Hugo Nominess 2009

Posted by admin on April 8, 2009

The Hugo Award, first presented in 1953, celebrate the best in the field of science fiction and fantasy. Recipients are chosen by members of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS). The Hugos are presented each year at the World Science Fiction Convention.

799 Total Ballots cast

Best Novel (639 Ballots Cast)
Anathem by Neal Stephenson (Morrow; Atlantic UK)
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins; Bloomsbury)
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (Tor)
Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross (Ace; Orbit)
Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi (Tor)

Best Novella (337 Ballots Cast)
‘‘The Erdmann Nexus’’ by Nancy Kress (Asimov’s Oct/Nov 2008)
‘‘The Political Prisoner’’ by Charles Coleman Finlay (F&SF Aug 2008)
‘‘The Tear’’ by Ian McDonald (Galactic Empires)
‘‘True Names’’ by Benjamin Rosenbaum & Cory Doctorow (Fast Forward 2)
‘‘Truth’’ by Robert Reed (Asimov’s Oct/Nov 2008)

Best Novelette (373 Ballots Cast)
‘‘Alastair Baffle’s Emporium of Wonders’’ by Mike Resnick (Asimov’s Jan 2008)
‘‘The Gambler’’ by Paolo Bacigalupi (Fast Forward 2)
‘‘Pride and Prometheus’’ by John Kessel (F&SF Jan 2008)
‘‘The Ray-Gun: A Love Story’’ by James Alan Gardner (Asimov’s Feb 2008)
‘‘Shoggoths in Bloom’’ by Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s Mar 2008)

Best Short Story (448 Ballots Cast)
‘‘26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss’’ by Kij Johnson (Asimov’s Jul 2008)
‘‘Article of Faith’’ by Mike Resnick (Baen’s Universe Oct 2008)
‘‘Evil Robot Monkey’’ by Mary Robinette Kowal (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Two)
‘‘Exhalation’’ by Ted Chiang (Eclipse Two)
‘‘From Babel’s Fall’n Glory We Fled’’ by Michael Swanwick (Asimov’s Feb 2008)

Best Related Book (263 Ballots Cast)
Rhetorics of Fantasy by Farah Mendlesohn (Wesleyan University Press)
Spectrum 15: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art by Cathy Fenner & Arnie Fenner, eds. (Underwood Books)
The Vorkosigan Companion: The Universe of Lois McMaster Bujold by Lillian Stewart Carl & John Helfers, eds. (Baen)
What It Is We Do When We Read Science Fiction by Paul Kincaid (Beccon Publications)
Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded: A Decade of Whatever, 1998-2008 by John Scalzi (Subterranean Press)

Best Graphic Story (212 Ballots Cast)
The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle Written by Jim Butcher, art by Ardian Syaf (Del Rey/Dabel Brothers Publishing)
Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones Written by Kaja & Phil Foglio, art by Phil Foglio, colors by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment)
Fables: War and Pieces Written by Bill Willingham, pencilled by Mark Buckingham, art by Steve Leialoha and Andrew Pepoy, color by Lee Loughridge, letters by Todd Klein (DC/Vertigo Comics)
Schlock Mercenary: The Body Politic Story and art by Howard Tayler (The Tayler Corporation)
Serenity: Better Days Written by Joss Whedon & Brett Matthews, art by Will Conrad, color by Michelle Madsen, cover by Jo Chen (Dark Horse Comics)
Y: The Last Man, Volume 10: Whys and Wherefores Written/created by Brian K. Vaughan, pencilled/created by Pia Guerra, inked by Jose Marzan, Jr. (DC/Vertigo Comics)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form (436 Ballots Cast)
The Dark Knight Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer, story; Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan, screenplay; based on characters created by Bob Kane; Christopher Nolan, director (Warner Brothers)
Hellboy II: The Golden Army Guillermo del Toro & Mike Mignola, story; Guillermo del Toro, screenplay; based on the comic by Mike Mignola; Guillermo del Toro, director (Dark Horse, Universal)
Iron Man Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby and Art Marcum & Matt Holloway, screenplay; based on characters created by Stan Lee & Don Heck & Larry Lieber & Jack Kirby; Jon Favreau, director (Paramount, Marvel Studios)
METAtropolis edited by John Scalzi; Elizabeth Bear, Jay Lake, Tobias Buckell, John Scalzi, and Karl Schroeder, writers (Audible Inc.)
WALL-E Andrew Stanton & Pete Docter, story; Andrew Stanton & Jim Reardon, screenplay; Andrew Stanton, director (Pixar/Walt Disney)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form (336 Ballots Cast)
Lost: “The Constant”, Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof, writers; Jack Bender, director (Bad Robot, ABC studios)
Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog Joss Whedon, & Zack Whedon, & Jed Whedon, & Maurissa Tancharoen, writers; Joss Whedon, director (Mutant Enemy)
Battlestar Galactica: “Revelations”, Bradley Thompson & David Weddle, writers; Michael Rymer, director (NBC Universal)
Doctor Who: “Silence in the Library”/”Forest of the Dead”, Steven Moffat, writer; Euros Lyn, director (BBC Wales)
Doctor Who: “Turn Left”, Russell T. Davies, writer; Graeme Harper, director (BBC Wales)

