The Hugo nominations are out, and I’m fortunate enough to be on the list with my novella “Recovering Apollo 8.” Thanks to everyone who nominated. I’m thrilled.

Here’s the press release. Congrats to the other nominees in all the categories.

Denvention 3, the 66th World Science Fiction Convention, is pleased to announce the ballot for the Hugo Awards, also known as the Science Fiction Achievement Awards. Nominations were made by the members of last years World Science Fiction Convention, held in Yokohama, and this year’s, to be held in Denver. Members of the 2008 convention will have until July 1, 2008, to vote on this ballot. Winners will be announced and trophies awarded at Denvention’s Hugo Awards Ceremony, Saturday, August 9.

The voting is conducted by mail and online. Ballots will be included in the next Progress Report to be mailed by the Convention in early April. The online ballot will be available at www.Denvention.org/hugos in the near future. Only people who are members Denvention 3 can vote, but memberships may be obtained at the same site. A supporting membership is $50US and an attending membership is $200US. Either membership can vote on the Hugos, but only an attending membership will have the fun of being in Denver for 5 days of non-stop science fiction.

This year’s ballot has a couple of interesting features. It is the first year we have asked artists to submit citations for works published in the year in question, 2007 in this case. We hope this will help our membership make interesting and informed choices.

The Dramatic Presentation categories are often a challenge to administrate and this year was no different. The television show Battlestar Galactica released two versions of the episode “Razor”, one shown on tv and a longer version available only on DVD.

The Short Form version received enough nominations to make the ballot in that category; the Long Form version did not receive enough nominations to make the ballot.

We also have the entire first season of the television show Heroes nominated in the Long Form category. This is unusual, but the nominators evidently felt that it was one long multi-part story whose parts did not stand alone. That makes it eligible as a whole in the year in which the last part appeared, which was 2007.

One writer who received enough ballots to appear on the Campbell Award section of the ballot was determined to be ineligible. Two categories had ties resulting in a larger number of nominees than usual.

The list of nominees begins on the next page.

Questions may be addressed to the Hugo Administrator at hugoadmin@denvention.org

HUGO AWARDS NOMINEES

Best Novel
The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins, Fourth Estate)
Brasyl by Ian McDonald (Gollancz; Pyr)
Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer (Tor; Analog Oct. 2006-Jan/Feb. 2007)
The Last Colony by John Scalzi (Tor)
Halting State by Charles Stross (Ace)

Best Novella
“The Fountain of Age” by Nancy Kress (Asimov’s July 2007)
“Recovering Apollo 8” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Asimov’s Feb. 2007)
“Stars Seen Through Stone” by Lucius Shepard (F&SF July 2007)
“All Seated on the Ground” by Connie Willis (Asimov’s Dec. 2007, Subterranean Press)
“Memorare” by Gene Wolfe (F&SF April 2007)

Best Novelette
The Cambist and Lord Iron: a Fairytale of Economics” by Daniel Abraham (Logorrhea, ed. John
Klima, Bantam)
“The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” by Ted Chiang (F&SF Sept. 2007)
“Dark Integers” by Greg Egan (Asimov’s Oct./Nov. 2007)
“Glory” by Greg Egan (The New Space Opera, ed. Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan, HarperCollins/Eos)
“Finisterra” by David Moles (F&SF Dec. 2007)

Best Short Story
“Last Contact” by Stephen Baxter (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, ed. George Mann, Solaris Books)
“Tideline” by Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s June 2007)
“Who’s Afraid of Wolf 359?” by Ken MacLeod (The New Space Opera, ed. by Gardner Dozois, and Jonathan
Strahan, HarperCollins/Eos)
“Distant Replay” by Mike Resnick (Asimov’s April/May 2007)
“A Small Room in Koboldtown” by Michael Swanwick (Asimov’s April/May 2007, The Dog Said Bow-Wow, Tachyon
Publications)

