Category Archives: Science Fiction

Look at How Many of My Friends are on the Nebula Awards Ballot!

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Okay, some of them may be more like acquaintances, but it’s still kind of surreal that I know people who are in the running for the awards.

Nebula Award Logo

To explain: Last week the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America announced the nominees for the 2012 Nebula Awards, as well as for the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation and the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. These are “industry” awards, in the same way that the Academy Awards are given within the movie industry, the Grammys within the music industry, etc. Among the nominees, I’ve marked my friends and acquaintances in bold:

Novel

  • Throne of the Crescent Moon, Saladin Ahmed (DAW; Gollancz ’13)
  • Ironskin, Tina Connolly (Tor)
  • The Killing Moon, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
  • The Drowning Girl, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Roc)
  • Glamour in Glass, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor)
  • 2312, Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

Novella

  • On a Red Station, Drifting, Aliette de Bodard (Immersion Press)
  • After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall, Nancy Kress (Tachyon)
  • “The Stars Do Not Lie,” Jay Lake (Asimov’s 10-11/12)
  • “All the Flavors,” Ken Liu (GigaNotoSaurus 2/1/12)
  • “Katabasis,” Robert Reed (F&SF 11-12/12)
  • “Barry’s Tale,” Lawrence M. Schoen (Buffalito Buffet)

Novelette

  • “The Pyre of New Day,” Catherine Asaro (The Mammoth Books of SF Wars)
  • “Close Encounters,” Andy Duncan (The Pottawatomie Giant & Other Stories)
  • “The Waves,” Ken Liu (Asimov’s 12/12)
  • “The Finite Canvas,” Brit Mandelo (Tor.com 12/5/12)
  • “Swift, Brutal Retaliation,” Meghan McCarron (Tor.com 1/4/12)
  • “Portrait of Lisane da Patagnia,” Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com 8/22/12)
  • “Fade to White,” Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld 8/12)

Short Story

  • “Robot,” Helena Bell (Clarkesworld 9/12)
  • “Immersion,” Aliette de Bodard (Clarkesworld 6/12)
  • “Fragmentation, or Ten Thousand Goodbyes,” Tom Crosshill (Clarkesworld 4/12)
  • “Nanny’s Day,” Leah Cypess (Asimov’s 3/12)
  • “Give Her Honey When You Hear Her Scream,” Maria Dahvana Headley (Lightspeed 7/12)
  • “The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species,” Ken Liu (Lightspeed 8/12)
  • “Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain,” Cat Rambo (Near + Far)

Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation

  • The Avengers, Joss Whedon (director) and Joss Whedon and Zak Penn (writers), (Marvel/Disney)
  • Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin (director), Benh Zeitlin and Lucy Abilar (writers), (Journeyman/Cinereach/Court 13/Fox Searchlight )
  • The Cabin in the Woods, Drew Goddard (director), Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard (writers) (Mutant Enemy/Lionsgate)
  • The Hunger Games, Gary Ross (director), Gary Ross, Suzanne Collins, and Billy Ray writers), (Lionsgate)
  • John Carter, Andrew Stanton (director), Michael Chabon, Mark Andrews, and Andrew Stanton (writers), (Disney)
  • Looper, Rian Johnson (director), Rian Johnson (writer), (FilmDistrict/TriStar)

(Yeah, I don’t know any of those folks … although I do share a birthday with one of the writer/director types.)

Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy

  • Iron Hearted Violet, Kelly Barnhill (Little, Brown)
  • Black Heart, Holly Black (S&S/McElderry; Gollancz)
  • Above, Leah Bobet (Levine)
  • The Diviners, Libba Bray (Little, Brown; Atom)
  • Vessel, Sarah Beth Durst (S&S/McElderry)
  • Seraphina, Rachel Hartman (Random House; Doubleday UK)
  • Enchanted, Alethea Kontis (Harcourt)
  • Every Day, David Levithan (Alice A. Knopf Books for Young Readers)
  • Summer of the Mariposas, Guadalupe Garcia McCall (Tu Books)
  • Railsea, China Miéville (Del Rey; Macmillan)
  • Fair Coin, E.C. Myers (Pyr)
  • Above World, Jenn Reese (Candlewick)

You can find links to some of the stories referenced above, available to read for free, in this SF Signal post.

Now I just need to decide for whom I wish to vote.

I’m pretty sure I can’t make it to the awards ceremony, which will be in mid-May in San Jose. If you’re interested — and you don’t have to be a member of SFWA to attend — you can find more information about the Nebula Awards Weekend at http://www.sfwa.org/nebula-awards/nebula-weekend/.

