Hugo pandering, part two: local focus.

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Hugo pandering, part two: local focus.

Posted on 2011-01-05 at 03:27 by montsamu

In part one, I ran down the stories and writers published in Bull Spec this year which are therefore eligible for the appropriate Hugo (and Nebula!) award categories. In part three, I’ll take a look at the wider world of stories and writers. But this? This is part two, where I’ll try to highlight the local (and regional) novels, stories, and writers who are eligible to be nominated for the 2011 Hugo Awards.

First, the locally-written books eligible in the Best Novel category, alpha by author:

  • David Drake, The Legions of Fire
  • Kelly Gay, The Darkest Edge of Dawn
  • Clay and Susan Griffith, The Greyfriar (Vampire Empire: Book I)
  • Mary Robinette Kowal, Shades of Milk and Honey (ex-local alert!)
  • Warren Rochelle, The Called (ex-local alert!)
  • Lisa Shearin, Bewitched & Betrayed
  • Mark L. Van Name, Children No More
  • Tim Akers (ex-”deeply rural” NC), The Horns of Ruin
  • Note: Richard Dansky’s Firefly Rain is not eligible, as while it did come out from Simon & Schuster last year, it was originally published in 2009
On a side note, while the Hugo Awards do not have a separate category for YA and YR books, the Nebula Awards do, the Andre Norton Award. This is a juried award, but (mainly because I want to mention them!) the locally-written and eligible books are:
  • John Claude Bemis, The Wolf Tree
  • Stephen Messer, Windblowne
  • Cate Tiernan, Immortal Beloved
  • David MacInnis Gill (Wilmington), Black Hole Sun
  • Hope Larson (ex-Asheville), Mercury (graphic novel)
I am aware of only one locally-written novella published in 2010 and thus eligible for Best Novella, and that is Mur Lafferty’s Marco and the Red Granny. Update: Greensboro’s Fred Chappell also published a novella this year, “Remnants” in Cthulu’s Reign (DAW Books).

I am aware of only one novelette written by a (now) local writer published in 2010 and thus eligible for Best Novelette, and that is Eric Gregory’s “The Earth of Yunhe”, published in the Shine anthology edited by Jetse de Vries. Update: Thanks to a post on John Scalzi’s Whatever blog, I now know to categorize Mary Robinette Kowal’s “Water to Wine” (from METAtropolis: Cascadia) as a novelette.

In the Best Short Story category, there were so many stories I will be unable to mention them all. But I will do my best, alpha by author:
  • Dale Bailey (Hickory): “Silence” and “Eating at the End-of-the-World Cafe” in F&SF
  • Natania Barron: “Sand” in Bull Spec #3, “Dead’s End to Middleton” in Crossed Genres, “Without a Light” in Fantastique Unfettered #1, “A Dear, Lovely Thing” – Faerie Magazine #20, and “The Monastery of the Seven Hands” in Dark Futures
  • M. David Blake: “We Don’t Plummet Out of the Sky Anymore” in Stupefying Stories
  • Erik Bundy (Tryon): “Einstein’s Last Calculation” in Aiofe’s Kiss and “A Reluctance to Kiss” in Bards and Sages Quarterly
  • Monica Byrne, “Five Letters from New Laverne” in Shimmer #12 and “Nine Bodies of Water” in Fantasy Magazine
  • Paul Celmer: “Echoes of the Bouncing Ball” in Bull Spec #2 and “A Crowded Place” in Bull Spec #3
  • Fred Chappell (Greensboro): “Thief of Shadows” and “Uncle Moon in Raintree Hills” in F&SF
  • Gwendolyn Clare: “The Other Lila” in Bull Spec #2, “Driving X” in Warrior Wisewoman 3, and “Uttu’s Garden” and “Prelude to Battle” in Abyss & Apex (Note: while “Ashes on the Water” appeared in Asimov’s on newsstands in late 2010, it has a cover date of January 2011)
  • C.D. Covington: “U8 Alexanderplatz (1989) in Retro Spec
  • Richard Dansky: “Mad Eyes of the Heron King” in Dark Faith
  • Alexandra Duncan (Asheville): “Amor Fugit” and “The Door in the Earth” and “Swamp City Lament” in F&SF
  • Jaym Gates: “First Step, Last Breath” and (with Fadzlishah Johanabas bin Rosli) “The Shadow of Phrixos” in Aether Age: Helios
  • Joseph Giddings (Greenville, NC): “The Duel” in Golden Visions Magazine
  • Rebecca Gomez Farrell: “She Could Be Me” in Flahes in the Dark
  • Denali Hyatt: “Cityscape” in Bull Spec #3
  • Michael Jasper: “Devil on the Wind” (with Jay Lake) in Black Gate Winter 2010
  • Kij Johnson: “Ponies” in Tor.com and “Names for Water” in Asimov’s
  • Brenda Kalt: “Cradle Song” in Daily Science Fiction
  • John Kessel: “Iteration” in Strange Horizons and “The Closet” in F&SF
  • Mary Robinette Kowal: “Ring Road” in Dark Faith, “Salt of the Earth” in Redstone Science Fiction, “Birthright” in 2020 Visions, and so many others that she has a whole journal post just on that!
  • Andrew Magowan: “Freedom Acres” in Bull Spec #4
  • Rich Matrunick: “Full Circle” in Every Day Fiction
  • James Maxey: “Message in a Bottle” in Shimmer #11, “Where Their Worm Dieth Not” in Masked and “Greatshadow” in Blood & Devotion
  • Gray Rinehart: “Memorial at Copernicus” at Redstone Science Fiction
  • Melinda Thielbar: “You’re Almost Here” in Bull Spec #3
  • Mark Van Name: “Lobo, Actually” in Jump Gate Twist
  • R.E. VanNewKirk: “Syd’s Turn” in Rigor Amortis
  • Henry Vogel: in Stupefying Stories
  • Jeremy Whitley: “A Crisis of Purpose” in No More Heroes
  • Alex Wilson: “Nervewrecking” in 2020 Visions
  • Peter Wood: “Almost a Good Day to Go Outside” in Bull Spec #1
In the Best Fan Artist as I mentioned in part one, Carrboro artist Jason Strutz provided cover illustrations for both Bull Spec #3 and #4, as well as an additional interior illustration in #4. He also provided the cover for the No More Heroes anthology.

For Best Fan Writer see my write-up in part one for Durham’s Richard Dansky, and (ex-local alert!) Jason Erik Lundberg.

For Best Graphic Story the only one that comes to mind is from ex-Asheville’s Hope Larson, whose graphic novel Mercury was featured in Bull Spec #2. Generally speaking, serial works are eligible when they wrap up, and both The Order of Dagonet (Carrboro’s Jason Strutz and Jeremy Whitley) and TURF (Tommy Lee Edwards) and the web/electronic comic In Maps & Legends (Wake Forest’s Mike Jasper) are still ongoing to end 2010.


For Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form there is actually a film with a local connection. Artist Tommy Lee Edwards did concept art for The Book of Eli.

For the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer you’ll have to cross-reference the short story list above with my write-up in part one for local Bull Spec contributors. Sorry, time to cut and run. But for those not published in Bull Spec this year, Gray Rinehart and Monica Byrne (first year) and Eric Gregory (second year) are also eligible, along with YA novelists Bemis (second year), Messer, and Gill. I’m not sure about Alexandra Duncan (Asheville).

OK! Part two is down, though I know I missed more than a few things. Tomorrow: part three, a look at the wider world of stories and writers and editors and more.

Posted in hugo-2011