Harcourt, Oct08)

Lamplighter - D.M. Cornish (Monster Blood Tattoo, Book 2, Putnam Juvenile,May08)

Savvy - Ingrid Law (Dial, May08)

The Adoration of Jenna Fox – Mary E. Pearson (Henry Holt and Company, Apr08)

Flora’s Dare: How a Girl of Spirit Gambles All to Expand Her Vocabulary, Confront a Bouncing Boy Terror, and Try to Save Califa from a Shaky Doom (Despite Being Confined to Her Room) -  Ysabeau S. Wilce (Harcourt, Sep08)

via 2009 Nebula Award® Ballot | The Nebula Awards.

LOS ANGELES—Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America will descend on Los Angeles, Calif., with an all-star lineup slated for the 2009 Nebula Awards® Weekend April 24-26.

Harry Harrison will be honored as the next Damon Knight Grand Master, while M.J. Engh will be honored as Author Emerita. Joss Whedon will receive the Ray Bradbury Award. Singer/songwriter Janis Ian will be on hand to serve as toastmistress. Award-winning creator, executive producer and writer Chuck Lorre will give the keynote address.

You can register for the weekend via The Nebula Awards.

Similar to my previous article on Aztec mythology, this article is intended as an introduction into some basic ideas of Maya religion and mythology. I’ve appended a list of the sources I used at the end, should you be interested in finding out more.

Unlike their Aztec neighbours, the Mayas were hardly newcomers to Mesoamerica. Maya presence in Guatemala and the Yucatan peninsula dates back to at least 1000 BC, and the last Maya kingdoms conquered by the Spanish were Tayasal and Zacpeten in 1697. Today, there are about six million Mayas in Central America–some of whom still live according to ancient traditions.

It’s well worth reading, plus has a great source list at the end.

I only have a half-hour or so to go as President, and, as my last official act, I’d like to make the official announcement that the Nebula Awards website, nebulaawards.com, is now open and ready for beta testing. Everything is more or less in place, and the content management system ExpressionEngine is handling everything very well. There will be a few tweaks, updates, and additions over the next few days, but the basic set-up is there and ready to go.

It is so nice to see such a professional site promoting the genre. Kudos to Michael Capobianco, David De Beer (editor) and Tony Geer (website designer).

Stop by the new Nebula Awards website and check it out.

The interactive Nebula Award Report is up and running again, so there’s no excuse.

The Nebula weekend is largely unstructured, providing the members a chance to hobnob with each other. Frequently I found myself chatting with someone and then realizing that they were either a) famous or b) I knew them online or c) I wish I had known them all my life. Noticeably more people were here on day two and the demographic evened out considerably in terms of age. SFWA is still very, very, very white and it would be good to see it become more diverse, y’know? We people our SF and fantasy with dozens of different species, for crying out loud, and somehow can’t manage to integrate in real life. Gotta improve that. I’m looking forward to WisCon because it’s got panels looking at these issues.

But that’s not what I was planning on chatting about this morning. You’re here to hear about the banquet, right? The food wasn’t bad and — these things are important too — the table arrangements were lovely. Watching these writers receive their awards moved me more than I expected. Particularly people like Michael Chabon, who spoke so eloquently about the field and the wonder of SF that I actually got a little weepy. I felt like, yeah, that’s why I write and read this stuff, too.

Oh, and everyone dressed. Men in tuxedos, ladies in evening wear and all of them belonging in the tribe of SF. Heaven.

From there, I headed to the hospitality room. Important note: Texans know how to lay out a spread. Homemade cookies, people.

I spent a while hanging out there meeting new people and started to notice an interesting thing. The demographic of people who attend the Nebula Weekend seems to consist of people in their late forties and up. Yesterday, the only people my age or younger that I saw were nominees. Granted, due to the membership requirements, the organization will self-select to an older crowd because one needs time to establish a writing career. Still. It seems disproportionate. I understand more people are arriving today, so I’ll take note at the business meeting and the banquet tonight.

At three I headed to the panel on Publishing Contracts by Sean P. Fodera. This was an excellent, excellent discussion. I took notes, but I need to make them into something that people besides me can read before I post them. His closing remark was that in doctors, lawyers… all of these people need to do continuing education to stay abreast of what’s going on in their field. That they need to continually practice in order to maintain their license. People with artistic licenses think that they don’t have to do so, but it’s just as important for us if we want to be professionals. I am in total agreement with this. ((The worst business-of-writing advice I’ve gotten was from OSC because he’s thirty years out from being a beginning writer and a LOT has changed in that time. Plus, he’s a major writer so gets to play by different rules.)) I wish the panel had not been so sparsely attended. It was the only panel yesterday and had only 22 attendees. Yes. I counted.

