2017 Award Eligibility Post

It's that wonderful time of the year when authors feel like egotistical jerks for reminding readers of all the award eligible things they did last year. You can almost smell the anxiety. But it has to be done because memories are short and regrets are forever.

So...on to business!

This is my last year of eligibility for the Campbell Award. My short story, The Fukuda Cube, which appeared in the Eclipse Phase anthology is eligible for the best short story Hugo award.

This concludes the portion about me. Here's a list of everything I read and loved last year (that was also published last year):

Novels:
The Fireman, by Joe Hill
        This book is really brilliant! It's really not horror either. If I had to re-classify it I'd call it dark contemporary fantasy. And you know what? I'm going to come right out and say it. I think this book establishes him as a better writer than his father.

Bands of Mourning, by Brandon Sanderson
        Another brilliant book. The previous book in this series left me heartbroken for the characters and this book was the perfect followup. Plus there's major Cosemere crossover stuff if you pay close attention to those kind of things.

Arcanum Unbounded, by Brandon Sanderson
         Yes, there's two of his on the list but I would be amiss not to put this fantastic collection of his shortish fiction on the list. It's gorgeous and there's so many excellent stories!

Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge, by John Ringo and Larry Correia
         I normally don't like reflective first person viewpoints but this one is so good! Granted it helps that I love the Monster Hunter books anyway, but even if I didn't I still would have loved this book. It's that well done...until you get to the giant spiders at the end. I did skip that part. Oh, come on. Wouldn't you? They're giant spiders! Eek!

Ghost Talkers, by Mary Robinette Kowal
         This historical fantasy has all of the charm beautiful language we've come to expect from Mary in addition to being a really compelling thriller. It made me laugh and it made me cry.

Extreme Makeover, by Dan Wells
         When Dan said that this is the best book he's ever written, he wasn't kidding! It's brilliant! The concept is original and terrifying and there's just enough humor to keep me from having nightmares.



Graphic Novel:
Monstress vol. 1, by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
        The art is gorgeous, the story is fascinating and original, and the Asian influence makes me feel right at home. I can't wait for the second collection to come out!

Yes, you can nominate my stories!

Since I'm a newly published writer my name doesn't immediately pop into people's minds when considering what and whom to nominate for awards like the Nebula and Hugo. That's why I'm going to come right out and say it. Yes, I have eligible works and yes, you can put them on your ballot if you think they're worthy.


My eligible works are:
Short Stories:
"The Void Around the Sword's Edge" -- Fiction River: Pulse Pounders, Kobo Special Edition

"Blood Moon Carnival" -- Fiction River: Alchemy and Steam


Related Work:
The Complete Newbie's Guide to Book Signings Parts 1 and 2 -- Ninja Keyboard Blog

And even though I don't have a snowball's chance of winning, I am eligible for the Campbell Award (not a Hugo).


If you haven't read any of these I highly recommend that you do so before putting any of these on your ballot(s). I don't want anyone to put me on their ballot(s) if they don't believe that I belong there.

Since we're talking about nomination worthy works, here's some other things that I read last year that I loved and are eligible.

Novels (and a short story collection):
The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu
Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson
Blue Yonders, Grateful Pies and Other Fanciful Feasts by Ken Scholes

Short Stories:
"Pennies for Portent" by Diana Benedict -- Fiction River: Alchemy and Steam
"Rites of Zosimos" by Angela Penrose -- Fiction River: Alchemy and Steam

Rocket ships and Lonestars

Yesterday was the deadline for the Hugo Award nomination ballot. While I filled out my ballot, I made some interesting observations. The first being how cool and weird it was to actually be filling out a ballot. I know it's not hard to get a ballot but this is not only my first year attending but the first time I've had a membership of this magnitude. In some ways it feels like I've officially transitioned from reader and fan to writer and colleague.

Part of my day job duties as the official Sci-fi Lady is to keep the Hugo and Nebula award winner lists up to date. Before I started writing seriously, checking the winners list was a fun task because I could stay up to date on which of my favorite books and authors won. It also gave me something to gush and/or commiserate about with my regulars. Getting paid and selling books while doing it was a bonus.

After I chose to make writing a career and started going to workshops and signings, my outlook changed. Why? Because not only were there more names on the list that I recognized, some of them belonged to friends. No longer were they anonymous, lofty artists. They were people that I'd hung out at the bar with, asked writing advice from, played games with. Individuals that I could actually call to congratulate. The award suddenly became personal -- remotely, but still a lot more personal than before. In a lot of ways, the experience is like listening to a Forbidden Broadway parody.

The first time you hear it it's funny. After you've been cast in the show that is being lampooned, the song takes on a whole new meaning and significance.

Before, it was merely disappointing when a book that I really liked didn't win. Knowing the author only makes it harder because you know how hard they worked on it. On the other hand, it's absolutely thrilling to see their names on the nomination lists and to watch them accept their well deserved awards, so I guess it balances out.

This year, I got to take that thrill to the next level by being one of the many people who put them on the ballot. I know there are certain individuals (mostly trolls) that will spew accusations that the awards are fixed because we all nominate and vote for each other. I'll confess, most of the works I put on my ballot were written by friends. However, I didn't do it because of a conspiracy or a sense of obligation. It's because I don't have a lot of reading time and the works of my friends take precedence over the rest.

Friendships aside, if I didn't love the story, I wouldn't have put it on my ballot. When I bought my attending membership and I thought about who I might vote for, that was a distinction that I didn't know if I could make or not. Once I actually saw the ballot and how many spaces there were in each category, it was far easier. What can i say? I have more friends then the ballot has spaces. (Not exactly a bad problem to have.)

As the voting process continues it will be interesting to see if I have any more moments of "Wow! I didn't expect that." In the meantime I will delight in the fact that I was able to make my opinion known and see the process with new eyes.


Note: Mark your calendars! Yours truly will have a guest post at The Fictorian Era on Saturday, March 28th.