47th Nebula Awards Presented May 19th 2012

Posted in Nebula Awards Weekend, Writing on May 20th, 2012

The 47th Nebula Awards were present this evening, May 19th, 2012, at a ceremony held in the Hyatt Crystal City hotel in Arlington, VA. The Toastmaster was Walter Jon Williams.

Keynote speaker, E. Michael Fincke, Col. USAF (Ret) NASA Astronaut, gave an inspiring talk that thanks the science fiction and fantasy community for their imagination, because so many engineers believe that what they write is not only possible, but actually work to bring it to fruition. His talk was highlighted with pictures of the international space station and some outstanding film of Earth from space.

The Service to SFWA award was presented to Bud Webster for his work in tracking down the estates and heirs of writers who are no longer with us, to help protect their works.

Solstice Awards were presented to Octavia Butler and to John Clute.

The Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy went to Delia Sherman for her book The Freedom Maze.

The Ray Bradbury Award for Dramatic Presentation went to Dr. Who: The Doctor’s Wife written by Neil Gaiman and was directed by Richard Clark. (BBC Wales).

James Patrick Kelly presented the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award to Connie Willis, who gave a humorous and touching acceptance speech.

The short story award was presented to Ken Liu for “The Paper Menagerie” published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction March/April 2011.

The award for novelette was presented to Geoff Ryman for “What We Found” published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction September/October 2011.

The award for novella was presented to Kij Johnson for “The Man Who Bridged the Mist” published in Asimov’s Science Fiction October/November 2011.

The award for novel was presented to Jo Walton for Among Others published by Tor.

Gumshoe Review and SFRevu August issues are on line now

Posted in Announcement, THE Zines on August 1st, 2011

Both issues went up today and you can read them at the following links:
GumshoeReview.com for reviews of mystery, thriller and related materials, and
SFRevu.com for science fiction and fantasy reviews, news, etc.

Enjoy.

June Issue of SFRevu is Now Online

Posted in Announcement, THE Zines on June 7th, 2011

SFRevu June 2011 now Online

Senior Editor: Gayle Surrette
Editor Emeritus: Ernest Lilley
Associate Editor, US: Paul Haggerty
Associate Editor, UK: John Berlyne
Columnists: Drew Bittner / Sam Tomaino

Editorial License:
Editorial Matters – June 2011 by Gayle Surrette

Now Reading:
Fort Freak by George R.R. Martin

Columns:
US Books – SFRevu Staff
UK Books – John Berlyne
Graphic Novels/Manga – SFRevu Staff
Media Watch – SFRevu Staff
Zines & Short Fiction – Sam Tomaino
Blu-ray & DVD Reviews by Charles Mohapel
News – SFRevu Staff
Convention Calendar

UK Book Reviews:
Equations of Life (Metrozone) by Simon Morden

US Book Reviews:
The Affair of the Chalk Cliffs by James P. Blaylock
The Crippled God: Book Ten of The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson
For Heaven’s Eyes Only: A Secret Histories Novel by Simon R. Green
Fort Freak (Wild Cards) by George R.R. Martin
Hunt the Moon: A Cassie Palmer Novel by Karen Chance
Hybrids by Whitley Strieber
Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse) by James S.A. Corey
The Magic of Recluce (Saga of Recluce) by L. E. Modesitt
Misfits, Adventures in the Liaden Universe #15 by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
The Plain Man by Steve Englehart
The Saturn Game by Poul Anderson
Steampunk’d edited by Jean Rabe and Martin H. Greenberg
Thistle Down by Irene Radford

June off to a great start — Not!

Posted in Hearth and Home, THE Zines on June 2nd, 2011

We got back from Balticon then had May 31st to get everything finalized and up for the zines. We managed to get them both online and active but needing a few additions and fixes on June 1st. Not a problem since that’s the usual way. However, the stress of having to do so much in such a short time made me think the house was really hot.

Yesterday, June 1st, the temperature outside was, with the heat index, 110 degrees — inside it was 90 with the AC set to 75. Guess the day before it was hot inside the house afterall, since the outside temp was nearly as high. As if heat that made it difficult to focus and think straight wasn’t bad enough — we lost power for a few hours. But we called the heat/AC guys and they should come today sometime (evidently lots of people have AC problems when the temps go up).

So, while the outside temp is barely 70 right now it’s 78 inside. I’ve got the fans on and I’m waiting for the repair guys and really hoping it’s something they can fix. Meanwhile, I still have all the updates to do — and I’m trying to convince myself that below 80 is much much better than 90 and besides I’ve got power.

I think myself is trying to lie to me. So, if you’ve looked at SFRevu.com — check back there’s more to come. Gumshoe Review is now finalized (but if you know of news of interest to mystery readers or upcoming conventions let us know).

Hyperion Avatar Turns out that our new[ish] air handling system seems to have sprung a leak. We’re told that the coil on this particular model has flaw in a small percentage of the coils. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be anyway to determine which are the ones that will last for decades, and which will last for a year. This one appears to be the later. The unit is still under warranty, so we’ll get a new coil and a new supply of coolant, and hopefully this one will be one of the good ones. At least it should last through the summer. And if the last two days were any indication, it’s going to be another scorcher.

Got my Balticon 45 schedule

Posted in Announcement, Balticon, Convention on May 26th, 2011

Here’s my schedule for Balticon 45 starting Friday, May 26 to May 30 in Marriott’s Hunt Valley Inn, Baltimore, MD.

Fri. 6:00 PM: Salon B, Luddites of Fandom
Fri. 9:00 PM: Belmont, Fantasy Motifs in SF Literature

Sat. 1:00 PM: Belmont: Favorite Shared Worlds.
Sat. 4:00 PM: Salon C: How Plausible is Today’s Hard SF?