Best Related Book
The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community by Diana Glyer;
appendix by David Bratman (Kent State University Press)
Breakfast in the Ruins: Science Fiction in the Last Millennium by Barry Malzberg (Baen)
Emshwiller: Infinity x Two by Luis Ortiz, intro. by Carol Emshwiller, fwd. by Alex Eisenstien (Nonstop)
Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction by Jeff Prucher (Oxford University Press)
The Arrival by Shaun Tan (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
Enchanted Written by Bill Kelly Directed by Kevin Lima (Walt Disney Pictures)
The Golden Compass Written by Chris Weitz Based on the novel by Philip Pullman Directed by
Chris Weitz (New Line Cinema)
Heroes, Season 1 Created by Tim Kring (NBC Universal Television and Tailwind Productions
Written by Tim Kring, Jeff Loeb, Bryan Fuller, Michael Green, Natalie Chaidez, Jesse Alexander, Adam Armus, Aron Eli Coleite, Joe Pokaski, Christopher Zatta, Chuck Kim. Directed by David Semel, Allan Arkush, Greg Beeman, Ernest R. Dickerson, Paul Shapiro, Donna Deitch, Paul A. Edwards, John Badham, Terrence O’Hara, Jeannot Szwarc, Roxann Dawson, Kevin Bray, Adam Kane
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Written by Michael Goldenberg Based on the novel by
J.K. Rowling Directed by David Yates (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Stardust Written by Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn Based on the novel by Neil Gaiman Directed
by Matthew Vaughn (Paramount Pictures)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
Battlestar Galactica “Razor” Written by Michael Taylor Directed by Félix Enríquez Alcalá and
Wayne Rose (Sci Fi Channel) (televised version, not DVD)
Doctor Who “Blink” Written by Stephen Moffat Directed by Hettie Macdonald (BBC)
Doctor Who “Human Nature” / “Family of Blood” Written by Paul Cornell Directed by Charles Palmer
(BBC)
Star Trek New Voyages “World Enough and Time” Written by Michael Reaves & Marc Scott
Zicree Directed by Marc Scott Zicree (Cawley Entertainment Co. and The Magic Time Co.)
Torchwood “Captain Jack Harkness” Written by Catherine Tregenna Directed by Ashley Way
(BBC Wales)

Best Professional Editor, Short Form
Ellen Datlow (The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror (St. Martins), Coyote Road (Viking), Inferno (Tor))
Stanley Schmidt (Analog)
Jonathan Strahan (The New Space Opera (HarperCollins/Eos), The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume
1 (Night Shade), Eclipse One (NightShade))
Gordon Van Gelder (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction)
Sheila Williams (Asimov’s Science Fiction)

Best Professional Editor, Long Form
Lou Anders (Pyr)
Ginjer Buchanan (Ace/Roc)
David G. Hartwell (Tor/Forge)
Beth Meacham (Tor)
Patrick Nielsen Hayden (Tor)

Best Professional Artist
Bob Eggleton (Covers: Outcast Stars and Others (Baen), Ivory (Pyr), and The Taint and Other Stories (Subterranean))
Phil Foglio (Cover: Robert Asprin’s Myth Adventures, Vol. 2 (Meisha Merlin), What’s New (Dragon Magazine Aug. 2007,
Girl Genius Vol. 6-Agatha Heterodyne & the Golden Trilobite (Airship Entertainment ))
John Harris : Spindrift (Ace), Horizons (Tor), The Last Colony (Tor)
Stephan Martiniere (Covers: Brasyl (Pyr), Mainspring (Tor), The Dragons of Babel (Tor))
John Picacio (Covers: Fast Forward 2 (Pyr), Time’s Child (HarperCollins/Eos), A Thousand Deaths (Golden Gryphon))
Shaun Tan

Best Semiprozine
Ansible edited by David Langford
Helix edited by William Sanders and Lawrence Watt-Evans
Interzone edited by Andy Cox
Locus edited by Charles N. Brown, Kirsten Gong-Wong, and Liza Groen Trombi
New York Review of Science Fiction edited by Kathryn Cramer, Kristine Dikeman, David G. Hartwell, and
Kevin J. Maroney

Best Fanzine
Argentus edited by Steven H Silver
Challenger edited by Guy Lillian III
Drink Tank edited by Chris Garcia
File 770 edited by Mike Glyer
PLOKTA edited by Alison Scott, Steve Davies, and Mike Scott

Best Fan Writer
Chris Garcia
David Langford
Cheryl Morgan
John Scalzi
Steven H Silver

