Martha Wells's Blog, page 61
August 26, 2018
Worldcon recap film
Here's a WorldCon 76 recap film by Adria Gonzales: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9peAyon8mE&feature=youtu.be
comments
comments
August 25, 2018
WorldCon Again
For people vicariously enjoying the con from afar, here's John Picacio's con report on the MexicanX Initiative, the con, and the Hugo Awards:
http://johnpicacio.com/onthefront/2018/08/24/worldcon-76-the-end-is-the-beginning/
comments
http://johnpicacio.com/onthefront/2018/08/24/worldcon-76-the-end-is-the-beginning/
comments
August 23, 2018
Hugo and Interview
The Hugo arrived safely yesterday!
https://marthawells.tumblr.com/post/177277680282/and-the-hugo-arrived-safely-we-had-to-ship-it
And this is me on The Van Show! I'm being interviewed by a puppet for the Austin Public Library.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AcyNeuewO8&feature=youtu.be
comments
https://marthawells.tumblr.com/post/177277680282/and-the-hugo-arrived-safely-we-had-to-ship-it
And this is me on The Van Show! I'm being interviewed by a puppet for the Austin Public Library.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AcyNeuewO8&feature=youtu.be
comments
August 22, 2018
WorldCon Report
I hope this is coherent!
Arrived Wednesday, super friend Lisa picked us up at the airport and we went to dinner at a Thai place and had delicious food, then went to the hotel, got checked in, and collapsed.
Thursday, got up and had breakfast at the hotel, walked through to the convention center at 9:00 and got registered, tried to find things that were not where they were supposed to be and remained elusive despite number of concomm who tried to help. Ended up sitting with Laura Domitz and Jonathan Miles and watching them hand out passes for the dealers room so the dealers could get to their badges.
Then began the great quest for the Hugo Packets, which lasted about forty-five minutes, and involved treking back and forth across the convention center a couple of times, and I distinguished myself by giving Sarah Pinsker and Neil Clarke completely wrong information which I believed at the time.
After that the rest of our base camp arrived, and we got our friend Beth into our room and Lisa and Felicia got into their room at the Westin (which was gorgeous, 1930s beautifully restored building, which was haunted but not cursed). Then we walked a few blocks over to an Irish pub which wasn't serving food, so we went around the corner to the British pub which was, and got to sit out on their back patio and get lunch and lots of hard cider.
We came back to find the registration line halfway across the convention center and left our friends to their fate, and we walked around dealers room a little. And tracked down my Hugo Finalist ribbon. (I didn't actually get mine, I got the one from the packet for Wonder Woman, which was up for best longform media presentation.)
Then around 6:30 we met up with Sharon Shinn for dinner at Original Joes and had a great time. Came back to the con to find the art show still open for the reception and so walked around it for a while.
Friday Lisa took us up to Saratoga Springs for breakfast and we drove through the most gorgeous little town ( "This is how people live on TV") then to Hakone Gardens (http://www.hakone.com/main.html) then back to Japantown in San Jose (https://www.japantownsanjose.org/), where we had lunch. Back to the con for the Hugo finalists reading. There were four of us (Sarah Gailey, Seanan McGuire, and JY Yang) and the room only held about 40 chairs and 200 people wanted to sit in them, there was no mic and no chairs for the readers. (Audience members found us chairs and did crowd control for us.) But everyone seemed to enjoy it.
After that we went back to the British pub for dinner, and then came back and went to the Tor.com Toast, which was in a private patio in the Hilton and got to hang out and talk to everyone for a bit.
Saturday, I had the Mental Health & Craft: Creating with Depression and Anxiety panel with Vanessa Rose Phin, Arlin Robins, Howard Tayler, and Kate Elliott. I don't know whose panel idea this was, but it was great. It could have gone about two hours easily and I got great comments on it all weekend. There was also a sweet, giant therapy dog under the table the whole time and most people didn't know until he stood up at the end like a gentle kraken rising from the sea.
Then I had an interview with Joel from Barnes and Noble, then met up with friends again and had lunch at the Marriott while watching the handful of idiot Nazis block off the con's traditional blood drive van while a swat team and a bunch of angry con people stared at them and took pictures.
Then the Best Series Finalists reading with Marie Brennan and Brandon Sanderson (which was in the same room and there was not much in the way of improvement, except there were chairs for us that were already up there.)
Then met up with muccamukk and Nenya and got to hang out and relax a bit with them. (The Marriott, which, between the con and the wedding receptions being held there was beginning to look like the aftermath of a rave, had sliding doors which closed on me.) Then the Fantasy Aliens panel (with Caroline M. Yoachim, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Martha Wells, Keffy Kehrli, Jeannette Ng), then dinner with my publisher Irene Gallo, her husband Greg Manchess who had won a Chesley Award (http://locusmag.com/2018/08/2018-chesley-award-winners/), and my editor Lee Harris (who was also a Hugo Finalist), and publicist Katharine Duckett, and Joel Cunningham from Barnes and Noble. Then came back to see last hour of masquerade, walked over to Fairmont and had drinks.
Sunday, the day. This was the day my husband and friends spent a lot of time trying to keep me calm.
No programming so got up and went to the haunted Westin for a really excellent breakfast, then over to Hugo rehearsal, where we got to see the Hugo base design for first time, met other finalists including Rivers Solomon and Vine Jie-Min Prasad. We practiced walking across the stage and not dying. (My whole group practiced the exit ramp since it was safer, but I should have done the stairs.)
We went to dealers room but I couldn't concentrate on anything, and was allowed to sit on the floor with a pomeranian mix therapy dog. Then at the Borderlands Books booth I got to meet N.K. Jemisin in person for the first time!
