Thanks and Update

Hi everyone! We've been buried under the snowpocalypse for the last two days, but it looks like the weather's passed for now. Which is good, because I'm due to fly up to Washington, D.C. tomorrow for a four-day conference, and to do that, I need to get to the airport! The conference should be fascinating, and it feels like it's been ages since I was in D.C. (I had a short internship there while I was in college, and I do get back now and then). I'll be online to a degree while I'm gone.

A few quick notes:

* First of all, tremendous thanks to everyone who participated in the Sofanaut Awards. Because of your kind support, I've received the 2011 Sofanaut Award for Best Fact Article Contributor for my regular "Looking Back on Genre History" segments on StarShipSofa . I'm very grateful for this affirmation of something I so love to do, and I appreciate the wonderful listeners, who make it all worthwhile. Thank you, and congratulations the other winners of this year's Sofanaut Awards!

* Second, my most recent StarShipSofa "Genre History" segment, which discusses Native American authors of speculative fiction, is now available in the latest episode of the podcast. You can download it or listen to it here. If you listen, I hope you enjoy. (A full list of my past podcast segments, with links, is available here.)

* Third, happy birthday to mjolnir1964 , and happy early birthday to altariel , pwilkinson , lukeski , seemag , pinkfinity , and thrihyrne . May each of you enjoy a wonderful day and a fantastic year to come!

* Last, I thought these two articles on young adult dystopias might be of interest:
--- From author Paolo Bacigalupi, in the New York Times: "The Dark Side of Young Adult Fiction"
--- A response from author Mike Brotherton, in his blog: "Dystopias are Realistic? I'm Not so Sure Paolo…"


This, I think, speaks for itself:


see more Historic LOL

"All I'm gonna say to you is this: evil wins when good folks do nothing."
- Stevie Rae, Awakened, P.C. and Kristin Cast