Tuesday, February 22, 2011

SFWA announces 2010 Nebula Awards final ballot

CHESTERTOWN, Md. -- Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, Inc., has announced the final Nebula Awards® ballot for 2011.

The Nebula Awards are voted on, and presented by, active members of SFWA. The awards will be announced at the Nebula Awards Banquet the evening of May 21 at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C. Other awards to be presented are the Andre Norton Award for Excellence in Science Fiction or Fantasy for Young Adults, the Bradbury Award for excellence in screenwriting and the Solstice Award for outstanding contribution to the field.

Short Story
“Arvies,” Adam-Troy Castro (Lightspeed Magazine, Aug. 2010)
“How Interesting: A Tiny Man,” Harlan Ellison (Realms of Fantasy, Feb. 2010)
“Ponies,” Kij Johnson (Tor.com, Jan. 17, 2010)
“I’m Alive, I Love You, I’ll See You in Reno,” Vylar Kaftan (Lightspeed Magazine, June 2010)
“The Green Book,” Amal El-Mohtar (Apex Magazine, Nov. 1, 2010)
“Ghosts of New York,” Jennifer Pelland (Dark Faith, Dec. 2010)
“Conditional Love,” Felicity Shoulders (Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, Jan. 2010)

Novelette
“Map of Seventeen,” Christopher Barzak (The Beastly Bride, April 2010)
“The Jaguar House, in Shadow,” Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, July 2010)
“The Fortuitous Meeting of Gerard van Oost and Oludara,” Christopher Kastensmidt
(Realms of Fantasy, April 2010)
“Plus or Minus,” James Patrick Kelly (Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, Dec. 2010)
“Pishaach,” Shweta Narayan (The Beastly Bride, April 2010)
“That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made,” Eric James Stone (Analog Science Fiction
and Fact
, Sept. 2010)
“Stone Wall Truth,” Caroline M. Yoachim (Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, Feb. 2010)

Novella
The Alchemist, Paolo Bacigalupi (Audible; Subterranean, July 2010)
“Iron Shoes,” J. Kathleen Cheney (Alembical 2, June 2010)
The Lifecycle of Software Objects, Ted Chiang (Subterranean, Fall 2010)
“The Sultan of the Clouds,” Geoffrey A. Landis (Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, Sept. 2010)
“Ghosts Doing the Orange Dance,” Paul Park (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science
Fiction
, Jan.-Feb. 2010)
“The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen’s Window,” Rachel Swirsky
(Subterranean Magazine, Summer 2010)

Novel
The Native Star, M.K. Hobson (Spectra, Aug. 2010)
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit UK; Orbit US, Feb. 2010)
Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor, Aug. 2010)
Echo, Jack McDevitt (Ace, Nov. 2010)
Who Fears Death, Nnedi Okorafor (DAW, June 2010)
Blackout/All Clear, Connie Willis (Spectra, Feb.-Oct. 2010)

The Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation
Despicable Me, Ken Daurio & Cinco Paul, screenplay, Sergio Pablos, story, Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud, directors, (Illumination Entertainment, July 2010)
Doctor Who: “Vincent and the Doctor,” Richard Curtis, screenplay, Jonny Campbell, director, (BBC, June 2010)
How to Train Your Dragon, William Davies, Dean DeBlois, & Chris Sanders, screenplay, Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders, directors, (DreamWorks Animation, March 2010)
Inception, Christopher Nolan, screenplay, director, (Warner, July 2010)
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Michael Bacall & Edgar Wright, screenplay, Edgar Wright, director, (Universal, Aug. 2010)
Toy Story 3, Michael Arndt, screenplay, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, & Lee
Unkrich, story, Lee Unkrich, director, (Pixar/Disney)

Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy
Ship Breaker, Paolo Bacigalupi (Little, Brown, May 2010)
White Cat, Holly Black (McElderry, May 2010)
Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins (Scholastic Press; Scholastic UK, Aug. 2010)
Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, Barry Deutsch (Amulet, Nov. 2010)
The Boy from Ilysies, Pearl North (Tor Teen, Nov. 2010)
I Shall Wear Midnight, Terry Pratchett (Gollancz; Harper, Sept. 2010)
A Conspiracy of Kings, Megan Whalen Turner (Greenwillow, March 2010)
Behemoth, Scott Westerfeld (Simon Pulse; Simon & Schuster UK, Oct. 2010)


The Nebula Awards Weekend will be held Thursday, May 19-Sunday, May 22. Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning author Michael Swanwick will serves as toastmaster.

The Nebula Awards Weekend is open to the general public. Event registration and hotel information may be found at www.sfwa.org. The discounted room rate of $129 (plus tax) per night single/double is available from May 16-26. Room reservations may be made directly through the Washington Hilton Hotel by calling (202) 483-3000 or fax (202) 232-0438 using the group code “SFWA.”

About SFWA
Founded in 1965 by the late Damon Knight, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America brings together the most successful and daring writers of speculative fiction throughout the world.

Since its inception, SFWA® has grown in numbers and influence until it is now widely recognized as one of the most effective non-profit writers' organizations in existence, boasting a membership of approximately 1,500 science fiction and fantasy writers as well as artists, editors and allied professionals. Each year the organization presents the prestigious Nebula Awards® for the year’s best literary and dramatic works of speculative fiction.

Monday, February 7, 2011

The Fleeting Texas Snow

We had a brief layering of snow out here in Austin on Friday, just long enough to slap together a snowman. And once you have a snowman, you have all the ingredients for a time-lapse video. I shot this in the front yard, using my cheap digital camera and an exposure every five to twenty minutes. It takes all day for the snowman to collapse, from about 11AM to 5PM. I like how the snow-flesh dissolves away from the sunlight. Perhaps snowmen are part vampire?

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Mind Meld with Mickey



Over at SF Signal, the latest Mind Meld has me and several of my betters (including Tobias Buckell, Nancy Kress, Lucius Shepard, Mary Robinette Kowal and Derek Johnson) riffing on cinematic surprises. While I am reflexively wary of media consumerist exercises like this, it was surprising fun and I am impressed with the collective results (I especially concur with Lucius about Monsters). I managed a double Dumbledore archetype and a prose poem about the flesh of Mickey Rourke, which I consider a critical material of 21st century consciousness. Check it out.