I meant to write an account of my recent trip to Boskone and New York, really I did, but somehow I haven’t found the time. Sigh. Sorry about that. Now you know why I call this “Not a Blog.” I will never understand how some folks find the time and energy to update their blogs daily. For what it’s worth, I was never very good at keeping a journal either.

With no more travel on my immediate horizons (there’s Marcon in Ohio over Memorial Day, and then nothing until the summer), I have finally been able to settle down and get back into A DANCE WITH DRAGONS. That’s where most of my time and energy has gone of late. For the last week or so I have been back at the Wall with Jon Snow and the men of the Night’s Watch. Jon, I think, will be one of the main beneficiaries of my splitting A FEAST FOR CROWS in two. I will have more room to deal with Jon and Stannis and the wildlings and the rest, which will allow me to flesh out their storylines more and bring them to a better resolution… but it’s more than that. Although I had “completed” something on the order of five Jon chapters before deciding to divide the book, I was never really happy with them, and rereading them now has reinforced my feelings. They need to be much stronger, and I believe I see how to do that now. Sometimes putting things on the back burner can work wonders. That where the muse lives (or the moose, as Parris sometimes calls her).

Oh, and I’ve also come up with a new title for the seventh (and final, I hope, I hope, I hope) volume of the series — A DREAM OF SPRING. I like the sound of that a lot better than A TIME FOR WOLVES, which has been my working title for book seven up to now, and I also think it gives a better sense of the book that I want to write. So — A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, then THE WINDS OF WINTER, then A DREAM OF SPRING. Shouldn’t take me long (hah).

Other than that, well… I’m glad THE SOPRANOS is back, I haven’t made up my mind about BIG LOVE yet, and I miss ROME and wish the second season was starting next month. Saw V FOR VENDETTA last night with Parris and Melinda and Carl, and enjoyed it. Parris is still packing up our stuff so that our home renovations can begin. It has taken much longer than anticipated. We have WAY too much stuff. Comes of being packrats and living in the same house since 1983, I suppose.

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The Hugo ballot is out, and A FEAST FOR CROWS is one of the finalists in the “Best Novel” category. Thanks, to everyone who nominated me… and to those who didn’t as well, so long as you nominated someone. We need more people to take part the nominating process. Win or lose, it IS an honor just to be on the ballot.

I was also thrilled to see that Howard Waldrop is up in Novelette. Howard has few peers as a short fiction writer, and is long overdue for a Hugo. Maybe this year…

Elsewise, though, the ballot does not thrill me. I was disappointed that the SOUTH PARK’s “Trapped in the Closet” did not make the list in Short Form/ Drama, particularly in light of current efforts to make certain the episode is never shown again. And how Alan Lee and John Howe can continue to be overlooked in the Best Artist category, year after year after year after year, never ceases to astonish me.

Here’s the full list of nominees, courtesy of the good folks at LACon IV:

Best Novel
(430 ballots cast)
Learning the World, Ken MacLeod (Orbit; Tor)
A Feast for Crows, George R.R. Martin (Voyager; Bantam Spectra)
Old Man’s War, John Scalzi (Tor)
Accelerando, Charles Stross (Ace; Orbit)
Spin, Robert Charles Wilson (Tor)

Best Novella
(243 ballots cast)
Burn, James Patrick Kelly (Tachyon)
“Magic for Beginners”, Kelly Link (Magic for Beginners, Small Beer
Press; F&SF September 2005)
“The Little Goddess”, Ian McDonald (Asimov’s June 2005)
“Identity Theft”, Robert J. Sawyer (Down These Dark Spaceways, SFBC)
“Inside Job”, Connie Willis (Asimov’s January 2005)

Best Novelette
(207 ballots cast)
“The Calorie Man”, Paolo Bacigalupi (F&SF October/November 2005)
“Two Hearts”, Peter S. Beagle (F&SF October/November 2005)
“TelePresence”, Michael A. Burstein (Analog July/August 2005)
“I, Robot!, Cory Doctorow (The Infinite Matrix February 15, 2005)
“The King of Where-I-Go”, Howard Waldrop (SCI FICTION December 7,
2005)

Best Short Story
(278 ballots cast)
“Seventy-Five Years”, Michael A. Burstein (Analog January/February
2005)
“The Clockwork Atom Bomb”, Dominic Green (Interzone May/June 2005)
“Singing My Sister Down”, Margo Lanagan (Black Juice, Allen & Unwin;
Eos)
“Tk’tk’tk”, David D. Levine (Asimov’s March 2005)
“Down Memory Lane”, Mike Resnick (Asimov’s April/May 2005)