Best Fan Artist
Brad Foster
Teddy Harvia
Sue Mason
Steve Stiles
Taral Wayne

John W. Campbell Award
An award for the best new writer whose first work of science fiction or fantasy appeared during 2006 or 2007 in a professional publication. Sponsored by Dell Magazines.
Joe Abercrombie (2nd year of eligibility)
Jon Armstrong (1st year of eligibility)
David Anthony Durham (1st year of eligibility)
David Louis Edelman (2nd year of eligibility)
Mary Robinette Kowal (2nd year of eligibility)
Scott Lynch (2nd year of eligibility)

I promised myself when I started this website that I would put a new essay on the site every month. I also promised myself that I wouldn’t start flamewars or write about politics (no matter how much I’m tempted). So this week, when I sat down to write my monthly essay, I stepped right in the middle of an on-going flamewar. I put that essay aside (maybe it’ll be relevant in six months and the flamewar will be over), and started another essay—about politics—which I abandoned.

This one’s previously unpublished, and once you finish it, you can probably see what set me off in the first place.

Babysitting the Cable Guy
by
Kristine Kathryn Rusch

The cable guy showed up early today. That’s one of the benefits of living in a small town. The cable guy not only arrives the day the cable company says he will, but early.

Two hours early.

That was a little annoying. I had just come back from my morning walk — in fact, I was striding up the driveway to our house as he was driving down. I was hot, sweaty, and looking forward to my shower. A shower, a few pages on the current short story, and lunch.

Instead, I spent three hours — my most productive writing hours — munching an energy bar, pricing jewelry to sell in our antique store booth, and calming the freaked-out cat. Occasionally, I had to run downstairs to confirm that yes, I did want the cable box beneath the TV, or no, I didn’t want an additional 8,000 movie channels.

All of which could’ve been taken care of on the phone. The company could’ve sent us paperwork by mail, and we could’ve signed it and sent it back before the cable guy showed up. Then, on the assigned day, someone could’ve simply let the guy in. The freaked-out cat would’ve hidden, and the cable guy — who is bonded and insured — would have been able to work in peace.

I know I shouldn’t complain. He got the job done.

But I’m the one who always gets to handle the cable guy. Which is ironic because, until I married, I didn’t have cable. For years, I didn’t even have a TV.

When I moved to Oregon, I was the one who babysat friends’ houses for the cable guy because my friends had “real jobs.”

That ended when the cable company changed their policy: the renter/owner had to be home to sign away their firstborn. No one informed me of the changed policy. I learned about it at the end of a particularly long installation at a friend’s house—an installation that would have had to be taken out if I wasn’t the person who lived in the house. An entire day wasted.

So I did what any good friend would do. I lied. I said I was the new roommate. I signed away my firstborn for cable I wouldn’t even enjoy, filled in the wrong address, and gave the cable guy a brief glimpse of my driver’s license, and hoped no one would check any of the information.

Apparently no one did. My friend paid her bill on time (always good, since my name was on it), and she kept that cable for nearly a decade, until she moved in with an ex-cop.

From then on, I ceased being the cable babysitter — except for my own cable adventures. My husband and I moved a lot in the early years, and each move required new cable. My husband can’t live without HBO — he channel-surfs from 1 to 2 a.m., never watching entire movies, just “looking for something interesting.” He draws the line at plastic surgery shows, having once made the mistake of watching a man draw all over a woman only to cut her open.

My cable adventures include the time the guy had to leave and come back with an entire road crew to backhoe a hole in my yard (regulations, ma’am: no visible wires in this neighborhood); the guy who finished the wiring — correctly — in less than fifteen minutes and then offered to recarpet my entire house using six inch carpet samples; and the cable woman who climbed a dying tree to remove a wire someone had placed in the upper branches (I stood below, praying, hoping the tree would hold so our insurance wouldn’t have to).

Today, the cable guy wanted to leave work early, so what does he discover? The house we want wired hasn’t had cable for more than ten years. Everything is outdated and worse, because we live in a coastal community, the interior of the wires is rusted.

He had to replace the entire system, from the house to the street. He walked around my house leaving a trail of stale cigarette smoke behind him, mumbling, dripping pliers and wire cutters and black cable.