The mass autographing session made an easy way to greet people, but, again, felt very sparsely attended. This might be because half the attendees were sitting down to sign things. I’d really like to see more general public at an event like that.

Dinner, I spent with David Levine and Kate Yule. We went out for Indian food, which was not bad, considering that we are in Texas.

I hung out in the hospitality room afterwards until my sleep deprivation forced me to retreat to my room. Mmm… sleep. Broken by a wake-up call at 5:30 am. A wakeup call which I did not request. I was annoyed, but not as annoyed as whoever didn’t get their call.

Looking forward to today.

I do love my job, but there are days when I wish the hours were shorter.

Edited to add: After spending an hour on the phone, I discovered that, even though I can see a flight that is only $50 more expensive than mine, it would cost $435 more than my original ticket to change my flight. Can’t do that. Gah! Need more hours in the day.

BUT Titanium Mike by David Levine did, which has me very pleased because I liked that story a great deal.

Estimated Time Required: 10-30 hours per month, (Variable depending on time of year. Heaviest commitment: March, April, and May)

Job Description:
1. Advise the Board on the nebulaawards.com web presence, set priorities for nebulaawards.com consistent with the overall goal of promoting the Nebula and Norton Awards, the nominees, the winners, the Awards weekend, SFWA anthologies, and through them all, the genres of science fiction and fantasy. Assist in recruiting, training, and coordinating volunteers as needed.

2. Review existing Nebula-related and other genre promotional material and its organization to remove extraneous and confusing material and create an organizational map that is easily navigable and makes relevant material easily discoverable.

3. Suggest, gather, organize, and provide content to the Nebula webmaster, including interviews, opinion essays, images, and bios/essays from Nebula and Norton Award winners.

4. Serve as liaison between the sfwa.org webmaster, Nebula webmaster, Bulletin and NAR editors, Executive Director, and SFWA members.

5. Create press releases regarding important Nebula website updates and work with media representatives as necessary to publicize the website.

Benefits: Extensive networking, connection with the redesign of a high-profile website suitable for resume mention, and increased visibility in SFWA.

Skills required: A high level of organization, ability to lead a team, editing and document management experience, experience with content management systems, blogs, and making video/audio material web accessible. Any level of SFWA membership

If you are interested, send a brief introductory letter to sfwavolunteer@gmail.com

The story only lacks three recommendations to be on next year’s preliminary ballot.

May I recommend, especially if you are a SFWA member, that you read it?

This takes the Little Mermaid and makes it look like Hans Christian Andersen was writing stories made of cotton candy.

1. It lacks continuity.
2. There are no clear lines of communication
3. The public interface is out-dated.
4. Volunteers’ time is not efficiently managed.

Here is how I would like to tackle those items.

1. When I was the Secretary of UNIMA-USA (The American branch of the International puppetry organization, which is the oldest continually operating arts organization in the world), I was responsible for updating and maintaining an Officer’s Handbook. This contained, not only the minutes and the bylaws, but also a detailed description of the goal of each committee and the semi-annual reports of the committees.

I would like to implement a similar system for SFWA.

2. At the moment, when a committee is created, it exists as an entity of its own, without reporting to a specific member of the board. The problem with this is that when a committee becomes inactive, it can languish in this condition for months or years without anyone noticing. Several times during the past months, I’ve contacted a committee chair, only to have them say, “Oh. Am I still on that committee?”

I would like to re-evaluate the committee structure, and rebuild it using more vertical lines of communication. This will create more accountability and a smoother line of communication. For your interest, I have done a diagram of the current committee structure and a proposed restructuring.

3. We all know the website is outdated. Rather than using a committee to redesign this, because we all know how successful design by committee is, I would like to see SFWA hire an actual web-designer to do a complete revamping of the system, including adding a forum.

In particular, I want to see redundancies removed. For instance, we have a team of extremely hardworking volunteers who update the Nebula Recommendations. It is all hard-coded with HTML in several different places. This is something that cries out for automation, so that the volunteers merely need to moderate it and check for errors.

