‘‘I had to keep reminding myself when I was writing, ‘This is not actually my father. This is my version of his story.’ (My father was an artist, a graphic designer, but he really could write.) His story had an ending that seemed straight out of 1940s popular-fiction, but it was what actually happened to him. Everybody who read my version said, ‘This ending has got to come out, Eileen,’ but I couldn’t do it. Finally, I was on the phone with a much more experienced writer friend, and she asked, ‘What are you working on right now?’ I said, ‘Well, I’m having an awful time with this story – the ending is really bothering me.’ She said, ‘Send it to me.’ After she’d read it, even she said, ‘You’ve got to get rid of that ending.’ ‘But I can’t,’ I said. I told her why, and there was just silence on the other end of the phone. I asked, ‘Haven’t you ever done that, used stuff from real life?’ I felt a little abnormal. She made a brilliant suggestion for just moving the emphasis a little bit in the ending, and I think I got away with it. People will have to judge for themselves.
‘‘Questionable Practices has stories from the last ten years, a couple of them from pretty obscure publications. I’m always surprised when things have been online and people haven’t already read them, but that happens. People read books, and that, so far is where stories really live.
‘‘I was a history major in college, and some of that’s in there, but I’m pouring in an awful lot of information now. (I don’t think it’s going to be a big mega-novel, because I just don’t write long.) It’s dealing with a well-known author. I’m not rewriting any of his fiction, but I’m wondering, ‘How would a woman write this? Where would she get the life experience? Where would she get the personality?’
‘‘Even writers who don’t think they do it are setting up their own challenges. ‘How do I write about this thing, and then juxtapose it with this other thing?’ Given an assignment for myself, I like to subvert it. It gives me enormous pleasure to take something and reassemble it so the parts don’t look like the original. That’s a more sensitive issue when you’re collaborating. When I was collaborating with Michael Swanwick, we generally took two voices – that way we weren’t fighting over the actual words. He couldn’t tell me what he wanted, but he always knew when I got it was wrong. He’s a great writer: he’s relentless – relentless with his characters, relentless with his collaborators. Working with him, I’ve learned so much, and I’ve gained confidence that I could do good stuff.
‘‘History is always the hardest part for me, because I am a contrarian. If I can thinking of an ending, 20 minutes later I won’t like it, so I have to hide what I’m doing from myself. I think Michael does this, too, though I’ve never gotten him to admit it. There’s something in me that just doesn’t like to have things spelled out. When people say my stories are ‘surprising’ or ‘original,’ I tend to laugh, because I don’t think there’s anything really new about them. What the human brain is in charge of doing is looking at reality and organizing it into stories. When I see the pattern, I want to change it. I think I have, in most of my stories. I hope I have.’’
–Eileen Gunn
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MAIN STORIES
2013 Nebula Awards Winners • Spectrum 21 Awards Winners • Leckie Wins Clarke • 2013 Stoker Awards Winners • Vinge Wins Special Prometheus Award • Asimov’s Readers’ & Analog AnLab Awards • Amazon vs. Hachette
2013 NEBULA AWARDS WINNERS
2013 Nebula Awards Winners and Accepters: Steven H Silver (for Gravity), Nalo Hopkinson, Rachel Swirsky, Samuel R. Delany, Vylar Kaftan, Ann Leckie, Sylvia Spruck Wrigley (for Aliette de Bodard), Michael Armstrong
BEST NOVEL
Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
BEST NOVELLA
‘‘The Weight of the Sunrise’’, Vylar Kaftan (Asimov’s 2/13)
BEST NOVELETTE
‘‘The Waiting Stars’’, Aliette de Bodard (The Other Half of the Sky)
BEST SHORT STORY
‘‘If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love’’, Rachel Swirsky (Apex 3/13)
RAY BRADBURY AWARD
Gravity
ANDRE NORTON AWARD
Sister Mine, Nalo Hopkinson (Grand Central)
SERVICE TO SFWA AWARD
Michael Armstrong
DAMON KNIGHT MEMORIAL GRAND MASTER
Samuel R. Delany
SPECIAL HONOREE
Frank M. Robinson
Frank M. Robinson (1999)
The winners of the 2013 Nebula Awards were presented during the Nebula Awards Weekend (May 15-18, 2014) on May 17, 2014 at the San Jose Marriott in San Jose CA. Complete coverage of the awards weekend will appear in the July issue.