Then we had late lunch at hotel, went up to take a rest and watched some BritBox to calm down. went down at 5 to make up and hair event organized by Mary Robinette Kowal where Jayme Goh put awesome purple eyeshadow on me. Ran back up to the hotel room to change into the Dress, then down for the pre Hugo cocktail party.
There was food and cocktails and gift bags and everybody looked fabulous in everything from sparkly dresses to gorgeous funky handmade outfits, and Felicia Day was there to be one of the presenters. I met Ann Leckie in person for the first time! The party was awesome and crowded and bonkers, and we got our pictures taken by Olav Rokne: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yMj1TBcxFVnOrnAItvo-SzipNlj8RRO7 (Not everyone was there, so in some cases award acceptors are standing in for finalists)
Then we went into the auditorium. It had a big screen on either side of the stage, one with captions and two people sitting near it who were doing the sign language version.
And we got started.
The Hugo rocket is the same each time but the base is unique to the individual convention and made by different artists. This year it was Sara Felix and Vincent Villafranca from San Antonio who made it, and they showed a hilarious video about how the Hugos were made. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tWp2kDjqTE&feature=youtu.be It was especially funny because they made us think it was a video about bronze casting. Which it kind of is, if you did your bronze casting with punk rock aliens on the sun.
John Picacio, who was the MC and (and who also did the MexicanX Initiative to bring 50 Mexican and Mexican-American writers, artists, and creators to the con) kept things moving and it was fun getting to see who won. We got to Best Series category, the first one I was up for, and I wasn't really nervous because I was pretty sure I wasn't going to win and I didn't win. (From the nominating and voting numbers released afterward, Books of the Raksura came in fourth out of six positions.) But it was awesome to be in that category.
(Full nominating and voting numbers: https://www.worldcon76.org/images/publications/2018DetailedResults.pdf )
Then we got to novella, and I was extremely nervous. I felt like I had a strong chance and was hopeful, but it was still awesome to win. I managed to get up the stairs to the stage, give my speech without crying (After the Nebula Awards I didn't want to be the author who cries all the time.) (I saved it all up for Monday, when every time anyone said anything nice to me, I would start crying.) Managed to get down the Stairs of Doom backstage with the help of about four people, got stopped to get a photo outside the auditorium in the reception area, went back in the wrong door and could not get it open and had to thump on it until the backstage people heard me, and then got back to my seat in time to see Nnedi Okorafor win for Best YA novel and N.K. Jemisin win for Best Novel!
N.K. Jemisin's speech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lFybhRxoVM
(Full ceremony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt4UI_te7bs )
Awards: https://marthawells.tumblr.com/post/177272009037/and-heres-some-pictures-from-the-hugo-awards
After that there were more photos and then we went back to the room so I could change out of my dress and leave the Hugo (it's extremely heavy) then head to the Hugo Losers' Party, which is the traditional big party after the awards. It used to be held in the con party area, but during the trouble years with the Nazi puppies, they had to move it offsite to a private venue and George R.R. Martin sponsors it. Each year it's different, and this time it was in a place called the Glass House which was decorated with light effects of planets and stars and there was all kinds of food and drinks and giant DANCING ROBOTS!!! I can't tell you how cool this party was, I'd never been to anything like it.
Photos: https://marthawells.tumblr.com/post/177271852167/im-starting-to-put-up-some-photos-from-the-hugo
Monday I brought the Hugo to my signing at Borderlands Books, then we decided to ship it home since the awards people said that was probably safest. (It's hard to get a big metal rocket on a plane, oddly enough.) The room we were supposed to go to get it packed seemed not to exist at first, and a convention center employee who was trying to help people find it helped us search until we stumbled on it. (It had been the secret Hugo storage room where you had to have a password to get in.) My Hugo was pool-noodled and swaddled and packed and hopefully it should get here this afternoon.
Then I did a late signing at the con signing area, then slowly collapsed from exhaustion. We had to leave the hotel at 4:00 am to make our flight back, which was pretty uneventful, except the lost my bag for about ten minutes at our local airport because it accidentally got left on the plane. (It's a tiny airport.)
comments
Arrived Wednesday, super friend Lisa picked us up at the airport and we went to dinner at a Thai place and had delicious food, then went to the hotel, got checked in, and collapsed.
Thursday, got up and had breakfast at the hotel, walked through to the convention center at 9:00 and got registered, tried to find things that were not where they were supposed to be and remained elusive despite number of concomm who tried to help. Ended up sitting with Laura Domitz and Jonathan Miles and watching them hand out passes for the dealers room so the dealers could get to their badges.
Then began the great quest for the Hugo Packets, which lasted about forty-five minutes, and involved treking back and forth across the convention center a couple of times, and I distinguished myself by giving Sarah Pinsker and Neil Clarke completely wrong information which I believed at the time.
After that the rest of our base camp arrived, and we got our friend Beth into our room and Lisa and Felicia got into their room at the Westin (which was gorgeous, 1930s beautifully restored building, which was haunted but not cursed). Then we walked a few blocks over to an Irish pub which wasn't serving food, so we went around the corner to the British pub which was, and got to sit out on their back patio and get lunch and lots of hard cider.
We came back to find the registration line halfway across the convention center and left our friends to their fate, and we walked around dealers room a little. And tracked down my Hugo Finalist ribbon. (I didn't actually get mine, I got the one from the packet for Wonder Woman, which was up for best longform media presentation.)
Then around 6:30 we met up with Sharon Shinn for dinner at Original Joes and had a great time. Came back to the con to find the art show still open for the reception and so walked around it for a while.