Sun. 9:00 AM: Salon B: Writers We Don’t Understand.

There may or may not be another panel — it was on one list I got and not on the others but I don’t have the final, final list yet. Anyway, I expect to have a good time and hope to meet many of SFRevu’s readers while I’m there.

I’ll also be spending some time at the Capclave fan table, so check there for me. Capclave is Washington D.C.’s local annual science fiction and fantasy convention held in October. Check the website for details. This year’s guests are Catherynne Valente and Carrie Vaughn.

This and that…

Posted in Health & Medicine, Hearth and Home, THE Zines on March 29th, 2011

Can you believe that after noting here that Earth Hour was coming up and getting all excited about it — well, I never got a chance to do anything about it. We had a planning meeting that day, and it was in DC. After the meeting, because we were there and it was supposed to snow, this years Capclave Chair and Hyperion and I met to discuss strategies for the Capclave website and Blog and online publicity.

Once that was done it was about an hour Metro back to the car and then we had to do the weekly shopping in Waldorf. By the time we headed home it was nearly 8:30 and by the time we got home it was nearly 9:30 p.m. We kept light to a minimum but in the past we’ve turned them all off and either read by candle light or oil lamp. So, we’ve been very careful the past few days to turn lights off when we leave a room and not use one if not necessary. Okay, we do that anyway but I’m being compulsive about it now.

Meanwhile, SFRevu and Gumshoe Review go live with the new issues on April 1st so I’ve been working steadily on getting things ready.

What’s making everything more difficult is the lack of energy. I’ve got problems with energy levels anyway and after fighting the flu for the past 3 1/2 to 4 weeks — I feel like walking across the room is the equivalent to running a quarter-mile. It’s weird when you stand up and suddenly all our energy drains out and all you want to do is curl up on the floor and sleep. I find myself looking down to see if I can see the energy leaking out of my heel. I’ve taken to wearing shoes and socks instead of going around in just my socks in case that will help hold in the energy. Haven’t seen anything leaking out of my heel — but really it feels like it should be visible.

But, the good news is that while I was sick, Spring sprung. One day last week — I think it was Wednesday — I looked out the window and the pear trees had flowers, the forsythia was blooming, the daffodils along the woodland path were in bloom, and the chives and some other herbs were showing signs of growth. Spring happened. I just sat with my coffee and contemplated how nice it was to just wake up and see such signs of spring all around me. It’s a great change from all the grey dreariness that came before with rain, overcast skies, and blah days.

Same old – same old — with updates

Posted in Hearth and Home, Knitting, THE Zines on January 24th, 2011

It seems that it’s been quite a while since I did an update. Partly it’s because I’ve been busy. Partly because I’m been a bit under-the-weather. And, partly because everything I’m trying to do has a “but first…” clause.

But first you have to do this before you can do that but before you can do that thing you need to do this other thing. I swear I’m in the midst of some sort of infinite loop part of my life. Eventually, I’m sure I’ll make a break out of this loop — there’s got to be a stop condition somewhere.

Meanwhile, I started a scarf. I needed something I could do a little bit on when I’m waiting for CPU cycles to finish up. I’m trying to break myself of wasting time playing games. If I knit while waiting at least I’ll have something to show for all those 15, 20, 30 second time wasters.

We’re also gearing up to get the February issues of SFRevu and Gumshoe Review up and online for February 1st, 2011. Gumshoe Review will have a new original short fiction story by Douglas Campbell in February. Since it’s near the end of the month most of the reviews and content materials are coming in to be formatted and proofed. It should be a great February issue.

SFRevu January 2011 now Online @ www.sfrevu.com

Posted in Announcement, THE Zines on January 4th, 2011

Senior Editor: Gayle Surrette
Editor Emeritus: Ernest Lilley
Associate Editor, US: Paul Haggerty
Associate Editor, UK: John Berlyne
Columnists: Drew Bittner / Sam Tomaino / Charles Mohapel

Editorial License: Editorial Matters – January 2011 by Gayle Surrette

Columns:
US Books – SFRevu Staff
UK Books – John Berlyne
Graphic Novels/Manga – SFRevu Staff
Media Watch – SFRevu Staff
Zines & Short Fiction – Sam Tomaino
Blu-ray & DVD Reviews by Charles Mohapel
News – SFRevu Staff
Convention Calendar

Nonfiction Reviews:
Oz: Dark & Terrible Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook (ECE1001) by S. Alexander Gentry

US Book Reviews:
A Hard Day’s Knight (Nightside) by Simon R. Green
Above His Proper Station by Lawrence Watt-Evans
The Alchemist by Paolo Bacigalupi
Amortals by Matt Forbeck
Back to the Moon by Travis S. Taylor & Les Johnson
Betrayer of Worlds by Larry Niven and Edward M. Lerner
Black Wings by Christina Henry
Blood Heat (Blood Lines) by Maria Lima
The Boy from Ilysies (Libyrinth) by Pearl North
Citadel: Troy Rising II by John Ringo
The Clone Empire by Steven L. Kent
Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison
Frostfire: A Novel of the Kyndred (KYNDRED NOVEL) by Lynn Viehl
Gaslight Grotesque: Nightmare Tales of Sherlock Holmes
Hell’s Horizon (The City) by Darren Shan
Home Fires by Gene Wolfe
The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard by Robert E. Howard
Hungry For You: An Argeneau Novel by Lynsay Sands
Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch
Rogue Threat by A.J. Tata
Silver Zombie: Delilah Street: Paranormal Investigator by Carole Nelson Douglas
The Soul Mirror: A Novel of the Collegia Magica by Carol Berg
Strange Wonders: A Collection of Rare Fritz Leiber Works by Fritz Leiber
Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks
The White City by Elizabeth Bear