Robin Wayne Bailey with Robinson’s Special Honoree Award
Author Frank M. Robinson, 87, was supposed to receive a Special Honoree award during the Nebula Awards banquet, but ‘‘due to a combination of unintentional missteps’’ Robinson’s award was not included on the list prepared for the toastmaster, and was not presented during the event.
SFWA president Steven Gould posted an apology to Robinson, and to past SFWA president Robin Wayne Bailey, who had flown out specifically to accept the award on Robinson’s behalf. ‘‘While Frank, for health reasons, was not able to attend, the organization has never before failed to present an award in absentia…. I want to deeply apologize to Frank who has been a longtime friend and mentor, and to my friend Robin who traveled to the event at great personal inconvenience. The board of directors of the organization deeply regret that this happened.’’ (For the complete statement, see
SFWA will pay for Robinson and Bailey to travel to next year’s Nebula Awards Weekend, where the award will be presented.
SPECRUM 21 AWARDS WINNERS
Grand Master: Iain McCaig; ‘‘The Criterion Collection Lord of the Flies’’ by Kent Williams; ‘‘The End of the Road’’ by Nicholas Delrot
The 2014 Spectrum 21 Awards winners were announced in Kansas City MO, May 10, 2014.
Advertising – Gold Award: ‘‘The Criterion Collection Lord of the Flies’’, Kent Williams. Advertising – Silver Award: ‘‘A Tiger Beer Chinese New Year’’, Victo Ngai.
Book – Gold Award: ‘‘The End of the Road’’, Nicolas Delort. Book – Silver Award: ‘‘Little Sambha and the Tiger with the Beautiful Purple Shoes with Crimson Soles’’, Scott Gustafson.
Comics – Gold Award: ‘‘The Red Door’’, Thomas Campi. Comics – Silver Award: ‘‘Seasons, page 1’’, Mark A. Nelson.
Concept Art – Gold Award: ‘‘Refugees’’, Theo Prins. Concept Art – Silver Award: ‘‘John Carter Punches a Thark’’, Vance Kovacs.
Dimensional – Gold Award:: ‘‘Vertical Man-Tank, 1892’’, The Shiflett Bros. Dimensional – Silver Award: ‘‘Hot Diggety Dog’’, Colin Poole & Kristine Poole.
Editorial – Gold Award: ‘‘The Insects of Love’’, Tran Nguyen. Editorial – Silver Award: ‘‘Hair Tree’’, Yuko Shimizu.
Institutional – Gold Award: ‘‘Shared Eyewear’’, Bill Carman. Institutional – Silver Award: ‘‘Blacksea’’, Justin Sweet.
Unpublished – Gold Award: ‘‘The Long Walk Home’’, Omar Rayyan. Unpublished – Silver Award: ‘‘Riding Horse on the Freezing Day’’, Yukari Masuike.
Grand Master Award: Iain McCaig.
All winning artwork will be included in Spectrum 21: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art (Flesk Publications), edited by Cathy & Arnie Fenner. This was the first awards presentation under the guidance of Spectrum’s new director John Fleskes. Jurors were Cory Godbey, J. Anthony Kosar, George Pratt, Shelly Wan, and Allen Williams.
‘‘Vertical Man Tank, 1892’’ by The Shiflett Bros.; ‘‘The Insects of Love’’ by Tran Nguyen; ‘‘Shared Eyewear’’ by Bill Carman
LECKIE WINS CLARKE
Ann Leckie (2014)
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leck
ie (Orbit) is the winner of the 2014 Arthur C. Clarke Award, announced during
a ceremony at the Royal Society in London, May 1, 2014, as part of the SCI-FI-LONDON Film Festival. Leckie received a £2,014 prize and a commemorative engraved bookend.
The other nominees were: God’s War, Kameron Hurley (Del Rey UK); The Disestablishment of Paradise, Phillip Mann (Gollancz); Nexus, Ramez Naam (Angry Robot); The Adjacent, Christopher Priest (Gollancz); The Machine, James Smythe (Blue Door).
This year’s judges were Duncan Lawie and Ian Whates for the British Science Fiction Association, Sarah Brown and Lesley Hall for the Science Fiction Foundation, and Georgie Knight for SCI-FI-LONDON. Andrew M. Butler was chair of judges. Tom Hunter is awards director. For more:
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2013 STOKER AWARDS WINNERS
Rain Graves, David Gerrold, Stephen Jones, Linda Addison, William F. Nolan, Jason V Brock, Rocky Wood (seated), Aaron Stearns, Joe McKinney, Ellen Datlow, Eric J. Guignard, Rena Mason. J.G. Faherty
The 2013 Bram Stoker Awards, presented by the Horror Writers Association for superior achievement in horror literature, have been announced:
Novel: Doctor Sleep, Stephen King (Scribner).
