Tag Archives: fantasy

Congratulations to My Friends

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Good news for some of my literary friends!

First, hearty congratulations to Chuck Gannon, whose novel Fire With Fire just won the Compton Crook Award! As some of you know, I take an inordinate amount of pleasure at seeing that particular novel get the recognition I think it deserves.

Second, the Hugo Award nominations were announced, and several of my friends are on the ballot!

Hugo Award Logo

Congratulations are in order for all the nominees, but I especially congratulate these fine folks:

  • Larry Correia, for Warbound, Book III of the Grimnoir Chronicles (Best Novel)
  • Aliette de Bodard, for “The Waiting Stars” (Best Novelette)
  • Mary Robinette Kowal, for “The Lady Astronaut of Mars” (Best Novelette) and Writing Excuses Season 8 (Best Related Work)
  • John Picacio (Best Professional Artist)
  • Rachel Swirsky, for “If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love” (Best Short Story)
  • Howard Tayler, for Writing Excuses Season 8 (Best Related Work)
  • Brad Torgersen, for “The Chaplain’s Legacy” (Best Novella) and “The Exchange Officers” (Best Novelette)
  • Toni Weisskopf (Best Editor, Long Form)
  • Sheila Williams (Best Editor, Short Form)

So again, congratulations one and all to these and all the other nominees!

___

Full Disclosure: This post is full of Baen Books goodness, and I am a contract editor for Baen.

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In Richmond Next Weekend? Come Out to RavenCon

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The RavenCon science fiction and fantasy convention is next weekend — 25-7 April — in Richmond, Virginia.

If you’re in Richmond, stop on by the DoubleTree by Hilton, Richmond-Midlothian, and check out what’s happening. The Guest of Honor will be Elizabeth Bear, recipient of two Hugo Awards, the John W. Cambell Award for Best New Writer (2005), a Sturgeon Award, a Locus Award, an Asimov’s Reader’s Choice award, a Spectrum Award, and an honorable mention for the Philip K. Dick Award.

I’ll be on several panels throughout the weekend, plus one intensive workshop. Here’s the rundown of what I’ll be doing, starting on Friday the 26th:

  • 5 pm: Signing
  • 8 pm: Panel on 3D-printing (I’m moderating)

On Saturday:

  • 9 am: Panel on Real-life Star Trek inventions
  • 10 am: Panel on “Exomusicology,” about music in alien cultures (I’m moderating this one, too)
  • 4-6 pm: Baen Books Traveling Road Show
  • 10 p.m. until midnight: Workshop, After the First Draft: The Next Step for the Aspiring Writer

And then on Sunday:

  • 9 am: Praise & Worship Hour
  • 10 am: Reading

For more information, take a look at the RavenCon web site. Come on out and we’ll have some fun!

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Nominate the Baen Free Radio Hour!

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As the “Best Related Work” for the Hugo Awards, that is.

(FULL DISCLOSURE: I’m a Contributing Editor for Baen Books and have been on the Baen Free Radio Hour podcast. But so what? It’s related to science fiction and fantasy, so go ahead and nominate it!)

You have other choices, too, of course, if you’re nominating for the Hugos — but the good thing is that you can nominate more than one thing!

For instance, you could nominate the Monster Hunter International Employee’s Handbook and Role-Playing Game. That was a very successful Kickstarter project run by Steven Long. And if you hew to a rather expansive definition of “related work,” you could always nominate a certain science-fiction-and-fantasy-related album.

But whatever you do, do it soon! The nomination deadline is coming up fast.

___

P.S. This post was all about the “Best Related Work” category, but I’ll just add that I also have a novelette you could nominate if you have an empty slot in that category. “What is a Warrior Without His Wounds?” was in the July 2013 issue of Asimov’s. I can even e-mail you a copy if you like. GWR

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I Have Some Pretty Cool Friends …

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And some of them just made the short list for the Nebula Awards!

Nebula Award Logo

Here’s the full list, with my friends marked in bold:

BEST NOVEL
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Karen Joy Fowler (Marian Wood)
The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaiman (Morrow; Headline Review)
Fire with Fire, Charles E. Gannon (Baen) — I’m particularly pleased that this was nominated, for reasons that may or may not be obvious
Hild, Nicola Griffith (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
The Red: First Light, Linda Nagata (Mythic Island)
A Stranger in Olondria, Sofia Samatar (Small Beer)
The Golem and the Jinni, Helene Wecker (Harper)

BEST NOVELLA
“Wakulla Springs,” Andy Duncan & Ellen Klages (Tor.com 10/2/13)
“The Weight of the Sunrise,” Vylar Kaftan (Asimov’s 2/13)
“Annabel Lee,” Nancy Kress (New Under the Sun)
“Burning Girls,” Veronica Schanoes (Tor.com 6/19/13)
“Trial of the Century,” Lawrence M. Schoen (lawrencemschoen.com, 8/13; World Jumping)
“Six-Gun Snow White,” Catherynne M. Valente (Subterranean)