Friday Lisa took us up to Saratoga Springs for breakfast and we drove through the most gorgeous little town ( "This is how people live on TV") then to Hakone Gardens (http://www.hakone.com/main.html) then back to Japantown in San Jose (https://www.japantownsanjose.org/), where we had lunch. Back to the con for the Hugo finalists reading. There were four of us (Sarah Gailey, Seanan McGuire, and JY Yang) and the room only held about 40 chairs and 200 people wanted to sit in them, there was no mic and no chairs for the readers. (Audience members found us chairs and did crowd control for us.) But everyone seemed to enjoy it.
After that we went back to the British pub for dinner, and then came back and went to the Tor.com Toast, which was in a private patio in the Hilton and got to hang out and talk to everyone for a bit.
Saturday, I had the Mental Health & Craft: Creating with Depression and Anxiety panel with Vanessa Rose Phin, Arlin Robins, Howard Tayler, and Kate Elliott. I don't know whose panel idea this was, but it was great. It could have gone about two hours easily and I got great comments on it all weekend. There was also a sweet, giant therapy dog under the table the whole time and most people didn't know until he stood up at the end like a gentle kraken rising from the sea.
Then I had an interview with Joel from Barnes and Noble, then met up with friends again and had lunch at the Marriott while watching the handful of idiot Nazis block off the con's traditional blood drive van while a swat team and a bunch of angry con people stared at them and took pictures.
Then the Best Series Finalists reading with Marie Brennan and Brandon Sanderson (which was in the same room and there was not much in the way of improvement, except there were chairs for us that were already up there.)
Then met up with muccamukk and Nenya and got to hang out and relax a bit with them. (The Marriott, which, between the con and the wedding receptions being held there was beginning to look like the aftermath of a rave, had sliding doors which closed on me.) Then the Fantasy Aliens panel (with Caroline M. Yoachim, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Martha Wells, Keffy Kehrli, Jeannette Ng), then dinner with my publisher Irene Gallo, her husband Greg Manchess who had won a Chesley Award (http://locusmag.com/2018/08/2018-chesley-award-winners/), and my editor Lee Harris (who was also a Hugo Finalist), and publicist Katharine Duckett, and Joel Cunningham from Barnes and Noble. Then came back to see last hour of masquerade, walked over to Fairmont and had drinks.
Sunday, the day. This was the day my husband and friends spent a lot of time trying to keep me calm.
No programming so got up and went to the haunted Westin for a really excellent breakfast, then over to Hugo rehearsal, where we got to see the Hugo base design for first time, met other finalists including Rivers Solomon and Vine Jie-Min Prasad. We practiced walking across the stage and not dying. (My whole group practiced the exit ramp since it was safer, but I should have done the stairs.)
We went to dealers room but I couldn't concentrate on anything, and was allowed to sit on the floor with a pomeranian mix therapy dog. Then at the Borderlands Books booth I got to meet N.K. Jemisin in person for the first time!
Then we had late lunch at hotel, went up to take a rest and watched some BritBox to calm down. went down at 5 to make up and hair event organized by Mary Robinette Kowal where Jayme Goh put awesome purple eyeshadow on me. Ran back up to the hotel room to change into the Dress, then down for the pre Hugo cocktail party.
There was food and cocktails and gift bags and everybody looked fabulous in everything from sparkly dresses to gorgeous funky handmade outfits, and Felicia Day was there to be one of the presenters. I met Ann Leckie in person for the first time! The party was awesome and crowded and bonkers, and we got our pictures taken by Olav Rokne: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yMj1TBcxFVnOrnAItvo-SzipNlj8RRO7 (Not everyone was there, so in some cases award acceptors are standing in for finalists)
Then we went into the auditorium. It had a big screen on either side of the stage, one with captions and two people sitting near it who were doing the sign language version.
And we got started.
The Hugo rocket is the same each time but the base is unique to the individual convention and made by different artists. This year it was Sara Felix and Vincent Villafranca from San Antonio who made it, and they showed a hilarious video about how the Hugos were made. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tWp2kDjqTE&feature=youtu.be It was especially funny because they made us think it was a video about bronze casting. Which it kind of is, if you did your bronze casting with punk rock aliens on the sun.
John Picacio, who was the MC and (and who also did the MexicanX Initiative to bring 50 Mexican and Mexican-American writers, artists, and creators to the con) kept things moving and it was fun getting to see who won. We got to Best Series category, the first one I was up for, and I wasn't really nervous because I was pretty sure I wasn't going to win and I didn't win. (From the nominating and voting numbers released afterward, Books of the Raksura came in fourth out of six positions.) But it was awesome to be in that category.
(Full nominating and voting numbers: https://www.worldcon76.org/images/publications/2018DetailedResults.pdf )
Then we got to novella, and I was extremely nervous. I felt like I had a strong chance and was hopeful, but it was still awesome to win. I managed to get up the stairs to the stage, give my speech without crying (After the Nebula Awards I didn't want to be the author who cries all the time.) (I saved it all up for Monday, when every time anyone said anything nice to me, I would start crying.) Managed to get down the Stairs of Doom backstage with the help of about four people, got stopped to get a photo outside the auditorium in the reception area, went back in the wrong door and could not get it open and had to thump on it until the backstage people heard me, and then got back to my seat in time to see Nnedi Okorafor win for Best YA novel and N.K. Jemisin win for Best Novel!
N.K. Jemisin's speech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lFybhRxoVM
(Full ceremony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt4UI_te7bs )
Awards: https://marthawells.tumblr.com/post/177272009037/and-heres-some-pictures-from-the-hugo-awards
After that there were more photos and then we went back to the room so I could change out of my dress and leave the Hugo (it's extremely heavy) then head to the Hugo Losers' Party, which is the traditional big party after the awards. It used to be held in the con party area, but during the trouble years with the Nazi puppies, they had to move it offsite to a private venue and George R.R. Martin sponsors it. Each year it's different, and this time it was in a place called the Glass House which was decorated with light effects of planets and stars and there was all kinds of food and drinks and giant DANCING ROBOTS!!! I can't tell you how cool this party was, I'd never been to anything like it.
