Nebulas!

Or, as my phone would insist, Nebulae.

So, I went to San Jose last weekend for the Nebula Awards. Mostly I went because it was an excuse to dress up and hang out with my friends, and really anything else was gravy. I mean, it was all gravy to begin with, so I guess anything else would be, what, an extra helping of super-special gravy?

Every now and then someone would ask me if I thought I would win. And I really had no idea. And wasn’t giving the possibility much serious thought. I mean, look at the list:

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, by Karen Joy Fowler won the PEN/Faulkner award, and there’s a really good reason for that. It’s fabulous.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman is, you know, by Neil Gaiman. And this is widely considered to be one of his best.

Fire with Fire by Charles E. Gannon won the Compton Crook award–in fact, it beat Ancillary Justice.

Hild, by Nicola Griffith is amazing and lovely and has just been named a finalist for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award.

The Red: First Light, by Linda Nagata, is as far as I can tell, the first ever self-published book to be nominated for a Nebula.

A Stranger in Olondria, by Sofia Samatar has already won the Crawford Award and is–well, I’ve probably already bored you in the past telling you to go read it. Go read it if you haven’t. Sofia also had a short story on the Nebula ballot, and is nominated for the Campbell (NOT A HUGO) this year, so, you know, yeah.

The Golem and the Jinni, by Helene Wecker is a book I’ve seen turn up on lots of year-end-best lists, and with good reason.

Basically, it really, truly is an astonishing honor to have my book listed among those books, and I would have been happy to see any of them win.

Any of them didn’t win. Ancillary Justice did.

It’s a good thing I had a speech ready just in case, and written all the way down. I know at least one nominee who had only a small kind of post-it thingy with some bullet points jotted on it. She won and proceeded to speak very well. I could not have done that. I probably would have only been able to gibber.

You guys. I am so astonished. This year. It has been such an amazing year. And I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the folks who have read and enjoyed Ancillary Justice. It’s been an amazing year largely because of you all. Thank you.

Mirrored from Ann Leckie.

Nebulas!

Or, as my phone would insist, Nebulae.

So, I went to San Jose last weekend for the Nebula Awards. Mostly I went because it was an excuse to dress up and hang out with my friends, and really anything else was gravy. I mean, it was all gravy to begin with, so I guess anything else would be, what, an extra helping of super-special gravy?

Every now and then someone would ask me if I thought I would win. And I really had no idea. And wasn’t giving the possibility much serious thought. I mean, look at the list:

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, by Karen Joy Fowler won the PEN/Faulkner award, and there’s a really good reason for that. It’s fabulous.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman is, you know, by Neil Gaiman. And this is widely considered to be one of his best.

Fire with Fire by Charles E. Gannon won the Compton Crook award–in fact, it beat Ancillary Justice.

Hild, by Nicola Griffith is amazing and lovely and has just been named a finalist for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award.

The Red: First Light, by Linda Nagata, is as far as I can tell, the first ever self-published book to be nominated for a Nebula.

A Stranger in Olondria, by Sofia Samatar has already won the Crawford Award and is–well, I’ve probably already bored you in the past telling you to go read it. Go read it if you haven’t. Sofia also had a short story on the Nebula ballot, and is nominated for the Campbell (NOT A HUGO) this year, so, you know, yeah.

The Golem and the Jinni, by Helene Wecker is a book I’ve seen turn up on lots of year-end-best lists, and with good reason.

Basically, it really, truly is an astonishing honor to have my book listed among those books, and I would have been happy to see any of them win.

Any of them didn’t win. Ancillary Justice did.

It’s a good thing I had a speech ready just in case, and written all the way down. I know at least one nominee who had only a small kind of post-it thingy with some bullet points jotted on it. She won and proceeded to speak very well. I could not have done that. I probably would have only been able to gibber.

You guys. I am so astonished. This year. It has been such an amazing year. And I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the folks who have read and enjoyed Ancillary Justice. It’s been an amazing year largely because of you all. Thank you.

Mirrored from Ann Leckie.

Wiscon Schedule

So, little or no sleep last weekend wasn’t enough for me–I need to do it again this coming weekend! So I’ll be at Wiscon.

And I’m on panels! These panels, in fact:

What is Science in Feminist SF? Sat, 10:00–11:15 am Conference 4
Moderator: Jacquelyn Gill. Sandra Ulbrich Almazan, Nivair H. Gabriel, Ann Leckie

When we argue about whether women write more fantasy than SF, are we assuming a particular definition of science that should be questioned? And are we also applying gender bias when we assess the “hardness” of SF by men and women?