First Novel: The Evolutionist, Rena Mason (Nightscape).
YA Novel: Dog Days, Joe McKinney (JournalStone).
Long Fiction: ‘‘The Great Pity’’, Gary Braunbeck (Chiral Mad 2).
Short Fiction: ‘‘Night Train to Paris’’, David Gerrold (F&SF 1-2/13).
Anthology: After Death…, Eric J. Guignard, ed. (Dark Moon).
Collection: The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All and Other Stories, Laird Barron (Night Shade).
Non-Fiction: Nolan on Bradbury: Sixty Years of Writing about the Master of Science Fiction, William F. Nolan (Hippocampus).
Poetry Collection: Four Elements, Marge Simon, Rain Graves, Charlee Jacob & Linda Addison (Bad Moon/Evil Jester).
Graphic Novel: Alabaster: Wolves, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Dark Horse).
Screenplay: The Walking Dead: ‘‘Welcome to the Tombs’’, Glen Mazzara (AMC TV).
R.L. Stine and Stephen Jones were the recipients of the Horror Writer’s Association Life Achievement Awards, as previously announced. Gray Friar Press won the Specialty Press Award, and the Silver Hammer Award, presented for outstanding service to HWA, went to Norman Rubenstein. The President’s Richard Laymon Service Award was given to J.G. Faherty.
Winners were announced May 10, 2014 at the 27th annual Bram Stoker Awards banquet during the World Horror Convention 2014 in Portland OR.
VINGE WINS SPECIAL PROMETHEUS AWARD
Vernor Vinge (2008)
The Libertarian Futurist Society has announced that Vernor Vinge will receive a Special Prometheus Award for lifetime achievement in 2014.
Vinge has received four previous Prometheus Awards, two in the Best Novel category (in 1987 for Marooned in Realtime and in 2000 for A Deepness in the Sky) and two Hall of Fame Awards (in 2004 for ‘‘The Ungoverned’’ and in 2007 for ‘‘True Names’’). The LFS has only presented one previous Special Prometheus Award for lifetime achievement, to Poul Anderson in 2001. Vinge will join F. Paul Wilson and L. Neil Smith, both also multiple Prometheus Award winners, as guests at Marcon, May 8-10, 2015 at the Hyatt Regency Columbus and Convention Center in Columbus OH. For more information, visit the LFS site.
ASIMOV’S READERS’ & ANALOG ANLAB AWARDS
Sheila Williams, Seth Fishman (for Will McIntosh), Naomi Kritzer, Amy Thomson, Trevor Quachri
The Asimov’s Readers’ Awards and the Analog 2013 AnLab Awards were presented at a breakfast celebration on May 17, 2014 during the Nebula Awards Weekend in San Jose CA.
The Asimov’s Readers’ Awards winners are: Best Novella: ‘‘The Application of Hope’’, Kristine Kathryn Rusch (8/13). Best Novelette: ‘‘Over There’’, Will McIntosh (1/13). Best Short Story (tie): ‘‘The Wall’’, Naomi Kritzer (4-5/13) and ‘‘The New Guys Always Work Overtime’’, David Erik Nelson (2/13). Best Poem: ‘‘Rivers’’, Geoffrey A. Landis (6/13). Best Cover Artist: Kinuko Craft.
The AnLab Awards winners are: Best Novella: ‘‘The Chaplain’s Legacy’’, Brad R. Torgersen (7-8/13). Best Novelette: ‘‘Buddha Nature’’, Amy Thomson (1-2/13). Best Short Story: ‘‘The War of the Worlds, Book One, Chapter 18: The Sergeant-Major’’, John G. Hemry (1-2/13). Best Fact Article: ‘‘The Great Ptolemaic Smackdown and Down-and-Dirty Mud-Wrassle’’, Michael F. Flynn (1-2/13). Best Cover: Tomislav Tikulin for July/August 2013.
AMAZON VS. HACHETTE
Online bookseller Amazon and publisher Hachette are engaged in negotiations over terms, and since early May Amazon has been delaying shipment of some Hachette Book Group titles, presumably as a means of exerting pressure on the publisher, to the detriment of authors and book buyers. Many print titles from Hachette are listed as taking from two to five weeks to ship. When discussion of the issue began appearing in the press, a Hachette spokesperson said:
It is our normal policy not to comment on negotiations underway with any retailer.
