The good, the bad and the "Nebulous"

This week I'm guest blogging at Fusion Despatches for author, K.S. Augustin. She'll be guest blogging here the night before BayCon (May 27).

Human nature hasn’t changed much since man discovered fire or Cain killed Abel. People still have the same motivations. Man kills, steals or lies for land and money. The material things we fight over have changed, but the base motivations and plots have not. Our lives have grown more complex because of our possessions, but our motivations at their core are just as simple.

We’ve heard or read all the stories before. There is nothing new. That’s why writers recycle. Finish reading my entry on Recycling Storylines Well now.

Then come back here for some mostly fantastic SF news.

The Nebula awards were presented this weekend in Cape Canaveral, FL. And many went to my friends! :)


NOVEL
The Windup Girl – Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade Books, Sep09)
NOVELLA
The Women of Nell Gwynne’s, the late Kage Baker (Subterranean Press, Jun09)
NOVELLETTE
“Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast” – Eugie Foster (Interzone, Feb09)
SHORT STORY
“Spar” – Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld, Oct09)
RAY BRADBURY AWARD
“ District 9” Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell (Tri-Star, Aug09)
ANDRE NORTON AWARD
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making – Catherynne M. Valente (Catherynne M. Valente, Jun09)

Not so good news - ABC cancels Flash Forward. Condolences to Robert J. Sawyer on this one. For those of you who don't know, it's based on his novel of the same name.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is going to the big screen with Natalie Portman playing Elizabeth Bennet.

I'm going to experiment with a different blogging schedule. Interviews will go up on Thursdays. And an entry on writing, science fiction, sf news, etc. will go up on Monday or Tuesday. Now that I'm working at home, I can be more flexible. My back is doing great two weeks post surgery. The home office reclamation has begun -- one shelf at a time. Darn! Should have done a before picture. The boys really had it messed up.

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The "season" part II

Just after posting the list for all those award winners and nominees, I read on Robert Sawyer's Facebook page that FlashForward was up for a Constellation Award. Doh! Those most certainly should have been included in my list.

The Constellation Awards honors Science Fiction works on the silver screen and the plasma (or HD or whatever kind of tele you have) screen. Nominees in the various categories are voted on by the Canadian public using either a paper or online ballot.

The TCON Promotional Society, the not-for-profit corporation who organizes the annual Polaris science fiction event (formerly known as Toronto Trek) organizes the awards program and have been doing so now for four years. Winners will be honored at a ceremony at Polaris 24 in July. For more information, and especially if you're Canadian and haven't voted, visit the Constellation Awards website.

And let's not forget the Science Fiction Writers of America's Nebulas coming up next month. You can see the nominees in all categories on the SFWA site. And last month SFWA announced the winners of the 2010 Solstice Award: Tom Doherty, Terri Windling and the late Donald A. Wollheim. Solstice Awards recipients will be honored during the Nebula Award Weekend in Cocoa Beach, Fla. (May 14-16).

You can read the full press release here.

I have interviews lined up with Greg Bear, Steve Hockensmith and Laurel Ann Hill and many more. Stay tuned.

Oh, and I almost forgot. You SOOOOO have to see this show! I stumbled upon this show on IFC while channel surfing. Have you seen The IT Crowd? It's not SF, but it's a quirky British sitcom.



And of course three episodes later, it poofed. There are three seasons on DVD. It's so on my Amazon wishlist.

I'm also expecting a press package from ABC on the new horror series, Happy Town. I'll tell you all about it as soon as I get it.

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Telling on my friends

Emilie Bush's Chenda and the Airship Brofman is a quarter-finalist in the
Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Competition! Of the 5000 entered in its
category, hers is in the top 250.

Lancer Kind's story, "KanjiKiss", was translated and published in the biggest sf mag on the planet. Bet you don't know which magazine that is.

Seanan McGuire's Late Eclipses and The Brightest Fell (Toby Daye books four and five) have officially been acquired by DAW Books.

Robert Sawyer reports: "Still too soon to announce which property, but had an amazing meeting today with the director, the screenwriter, the star, and two of the executive producers for an adaptation of one of my novels ... "

Finally, though I refuse to twitter, I know others thrive on it. And I love lists.
100 Fun Twitter Feeds for Serious Sci-Fi Geeks





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Science fiction hump day haps

Since I'm currently in a winter slump, apparently, with no news of my own, I thought I'd share some news from my fellow writers:

David Brin reports that the movie option on his short story, "Detritus Affected" was just extended. You can read the story in his anthology, Otherness.

According to SF Awards Watch, Cherie Priest's steampunk novel Boneshaker (Tor), won a 2010 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award.

And if you have your own steampunk novel you've been shopping around, send a query to Junior Agent Sandy Lu at L. Perkins Agency. She's hungry for steampunk. (nods to Cynthia Ward for the tip)

More news from the Pacific Northwest: Jay Lake received the John Dalmas award. The award is in appreciation for his many years of support for Radcon and fandom in general. I'll be there, Jay, to see you receive it. :)

Stephanie Osborn reports: The Y Factor, best-selling ebook and sequel to Dream Realm Award winner Human By Choice, is an EPPIE finalist, just released in print. Book 3 in the series, The Cresperian Alliance, will be released as an ebook around 1 Feb.

Apparently reports of Kirkus Reviews' demise were exaggerated -- or rather overridden? Read about it at Locus.

As I reported on Friday, IROSF (Internet Review of Science Fiction) is closing up shop. But they're going out with a bang. Don't miss the last two issues. Read January issue now.

And here's some science without the fiction news from Daily Mail: What on Earth was that? Mystery space object whizzes past our planet Experts disagree on what it was.

Here are the books at the top of my TBR list. Most will be reviewed at Mostly Fiction.
Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett (currently reading)
Are You There? And Other Stories by Jack Skillingstead (currently reading)
Starbound by Joe Haldeman (author interview in the works, too)
City at the End of Time by Greg Bear
Able One by Ben Bova

Next interviews up:
Michael Hanlon, Daily Mail science editor and author of Eternity
Wendy S. Delmater, Editor in Chief of Apex and Abyss magazine
Joe Haldeman, SF author
Deborah J. Ross, Fantasy author



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