Best RelatedBook
(197 ballots cast)
Transformations: The Story of the Science Fiction Magazines from 1950
to 1970, Mike Ashley (Liverpool)
The SEX Column and Other Misprints, David Langford(Cosmos)
Science Fiction Quotations edited, Gary Westfahl(Yale)
Storyteller: Writing Lessons and More from 27 Years of the Clarion
Writers’ Workshop, Kate Wilhelm (Small Beer Press)
Soundings: Reviews 1992_1996, Gary K. Wolfe (Beccon)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
(364 ballots cast)
Batman Begins Story, David S. Goyer. Screenplay, Christopher Nolan
and David S. Goyer. Based on the character created, Bob Kane.
Directed, Christopher Nolan. (Warner Bros.)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Screenplay, Ann Peacock and Andrew Adamson and Christopher Markus &
Stephen McFeely. Based on the novel, C.S. Lewis. Directed, Andrew
Adamson. (Walt Disney Pictures/Walden Media)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Screenplay, Steven Kloves. Based
on the novel, J.K. Rowling. Directed, Mike Newell. (Warner Bros.)
Serenity Written & Directed, Joss Whedon. (Universal Pictures/Mutant
Enemy, Inc.)
Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were_Rabbit Screenplay, Steve Box
& Nick Park and Bob Baker and Mark Burton. Directed, Nick Park &
Steve Box. (Dreamworks Animation/Aardman Animation).

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
(261 ballots cast)
Battlestar Galactica !œPegasus! Written, Anne Cofell Saunders.
Directed, Michael Rymer. (NBC Universal/British Sky Broadcasting)
Doctor Who !œDalek! Written, Robert Shearman. Directed, Joe Ahearne.
(BBC Wales/BBC1)
Doctor Who !œThe Empty Child! & !œThe Doctor Dances! Written, Steven
Moffat. Directed, James Hawes. (BBC Wales/BBC1)
Doctor Who !œFather’s Day! Written, Paul Cornell. Directed, Joe
Ahearne. (BBC Wales/BBC1)
Jack-Jack Attack Written & Directed, Brad Bird. (Walt Disney
Pictures/Pixar Animation)
Lucas Back in Anger Written, Phil Raines and Ian Sorensen. Directed,
Phil Raines. (Reductio Ad Absurdum Productions)
Prix Victor Hugo Awards Ceremony (Opening Speech and Framing
Sequences). Written and performed, Paul McAuley and Kim Newman.
Directed, Mike & Debby Moir. (Interaction Events)
(There are seven nominees due to a tie for fifth place)

Best Professional Editor
(293 ballots cast)
Ellen Datlow (SCI FICTION and anthologies)
David G. Hartwell (Tor Books; Year’s Best SF)
Stanley Schmidt (Analog)
Gordon Van Gelder (F&SF)
Sheila Williams (Asimov’s)

Best Professional Artist
(230 ballots cast)
Jim Burns
Bob Eggleton
Donato Giancola
Stephan Martiniere
John Picacio
Michael Whelan
(There are six nominees due to a tie for fifth place)

Best Semiprozine
(219 ballots cast)
Ansible edited, Dave Langford
Emerald City edited, Cheryl Morgan
Interzone edited, Andy Cox
Locus edited, Charles N. Brown, Kirsten Gong_Wong, & Liza Groen Trombi
The New York Review of Science Fiction edited, Kathryn Cramer, David
G. Hartwell & Kevin J. Maroney

Best Fanzine
(176 ballots cast)
Banana Wings edited, Claire Brialey & Mark Plummer
Challenger edited, Guy H. Lillian III
Chunga edited, Andy Hooper, Randy Byers & carl juarez
File 770 edited, Mike Glyer
Plokta edited, Alison Scott, Steve Davies & Mike Scott

Best Fan Writer
(202 ballots cast)
Claire Brialey
John Hertz
Dave Langford
Cheryl Morgan
Steven H Silver

Best Fan Artist
(154 ballots cast)
Brad Foster
Teddy Harvia
Sue Mason
Steve Stiles
Frank Wu

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer of 2004 or 2005
[Not a Hugo Sponsored, Dell Magazines]
(186 ballots cast)
K.J. Bishop (2nd year of eligibility)
Sarah Monette (2nd year of eligibility)
Chris Roberson (2nd year of eligibility)
Brandon Sanderson (1st year of eligibility)
John Scalzi (1st year of eligibility)
Steph Swainston (2nd year of eligibility)
(There are six nominees due to a tie for fifth place)

There were 533 valid nominating ballots received from L.A.con IV and
Interaction members (434 electronically; 99 by mail and fax).

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Just popping up with a quick reminder that Hugo nominations close on Friday.

Many people vote for the Hugo Awards. Relatively few nominate. If you would like your voice to be heard, this is your chance. You do have to be a member of either the last worldcon (Glasgow) or the next one (LA). You can even nominate online, at http://laconiv.org/2006/hugos/hugoform.htm.

I made some suggestions as to worthy nominees a couple of posts down. Your own favorites may be very different. No matter. Nominate. The Hugo Award is only as meaningful as we make it.

I’ve been intending to post a report on my recent trip to Boskone and New York, but as usual I have been swamped since I got back. Maybe in the next day or so. It was a great trip, though. Boskone was fun, as ever, and the week in NYC was as exciting as it was exhausting. All sorts of interesting new books and projects are in the wind, and I expect I’ll be telling you about some of them when and if they become real.

(And no, I am NOT going to forget about A DANCE WITH DRAGONS. That’s still my number one priority, and will remain so until it’s done).

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