Photos: https://marthawells.tumblr.com/post/177271852167/im-starting-to-put-up-some-photos-from-the-hugo
Monday I brought the Hugo to my signing at Borderlands Books, then we decided to ship it home since the awards people said that was probably safest. (It's hard to get a big metal rocket on a plane, oddly enough.) The room we were supposed to go to get it packed seemed not to exist at first, and a convention center employee who was trying to help people find it helped us search until we stumbled on it. (It had been the secret Hugo storage room where you had to have a password to get in.) My Hugo was pool-noodled and swaddled and packed and hopefully it should get here this afternoon.
Then I did a late signing at the con signing area, then slowly collapsed from exhaustion. We had to leave the hotel at 4:00 am to make our flight back, which was pretty uneventful, except the lost my bag for about ten minutes at our local airport because it accidentally got left on the plane. (It's a tiny airport.)
comments
August 13, 2018
Hugos
In a couple of days I'll be leaving for WorldCon. I am super-nervous. The Hugo Awards are Sunday night (North American Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)), and will be live-streamed:
http://www.thehugoawards.org/2018/08/2018-hugo-ceremony-coverage-plans/
The Chinese coverage will be in Weibo, by www.faa2001.com
It's an incredibly strong ballot:
Best Novel
The Collapsing Empire, by John Scalzi (Tor)
New York 2140, by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit)
Provenance, by Ann Leckie (Orbit)
Raven Stratagem, by Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris)
Six Wakes, by Mur Lafferty (Orbit)
The Stone Sky, by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
Best Novella
All Systems Red, by Martha Wells (Tor.com Publishing)
“And Then There Were (N-One),” by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny, March/April 2017)
Binti: Home, by Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com Publishing)
The Black Tides of Heaven, by JY Yang (Tor.com Publishing)
Down Among the Sticks and Bones, by Seanan McGuire (Tor.Com Publishing)
River of Teeth, by Sarah Gailey (Tor.com Publishing)
Best Novelette
“Children of Thorns, Children of Water,” by Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny, July-August 2017)
“Extracurricular Activities,” by Yoon Ha Lee (Tor.com, February 15, 2017)
“The Secret Life of Bots,” by Suzanne Palmer (Clarkesworld, September 2017)
“A Series of Steaks,” by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Clarkesworld, January 2017)
“Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time,” by K.M. Szpara (Uncanny, May/June 2017)
“Wind Will Rove,” by Sarah Pinsker (Asimov’s, September/October 2017)
Best Short Story
“Carnival Nine,” by Caroline M. Yoachim (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, May 2017)
“Clearly Lettered in a Mostly Steady Hand,” by Fran Wilde (Uncanny, September 2017)
“Fandom for Robots,” by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Uncanny, September/October 2017)
“The Martian Obelisk,” by Linda Nagata (Tor.com, July 19, 2017)
“Sun, Moon, Dust” by Ursula Vernon, (Uncanny, May/June 2017)
“Welcome to your Authentic Indian Experience™,” by Rebecca Roanhorse (Apex, August 2017)
Best Series
The Books of the Raksura, by Martha Wells (Night Shade)
The Divine Cities, by Robert Jackson Bennett (Broadway)
InCryptid, by Seanan McGuire (DAW)
The Memoirs of Lady Trent, by Marie Brennan (Tor US / Titan UK)
The Stormlight Archive, by Brandon Sanderson (Tor US / Gollancz UK)
World of the Five Gods, by Lois McMaster Bujold (Harper Voyager / Spectrum Literary Agency)
Best Related Work
Crash Override: How Gamergate (Nearly) Destroyed My Life, and How We Can Win the Fight Against Online Hate, by Zoë Quinn (PublicAffairs)
Iain M. Banks (Modern Masters of Science Fiction), by Paul Kincaid (University of Illinois Press)
A Lit Fuse: The Provocative Life of Harlan Ellison, by Nat Segaloff (NESFA Press)
Luminescent Threads: Connections to Octavia E. Butler, edited by Alexandra Pierce, and Mimi Mondal (Twelfth Planet Press)
No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters, by Ursula K. Le Guin (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Sleeping with Monsters: Readings and Reactions in Science Fiction and Fantasy, by Liz Bourke (Aqueduct Press)
Best Graphic Story
Bitch Planet, Volume 2: President Bitch, written by Kelly Sue DeConnick, illustrated by Valentine De Landro and Taki Soma, colored by Kelly Fitzpatrick, lettered by Clayton Cowles (Image Comics)
Black Bolt, Volume 1: Hard Time, written by Saladin Ahmed, illustrated by Christian Ward, lettered by Clayton Cowles (Marvel)
Monstress, Volume 2: The Blood, written by Marjorie M. Liu, illustrated by Sana Takeda (Image Comics)
My Favorite Thing is Monsters, written and illustrated by Emil Ferris (Fantagraphics)
Paper Girls, Volume 3, written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Cliff Chiang, colored by Matthew Wilson, lettered by Jared Fletcher (Image Comics)
Saga, Volume 7, written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Fiona Staples (Image Comics)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
Blade Runner 2049, written by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green, directed by Denis Villeneuve (Alcon Entertainment / Bud Yorkin Productions / Torridon Films / Columbia Pictures)
Get Out, written and directed by Jordan Peele (Blumhouse Productions / Monkeypaw Productions / QC Entertainment)
The Shape of Water, written by Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, directed by Guillermo del Toro (TSG Entertainment / Double Dare You / Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Star Wars: The Last Jedi, written and directed by Rian Johnson (Lucasfilm, Ltd.)
