Two novels by Paul Kearney have sold to Solaris Books reports Booktrade.info:
Jonathan Oliver, commissioning editor of Solaris Books since the imprint’s acquisition from Games Workshop by Rebellion earlier this month, has acquired two new novels by Paul Kearney, set on the same world as his successful Solaris novel The Ten Thousand. The agent was John Jarrold, and the deal was for UK/US rights.
[Thanks to Andrew Porter for the link.]
Norliana Books will reprint seven books by Tanith Lee, reports Booktrade.info:
This includes the novels The Birthgrave, Vazkor, Son of Vazkor, and Quest for the White Witch, [in the Birthgrave Trilogy] and, in The Wars of Vis sequence, The Storm Lord, Anackire, and The White Serpent, plus one new previously unpublished, untitled original sequel to conclude the Wars of Vis sequence. The books will be released starting in 2010.
Norilana Books is a Los Angeles-based new independent publisher, owned and operated by Vera Nazarian since 2006.
[Thanks to Andrew Porter for the link.]
Tamara Sheehan believes Aurora Award webmaster Clint Budd has verified that her short story “Twenty” was an Aurora nominee, based on this statement in his e-mail of yesterday:
I have your name (as part of a list kept for other reasons) and the name of the story – “Twenty” but no record of the number of nominations. So, yes, you’re right – the story was nominated, but didn’t reach the short list.
Do I need a better understanding of what’s regarded as an Aurora nominee?
The inference is that there is an Aurora “long list” as well as a “short list,” and that anything on the long list is also a type of nominee, like the finalists.
However, the official Aurora Award site says otherwise. The Canadian Science Fiction & Fantasy Association gives this description of the Aurora nominating process:
The Aurora awards are closest to the style of the Hugo awards (which are presented by the SF Worldcon) in the method by which they are selected. First there is a nomination phase to select a short list. Then a voting phase to pick the winner from the short list using the Australian voting method (this method has the voter rank their choices in each category).
Since the CSF&F follows the usage of the Hugos, then they presumably do not characterize as nominees the works or people named on Aurora Award nominating ballots that fail to make the final ballot.
In Hugo usage nominee and finalist are synonymous. If you’re not a finalist you’re not a nominee.
A different case is the long-list/short-list arrangement used in the early years of the Nebula Awards where items on the long list were characterized as nominees and published in a preliminary ballot.
SFWA adopted a two-ballot system for the 1970 Nebulas. It circulated the member-recommended long list of nominees on a ballot for a preliminary vote and put the top vote-getters on the final ballot. That year 45 short stories were nominated and 7 made the final ballot. Works on the preliminary long list were regarded as nominees and recorded as such in Don Franson and Howard DeVore’s A History of the Hugo, Nebula and International Fantasy Awards (1978 edition).
If there are any Canadian fans who know the history and usage of the Aurora Awards and want to comment on this I’d welcome your participation. While I think Tamara Sheehan has made an innocent mistake, if the error is mine I’d be happy to correct it.
An unusual amount of crossover interest from mundane linkfarms boosted a post about Tolkien to the top of the list of 10 most-viewed posts in September 2009, as tracked by Google Analytics. Comments, leading to repeat viewing, elevated many of the others.
1. Not J.R.R. Bond
2. The Joanna Russ Amendment
3. Don’t Put That Bear Where There’s No Air
4. Joe Haldeman Hospitalized
5. Make Fandom Relevant Again?
6. Gagging on Google
7. Life in Fandom, Vintage 1951
8. Ben Indick 1923-2009
9. The Horror
10. WFC 2009 Adds Guest
The Australian SF Foundation has created the Norma K. Hemming Award to celebrate excellence in the exploration of themes of race, gender, class and sexuality in science fiction produced either in Australia or by Australian citizens.
The award is named for Norma K. Hemming (1927-1960), a British author who migrated to Australia in 1949. She wrote for the pulp magazine Thrills Incorporated and also enthusiastically participated in the Australian fan scene. She was an original member of the femme fan group Vertical Horizons.
The award may not be given annually, as ASFF will only select work that meets an appropriate standard of excellence. Assuming such a work is published this year, the award will debut at Aussiecon 4 in 2010.
Jurors selecting the first recipient will be writer/editor Russell Blackford, editor/publisher Rob Gerrand, authors Kim Wilkins and Tess Williams, and editor Sarah Endacott.
[Via Bruce Gillespie.]
When he read Winthrop Sargeant’s article about fandom from a 1951 issue of Life, Andrew Porter found some things in it were awfully familiar:
The photo on the [article’s] first page is from The Man From Planet X which was on Turner Classic Movies last week. From the intro I earned that the actress in the photo is Sally Fields’s mother. Also, the weirdly-shaped ship appears in a Paul Lehr cover from the 1960s which I reprinted on the cover of Algol #39 (Summer 1980) as part of an interview with Lehr by Vincent Di Fate.
How many degrees of separation is that?
Joe Haldeman’s fever hit 104 again on October 1, reports Gay Haldeman on SFF.net. Otherwise, the pulmonary doctor said all his signs were a little better. Joe is being weaned from the ventilator slowly. He’s still critical but stable.
The Aussiecon 4 committee is reminding fandom that Melbourne hosts next year’s Worldcon:
After Anticipation, the recent World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) held in Montreal, Canada, in August, the eyes of the global science fiction community now turn to Melbourne. Aussiecon 4, to be held 2-6 September 2010 at the new Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre…
The full press release appears after the jump.
Tamara Sheehan, author of The Tenth Man and The Mediocre Assassin’s Handbook, gives three tips for aspiring pros that manage to be both sobering and entertaining:
Writing is work that can make you go crazy. It’s Sisyphean. It’s long hours for little acknowledgment. For the majority of us, it does not and will not ever pay as much as our day jobs. Want to go have a little cry? Go ahead. I understand. I did too, when I got it.
Update 10/05/2009: I revised this post based on the information discussed here
Gay Haldeman’s SFF.net update for September 30 is that doctors are trying to wean Joe Haldeman off the respirator. She adds, “It’s a long process and may not work yet—that’s the way it usually goes.”