Posts Tagged ‘Nebula’

A really truncated Nebula Weekend summary

I’m currently at the airport waiting for my flight home. My original flight was cancelled and the new one is delayed.  The bonus is that it gives me time to blog for the first time this weekend.

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)
Oddly, it wasn’t until Joe Haldeman read the list of nominees and said my name  that it really registered that my book was nominated.
Although, my novel didn’t receive a Nebula, I’d still like to take the opportunity to thank my fantastic agent, Jennifer Jackson, who has been so supportive and my editor Liz Gorinsky, who was right more often than I let her be. They are just fabulous women.

Nebula Nomination reminder — final day

Are you a SFWA active or associate member? You have cast your ballot for the Nebula Nomination Period, haven’t you? I mean, the deadline is tonight.

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

Nebula Weekend summary

I’ve now survived the Nebula Award Weekend which was a fun event, but rather focus consuming. The full list of winners is over at the SFWA site and if you want to you can watch the archived footage of the awards ceremony.

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.

Nebula voting closes tomorrow!

Are you a SFWA active member? You have cast your ballot for the Nebula Awards, haven’t you? I mean, tomorrow is the last day.

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.

Do not nominate me for a Nebula this year.

While I think this is an unlikely scenario, I want to make this statement before the Nebula nominating period begins on November 15th. Because my involvement in the Nebula voting system is pretty intensive right now, I will decline any nominations of any of my fiction this year.

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

In L.A. for the Nebula Awards Weekend

  • 11:36 I’m heading to the airport to go to the Nebulas. #
  • 13:30 Wacky. I used the new paperless boarding pass on my cellphone and it worked. It’s like living in the future. #
  • 14:30 On my plane to LA via Cleveland. The paperless boarding pass was stunningly easy to use. I felt very SF and sophisticated. Toys! #
  • 16:49 Heading to L.A. now. It’s a fine, fine opportunity to nap. Too bad I’ll be working instead. #
  • 21:54 Just touched down in L.A. I napped AND got my work done. Yes, this was a long flight. #

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…

Maggie the cat isn’t well.

I’m sorry you’re getting  a lot of twitter summaries this week. I’m slammed trying to get two shows up before I leave town for the Nebulas on Thursday.  And yet, I dropped everything to take Maggie to the vet today.

  • 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.

Reduced Hotel Rates for the Nebula Awards

Hey! Good news, the hotel has dropped the room rates for the Nebulas. Check it out.

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.

Nebula reminder

A quick reminder that the price for attending the Nebula Awards Weekend goes up on March 15th. The current price for the full weekend is $135, after that date, it will be $150. Banquet-only prices will also rise from $80 to $100.

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.

2009 Nebula Award® Ballot

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.

The Nebula Awards Weekend

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You can register for the Nebula Weekend online now.  Besides one of the industry’s best ways to mingle with top notch SF writers, editors and agents, this year’s weekend also includes some key notables, like, um Joss Whedon, who will be there in person.

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.

Adam Rex | The Nebula Awards

I’ve really been enjoying the series of interviews at the Nebula Awards site. Today’s is with Adam Rex, author and illustrator of Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich and The True Meaning of Smekday. During the interview, Charles Tan commented that he enjoyed the puppet video on Mr. Rex’s site. Naturally, I had to click through and now I will share this delight with you.

A Basic Introduction to Maya Mythology on The Nebula Awards

One of the things I’ve been enjoying at the new Nebula site are the guest bloggers. This week’s is Aliette de Bodard with an excellent post called, A Basic Introduction to Maya Mythology.

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.

Nebula Awards website open for beta testing

Michael Capobianco finishes his last day as SFWA’s president today by announcing that his pet project, the Nebula Awards website is open for beta testing.

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.

Story recommendation: Soft, like a Rabbit

Some time ago, I read Andrea Kail’s Soft, like a Rabbit in Fantasy Magazine and loved it. At the moment it has eight, count them, 8, recommendations for a Nebula. Its eligibility expires at the end of this month. If you are an active SFWA member, I highly recommend reading this story in the next couple of days.

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