Thor: Ragnarok, written by Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle, and Christopher Yost; directed by Taika Waititi (Marvel Studios)
Wonder Woman, screenplay by Allan Heinberg, story by Zack Snyder & Allan Heinberg and Jason Fuchs, directed by Patty Jenkins (DC Films / Warner Brothers)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
Black Mirror: “USS Callister,” written by William Bridges and Charlie Brooker, directed by Toby Haynes (House of Tomorrow)
“The Deep” [song], by Clipping (Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes)
Doctor Who: “Twice Upon a Time,” written by Steven Moffat, directed by Rachel Talalay (BBC Cymru Wales)
The Good Place: “Michael’s Gambit,” written and directed by Michael Schur (Fremulon / 3 Arts Entertainment / Universal Television)
The Good Place: “The Trolley Problem,” written by Josh Siegal and Dylan Morgan, directed by Dean Holland (Fremulon / 3 Arts Entertainment / Universal Television)
Star Trek: Discovery: “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad,” written by Aron Eli Coleite & Jesse Alexander, directed by David M. Barrett (CBS Television Studios)
Best Editor, Short Form
John Joseph Adams
Neil Clarke
Lee Harris
Jonathan Strahan
Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas
Sheila Williams
Best Editor, Long Form
Sheila E. Gilbert
Joe Monti
Diana M. Pho
Devi Pillai
Miriam Weinberg
Navah Wolfe
Best Professional Artist
Galen Dara
Kathleen Jennings
Bastien Lecouffe Deharme
Victo Ngai
John Picacio
Sana Takeda
Best Semiprozine
Beneath Ceaseless Skies, editor-in-chief and publisher Scott H. Andrews
The Book Smugglers, edited by Ana Grilo and Thea James
Escape Pod, edited by Mur Lafferty, S.B. Divya, and Norm Sherman, with assistant editor Benjamin C. Kinney
Fireside Magazine, edited by Brian White and Julia Rios; managing editor Elsa Sjunneson-Henry; special feature editor Mikki Kendall; publisher & art director Pablo Defendini
Strange Horizons, edited by Kate Dollarhyde, Gautam Bhatia, A.J. Odasso, Lila Garrott, Heather McDougal, Ciro Faienza, Tahlia Day, Vanessa Rose Phin, and the Strange Horizons staff
Uncanny Magazine, edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, and Julia Rios; podcast produced by Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky
Best Fanzine
File 770, edited by Mike Glyer
Galactic Journey, edited by Gideon Marcus
Journey Planet, edited by Team Journey Planet
nerds of a feather, flock together, edited by The G, Vance Kotrla, and Joe Sherry
Rocket Stack Rank, edited by Greg Hullender and Eric Wong
SF Bluestocking, edited by Bridget McKinney
Best Fancast
The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe
Ditch Diggers, presented by Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace
Fangirl Happy Hour, presented by Ana Grilo and Renay William
Galactic Suburbia, presented by Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, and Tansy Rayner Roberts; produced by Andrew Finch
Sword and Laser, presented by Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt
Verity!, presented by Deborah Stanish, Erika Ensign, Katrina Griffiths, L.M. Myles, Lynne M. Thomas, and Tansy Rayner Roberts
Best Fan Writer
Camestros Felapton
Sarah Gailey
Mike Glyer
Foz Meadows
Charles Payseur
Bogi Takács
Best Fan Artist
Geneva Benton
Grace P. Fong
Maya Hahto
Likhain (M. Sereno)
Spring Schoenhuth
Steve Stiles
There are two other Awards administered by Worldcon 76 that are not Hugo Awards:
Award for Best Young Adult Book
Akata Warrior, by Nnedi Okorafor (Viking)
The Art of Starving, by Sam J. Miller (HarperTeen)
The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage, by Philip Pullman (Knopf)
In Other Lands, by Sarah Rees Brennan (Big Mouth House)
A Skinful of Shadows, by Frances Hardinge (Macmillan UK / Harry N. Abrams US)
Summer in Orcus, written by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon), illustrated by Lauren Henderson (Sofawolf Press)
John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
Katherine Arden
Sarah Kuhn*
Jeannette Ng
Vina Jie-Min Prasad
Rebecca Roanhorse
Rivers Solomon
comments
http://www.thehugoawards.org/2018/08/2018-hugo-ceremony-coverage-plans/
The Chinese coverage will be in Weibo, by www.faa2001.com
It's an incredibly strong ballot:
Best Novel
The Collapsing Empire, by John Scalzi (Tor)
New York 2140, by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit)
Provenance, by Ann Leckie (Orbit)
Raven Stratagem, by Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris)
Six Wakes, by Mur Lafferty (Orbit)
The Stone Sky, by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
Best Novella
All Systems Red, by Martha Wells (Tor.com Publishing)
“And Then There Were (N-One),” by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny, March/April 2017)
Binti: Home, by Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com Publishing)
The Black Tides of Heaven, by JY Yang (Tor.com Publishing)
Down Among the Sticks and Bones, by Seanan McGuire (Tor.Com Publishing)
River of Teeth, by Sarah Gailey (Tor.com Publishing)
Best Novelette
“Children of Thorns, Children of Water,” by Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny, July-August 2017)
“Extracurricular Activities,” by Yoon Ha Lee (Tor.com, February 15, 2017)
“The Secret Life of Bots,” by Suzanne Palmer (Clarkesworld, September 2017)
“A Series of Steaks,” by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Clarkesworld, January 2017)
“Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time,” by K.M. Szpara (Uncanny, May/June 2017)