4. SFWA uses the principle “Want something done, ask the busy person” so that the brunt of the effort comes down on a few people. I want to implement online volunteer management software, which will track availability, hours, and skills. Let’s stop burning out the volunteers.

About me: I have spent most of the past seventeen years working in the non-profit sector. Volunteers are the backbone of non-profits and I’ve managed them on projects ranging from running a week-long festival to getting envelopes stuffed to making a cyclops head. In addition to being a writer, I’m a small business owner and freelancer. I’ve got the publishing credits to be an active SFWA member, but more importantly, I know how to run a non-profit efficiently.

In the writing arena, I quote reviews and mentions here, and yeah, usually focus on the juicy stuff. For instance,

Gardner Dozois talked about his picks for the Nebula short story categories, saying:

My vote would go to Andy Duncan’s “Unique Chicken Goes in Reverse,” … My next choice, I guess, would be “For Solo Cello, op. 12,” by Mary Robinette Kowal … followed by “Titanium Mike Saves the Day,” by David D. Levine…

Woot! Gardner Dozois puts me in the number two position! Except… if you read the whole quote.

This is the weakest of the categories.

My vote would go to Andy Duncan’s “Unique Chicken Goes in Reverse,” although it’s not even really a fantasy let alone SF–what it is is an Andy Duncan story, who’s a genre to himself, much like Howard Waldrop. Since Duncan is popular with the membership, it might have a chance, although it did appear in an expensive hardcover anthology from a small press.

Not much else here I’m really enthusiastic about. My next choice, I guess, would be “For Solo Cello, op. 12,” by Mary Robinette Kowal, which is SF (but which is probably unlikely to win), followed by …

Ow. Gardner Dozois says, “Not really enthusiastic!” and “Unlikely to win!”

Ah, context… Think I can put that on a poster?

Given the stories listed, my choices come down to “Always” and “For Solo Cello, Op. 12″, both of which are in my SF Best of the Year. I think those two stories are outstanding (and I’m delighted to see Kowal’s story on the ballot — I had thought myself pretty brilliant for plucking it from an Australian magazine myself!) The other stories are all OK, but none strike me as really award-worthy.

Excuse me, but I need to go lie down. Smelling salts, anyone?

Short Stories — 7
Unique Chicken Goes In Reverse – Duncan, Andy (Eclipse 1: New Science Fiction And Fantasy, Jonathan Strahan, Ed., Night Shade Books, Oct07)
Titanium Mike Saves the Day – Levine, David D. (F&SF, Apr07)
Captive Girl – Pelland, Jennifer (Helix: A Speculative Fiction Quarterly, WS & LWE, Ed., Oct06 (Fall06 issue — #2))
Always – Fowler, Karen Joy (Asimov’s, May07 (apr/may07 issue))
For Solo Cello, op. 12 – Kowal, Mary Robinette (Cosmos, Mar07 (Feb/Mar07))
The Padre, the Rabbi, and the Devil His Own Self – Fletcher, Melanie (Helix: A Speculative Fiction Quarterly, WS & LWE, Ed., Oct06 (Fall06 issue — #2))
The Story of Love – Nazarian, Vera (Salt of the Air, Prime Books, Sep06)

2007 Preliminary Nebula Ballot

Novels – 13
Vellum: The Book of All Hours – Duncan, Hal (Del Rey, Apr06 (Macmillan hardcover Nov05 (UK)))
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Rowling, J. K. (Scholastic Press, Jul07)
Odyssey – McDevitt, Jack (Ace, Nov06)
Mainspring – Lake, Jay (Tor, Jun07)
The Accidental Time Machine – Haldeman, Joe (Ace, Aug07)
Species Imperative #3: Regeneration – Czerneda, Julie E. (DAW, May06)
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union – Chabon, Michael (HarperCollins, May07)
The New Moon’s Arms – Hopkinson, Nalo (Warner Books, Feb07)
Blindsight – Watts, Peter (Tor, Oct06)
Rollback – Sawyer, Robert J. (Analog, Feb07 (serialized in Oct06 through Jan/Feb07 issues; Tor book, Apr07))
The Outback Stars – McDonald, Sandra (Tor, May07)
Strange Robby – Rosen, Selina (Meisha Merlin Publishing, Jul06 (E-mail selinarosen@cox.net for copies))
Ragamuffin – Buckell, Tobias (Tor, Jun07)