However, we have been asked legitimate questions about why many of our books are at present marked out of stock with relatively long estimated shipping times on the Amazon website, in contrast to immediate availability on other websites and in stores.
We are satisfying all Amazon’s orders promptly, and notifying them constantly of forthcoming publicity events and of out-of-stock situations on their website. Amazon is holding minimal stock and restocking some of HBG’s books slowly, causing ‘‘available 2-4 weeks’’ messages, for reasons of their own.
A letter sent to authors by Hachette CEO Michael Pietsch reiterated those points and added the reassuring note that, ‘‘HBG has a long history of successful partnership with Amazon, and we are counting on the goodwill we have established over many years as we try to resolve this impasse.’’
In addition to delaying shipment of Hachette titles, Amazon is also reducing discounts on many of the books, making them more expensive to buyers than usual. In at least some cases Amazon is running ads suggesting ‘‘similar items at a lower price’’ on pages for Hachette titles.
Authors were quick to decry the tactics, including many in the SF field. When N.K. Jemisin complained about the tactic on Twitter, Charles Stross replied to her saying, ‘‘Given AMZN’s near-monopoly position I think it’s an antitrust violation, but the US antitrust regulators are broken.’’ Sherman Alexie wrote that, ‘‘Like all repressive regimes, Amazon wants to completely control your access to books,’’ also on Twitter.
The Authors Guild received numerous complaints from members complaining about Amazon’s tactics damaging their sales. Vice-president Richard Russo said, ‘‘If you’re a monopolist, you get to be a bully. Maybe you feel immune.’’ He expressed surprise that Amazon ‘‘would want one more bad story about its practices.’’
The Association of Author Representatives, which has 400 member agents and represents tens of thousands of authors, sent a letter to Amazon written by AAR president Gail Hochtman. It reads, in part,
Without knowledge of the issues underlying that dispute [with Hachette], and without taking a position on that dispute, we want to advise you in the strongest possible terms that the AAR deplores any attempt by any party that would seek to injure and punish innocent authors – and their innocent readers – in order to pursue its position in a business dispute. We believe that such actions are analogous to hostage-taking to extort concessions, and are just as indefensible… Each of us has a role to play in this ecosystem, and surely Amazon does not need to – and should not in any event – hold the works of selected individual authors hostage as a weapon in a negotiation with a publisher. This is a brutal and manipulative tactic, ironically from a company that proclaims its goal to fully satisfy the reading needs and desires of its customers and to be a champion of authors.
Amazon has a history of using such tactics in negotiations, inf
amously removing the ‘‘buy now’’ buttons from Macmillan titles during a dispute over terms. Amazon has not commented on the dispute.
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PEOPLE AND PUBLISHING
MILESTONES
Nnedi Okorafor (2014)
NNEDI OKORAFOR is leaving her position as a professor at Chicago State University to teach at University of Buffalo, SUNY as an associate tenured professor of creative writing and literature. She will be part of the university’s new MA in Innovative Writing program.
GEORGE SAUNDERS was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for 2014, one of only six people chosen for the Literature section of the Academy.
AWARDS
The Baltimore Science Fiction Society has announced that CHARLES GANNON’s Fire With Fire (Baen) won the 2014 Compton Crook/Stephen Tall Award for the best first SF/fantasy/horror novel of 2013, presented at Balticon 48, May 23-26, 2014. He received a $1,000 cash prize.
Charles Gannon (2011)
KATE ATKINSON’s Life After Life won the Indies Choice Award in the Adult Fiction category, and Flora and Ulysses by KATE DiCAMILLO, with illustrations by K.G. CAMPBELL, won in the Middle Reader Category. JAMES PATTERSON won the Indie Champion Award for his support of independent bookstores.
CAMILA FERNANDES’s ‘‘The Other Bank of the River’’ won the Hydra Award for best SF story published in Brazil during 2011/2012, as judged by Orson Scott Card. Christopher Kastensmidt will translate it from Portuguese for publication in Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show.
BOOKS SOLD
OCTAVIA E. BUTLER’s Unexpected Stories, including unpublished stories discovered among her papers, with an introduction by Walter Mosley, sold to Betsy Mitchell at Open Road via Merrilee Heifetz of Writers House.
Locus, June 2014 Page 3