“Wind Will Rove,” by Sarah Pinsker (Asimov’s, September/October 2017)
Best Short Story
“Carnival Nine,” by Caroline M. Yoachim (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, May 2017)
“Clearly Lettered in a Mostly Steady Hand,” by Fran Wilde (Uncanny, September 2017)
“Fandom for Robots,” by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Uncanny, September/October 2017)
“The Martian Obelisk,” by Linda Nagata (Tor.com, July 19, 2017)
“Sun, Moon, Dust” by Ursula Vernon, (Uncanny, May/June 2017)
“Welcome to your Authentic Indian Experience™,” by Rebecca Roanhorse (Apex, August 2017)
Best Series
The Books of the Raksura, by Martha Wells (Night Shade)
The Divine Cities, by Robert Jackson Bennett (Broadway)
InCryptid, by Seanan McGuire (DAW)
The Memoirs of Lady Trent, by Marie Brennan (Tor US / Titan UK)
The Stormlight Archive, by Brandon Sanderson (Tor US / Gollancz UK)
World of the Five Gods, by Lois McMaster Bujold (Harper Voyager / Spectrum Literary Agency)
Best Related Work
Crash Override: How Gamergate (Nearly) Destroyed My Life, and How We Can Win the Fight Against Online Hate, by Zoë Quinn (PublicAffairs)
Iain M. Banks (Modern Masters of Science Fiction), by Paul Kincaid (University of Illinois Press)
A Lit Fuse: The Provocative Life of Harlan Ellison, by Nat Segaloff (NESFA Press)
Luminescent Threads: Connections to Octavia E. Butler, edited by Alexandra Pierce, and Mimi Mondal (Twelfth Planet Press)
No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters, by Ursula K. Le Guin (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Sleeping with Monsters: Readings and Reactions in Science Fiction and Fantasy, by Liz Bourke (Aqueduct Press)
Best Graphic Story
Bitch Planet, Volume 2: President Bitch, written by Kelly Sue DeConnick, illustrated by Valentine De Landro and Taki Soma, colored by Kelly Fitzpatrick, lettered by Clayton Cowles (Image Comics)
Black Bolt, Volume 1: Hard Time, written by Saladin Ahmed, illustrated by Christian Ward, lettered by Clayton Cowles (Marvel)
Monstress, Volume 2: The Blood, written by Marjorie M. Liu, illustrated by Sana Takeda (Image Comics)
My Favorite Thing is Monsters, written and illustrated by Emil Ferris (Fantagraphics)
Paper Girls, Volume 3, written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Cliff Chiang, colored by Matthew Wilson, lettered by Jared Fletcher (Image Comics)
Saga, Volume 7, written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Fiona Staples (Image Comics)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
Blade Runner 2049, written by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green, directed by Denis Villeneuve (Alcon Entertainment / Bud Yorkin Productions / Torridon Films / Columbia Pictures)
Get Out, written and directed by Jordan Peele (Blumhouse Productions / Monkeypaw Productions / QC Entertainment)
The Shape of Water, written by Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, directed by Guillermo del Toro (TSG Entertainment / Double Dare You / Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Star Wars: The Last Jedi, written and directed by Rian Johnson (Lucasfilm, Ltd.)
Thor: Ragnarok, written by Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle, and Christopher Yost; directed by Taika Waititi (Marvel Studios)
Wonder Woman, screenplay by Allan Heinberg, story by Zack Snyder & Allan Heinberg and Jason Fuchs, directed by Patty Jenkins (DC Films / Warner Brothers)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
Black Mirror: “USS Callister,” written by William Bridges and Charlie Brooker, directed by Toby Haynes (House of Tomorrow)
“The Deep” [song], by Clipping (Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes)
Doctor Who: “Twice Upon a Time,” written by Steven Moffat, directed by Rachel Talalay (BBC Cymru Wales)
The Good Place: “Michael’s Gambit,” written and directed by Michael Schur (Fremulon / 3 Arts Entertainment / Universal Television)
The Good Place: “The Trolley Problem,” written by Josh Siegal and Dylan Morgan, directed by Dean Holland (Fremulon / 3 Arts Entertainment / Universal Television)
Star Trek: Discovery: “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad,” written by Aron Eli Coleite & Jesse Alexander, directed by David M. Barrett (CBS Television Studios)
Best Editor, Short Form
John Joseph Adams
Neil Clarke
Lee Harris
Jonathan Strahan
Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas
Sheila Williams
Best Editor, Long Form
Sheila E. Gilbert
Joe Monti
Diana M. Pho
Devi Pillai
Miriam Weinberg
Navah Wolfe
Best Professional Artist
Galen Dara
Kathleen Jennings
Bastien Lecouffe Deharme
Victo Ngai
John Picacio
Sana Takeda
Best Semiprozine
Beneath Ceaseless Skies, editor-in-chief and publisher Scott H. Andrews
The Book Smugglers, edited by Ana Grilo and Thea James
Escape Pod, edited by Mur Lafferty, S.B. Divya, and Norm Sherman, with assistant editor Benjamin C. Kinney
Fireside Magazine, edited by Brian White and Julia Rios; managing editor Elsa Sjunneson-Henry; special feature editor Mikki Kendall; publisher & art director Pablo Defendini
Strange Horizons, edited by Kate Dollarhyde, Gautam Bhatia, A.J. Odasso, Lila Garrott, Heather McDougal, Ciro Faienza, Tahlia Day, Vanessa Rose Phin, and the Strange Horizons staff
Uncanny Magazine, edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, and Julia Rios; podcast produced by Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky
Best Fanzine
File 770, edited by Mike Glyer
Galactic Journey, edited by Gideon Marcus
Journey Planet, edited by Team Journey Planet