SFWA: Is It Relevant? Is It Useful? Sun, 1:00–2:15 pm Conference 4
Moderator: Ann Leckie. Wesley Chu, Gary Kloster, David D. Levine, Grá Linnaea

Many accomplished sf/f writers don’t qualify for full membership in SFWA. Other organizations, such as RWA do a lot more for writers at every level. With the latest election, the SFWA Bulletin problems, and the attack on one of our Guests of Honor by one member of SFWA and its results, do we as feminists and writers want to be part of that organization? Can working from within to change it have real results?

What’s Gender in an Equal-opportunity Future? Mon, 10:00–11:15 am Solitaire
Moderator: Christopher Davis. Jed Hartman, BC Holmes, Erin M. Kelly, Ann Leckie

In various science fictional futures (Star Trek, the Culture, etc), women and men have, in theory, full or near-full social equality, whether or not the portrayals always reflect it in practice. In a fictional society in which there is no gender discrimination and/or no limiting gender roles, what does it mean to be male, female, or any other gender? Is it all about physical characteristics? Are there likely to be gendered names, clothes, hairstyles, and stereotypical interests in such a world? In a fictional world with uterine replicators, equal sharing of parenting responsibilities, same-sex parents, multiple parents, and/or no stigma against being or not being a parent, what does it mean to be a mother or a father? (Please be trans-friendly in all your answers.)

The SignOut Mon, 11:30 am–12:45 pm Capitol/Wisconsin
Sandra Ulbrich Almazan, Stacie L Arellano, Eleanor A. Arnason, Greg Bechtel, F.J. Bergmann, Susan Simensky Bietila, Alex Bledsoe, Gwenda Bond, K. Tempest Bradford, Chesya Burke, Wesley Chu, Julia Dvorin, Rhea Ewing, Hiromi Goto, Eileen Gunn, Andrea D. Hairston, Dorothy Hearst, Liz Henry, Lauren Jankowski, N. K. Jemisin, Emily Jiang, Vylar Kaftan, Keffy R. M. Kehrli, Mary Robinette Kowal, Ellen Kushner, Ann Leckie, Kimberley Long-Ewing, Heather McDougal, Allison Moon, Katrinka Moore, Nancy Jane Moore, Pat Murphy, Debbie Notkin, Melissa F. Olson, Samantha Haney Press, Mary Rickert, James P. Roberts, Madeleine E. Robins, Catherine M. Schaff-Stump, Nisi Shawl, Delia Sherman, Cecilia Tan, Sheree Renée Thomas, LaShawn M. Wanak, Sunny Moraine

Come and sign your works, come and get things signed, come and hang out and wind down before you leave.

When I’m not doing a panel, I’ll probably be in the bar, or wandering around and not hard to find. I’m looking forward to seeing the cool folks I usually see, and meeting new cool folks!

Mirrored from Ann Leckie.

Wiscon Schedule

So, little or no sleep last weekend wasn’t enough for me–I need to do it again this coming weekend! So I’ll be at Wiscon.

And I’m on panels! These panels, in fact:

What is Science in Feminist SF? Sat, 10:00–11:15 am Conference 4
Moderator: Jacquelyn Gill. Sandra Ulbrich Almazan, Nivair H. Gabriel, Ann Leckie

When we argue about whether women write more fantasy than SF, are we assuming a particular definition of science that should be questioned? And are we also applying gender bias when we assess the “hardness” of SF by men and women?

SFWA: Is It Relevant? Is It Useful? Sun, 1:00–2:15 pm Conference 4
Moderator: Ann Leckie. Wesley Chu, Gary Kloster, David D. Levine, Grá Linnaea

Many accomplished sf/f writers don’t qualify for full membership in SFWA. Other organizations, such as RWA do a lot more for writers at every level. With the latest election, the SFWA Bulletin problems, and the attack on one of our Guests of Honor by one member of SFWA and its results, do we as feminists and writers want to be part of that organization? Can working from within to change it have real results?