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Galleys for Asimov’s, Nebula Nominations, and MystiCon Schedule

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Nothing like news of a meteor strike to put the day in perspective, eh? No matter how busy you are today, or what you happen to be going through, I hope you can take some time to enjoy yourself … but keep watching the skies!

As for me, today I need to review the galleys for my novelette, “What is a Warrior Without His Wounds?” and send any changes back to the good folks at Asimov’s Science Fiction. The story is scheduled to appear in their July issue. (As an aside, I’m thinking of donating my payment for the story to the Wounded Warrior Project. Do you think that would be appropriate?)

Asimov's Science Fiction

 

Today is also the LAST DAY to nominate for the Nebula Awards, so I need to do that, too. Over the past few weeks I’ve read a LOT of terrific short fiction, which makes it hard to decide what to nominate. Guess I’d better get to it.

Nebula Award Logo

 

Finally, in the “upcoming events” category, next week I’ll be at MystiCon in Roanoke, Virginia, where I will play a concert (yes, really), moderate some panels, and generally make a nuisance of myself. My schedule looks like this:

Friday, 22 February

  • 5 p.m., A Musical Hour with Gray Rinehart
  • 6 p.m., Writing Space Battles (I’m moderating this panel)
  • 10 p.m., Koffee Klatch … Reading with Peter Prellwitz

Saturday, 23 February

  • 1 p.m., Grasping for the Stars (moderator)
  • 2 p.m., How Military Technology is Catching Up with Military SF Tech (again, moderator)
  • 4 p.m., The Baen Traveling Road Show
  • 8 p.m., Remembering Uncle Orson’s Literary Boot Camp

Sunday, 24 February

  • 9 a.m., Worship Service
  • 12 p.m., No Shirt, No Shoes, No Entry — Business Etiquette

So, as long as we don’t get smashed by rocks falling from space, it should be a good time!

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Happy New Year, and My illogiCon Schedule

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Happy 2013 to one and all! I hope your New Year has started well, and that it gets better as it goes along!


(Professor Schroedington, the illogiCon mascot, from their CafePress store.)

A new year means a new round of science fiction and fantasy conventions, and the first one on my calendar is illogiCon, to be held right here in the Research Triangle 11-13 January. Here’s my schedule for the event:

Friday the 11th

  • Filk Workshop, 8 PM

Saturday the 12th

  • Panel, “Finance for Beginning Writers,” 10 AM
  • Filk Concert, 2 PM
  • Baen Books Traveling Road Show, 3:30 PM

Sunday the 13th

  • Reading, 1 PM
  • Panel, “Sitting in the Hot Seat,” 3 PM

Tim Powers is the Writer Guest of Honor, Mark Van Name is the Toastmaster, and a whole lot of other cool people are guests at this year’s con. I know I’ll have a great time! Hope to see you there.

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Happy Birthday, Arthur C. Clarke

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Ninety-five years ago today — December 16, 1917 — Arthur C. Clarke, the visionary author of many science fiction classics, was born in Minehead, Somerset, England.


(Clarke on the set of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Image from the Clarke Foundation web site.)

As the Clarke Foundation web site puts it,

Arthur C. Clarke’s legacy bridges the worlds of the arts and the sciences. His work ranged from scientific discovery to science fiction, from technical application to entertainment. As an engineer, as a futurist, and as a humanist, Clarke has influenced numerous artists, scientists, and engineers working today ….

And, no doubt, his work and his legacy will continue to influence and inspire people for years to come.

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Read the Opening of 'SEAGULLs, Jack-o-Lanterns, Interstitial Spaces'

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I try not to overdo the shameless plugs, but the opening of my story in the November issue of Analog Science Fiction & Fact — “SEAGULLs, Jack-o-Lanterns, and Interstitial Spaces” — has been posted on the Analog web site.

The page also includes Vincent DiFate’s illustration:


(Illustration by Vincent DiFate. Analog SF&F image.)

You can read the opening of “SEAGULLs” by clicking through from this link.

You can also see the entire table of contents by clicking here. On that page you’ll also find these kind words of introduction from editor Stanley Schmidt,

We always have a bit of a dilemma about where to put seasonal material: in the issue named for the month in which a holiday or other event occurs, or the one that actually appears closest to that date? Our November issue contains at least one item that could be construed as Halloween related, from its title, “SEAGULLs, Jack-O-Lanterns, and Interstitial Spaces.” And that holiday does in fact play a role in it, though not, as author Gray Rinehart points out, as much as the title suggests. Set in a space station, it’s a quintessential Analog story in which an intriguing technical problem and the lives of the people who must deal with it are inextricably entwined—and I’ll bet you can’t guess what the SEAGULLs and jack-o-lanterns really are!

Of course, I hope you’ll buy a copy of the magazine … along with the October-November issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction, which includes my story “The Second Engineer.”