Best Editor, Short Form (377 Ballots Cast)
Ellen Datlow
Stanley Schmidt
Jonathan Strahan
Gordon Van Gelder
Sheila Williams

Best Editor, Long Form (273 Ballots Cast)
Lou Anders
Ginjer Buchanan
David G. Hartwell
Beth Meacham
Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Best Professional Artist (334 Ballots Cast)
Daniel Dos Santos
Bob Eggleton
Donato Giancola
John Picacio
Shaun Tan

Best Semiprozine (283 Ballots Cast)
Clarkesworld Magazine edited by Neil Clarke, Nick Mamatas, & Sean Wallace
Interzone edited by Andy Cox
Locus edited by Charles N. Brown, Kirsten Gong-Wong, & Liza Groen Trombi
The New York Review of Science Fiction edited by Kathryn Cramer, Kris Dikeman, David G. Hartwell, & Kevin J. Maroney
Weird Tales edited by Ann VanderMeer & Stephen H. Segal

Best Fan Writer (291 Ballots Cast)
Chris Garcia
John Hertz
Dave Langford
Cheryl Morgan
Steven H Silver

Best Fanzine (257 Ballots Cast)
Argentus edited by Steven H Silver
Banana Wings edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
Challenger edited by Guy H. Lillian III
The Drink Tank edited by Chris Garcia
Electric Velocipede edited by John Klima
File 770 edited by Mike Glyer

Best Fan Artist (187 Ballots Cast)
Alan F. Beck
Brad W. Foster
Sue Mason
Taral Wayne
Frank Wu

The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (288 Ballots Cast)
Aliette de Bodard*
David Anthony Durham*
Felix Gilman
Tony Pi*
Gord Sellar*

*(Second year of eligibility)

The 67th World Science Fiction Convention, known as Anticipation, will take place in Montréal, Québec, Canada from Thursday, August 6th through Monday, August 10th, 2009.

More information about Anticipation, including current membership rates, is available on our web site (http://www.anticipationsf.ca); you can also write to us for more information.

16 More Free Wordpress Themes for Writers

Posted by admin on March 9, 2009

What a difference a year makes. A quick search yielded a lot of professional themes for Wordpress. Unlike last years crop, which mostly were personal themes that could work for writers, many newer themes seem to offer a more polished, professional image. More features are built into the themes, and unfortunately, some do require a little bit of programming to get working. As always, I’ve tried to link to either the Wordpress theme viewer or the designer’s site. And I’ve tried to get non-linkjacked, non-sponsored themes. But there are a few here that have links embedded in the footer. Use with caution.

Threat to Creativity- Wow Cool. Colorful, Pop-Art Magazine theme. Unique and artisitic. I can’t wait to see this in use. (ed. Guess what? I’m trying it out now. There’s a few rendering issues at low res…But it’s pretty nice)

Chronicles- A Clean, magazine feel.Love the color scheme and design. very nice for a professional image.

Inanis Glass- A Glass look theme from Wordpress theme viewer. Great techy feel with lots of features. Check out the author photo and animated buttons.

Gravel- Red Grungy theme. Reminds me of this site’s WP-Premium, but with a little more personality. I haven’t downloaded it yet- Does anyone know if it’s got any features?

Desk Mess- Another Basic, writer themed theme.You’d think Personal blogs from aspiring writers were all over the internet,  wouldn’t you?

Abynsthe- An Outdoorsy, cabin and wood theme. Like the whole Camp Crystal Lake Vibe, but why Absynthe?