Novellas – 5
Kiosk – Sterling, Bruce (F&SF, Jan07)
Memorare – Wolfe, Gene (F&SF, Apr07)
Stars Seen Through Stone – Shepard, Lucius (F&SF, Jul07)
The Helper and His Hero – Hughes, Matt (F&SF, Mar07 (Feb07 & Mar07))
Fountain of Age – Kress, Nancy (Asimov’s, Jul07)

Novelettes – 13
The Sun God at Dawn, Rising from a Lotus Blossom – Kail, Andrea (Writers of the Future Volume 23, Algis Budrys, Ed., Galaxy Press, Sep07)
A Flight of Numbers Fantastique Strange – Bernobich, Beth (Asimov’s, Jun06)
The Fiddler of Bayou Teche – Sherman, Delia (Coyote Road, Trickster Tales, Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, Ed., Viking Juvenile, Jul07)
Pol Pot’s Beautiful Daughter – Ryman, Geoff (F&SF, Nov06)
Sister of the Hedge – Hines, Jim C. (Realms of Fantasy, Jun06)
The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs Of North Park After the Change – Johnson, Kij (Coyote Road, Trickster Tales, Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, Ed., Viking Juvenile, Jul07)
Things That Aren’t – Burstein, Michael A.; and Greenberger, Robert (Analog, Apr07)
Alastair Baffle’s Emporium of Wonders – Resnick, Mike (Asimov’s, Jan08)
Safeguard – Kress, Nancy (Asimov’s, Jan07)
Tonino and the Incubus – Robinson, Peg (Helix: A Speculative Fiction Quarterly, WS & LWE, Ed., Oct06 (Fall06 issue — #2))
The Children’s Crusade – Bailey, Robin Wayne (Heroes in Training, Martin H. Greenberg and Jim C. Hines, Ed., DAW, Sep07)
The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate – Chiang, Ted (F&SF, Sep07)
Not of this Fold – Shunn, William (An Alternate History of the 21st Century, Spilt Milk Press, Sep07)

Scripts — 7
Children of Men – Cuaron, Alfonso & Sexton, Timothy J. and Arata, David and Fergus, Mark & Ostby, Hawk (Universal Studios, Dec06)
The Prestige – Nolan, Christopher and Nolan, Jonathon (Newmarket Films, Oct06 (Oct 20, 2006 — based on the novel by Christopher Priest))
Pan’s Labyrinth – del Toro, Guillermo (Time/Warner, Jan07)
The Discarded – Ellison, Harlan and Olson, Josh (Masters of Science Fiction, ABC-TV, Apr07)
V for Vendetta – Wachowski, Larry & Wachowski, Andy (Warner Films, Mar06 (released 3/17/2006 — Written by the Wachowski Brothers, based on the graphic novel illustrated by David Lloyd and published by Vertigo/DC Comics))
World Enough and Time – Zicree, Marc Scott and Reaves, Michael (Star Trek: New Voyages, http://www.startreknewvoyages.com, Aug07 (Aired 8/23/07))
Blink – Moffat, Steven (Doctor Who, BBC/The Sci-Fi Channel, Sep07 (Aired on SciFi Channel 14 Sep07))

Norton Books — 4
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Rowling, J. K. (Scholastic Press, Jul07)
Into the Wild – Durst, Sarah Beth (Penguin Razorbill, Jun07)
Vintage: A Ghost Story – Berman, Steve (Haworth Positronic Press, Mar07)
Flora Segunda: Being the Magickal Mishaps of a Girl of Spirit, Her Glass-Gazing Sidekick, Two Ominous Butlers (One Blue), a House with Eleven Thousand Rooms, and a Red Dog – Wilce, Ysabeau S. (Harcourt, Jan07)

Note that the Norton Jury may add to this. I’ve asked them to let me know by Monday morning if the intend to do so.

Once they post the official preliminary ballot, I’ll share it here, because a couple of my favorites have made it as well. I’m tremendously excited for the authors and want to see them make it to the final ballot.

I am so, very, very excited and pleased today.

My opinion on the Nebulas is that one of the primary benefits comes from the ballot itself. Simply put, any story that makes it on the ballot will automatically get a much wider readership as people review stories for voting. So, when I’m recommending stories, I’m choosing stories that I think people ought to read, whether or not I think the story is ultimately likely to win the award.

Getting on the ballot is a boost to writer because it does raise their profile, and thus, people are more likely to notice their other work later. It might not be a conscious thing, but you see someone on the Nebula ballot and next time, by golly, you’ll see their name and think, “I’ve heard of her.”