nerds of a feather, flock together, edited by The G, Vance Kotrla, and Joe Sherry
Rocket Stack Rank, edited by Greg Hullender and Eric Wong
SF Bluestocking, edited by Bridget McKinney
Best Fancast
The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe
Ditch Diggers, presented by Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace
Fangirl Happy Hour, presented by Ana Grilo and Renay William
Galactic Suburbia, presented by Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, and Tansy Rayner Roberts; produced by Andrew Finch
Sword and Laser, presented by Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt
Verity!, presented by Deborah Stanish, Erika Ensign, Katrina Griffiths, L.M. Myles, Lynne M. Thomas, and Tansy Rayner Roberts
Best Fan Writer
Camestros Felapton
Sarah Gailey
Mike Glyer
Foz Meadows
Charles Payseur
Bogi Takács
Best Fan Artist
Geneva Benton
Grace P. Fong
Maya Hahto
Likhain (M. Sereno)
Spring Schoenhuth
Steve Stiles
There are two other Awards administered by Worldcon 76 that are not Hugo Awards:
Award for Best Young Adult Book
Akata Warrior, by Nnedi Okorafor (Viking)
The Art of Starving, by Sam J. Miller (HarperTeen)
The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage, by Philip Pullman (Knopf)
In Other Lands, by Sarah Rees Brennan (Big Mouth House)
A Skinful of Shadows, by Frances Hardinge (Macmillan UK / Harry N. Abrams US)
Summer in Orcus, written by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon), illustrated by Lauren Henderson (Sofawolf Press)
John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
Katherine Arden
Sarah Kuhn*
Jeannette Ng
Vina Jie-Min Prasad
Rebecca Roanhorse
Rivers Solomon
comments
August 7, 2018
It's Murderbot Day!
It's publication day for The Murderbot Diaries: Rogue Protocol!
It's available in ebook, hardcover, and audiobook.
Cover art by Jaime Jones, cover design by Christine Foltzer.
This is a 160 page novella, part of Tor.com's novella line, and the third novella in the series.
The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions about where Dr. Mensah's SecUnit is. And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good.
Martha Wells' Rogue Protocol is the third in the Murderbot Diaries series, starring a human-like android who keeps getting sucked back into adventure after adventure, though it just wants to be left alone, away from humanity and small talk.
Available at: Barnes & Noble, Amazon US and all other Amazons, Waterstones, Forbidden Planet, Powells, Mysterious Galaxy, Chapters Indigo, BooksaMillion, Book Depository, and from a local independent bookseller through Indiebound.
ebook (DRM-free): Barnes & Noble Nook, Kobo, iBooks, Amazon Kindle, Kindle UK, Kindle Canada, Kindle France, Kindle Germany, Kindle Spain, and all other Kindle retailers.
Audiobook: Recorded Books, Audible.com, Audible UK, and Amazon.com, narrated by Kevin R. Free.
eBook and AudioBook available on iTunes
comments
August 6, 2018
WorldCon Yes!
So the WorldCon in San Jose (Aug 16 - 20, 2018) has posted their awesome revamped program here:
https://sites.grenadine.co/sites/worldcon-76/en/worldcon-76/
Next year's WorldCon will be Dublin, Ireland, and the one after that will be in New Zealand.
My schedule is:
Friday:
* Novella Hugo Finalists Group Reading:
04:00 PM to 05:00 PM (1 hour)
San Jose Convention Center - 211A
Listen to some of this year's Hugo Novella finalists as they share their work.
JY Yang, Seanan McGuire, Sarah Gailey, Martha Wells
Saturday
* Panel: Mental Health & Craft: Creating with Depression and Anxiety
10:00 AM to 11:00 AM (1 hour)
San Jose Convention Center - 211C
Creating through depression and anxiety instead of taking a break and walking away from your work is sometimes the only option. At some point, nearly every creator will have to cope with these or similar issues as part of the ups and downs of life. Authors and artists talk about their techniques for working while living with a neuroatypical brain.
Vanessa Rose Phin, Arlin Robins, Martha Wells, Howard Tayler, Kate Elliott
* Series Hugo Finalists Group Reading
02:00 PM to 03:00 PM (1 hour)
San Jose Convention Center - 211A
Listen to some of this year's Hugo Best Series finalists as they share their work.
Brandon Sanderson, Martha Wells, Marie Brennan
* Panel: Fantasy Aliens
05:00 PM to 06:00 PM (1 hour)
San Jose Convention Center - 210A
We often think of aliens as science fictional beings--extraterrestrials--but there is also a rich tradition of crossover between fantasy and science fiction. Lovecraft gave us alien-like monsters in his fantasy stories, while Anne McCaffrey gave us fantastical dragons in her science fiction. As our stories and storytelling methods evolve, how is the crossover potential of science fiction and fantasy evolving with it? Our panelists will explore the many ways aliens can be fantastical and fantasy can feel alien in books, games, and beyond.
Caroline M. Yoachim, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Martha Wells, Keffy Kehrli, Jeannette Ng
Sunday
8:00 Hugo Awards
Monday
* Signing
11:00 - noon
Borderlands Books Booth, Dealer's Room
* Signing
2:00 - 3:00
Convention Autograph Area
comments
https://sites.grenadine.co/sites/worldcon-76/en/worldcon-76/
Next year's WorldCon will be Dublin, Ireland, and the one after that will be in New Zealand.
My schedule is:
Friday:
* Novella Hugo Finalists Group Reading:
04:00 PM to 05:00 PM (1 hour)
San Jose Convention Center - 211A
Listen to some of this year's Hugo Novella finalists as they share their work.
