The Hugo Awards Committee of Aussiecon 4: The 68th World Science Fiction Convention has opened nominations for the 2009 Hugo Awards. I would strongly encourage everyone who is eligible to nominate for the Awards.  This has nothing to do with my own eligibility. The awards are more meaningful, more representative if everyone who can get involved does.  I’ll certainly be nominating, and hope you will too.

Now, a number of people have posted about their own eligibility for the Hugos.  This year I was incredibly and genuinely honored to be nominated for Best Editor – Short Form. It was the highlight of my professional year.

I am eligible in the same category this year.  I’m very proud of the work I’ve had published in 2009, and am sincerely grateful to all of the authors who made me look good during the year.  This is my 2009 in books:

I’ll post a list of the contents of both Eclipse Three and The New Space Opera 2,  both of which feature original stories by some wonderful writers who I think deserve your consideration in the Best Novella, Best Novelette, and Best Short Story categories, shortly.

I also co-edited twelve issues of Locus: The Newspaper of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Field.  As Reviews Editor, I edited the reviews section of the magazine.

Well, that’s about all the pimpage I can do.  As I said above, nominating me isn’t the important thing. Nominating is, though.  Please do so if you can.

Clarkesworld has just published an article by Jeremy L.C. Jones about anthologists and their craft. It features some really interesting stuff from the likes of Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, Ellen Datlow, John Joseph Adams, and James Lowder, as well as some incoherent ramblings from yours truly.  Worth checking out.

So, what does 2009 hold for me, professionally?  Allowing that ‘professionally’ in this instance means in science fictional terms, I’m not really sure.  There are a handful of projects just sitting on the horizon, and not quite wanting to stick up their hands and five me delivery dates and so on.

As I’ve blogged before, I have to finish Eclipse Three for June; Lou Anders and I will finish Conquering Swords for July; Jack Dann and I should finish Legends for the same month; I should finish my guest-edited special issue of Subterranean magazine for July; I should finish Life on Mars and The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume 4 for December; Charles N. Brown and I need to finish The Best of Fritz Leiber for December; and I don’t have a date for them yet, but I also have to finish Engineering Infinity and at least two other things by year’s end too.  There’ll also be copyedits and so on, which will take time, as they always do.

That’s enough to keep me busy, but I am thinking about 2010’s projects which need advancing. So, some time for proposals and so on needs to get built into schedules.  I’m also planning on attending Swancon at Easter here in Perth, World Fantasy in San Jose in October, and would like to attend the Adelaide NatCon (though that’s looking a lot less likely right now).

And then there’s Locus work to be doing.  There’s 12 months worth of columns to edit, some possible non-magazine writing to do for them, and a couple other bits and pieces.

I’m actually pretty energised by all of this, though I do need to get some time management plans in place.  I’m determined to get two trips away with the family during the year as a minimum, which will mean some ‘no work’ time.  I’m also determined to close on 23 December, as previously mentioned, which will mean no copyediting or writing or answering emails or anything from 23/12/2009 till year’s end, so I need to be sure columns are edited and year in review written in plenty of time.

The good folk over at www.nebulaawards.com have released the latest Nebula Preliminary Ballot released a progress update of the Nebula Preliminary Ballot.  There’s some very fine work there, and some odd selections.   The eligibility rules for the awards also continue to have impact, which is unfortunate.   Although I’m now an associate member of SFWA, I’m ineligible to vote for the Nebs.  This is cool. There should be benefits to full membership.  That said, were I to attend an SFWA meeting I’d be tempted to ask how they could only find ten novels, four novellas, nine novelettes, twelve short stories and one screenplay (presumably the winner) to put on their *long* list.  The work on the list is worthy, but a lot of worthy work was overlooked, which is disappointing.  The Nebs used to be the champagne award in SF.  These days they just look a bit out of touch.

Correction 4 January:

The page actually says “The following works have all qualified for the Preliminary Ballot and will be under consideration for the Final Ballot.” I’d assumed that meant final Nebula Ballot, but it looks like it means the final Preliminary Ballot.  i.e.  the awards jury can add more works to categories.  My observations stand, though I acknowledge the error.