What’s Gender in an Equal-opportunity Future? Mon, 10:00–11:15 am Solitaire
Moderator: Christopher Davis. Jed Hartman, BC Holmes, Erin M. Kelly, Ann Leckie

In various science fictional futures (Star Trek, the Culture, etc), women and men have, in theory, full or near-full social equality, whether or not the portrayals always reflect it in practice. In a fictional society in which there is no gender discrimination and/or no limiting gender roles, what does it mean to be male, female, or any other gender? Is it all about physical characteristics? Are there likely to be gendered names, clothes, hairstyles, and stereotypical interests in such a world? In a fictional world with uterine replicators, equal sharing of parenting responsibilities, same-sex parents, multiple parents, and/or no stigma against being or not being a parent, what does it mean to be a mother or a father? (Please be trans-friendly in all your answers.)

The SignOut Mon, 11:30 am–12:45 pm Capitol/Wisconsin
Sandra Ulbrich Almazan, Stacie L Arellano, Eleanor A. Arnason, Greg Bechtel, F.J. Bergmann, Susan Simensky Bietila, Alex Bledsoe, Gwenda Bond, K. Tempest Bradford, Chesya Burke, Wesley Chu, Julia Dvorin, Rhea Ewing, Hiromi Goto, Eileen Gunn, Andrea D. Hairston, Dorothy Hearst, Liz Henry, Lauren Jankowski, N. K. Jemisin, Emily Jiang, Vylar Kaftan, Keffy R. M. Kehrli, Mary Robinette Kowal, Ellen Kushner, Ann Leckie, Kimberley Long-Ewing, Heather McDougal, Allison Moon, Katrinka Moore, Nancy Jane Moore, Pat Murphy, Debbie Notkin, Melissa F. Olson, Samantha Haney Press, Mary Rickert, James P. Roberts, Madeleine E. Robins, Catherine M. Schaff-Stump, Nisi Shawl, Delia Sherman, Cecilia Tan, Sheree Renée Thomas, LaShawn M. Wanak, Sunny Moraine

Come and sign your works, come and get things signed, come and hang out and wind down before you leave.

When I’m not doing a panel, I’ll probably be in the bar, or wandering around and not hard to find. I’m looking forward to seeing the cool folks I usually see, and meeting new cool folks!

Mirrored from Ann Leckie.

So, this is beyond cool

So, yeah, sometimes I google my book. And I ran across this thing called “Tumblr”? I don’t know, maybe you’ve heard of it? I actually have an account but I have done nothing with it because I don’t quite understand the logic of Tumblr, how the conversations work there. It took me a while to get Twitter, too, though, and I eventually did. I’ll probably figure Tumblr out just before everyone leaves it for the next big thing.

But meantime. I was googling, like you do, and I ran across some fanart. Which I gather is kind of a thing on Tumblr? I don’t know, I just think this fanart is awesome, and I thought I would link to it and share the awesome.

So check out Raemanzu’s picture of Breq/One Esk Nineteen and Seivarden and another one on Deviant Art, both of which made me smile so much when I saw them. And this one just of Breq.

Then there’s Marrowskies’ drawing of Lieutenant Awn, and one of Breq/One Esk Nineteen and Seivarden. Those just made me happy.

How fabulous are those? No, don’t answer that, because I already know. Pretty darn fabulous! One of the things I love about all these (definitely not the only thing, but) is the way that each artist has their own vision of the characters, and their work is very different, and of course neither of them has drawn the characters exactly the way I think of them–and yet they work, they seem right. At least, to me they do!

Mirrored from Ann Leckie.

So, this is beyond cool

So, yeah, sometimes I google my book. And I ran across this thing called “Tumblr”? I don’t know, maybe you’ve heard of it? I actually have an account but I have done nothing with it because I don’t quite understand the logic of Tumblr, how the conversations work there. It took me a while to get Twitter, too, though, and I eventually did. I’ll probably figure Tumblr out just before everyone leaves it for the next big thing.

But meantime. I was googling, like you do, and I ran across some fanart. Which I gather is kind of a thing on Tumblr? I don’t know, I just think this fanart is awesome, and I thought I would link to it and share the awesome.

So check out Raemanzu’s picture of Breq/One Esk Nineteen and Seivarden and another one on Deviant Art, both of which made me smile so much when I saw them. And this one just of Breq.

Then there’s Marrowskies’ drawing of Lieutenant Awn, and one of Breq/One Esk Nineteen and Seivarden. Those just made me happy.

How fabulous are those? No, don’t answer that, because I already know. Pretty darn fabulous! One of the things I love about all these (definitely not the only thing, but) is the way that each artist has their own vision of the characters, and their work is very different, and of course neither of them has drawn the characters exactly the way I think of them–and yet they work, they seem right. At least, to me they do!

Mirrored from Ann Leckie.