Valyrian Steel has relaunched sales for two of George’s favorite replicas; King Robert’s Warhammer and Longclaw.
Numbers are limited so get yours now!
Current Mood: 
null
As I was saying… nominations are now open for the 2019 Hugo Awards, to be presented this August in Dublin. You need to be a member of either the Dublin worldcon, or last year’s gathering in San Jose, to nominate.
There are two rockets given for editing. As with drama, the editorial awards are split into Long Form and Short Form. In simple terms, the Long Form award is for those who edit books (novels, mostly), and the Short Form for magazine and anthology editors. (Before they split the award, the magazine editors won everything, and the book editors got nothing).
Lots and lots of good editors out there.
In Long Form, I recommend you strongly consider two of my own editors: ANNE LESLEY GROELL of Bantam Spectra/ Random Penguin in the US, and JANE JOHNSON of Harper Collins Voyager in the UK. Anne and Jane have both been doing amazing work for decades, and have been criminally unrecognized. Anne has only been nominated for a Hugo once, and Jane has never been a finalist at all… though she has been one of the major players in the British SF scene for as long as I can remember, and has built Voyager into one of the top UK genre publishers. Last year, both of them did some incredible work… especially for me. They were the editors on FIRE & BLOOD, my book of imaginary Westerosi history. Let’s look beyond the usual suspects this year, and nominate these two amazing women.
In Short Form… well, we have the usual suspects here as well, in a category usually dominated by the editors of the major magazines, both print and electronic. Anthology editors are eligible as well, however, so let me blush modestly and suggest that perhaps you might consider… well… me.
I have been editing the Wild Cards series since 1987, thirty one years and counting, and we’ve published some amazing stories over the years. I’ve edited my share of reprint anthologies and theme anthologies (many with Gardner Dozois), demanding gigs both, but neither one is as tenth as hard as editing a shared world anthology and pulling it all together. I did come in seventh on the long list once for my editorial work on Wild Cards (back when five works made the ballot), a decade or so back, but that’s the closest I’ve ever come. (No matter, it’s a labor of love, I sure don’t do it for the money). Wild Cards had an especially strong year in 2018, I believe. Though I’ve lost lots of Hugos as a writer, I’ve never lost one as a editor. Maybe this is the year.
Current Mood: 
hopeful
HBO has announced the premiere date for the eighth (and final) season of GAME OF THRONES.
Mark it down on your calendars: APRIL 14.
There’s a new teaser too (and a longer trailer in the works):
Current Mood: 
excited
Nominations are now open for the 2019 Hugo Awards, to be awarded this August in Dublin at the Irish Worldcon.
The Hugos (as most of you know) are the oldest and most prestigious award in science fiction and fantasy. They’ve been giving them since 1953, and the list of winners… and nominees… is a Who’s Who of our genre. Dublin 2019 will also be presenting the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer, which dates to 1973, and the brand new Lodestar Award for YA fiction.
It is a huge honor to win a Hugo… and almost as great an honor to lose one. I should know. I’ve won a few, lost a lot more, and in 1976 Gardner Dozois and I started the Hugo Losers Party. (It still feels like a punch in the gut to type Gargy’s name, knowing he is gone). To nominate, you need to be a member of either Dublin 2019 or last year’s worldcon, Not ConJose II.
Paper ballots are available for those who want them, but these days most voting is electronic. Worldcon members will be sent a link to the nominating ballot by email. Nominations close on Friday March 15.
For more details about the awards, go to https://dublin2019.com/hugo-awards-wsfs/the-hugo-awards/
My most recent Hugo wins — and losses — have been in the Dramatic Presentation categories, where GAME OF THRONES has been been a strong contender. However, there were no episodes of GOT telecast in 2018, so the show is not eligible this year (the seventh season was shown in 2017, and the eighth and final season debuts this April). As it happens, however, I have another series for your consideration: NIGHTFLYERS, SyFy’s sf/horror series based on my 1980 novella (a Hugo finalist, and Hugo loser, in its day), all ten episodes of which were shown between December 2 and December 12.
There are two Drama categories in the Hugos, Long Form and Short Form, as determined by running time. Feature films usually dominate Long Form, and television shows Short Form. You can nominate a TV show in Long Form, but in that case you are nominating the entire season (GAME OF THRONES won its first Hugo in Long Form, as it happens). In Short Form, you need to nominate a specific episode. So if you’re a fan of NIGHTFLYERS, you can nominate the entire first season in Long Form, or one or more of the following episodes in Short Form:
01 “All We Left Behind”
02 “Torches and Pitchforks”
03 “The Abyss Stares Back”
04 “White Rabbit”
05 “Greywing”
06 “The Sacred Gift”
07 “Transmission”
08 “Rebirth”
09 “Icarus”
10 “All That We Have Found”
I expect the competition to be very tough in Dramatic Presentation, Short Form this year. This is a golden age for science fiction on television. Not all that long ago, we were lucky to have one or two genre shows worthy of nomination, but today, in this age of max tv, there are science fiction and fantasy shows everywhere you look — on the broadcast networks, on cable, on the streaming services. Recent winners THE GOOD PLACE and THE EXPANSE both had new episodes in 2018. Fans of superheroics had the Marvel shows on Netflix and the DC shows on the CW to choose from. Zombie lovers had THE WALKING DEAD and Z NATION. Lev Grossman’s THE MAGICIANS had a fun third season. If starships and aliens were your thing, there was a new STAR TREK show and Seth McFarlane’s THE ORVILLE. And of course there is always DOCTOR WHO, a perennial powerhouse, this year with a brand new Doctor, the thirteenth. I’d be very surprised if there were not at least two episodes of DOCTOR WHO on the final ballot (recent rules changes make it impossible for there to be more than two). I’ve undoubtedly forgotten some other shows as well, and there may well be British and Irish shows of which I am entirely unaware… there’s just so much out there, that even someone deeply involved in television on a professional basis, like myself, cannot keep up.
I would like to recommend one series that has never been nominated, but IMNSHO deserves to be: OUTLANDER, based on Diana Gabaldon’s bestselling novels. I have a feeling that Hugo nominators tend to overlook the series because they think of it as a historical or a romance rather than science fiction. It IS both those things, of course, but it is also a time travel show… and more importantly, it’s superb. Amazing production values, well written (and quite faithful to Diana’s books), well directed, and well acted. The cast is doing fantastic work, especially the leads. If you haven’t watched OUTLANDER, you should check it out… and nominate your favorite episode, if you like it as much as Parris and I do.
Whatever you watch, whatever you like, NOMINATE. It IS a singular honor just to be nominated, and far fewer people nominate than vote on the final ballot, so this is your chance to let your voice be heard.
I will talk about some of the other categories in subsequent posts, over the next few weeks.
Current Mood: 
busy
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