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.

Nominating the Hugos

Since I'm attending LoneStarCon this summer, I'm eligible to nominate for the Hugos.  The deadline for nomination is this Sunday, and I'm still on the fence of whether or not I will make any nominations.

This is because I feel grossly underqualified and underread to make nominations.  I honestly have absolutely no clue what this year's best stuff is.  I'm not entirely that the stuff I read this year applies to this year.*  I certainly don't have very strong opinions of what should (or shouldn't) be nominated.  Maybe in the Dramatic Presentation fields, mostly because I'm fairly certain that we can do better in Short Form than four episodes of Doctor Who and a random viral video.

OK, I'm exaggerating on that last bit.  But not by much.

But nominating, in an open field of everything, most of which I'm woefully informed about?  It's too big, too nebulous.  And, in a way, irresponsible of me. 

Now, once things are nominated, I'd feel comfortable making choices based on that narrow field.  I'd actually consider it a responsibility to read the nominees and make an informed opinion.  That, I'm looking forward to.

But if someone out there knows of something that they think honestly deserves nomination, so much so that I should step up and make a point of nominating for the sake of that work... well, I'm interested in hearing what you have to say.  So let's have it.

OK, I do have one strong opinion:   Stina Leicht for the Campbell Award.  So maybe I'll nominate just for that.

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*- Wouldn't that be the best award?  Best Book That Came Out A While Ago But I Only Got Around To Reading This Year.