JY Yang, Seanan McGuire, Sarah Gailey, Martha Wells
Saturday
* Panel: Mental Health & Craft: Creating with Depression and Anxiety
10:00 AM to 11:00 AM (1 hour)
San Jose Convention Center - 211C
Creating through depression and anxiety instead of taking a break and walking away from your work is sometimes the only option. At some point, nearly every creator will have to cope with these or similar issues as part of the ups and downs of life. Authors and artists talk about their techniques for working while living with a neuroatypical brain.
Vanessa Rose Phin, Arlin Robins, Martha Wells, Howard Tayler, Kate Elliott
* Series Hugo Finalists Group Reading
02:00 PM to 03:00 PM (1 hour)
San Jose Convention Center - 211A
Listen to some of this year's Hugo Best Series finalists as they share their work.
Brandon Sanderson, Martha Wells, Marie Brennan
* Panel: Fantasy Aliens
05:00 PM to 06:00 PM (1 hour)
San Jose Convention Center - 210A
We often think of aliens as science fictional beings--extraterrestrials--but there is also a rich tradition of crossover between fantasy and science fiction. Lovecraft gave us alien-like monsters in his fantasy stories, while Anne McCaffrey gave us fantastical dragons in her science fiction. As our stories and storytelling methods evolve, how is the crossover potential of science fiction and fantasy evolving with it? Our panelists will explore the many ways aliens can be fantastical and fantasy can feel alien in books, games, and beyond.
Caroline M. Yoachim, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Martha Wells, Keffy Kehrli, Jeannette Ng
Sunday
8:00 Hugo Awards
Monday
* Signing
11:00 - noon
Borderlands Books Booth, Dealer's Room
* Signing
2:00 - 3:00
Convention Autograph Area
comments
August 1, 2018
ArmadilloCon 2018 and Locus
* There's an interview with me in the August issue of Locus Magazine: http://locusmag.com/2018/08/issue-691-table-of-contents-august-2018/
* This weekend I'll be at ArmadilloCon 40 in Austin: http://www.armadillocon.org/d40/ (August 3-5, 2018)
Guests of honor are:
Guest of Honor: Deji Bryce Olukotun
Editor Guest: David Pomerico
Toastmaster: Aaron de Orive
Artist Guest: Rosemary Valero-O’Connell
Fan Guest: Craig W. Chrissinger
Special Guests: Holly Black & Robert J. Sawyer
My schedule is:
Friday
I'll be one of the teachers at the all day writers workshop.
Saturday
10am Worldbuilding Techniques
Conference Center
Stina Leicht (moderator), Robert J. Sawyer, Marshall Ryan Maresca, Martha Wells, Adrian Simmons
-What methods and techniques can our panelists recommend? How do they handle mistakes? Can they recommend any resources to new or struggling writers?
1:30pm The Van Show Interviews Martha Wells
Southpark A, 1:30pm - 2pm
3pm Autographing
Dealers Room, 3pm - 4pm
4pm Space Opera – History and Appreciation
Southpark A
Rose Dimond (moderator), Martha Wells, Michelle Muenzler, Bill Frank, Christie Meierz
-Which books and films have contributed to space opera as we know it today? (And are there any that are best forgotten?)
5:30pm Reading - Martha Wells
Southpark B, 5:30pm - 6pm
Sunday
11am Writing Nonhuman Characters
Martha Wells (moderator), Robert J. Sawyer, Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam, Jessica Reisman, Skyler White
-Our panel will discuss writing nonhuman characters -- what works well, and where the pitfalls lie.
comments
* This weekend I'll be at ArmadilloCon 40 in Austin: http://www.armadillocon.org/d40/ (August 3-5, 2018)
Guests of honor are:
Guest of Honor: Deji Bryce Olukotun
Editor Guest: David Pomerico
Toastmaster: Aaron de Orive
Artist Guest: Rosemary Valero-O’Connell
Fan Guest: Craig W. Chrissinger
Special Guests: Holly Black & Robert J. Sawyer
My schedule is:
Friday
I'll be one of the teachers at the all day writers workshop.
Saturday
10am Worldbuilding Techniques
Conference Center
Stina Leicht (moderator), Robert J. Sawyer, Marshall Ryan Maresca, Martha Wells, Adrian Simmons
-What methods and techniques can our panelists recommend? How do they handle mistakes? Can they recommend any resources to new or struggling writers?
1:30pm The Van Show Interviews Martha Wells
Southpark A, 1:30pm - 2pm
3pm Autographing
Dealers Room, 3pm - 4pm
4pm Space Opera – History and Appreciation
Southpark A
Rose Dimond (moderator), Martha Wells, Michelle Muenzler, Bill Frank, Christie Meierz
-Which books and films have contributed to space opera as we know it today? (And are there any that are best forgotten?)
5:30pm Reading - Martha Wells
Southpark B, 5:30pm - 6pm
Sunday
11am Writing Nonhuman Characters
Martha Wells (moderator), Robert J. Sawyer, Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam, Jessica Reisman, Skyler White
-Our panel will discuss writing nonhuman characters -- what works well, and where the pitfalls lie.
comments
July 31, 2018
Awards
I was at the ALA when the Locus Awards were held and All Systems Red won for Best Novella, so it was awesome yesterday when the award arrived in the mail.
***
The kitchen renovation should be starting up again today, so wish me luck.
comments
July 27, 2018
WorldCon Programming
Here's a report on the overhaul of WorldCon programming: http://maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/mrks-worldcon-2018-programming-update/
If you are a Hugo Nominee and you didn't get the email about WorldCon programming from Mary Robinette Kowal that was sent today (7/27/18), get in touch with her right away.
comments
If you are a Hugo Nominee and you didn't get the email about WorldCon programming from Mary Robinette Kowal that was sent today (7/27/18), get in touch with her right away.
comments