So here are writers who I want to support and think that you should read their stories.

Novelettes
Andrea Kail: The Sun God at Dawn, Rising from a Lotus Blossom (Writers of the Future Volume 23) This is a brilliantly done epistolary tale told in a series of letters from Tutankahmen to Abraham Lincoln. Trust me, it makes perfect, chilling sense when you read it. Beautifully and heart-breakingly done.
It also has eight recommendations and its eligibility ends in March. Go! Recommend it! Do you really want to see it not make the ballot because you didn’t take the twenty minutes it will take to read this gorgeous story? I didn’t think so.

Ted Kosmatka: The Prophet of Flores (Asimov’s, Sep07) Holy cow! This is a freaky blend of SF and alternate history. The deep-story to this one? Intelligent design is real. The earth is only 5800 years old and carbon-dating proves it. And then someone finds a fossil that turns everything upside down. Seven recommendations thus far, but this one has eligibility until September, so I’m not quite as frantic about it making the ballot. But, you’ll be missing out if you don’t read it.

Livia Llewellyn: The Four Hundred Thousand I don’t know how to describe this one without giving away the creepy turns this chilling SF story takes. To grossly over-simplify it, this is about the right to choose. But, look, there’s a link so you can go read it. And do.

Jennifer Pelland: Mercytanks The person who pointed this one out to me said that it was the first time they’d really seen far-future done well. And how.

Short Stories:
Richard Bowes has two I liked: A Tale for the Short Days (Coyote Road, Trickster Tale) and King of the Big Night Hours(Subterranean, Sep07). The thing that he does, particularly with the King of the Big Night Hours, is tell a story that seems so absolutely, totally grounded in reality that it makes you wonder why you haven’t noticed any magic happening in your life. I mean, these seem like they are things that actually happened.

Vylar Kaftan: Kill Me Extremely evocative SF. The story is deceptively simple. A professional masochist has a device which records her thoughts so that she can be killed and brought back. But there’s a price; there’s always a price.

Andrea Kail: Soft Like a Rabbit I read this the first time as I was typesetting Fantasy. It stopped me cold. I forgot what I was supposed to be doing and just read the story. When I finished I couldn’t understand why I’d never read anything of Andrea Kail’s before. She’s a power-house and tells economical and wrenching stories. Have tissues standing by when you read this.

Nancy Kress: End Game I listened to this one at Escape Pod. Again, SF. Have you ever wished you could just concentrate on one thing at a time? Listen to this and rethink your wish.

David D. Levine: Titanium Mike Saves the Day This is probably the first light-hearted one I’ve mentioned. People always need tall tales; why should outerspace be any different? A fine example of yarn-spinning.

Lisa Mantchev: Six Scents Six tales in one. I could sum this up as tales of famous fictional women and their favorite perfumes, but really, it would not do justice to the brutally clever writing here. For example: “Men find it hard to fall in love with a dead girl. They tell her it’s a turn-off that they take her hand at the movies and a finger lands in the popcorn.”

Joy Marchard: Pallas at Noon lives in the uncanny place between things that could actually happen and the magic that lies just on the other side of that. I don’t even know how to describe this story, but definitely find a copy of Interfictions and read this. It will make you weep and feel hope and despair all at the same time.

Holly Phillips: The Oracle Spoke is quite possibly my favorite story this year. It’s the one that I desperately wish I had written. Please read it.

Cat Rambo: Foam on the Water You think Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid has a chilling ending? Ha! He could have taken lessons from Cat Rambo’s story.

I’m not doing mini-reviews of the novels, because I know you won’t have time to read any between now and then. But here are some that I think you should read after the first of the year.

Chris Barzak, One for Sorrow; Tobias Buckell, Ragamuffin; Jay Lake, Mainspring; Ekaterina Sedia, The Secret History of Moscow.

And finally, I will finish with a totally shameless self-pimp.

Look! For Solo Cello, op. 12 has six whole Nebula recommendations. This is makes me squee with girlish pleasure.

All right folks, there’s still reading to do. Go forth recommend stories! (And I hereby open this up for shameless promotion. Got a story you want read? Link away!)

I’m starting to get volunteers paired with tasks.

For instance, I asked one of our graphic design volunteers if he wanted to whip up a t-shirt in response to something Jim Hines said. I quote from his comments.

