It is that time of year again in which we retrospectively look back at our productivity over the last year by posting about eligibility. I think this is the first year since I started doing this that I haven’t had a short story come out. I was feeling weird about that until a friend pointed out that I was coming off of two years of SFWA presidency and running a Worldcon.
Plus the whole pandemic thing. When we look at an author’s output — when we look at our own output, it’s easy to look at how we are right now and forget that the process of getting a story or book to market starts months or years in the past. It’s easy to see other people’s lists and let imposter syndrome creep in.
So, I’m going to do my best to celebrate the work that I did do.
Novel
THE SPARE MAN – BY MARY ROBINETTE KOWAL FROM TOR BOOKS
Tesla Crane, a brilliant inventor and an heiress, is on her honeymoon on an interplanetary space liner, cruising between the Moon and Mars. She’s traveling incognito and is reveling in her anonymity. Then someone is murdered and the festering chowderheads who run security have the audacity to arrest her spouse. Armed with banter, martinis, and her small service dog, Tesla is determined to solve the crime so that the newlyweds can get back to canoodling—and keep the real killer from striking again.
Picture book
A note about this… There’s no category that picture books fit neatly in. It’s a short story. Arguably it’s a graphic short story. Maybe it’s a related work? Regardless, it’s work that I did that I’m proud of.
MOLLY ON THE MOON – BY MARY ROBINETTE KOWAL FROM ROARING BROOK | 1140 WORDS
This is a hard science-fiction picture book in which I combine my usual research methods to accurately describe how living on the moon differs from life on Earth. Beautifully illustrated by Diana Mayo, Molly on the Moon is the tale of two siblings adjusting to their new home.
When Molly and her family move to the moon, they can only pack the essentials—just one toy each for Molly and her baby brother, Luke. Luckily, Molly has a big imagination. A packing crate becomes a fort, a tarp becomes a witch’s cape, and some cans become a tea set. Baby Luke, on the other hand . . . has blocks.
Molly doesn’t want to share. At first. But then she realizes that when you’re on the moon—or anywhere else—a big imagination and being with someone you love can be infinitely better than all the toys in the universe.
Molly on the Moon also includes facts about the moon’s environment, revealing how the differences in gravity, temperature, and time would affect our lives.
Fancast
WRITING EXCUSES PODCAST SEASON 17
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