As my friends can tell you, I’m a political junkie.  Many Americans are following the inaugural events this year.  I follow them every 4 years.

Which means I’ve seen all of the celebratory concert.  I didn’t have high expectations for this concert.  I didn’t have low ones either.  I recorded it so that I could have it on while I shelved books in our TV room.

Instead, I sat down and watched.  Jumped up and sang.  Stood near the books and cried.  Wowza.  What a great celebration of America.  If you missed it, here’s the HBO schedule for the concert.  Or you can see it on HBO’s website.  The URL is http://www.hbo.com/weareone/.  

The music is great.  The historical stuff is actually cool.  Whoever organized this did a fantastic job.

The anthology Fast Forward 2 in which I’m lucky enough to have a story has been nominated for the Philip K. Dick award. Here’s the press release (minus the phone numbers).

For Immediate Release

                      2008 Philip K. Dick Award Nominees Announced

The judges of the 2008 Philip K. Dick Award and the Philadelphia SF Society, along with the Philip K. Dick Trust, are pleased to announce six nominated works that comprise the final ballot for the award:

EMISSARIES FROM THE DEAD by Adam-Troy Castro (Eos Books)
ENDGAME by Kristine Smith (Eos Books)

FAST FORWARD 2 edited by Lou Anders (Pyr)

JUDGE by Karen Traviss (Eos Books)
TERMINAL MIND by David Walton (Meadowhawk Press)
TIME MACHINES REPAIRED WHILE-U-WAIT by K. A. Bedford (EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing)

First prize and any special citations will be announced on Friday, April 10, 2009 at Norwescon 32 at the Doubletree Seattle Airport Hotel, SeaTac, Washington.

The Philip K. Dick Award is presented annually with the support of the Philip K. Dick Trust for distinguished science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States.  The award is sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and the Philip K. Dick Trust and the award ceremony is sponsored by the NorthWest Science Fiction Society.  Last year’s winner was NOVA SWING by M. John Harrison (Bantam Spectra) with a special citation to FROM THE NOTEBOOKS OF DR. BRAIN by Minister Faust (Del Rey).  The 2008 judges are Tobias Buckell, M. M. Buckner (chair), Walter Hunt, Rosemary Kirstein, and William Senior.

I found this while digging through some old files. Yep, that’s me, showing my true colors right from the beginning.

The January Signals column has just been posted in the Internet Review of Science Fiction. You can find my latest not-so-humble opinions here.

I’m starting the new year with an on-line story publication. My story “Clinic” which came out of the research I’m doing for a new Nelscott novel has just appeared on Subterranean’s site for the winter issue. You can check it out here.