BEST NOVELETTE
“Paranormal Romance,” Christopher Barzak (Lightspeed 6/13)
“The Waiting Stars,” Aliette de Bodard (The Other Half of the Sky)
“They Shall Salt the Earth with Seeds of Glass,” Alaya Dawn Johnson (Asimov’s 1/13)
“Pearl Rehabilitative Colony for Ungrateful Daughters,” Henry Lien (Asimov’s 12/13)
“The Litigation Master and the Monkey King,” Ken Liu (Lightspeed 8/13)
“In Joy, Knowing the Abyss Behind,” Sarah Pinsker (Strange Horizons 7/1 – 7/8/13)

BEST SHORT STORY
“The Sounds of Old Earth,” Matthew Kressel (Lightspeed 1/13)
“Selkie Stories Are for Losers,” Sofia Samatar (Strange Horizons 1/7/13)
“Selected Program Notes from the Retrospective Exhibition of Theresa Rosenberg Latimer,” Kenneth Schneyer (Clockwork Phoenix 4)
“If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love,” Rachel Swirsky (Apex 3/13)
“Alive, Alive Oh,” Sylvia Spruck Wrigley (Lightspeed 6/13)

RAY BRADBURY AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING DRAMATIC PRESENTATION
Doctor Who: “The Day of the Doctor” (Nick Hurran, director; Steven Moffat, writer) (BBC Wales)
Europa Report (Sebastián Cordero, director; Philip Gelatt, writer) (Start Motion Pictures)
Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón, director; Alfonso Cuarón & Jonás Cuarón, writers) (Warner Bros.)
Her (Spike Jonze, director; Spike Jonze, writer) (Warner Bros.)
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Francis Lawrence, director; Simon Beaufoy & Michael deBruyn, writers) (Lionsgate)
Pacific Rim (Guillermo del Toro, director; Travis Beacham & Guillermo del Toro, writers) (Warner Bros.)

ANDRE NORTON AWARD FOR YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, Holly Black (Little, Brown; Indigo)
When We Wake, Karen Healey (Allen & Unwin; Little, Brown)
Sister Mine, Nalo Hopkinson (Grand Central)
The Summer Prince, Alaya Dawn Johnson (Levine)
Hero, Alethea Kontis (Harcourt)
September Girls, Bennett Madison (Harper Teen)
A Corner of White, Jaclyn Moriarty (Levine)

DAMON KNIGHT GRAND MASTER AWARD: Samuel R. Delany

SPECIAL GUEST: Frank M. Robinson

___

I admit to some disappointment that other folks I nominated did not make the list, but with the exception of the dramatic works and the individual categories, I have at least one friend who is a finalist for each category. I think that’s pretty cool!

Or, at least, I think my friends are pretty cool …

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Damage Done, the Operative Said

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Or, The Vicious, Small-Stakes Politics of the Science Fiction Community.

I’ve been watching yet another brouhaha in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). Or, to be precise, not really another one, more of a continuation of the one from last year involving the editorship of the SFWA Bulletin.

And as I skim over some of the posts that people have made about the matter, with one exception (dealt with below) it all reminds me of this quote:

Academic Politics Are So Vicious Because the Stakes Are So Small

My old boss had a very similar quote on her bulletin board, attributed to Henry Kissinger, but the idea was articulated in (political scientist Wallace Stanley) Sayre’s law, which states that “In any dispute the intensity of feeling is inversely proportional to the value of the issues at stake.” This “law” is appended with “That is why academic politics are so bitter.”

I venture to say that SFWA politics also involve relatively small stakes, and the vitriol expended on them is far out of proportion to the issues.

Which brings me for the moment to the exception I alluded to above, viz., the tendency to resort to ad hominem attacks instead of addressing the issues. It’s at least understandable in electoral politics, where scoring points may rally the base or shake up an opponent, and where the stakes are higher because the issues involve nontrivial impacts on people’s lives. Scoring points that way can even be amusing, if done with panache. But it’s usually unnecessary if one has a principled position to defend and a sound argument based on valid premises. Unfortunately, in these SFWA proceedings I detect much more inflammatory rhetoric than reasoned argument or entertainment. Perhaps I should not be too surprised: after all, writers are in the business of producing dramatic works. But unwarranted personal attacks raise my hackles, especially when directed at friends of mine; and I count as friends people all along the conservative-liberal spectrum, with whom I will stand when they are attacked even if I disagree with them on any particular matter under debate.

