That Was 40: A Pretty Good Trip Around the Sun

So, today is my 41st birthday.  And in the end, 40 was a pretty good year.  A quick recap:

• "Jump the Black" was published in Rayguns Over Texas. 
• With the sale of "Jump the Black", I'm eligible for the Campbell.  And, you know, nominations for that end today.  In case you were curious. 
• I finished the long-suffering Way of the Shield, a book that just tasked me for the longest time before I figured out how to crack it.  
• I attended my first WorldCon.  
• I finally started properly writing Banshee, having now put in 70,000 words in it.  The idea of Banshee had been bouncing around in my head for YEARS, so getting real traction on it was quite a victory.
• I SOLD TWO BOOKS TO DAW: Thorn of Dentonhill and A Murder of Mages.  Yeah, this was definitely the highlight of the year.  
• Got underway on Thorn II so there is minimal turnaround between those two books coming out and the next ones.  And now I'm halfway done.

So, clearly, a milestone year.

It's definitely the year in which I've transitioned from how I feel about writing, from being someone who took writing seriously, devoting much of my energy and time to it, to being a professional writer.

It's been a good year for me, and I'm looking forward to the next one.  More writing, ArmadilloCon Writers' Workshop, and Thorn and Murder coming out.  And who knows what else.  

Award Eligibility for 2013

It's that time of year where award nominations are starting to be made.  Amazingly, I've actually been asked if I'm eligible for anything.  I'm not big on blatantly campaigning for such things, but for the sake of accuracy:

My story "Jump the Black" in Rayguns Over Texas would be eligible for any sort of short story award, such as the Hugo for Best Short Story.  But I would be negligent if I didn't mention that there's a lot of good stuff in Rayguns that would also be eligible, like Nicky Drayden's "The Atmosphere Man" or Stina Leicht's "Texas Died for Somebody's Sins But Not Mine", just to name two.  There are fourteen* more in there also worth checking out.

Also, with the publication of "Jump the Black", I'm eligible for the Campbell Award.  And if you are in the position to nominate for the Campbell, then... well, you should nominate Wesley Chu.  Really.  But after you do that, and you still have a nominating slot that you can't bear to leave empty, I certainly wouldn't complain if you put me in there. 

Strictly speaking, this blog itself, with 104 entries in 2013, is probably eligible for something like "Best Fanzine" or "Best Related Work", or something along those lines.

And that's it.  

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*- Two stories are reprints, and thus not eligible for awards, I would think.

Incoherent WorldCon Post

I've literally just gotten home from WorldCon, which was amazing and still a lot to process.

Mostly because of this:

 

 So, that's an actual thing that exists.

But, yeah, it's too much for me to go into right now.  People were amazing.  The Campbell nominees, in particular, were amazing people.  Look how great they are:

Max Gladstone, Mur Lafferty, Chuck Wendig and Stina Leicht

 OK.  I need to recover.  More of coherence later.

WorldCon Bound and other milestones

WorldCon / LoneStarCon starts today.  I won't be going down until tomorrow afternoon, unfortunately, but I'm very excited.  A little nervous, as this is my first "big" con, but I think it's important to keep stepping things up.  I made myself a little pledge a few years ago to keep doing new things-- convention and career-wise-- that scare me a little.  Two years ago that was being on panels and a Writers' Workshop teacher at ArmadilloCon.  Last year it was giving a reading.  This year, I think WorldCon, in and of itself, is sufficient. 

I'm not an official participant, which is fine, given my current status as a writer.  I will be an unofficial participant in one thing, however:

Rayguns Over Texas Group Reading/Signing
Saturday 1700-1900
007A (Convention Center)

Even though I've mentioned it before, it bears repeating that I am immensely pleased to be included in Rayguns.  From what I've seen of the preview excerpts, everything in it is great.

Furthermore, with Rayguns now released, I believe my eligibility for the Campbell Award starts today.  If I'm wrong about that, someone let me know.

In other news, I've now sent a polished draft of Way of the Shield to my esteemed agent.  I've also updated the excerpt over on my webpage, so go and check that out.  This novel was particularly challenging to write, certainly more so than the other three books set in Maradaine.  It definitely was the one where the original outline survived the least in the writing process.  My original concept was more of a mystery/thriller, with a plot involving figuring out who was killing members of Parliament.  That didn't really fit the themes I was working with, and also made things feel a bit too close to what I had already done with Maradaine Constabulary.  The end result is much stronger, I think.  We'll see if the agent agrees.

Hugo Nominations: Stina Leicht for the Campbell

The Campbell goes to the best new writer whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the two previous calendar years.    It is technically not a Hugo Award, but the voting for it is tied with the Hugo, and its presented at the Hugo Award, so I'm including it in my discussion here.  Plus, it's an award which I have a very strong opinion about this year.

The Campbell Award should go to Stina Leicht.

I'm not going to pretend I'm the slightest bit unbiased in this.  Stina Leicht is a friend.  And I mean no disrespect to Misters Cho, Gladstone or Wendig, nor Ms. Lafferty, but I don't know them.  Their people can pitch for them. 

So, why should you vote for Stina Leicht?

First of all, there's the writing itself.  If you haven't read Of Blood and Honey or And Blue Skies from Pain, you really ought to put them on your short list.  Near the top.  She blends historical fiction (70s Northern Ireland) with Urban Fantasy to create something unique.  If you have a preconceived notion of what "Urban Fantasy" is, these will shatter that. 

Based on these books alone, she would deserve it.

But let's look beyond just the writing.  Because Stina is a person who engages in the community, with her fellow writers, as well as paying it forward to the people behind her.  She's been the coordinator for the ArmadilloCon Writer's Workshop since 2008.  That's five years of work helping writers working to become professionals.  Introducing them to professionals.  Getting their work in front of editors when she can.  She could be putting all her energies into just her own work, but she believes in helping, she believes in teaching. 

She believes in treating those coming up behind as her peers.  And that is something special.  When you feel that your manuscript isn't good enough, that some plot twist is completely broken, when you're in a blind panic because you're about to pitch to an agent who sent you a rejection letter a few hours ago: she's someone who will give you an understanding ear and a few sage words. 

Stina is a rare gift in the sci-fi and fantasy world.  And from what I've read and heard of what she's got forthcoming, she is going to keep amazing her readers.  Mark my words: thirty years from now she's going to be one of the grand dames of the genre, a name spoken with hushed awe.

But don't take my word for it.  Go read.  And then vote.