Thanks!

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None of My Nominations Made It …

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… onto the Pegasus Awards ballot. C’est la vie.


(Pegasus Award logo.)

You can see the list of finalists for Best Filk Song, etc., here at the Ohio Valley Filk Festival site.

As for me, I’m off to Dragon*Con, where I will indulge my filk habit. Perhaps I’ll try to finish the song I’ve been working on the past few months … although finishing my current short story should be higher on my priority list.

Onward!

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My Dragon*Con 2012 Schedule

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Once again, Labor Day weekend will find me in Atlanta for the annual Dragon*Con science fiction and fantasy conention. I don’t have very many official events, so along with my work responsibilities I’ve filled my schedule with some fun things and some service opportunities.


(Dragon*Con logo.)

Friday, 31 August
1 p.m. — Setting up for the Baen authors’ signing at the Larry Smith Booksellers booth (numbers 309-311 in the Marquis Ballroom in the Marriott) … first up at 1:30, Les Johnson & Timothy Zahn
5 p.m. — Holding down the fort at the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America table (wherever that happens to be)
7 p.m. — Filk and Cookies (Baker Room in the Hyatt)
11:30 p.m. — Open Filk (Baker Room in the Hyatt)

Saturday, 1 September
9:30 a.m. — Setting up for the Baen authors’ signing … first up at 10, John Ringo & Travis Taylor
1 p.m. — Baen Books Traveling Slide Show (Regency V in the Hyatt)
7 p.m. — Chick Fil-A Kickoff Game, Clemson Tigers vs. the like-named team from Auburn (Georgia Dome)
(Tentative) 11:30 p.m. — Open Filk (Baker Room in the Hyatt)

Sunday, 2 September
10 a.m. — Helping lead worship at the Fans for Christ worship service (Augusta Room in the Westin)
2:30 p.m. — Singing one of my original filk songs at Alethea Kontis‘s “Sideshow” (Edgewood Room in the Hyatt)
(Tentative) 7 p.m. — Open Filk (Baker Room in the Hyatt)

Monday, 3 September
10 a.m. — Holding down the fort again at the SFWA table

In between all that, I’ll try to catch some friends on their panels, swing through Barfly Central, and find the occasional quiet (!) spot to hang out. And, if I’m really conscientious, I’ll work on a short story or two, and maybe a song.

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Curiosity Has Landed

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A few hours ago the Mars Science Laboratory, also known as the Curiosity rover, landed successfully on the red planet.


(One of Curiosity’s first pictures from Mars. According to the official NASA description, this image was “taken through a ‘fisheye’ wide-angle lens on the left ‘eye’ of a stereo pair of Hazard-Avoidance cameras on the left-rear side of the rover. The image is one-half of full resolution. The clear dust cover that protected the camera during landing has been sprung open. Part of the spring that released the dust cover can be seen at the bottom right, near the rover’s wheel.”)

Here’s the full story from Spaceflight Now. Congratulations to the spacecraft’s designers, builders, launch team, and operators on the pinpoint approach and the success of the “sky crane” that deposited the rover safely on the surface. Well done!

The rover landed in Gale Crater, which pleases me immensely since the main character of my novel is named Gale (nicknamed “Stormie”). I may need to add a suitable reference in the text.

As I wrote in a recent related post, I look forward to Curiosity’s trek and discoveries.

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Exploring the Extreme Ultraviolet

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Twenty years ago today — June 7, 1992 — a Delta II rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, carrying the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) spacecraft.


(Artist’s conception of EUVE. NASA image.)

EUVE was, as its name implies, an Explorer series spacecraft built to survey the sky in “the extreme ultraviolet range of the spectrum, from 70 – 760 Angstroms.” In addition to a full-sky survey, EUVE also conducted a “deep-survey” and made specific observations.

EUVE operated well throughout its mission life and two mission extensions, until operations ceased on January 31, 2001. The spacecraft de-orbited a year later and “re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere over central Egypt.”

Of particular interest to science fiction fans, one of the project scientists for EUVE was Dr. Yoji Kondo. I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Kondo at Ravencon a few years ago. He’s a delightful fellow, and it’s no surprise that EUVE performed so well since he was involved in it.

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'The Monster Hunter Ballad' Made the Pegasus Award 'Brainstorming Poll'

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My first original filk* song made it onto the “Brainstorming Poll” of the annual filk awards!

It’s not an official nomination, but it’s something.


(Pegasus Award logo.)

“The Monster Hunter Ballad”, inspired by the books by Larry Correia, made the poll in the “Best Song” category.

Nominations are open from now until the end of July.

___
*Folk music with science fiction or fantasy elements.

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