Which brings me back (in my convoluted way of thinking) to the actual matter under debate, specifically the infamous-within-SFWA-circles petition circulated after SFWA advertised for a new Bulletin editor, and the SFWA President’s assurance that the petitioners have nothing to fear. The president wrote that he saw “versions [of the petition] and they express concerns for something that does not and will not exist: Specifically, the editor of the Bulletin will not have to go to any selection or editorial review board to approve material.”

I submit that, even if true, that really doesn’t matter anymore.

The statement itself seems contrary to the Bulletin editor job advertisement — seen below in a screenshot taken yesterday — which reads that the editor will “Participate in [the] proofing and review process with select volunteer and board members.” But even if that enigmatic item does not refer to an editorial review board, it doesn’t matter because the idea of the Bulletin editor having much in the way of autonomy evaporated with the dismissal of the previous editor over the “warrior woman” cover and the Resnick-Malzberg historical article that violated an unwritten, unspoken taboo by noting a female editor’s attractiveness.


(Screenshot of the SFWA Bulletin editor job advertisement, taken February 17, 2014. Click to enlarge.)

Does anyone realistically believe that the new editor of the Bulletin will not be aware of that precedent, and that it will never prick the back of their mind like some mental sword of Damocles? Right there in the job description are references to a vague “vision” and unspecified “SFWA standards,” and many vociferous members no doubt stand ready to enforce the standards as they see fit. As the Operative in Serenity said, in a different context to be sure, “Damage done.”

So came the latest brouhaha: some members and nonmembers signed a petition expressing concern over the editorial board notion, which if formed would only institutionalize the weakened position of the editor. And their petition was met, as such things often are, not with thoughtful objections but with scorn, ridicule, and anger. None of which will make much difference in the long run, because the castle keep of editorial (and authorial) license was stormed last year and now lies in rubble.

All of this seems to me clear examples of the viciousness of organizational politics over stakes that are pretty trivial.

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My MystiCon Schedule

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Next week I’ll head to Roanoke, Virginia for the MystiCon science fiction and fantasy convention.

On Friday, 21 February, I’ll be on a panel called “The Delphic Oracle” with author Guest of Honor Todd McCaffrey and some other good folks.

The Delphic Oracle is an improv-based panel wherein the panelists, one word at a time, one person at a time, answer the audience’s questions about the future (or summer camp) in an irreverent homage to the ancient Oracle of Delphi. Hilarity invariably ensues.

Saturday the 22nd will be a busy day. First up is “The Science of Star Trek” panel, with Baen Books author and editor Tony Daniel, et al, which I will moderate.

Star Trek props and gadgets are now a part of our real lives. You can see the influence of Star Trek communicators, daily logs and tricorders in the modern cell phone and tablet designs. Even the ability to replicate objects is becoming a reality through 3-D printing. Why has Star Trek influenced technological advances and what’s the next to become reality?

After that I’ll have a “Koffee Klatch” — reading a story, singing a song, talking with anyone who comes by — then in the afternoon we’ll have the “Baen Traveling Road Show & Podcast” featuring author Tom Kratman.

On Sunday I’ll be on a panel with Gail Z. Martin and other authors called “Tooting Your Own Horn.”

Done properly, self-promotion is an important part of building a career. Poorly executed, self-promotion can do more harm than good. Our panelists will discuss what works and doesn’t work along with these common questions: Do book signings really help a small author? Are bookmarks and/or postcards effective at garnering attention? Does a blog help or hurt an author? Does an author have to have a website?

Hopefully amidst all that we’ll have some folks interested in filking, and as always I’ll have a few copies of my CD for anyone who wants to buy one (or more than one!). And, since it looks as if we’re due for a warm-up over the next few days, my travel back-and-forth should be fairly easy.

If you’re going to be at the con, look me up!

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Today’s the Last Day …

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… to join the World Science Fiction Convention if you want to nominate and vote for the Hugo Awards.

Hugo Award Logo

It costs 25 Pounds Sterling, or about 40 US dollars, to join as a Supporting Member. (I had the price wrong on my earlier post, Want to Nominate and Vote for the Hugo Awards?) For that price, you get an electronic package with nearly all of the nominated works: novels, shorter works, and much of the artwork.

Sign up as a WorldCon member at this site, then you can nominate here.

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And if you haven’t already done so, check out Larry Correia’s Sad Puppies Campaign to encourage fans of his Monster Hunter and Grimnoir novels to nominate and vote..

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So, What is a ‘Related Work,’ Anyway?

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A few days ago, when I posted a reminder about nominating and voting for the Hugo Awards,* a friend asked if my album was eligible in the “Best Related Work” category.

Gray Rinehart presents Truths and Lies and Make-Believe
(Image by Paul Cory Photography.)

The answer, I’m afraid, is no.