I asked earlier about reasons for joining and staying with SFWA. The best answer I’ve seen all day was posted in the newsgroups tonight.

While talking about SFWA’s PR today in the newsgroup, I made the following comment:

“I’m not trying to say we need a bunch of SFWA cheerleaders running around sprinkling happy dust and farting rainbows at people…”

Within a few hours, we had Nebula-winning authors volunteering to chair the Farting Rainbow committee. And then this link:

http://www.zazzle.com/sfwa_farting_rainbow_t_shirt-235210275612449275.

Why stick with SFWA? Because it’s full of delightfully insane authors who do things like this.

Please note that all proceeds go to the Emergency Medical Fund.

See how much fun volunteers can have? All of this new support makes me fart rainbows of joy.

I’ve volunteered to help SFWA by chairing the Service to SFWA committee, which has been revamped to recruit, retain and reward volunteers. Any service organization, like SFWA, relies on its members to be active participants in supporting its goals. More specifically, it relies on its active members to set those goals.

I have not been happy with a number of things about SFWA lately, however, when I look at the organization as a whole it has accomplished some very good things. Griefcom, the Legal Defense Fund, the Emergency Medical Fund, raising the pro-rate standard from 3 -5 cents… These are good things that volunteers accomplished. At its core, SFWA exists to promote and aid Science-Fiction and Fantasy Writers.

That’s me. I am a science-fiction and fantasy writer.

So my choice is to walk away from the good things or to try and change the things that I don’t like. I want an organization that represents me and that represents my interests. From working with other non-profits, I’ve found that quickest way to be taken seriously is to volunteer. So that’s why I’m doing this.

And that’s why, if you aren’t happy, I think you should consider volunteering. Shift the balance. Help me.

If you’d like to learn more about how you can help your fellow Science-Fiction and Fantasy authors, please fill out the following questionnaire and email it to sfwavolunteer@gmail.com or leave it in the comments here.

1. I am interested in volunteering for SFWA — [short-term/long-term] (ie.a quick one-time job, versus an ongoing position)

2. I can offer [x] hours per month for volunteer work.

3. I am interested in learning more about volunteering to help with
a) Website
b) Writing related advice
c) Legal advice or issues (ie contracts, copyright, etc.)
d) Outreach (ie, Youth, Speaker’s bureau, Conventions, etc.)
e) Publicity (ie publications, Nebulas, PR, etc.)
f) Operations (ie audits, procedures, run for office, etc.)
g) Grunt Work (ie stuffing envelopes, sorting lists, lifting tables, etc.)
h) Other (ie I got mad skillz you don’t even know to ask about, teleportation, graphic design, an active fan base, FTL travel, etc.)

4. My SFWA membership status is: [non-member, affiliate, associate, active]

Thank you for your time and attention. I look forward to working with you.

Mary Robinette Kowal

Edited to add: You don’t need to be a member to volunteer for anything except those things that involve voting, such as running for office or chairing a committee. All you need is an interest in support science-fiction and fantasy writers, or concern with helping to shape the future of the organization.

For two years, Subterranean magazine has brought you the absolute finest in science fiction, fantasy and horror, from names like Harlan Ellison, Joe R. Lansdale, Elizabeth Bear, Joe Hill and Cherie Priest. Now Subterranean magazine is moving online — and continuing to bring you the best new fiction as it moves from print to pixels.

Here’s what you can expect from Subterranean Online in the near future:

* An entire novella by Hugo and Nebula Award winner Lucius Shepard

* A full-length original audio-book by Kage Baker

* New and original short fiction from Subterranean Press authors Poppy Z. Brite, Joe Hill, Joe R. Lansdale and John Scalzi

* Columns and opinion from Elizabeth Bear, Norman Partridge and Scott Lynch

* Weekly reviews of the best new fiction from Dorman T. Shindler.

All new, all compelling, all right there on your screen. It’s what you expect from Subterranean magazine — and a taste of what you can expect in the future.

I’ll be recording through next week. Basically, for each hour of listening pleasure, you can figure about five man hours of working time; that’s counting my work and the engineer’s work together. He has to do things like edit out the places where I try to say “Mazaltlan” and come out with “Mazeltlof.”

Now aren’t you wondering how Midsummer Night’s Dream and Mazaltlan both occur in one story? Just you wait. I will tell you, though, that this is a really fun read. I love Kage Baker’s work and this is a hoot.