The totally freaked out cat had vanished, only to resurface from under the couch when the cable guy used a drill to make a hole in our ancient concrete wall. The poor cat screamed, ran in circles, and then decided to retreat. He scuttled out of the room on his stomach, never to be seen again—at least by the cable guy.

Finally the job was done and that’s when cable guy got chatty. He said the same thing everyone else who doesn’t read says when they visit our house. The pithy, insightful, “Sure do have a lot of books.”

How’s a person supposed to respond to that? Embarrass the guy with a “Not really”? Show that we’re weird by saying “Yep, sure have a lot of books”? Or try for self-deprecating with an “I don’t read them; I just like the way they look on the walls”?

I opted for agreement, going for weird because I wanted him out of my house. After he double-tested everything, starting with HBO (what is it with guys?), and hefted a few books to make sure that they really had words in them, he finally left.

I decided to make lunch. The totally freaked out cat couldn’t hide from the smell of tunafish so he eventually emerged, but refused to go into the television room.

And then my husband came home just in time for the cable guy. Or so he thought. Being only an hour late from the original appointment time (cable guys are never on time, my husband said in self defense — which, come to think of it, is true. They’re not usually early either), he couldn’t believe that the guy had come and gone. I had to prove it by turning on both televisions, and letting him surf through the channels.

I went back to my tunafish. Then I got my shower. And now I’m here, trying to remember what the heck my story’s about. I’m finally beginning to understand why someone made a nasty movie about cable guys.
They’re annoying — and oddly necessary.

Even when they show up early and wonder why anyone with a house full of books would like a television with 200 channels.

I used to wonder that too, until I married. Then I found out that it doesn’t matter that the programming stinks so long as there’s something interesting to watch and no one’s trying to cut anything open.

But I have to wonder: Was it worth the loss of my afternoon? I don’t surf. I read, even when the television’s on.

My husband says baby-sitting the cable guy is just my karma.

And, karmically speaking, there are worse things in life.

Like service people who never show up at all.

Copyright © 2008 by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

At Radcon in February, John Helfers of Tekno Books told me that I had achieved a milestone no other author has hit. I’ve sold 100 short stories to Tekno Books. You may not have heard of them, but Tekno produces theme anthologies. Mystery Date and Wizards Inc. are two examples of Tekno anthologies. I’ve written for science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, and romance anthologies that Tekno has done.

I’m proud of this milestone, although it took me nearly a month to wrap my mind around it.

Why do I write for theme anthologies? First, I love the short story form. It’s my favorite form in all the genres except romance. (Most romance short stories feel incomplete to me, which is why romance usually does novella anthologies, not short story anthologies.) Second, I use the themes Tekno provides to stretch as a writer.

Let me give you an example. A few years ago, Joe Haldeman asked me to write a story for an anthology he was editing with Tekno Books. That anthology, titled Future Weapons of War, was one of the few I almost turned down.

Here’s why: I believe that science fiction often serves as a template for the future. If a writer can imagine the technology, some inventor can create it. I didn’t want to be responsible for creating a “future” weapon.

Then I remembered that the editor was Joe Haldeman, who has written more anti-war stories than anyone else in the sf field. So I knew he would be open to my particular slant.

I decided to write about everything I hated about weaponry, violence, and war. I worked free-form, and I came up with a story called “Craters.” Joe opened the anthology with the story. Gardner Dozois has just picked up “Craters” for his year’s best anthology.

I can guarantee you that “Craters” would not have existed without the prodding provided by a theme anthology. And, ironically, by a topic I would never have considered on my own.

So why do I say yes to theme anthologies? To learn what I’m capable of. To write about things that scare me, things I would normally avoid. To grow as a writer.

I’m currently working on stories 101-105 for Tekno books. I plan to contribute to their theme anthologies as long as they ask me to. I’m honored to do so.

And very, very lucky to even be considered.

From Phil Jackson, coach of the LA Lakers, as reported in Esquire, February, 2008:

“The bigger your head is, the easier your shoes are to fill.”

The Onion has a great send-up of the screenwriters strike. Yep, a novelist’s strike would look just like this. For the gloomy news, check here.