At first glance it seemed as if Truths and Lies and Make-Believe (or one of the songs) might be eligible, since most of the songs on the album are science fiction or fantasy-related. The World Science Fiction Society constitution defines “Best Related Work” as

Any work related to the field of science fiction, fantasy, or fandom, appearing for the first time during the previous calendar year or which has been substantially modified during the previous calendar year, and which is either non-fiction or, if fictional, is noteworthy primarily for aspects other than the fictional text, and which is not eligible in any other category.

“Any work related to the field” might seem to include music, but I don’t usually think of music as “non-fiction” or “fictional.” So I looked around some more and found that over at the Hugo Awards site, the category description adds this:

The type of works eligible include, but are not limited to, collections of art, works of literary criticism, books about the making of a film or TV series, biographies and so on, provided that they do not qualify for another category.

By “collections of art,” they seem to mean printed volumes of visual art — collections of music or other arts apparently need not apply. There is that magic “not limited to” phrase, though, and the award is no longer limited to printed books, having gone last year to the Writing Excuses podcast that some of my friends put together. The Wikipedia entry explains the history.

The award was originally titled the Hugo Award for Best Non-Fiction Book and was first awarded in 1980. In 1999 the Award was retitled to the Hugo Award for Best Related Book, and eligibility was officially expanded to fiction works that were primarily noteworthy for reasons besides their fictional aspects. In 2010, the title of the award was again changed, to the Hugo Award for Best Related Work.

Looking over the list of nominees and winners, it appears that science fiction and fantasy music — known in the community as “filk” — has never been considered as a “related work” for the purpose of the award. Which makes me wonder what would happen if enough fans put in nominations for music, since the Hugos are fan-based awards; since the award is no longer limited to printed works, would the Hugo committee honor those nominations, or would they disqualify them? Unfortunately, I don’t have enough fans to test that hypothesis in the manner of Larry Correia’s Sad Puppies Campaign.

So, strictly speaking, neither my album nor my songs would be considered “related works.” But if you decide to write in one of my songs anyway, let me know!

___
*Want to Nominate and Vote for the Hugo Awards?

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illogiCon Wrap-Up

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It took longer than anticipated to recover from illogiCon, because it was such an enjoyable convention. It took longer than expected to post this wrap-up, too — no excuse!


(At dinner with many of my writing friends. I’m the one in the hat. Photo courtesy of James Maxey.)

As with other conventions, the best part was hanging out with my friends. illogiCon featured two Guests of Honor, Mary Robinette Kowal and Lawrence M. Schoen, both of whom are terrific folks, as well as many of our local North Carolina authors who are among my favorite people in the world.

But, holy moly, illogiCon was BUSY!

On day one of the convention, last Friday, I was on two panels: one a serious discussion about how technologies such as robotics and smartphones are impacting our lives, and then “Lies With Words,” in which GOH Lawrence Schoen led five of us through a game similar to Balderdash. (Yours truly came in third; Baen Books author Mark Van Name took the prize.) The evening ended, as most of my convention evenings do, with filk — though the filking was pretty subdued.

Saturday was a whirlwind of activity in more ways than one. First was a panel discussion about whether social media and rapid communication are fragmenting society into “A Million Nations,” followed by an enjoyable discussion about science fiction from the perspective of social scientists. A few of my friends came to my reading, which was followed by a recording of the Baen Free Radio Hour — though right about that time we had two tornado warnings in quick succession! (The storm was close enough that it damaged trees just up the street from my house.) Once things calmed down, and after the podcast recording, we put on the Baen Books Travelling Roadshow, after which I had a delightful dinner with my friends (as seen above). I split the rest of the evening between attending other friends’ events, visiting with folks in the lounge, and finally more filking.

Sunday started with a panel that examined “Hard SF vs. Soft SF,” and ended with a discussion of “New Trends in Speculative Fiction.” In between I again attended some of my friends’ events, and afterward I came home and, frankly, crashed pretty hard.

I think I went to work on Monday, but I don’t remember much of it. But that’s probably another indication that illogiCon was a pretty good convention!

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Another Panel for illogiCon: Baen Free Radio Hour

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I got my final illogiCon schedule, and in addition to my other panels I get to be part of the Baen Free Radio Hour on Saturday afternoon!

The “Baen Free Radio Hour Live Q&A” will be a live recording of the Baen Books weekly podcast. The recording will take place at 2 p.m., right after my reading.

The other panelists will be Baen author and editor Tony Daniel, Baen author and “chief technologist” Mark Van Name, the “Chainmail Chick” Allegra, and Nebula (and other) award-winning author (and NC State professor) John Kessel. I’ve been on panels before with each of them, so it should be fun!

If you want to see what else is happening at illogiCon, check out the full program schedule.

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