Kanata- OOH, Look. Desk Images, Wood and Notebooks! It’s the Writer theme Trifecta!

MT Dark- Yet another Dark Personal Blog Theme. Yawwn.. I’m getting tired of these. Maybe it’s time to shake things up…

Mysterio- No, Not the next Spiderman villain, but a sci-fi, techy theme to satisfy your inner Gibson.

Screwdriver- What? Too Clean Cut? How about a nice steam punk feel, fresh from Vault 19?

WasteLand- Still too Clean? Fine….Here’s a Post-apocalyptic Theme for you to Groove to:

Maro-I like the layout of this.I Like the Advertised advanced features.  The colors, I don’t know. I liked them at first, but think they’re just a little off. Give it a shot.

Voodoo Empire 2- The thumbnail doesn’t do this theme justice. This is a neat, red theme that looks simply fantastic.

Deep Silent- Another red One. This time a soft Romantic / Gothic header and professional type make a pretty interesting theme.

Cellar Heat-From the Popular Smashing Pumpkins comes this theme. Check out the others they have available also-lots of creative designs for artists and writers.

VideoGraphEx- Got content? Not the fanciest Theme, But designed for video Bloggers.

Posted by admin on January 13, 2009

Here’s a pretty neat video of Anathem
’s creator Neal Stephenson at Google, giving one of their patented, “Gee, I wish I worked there” inspirational talks from really cool people.

Gifts For Writers and Readers

Posted by admin on December 3, 2008

The Sherlock Holmes Chess Set Pieces – SAC Hand Decorated

The Sherlock Holmes Chess Set Pieces – SAC Hand Decorated – $ 292.50

When you care enough…What writer hasn’t always dreamed of their very own, oak-lined den? Of a fireplace blazing away in the corner and overstuffed leather chairs. Get them started right with the Sherlock Holmes Chess Set from ChessHouse.com. Next year, the big old magnifier and chemistry set…

“Embedded” Notebook

Notebook and Pencil – $ 14.95

The latest in high tech note taking, it’s a pencil and a pen! But wait- There’s more. See, then Pencil is in a slot in the Notebook! And you keep it together with an elastic band! bet you can’t wait to see their faces,huh?

Zazzle Writing Shirt

Ever feel like you’re second banana to your writer’s passion? That nothing is as important as the creative urge? Martin Luther felt the same way a couple of centuries ago.

Kindle: Amazon’s Wireless Reading Device

I Don’t Know if I’m quite sold Myself on the Kindle: It seems like a lot of tech to replace something that’s pretty cheap, efficient and user friendly already. But there’s no denying the ability to purchase books on the fly is pretty handy. with reading becoming more and more an affectation, maybe the time is right for a “cool” device to reach a mass audience. Do you think the Kindle will become the iPod for readers?

Book in a Month: The Fool-Proof System for Writing a Novel in 30 Days

Give the Gift of Inspiration! Book in a Month: The Fool-Proof System for Writing a Novel in 30 Days is the slightly silly, well produced Writer’s Digest version of NaNoWrimo. This workbook is spiral bound, with worksheets, calendars, motivational stickers and more to help organise and write your book.

Zèle Premium Absinthe

If you’re bringing a bottle of wine, why not go all the way with some Absinthe? Absinthe is an Herbal Liquor made from wormwood that has long been associated with creativity and inspiration. Artists from Picasso to Hemingway have raved about the “Green Fairy.” Personally, I think it tastes like Jagermeister watered down with Ouzo, but hey, At least there’s history and ritual involved.

Speaking of Papa: Here’s the ultimate writing accessory. It offers instant gratification: Big smiles as the recipient tries it on under the tree. Fill the pockets with the Embedded Notebook, “Book in a Month”, and other accessories, and you’ve done good.

ThinkGeek T-Shirts

Think Geek has a wide selection of T-Shirts guaranteed to appeal to the writer in your life. From Animated T’s like the Wifi, 8 bit Life, and Rock Hero T-shirts, to Sci-fi and Geek Humor. Check them out for more ideas at ThinkGeek Electronics

Acer Aspire One 8.9-inch Mini Laptop

Yes, I Know. I’m a traitor. XP instead of Linux. But I’ll put Ubuntu on it. AND I’ll get a hard drive.

This Fever for Writing

Posted by admin on November 16, 2008