Emmy Likes Us

July 16, 2015 at 4:30 pm

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced this year’s nominations for the Emmy Awards this morning, and HBO’s GAME OF THRONES led the way with a whopping TWENTY-FOUR nominations. More than any other show this year, in any other category, be it drama, comedy, reality, talk, movie, miniseries, variety, documentary, what have you. <img src=”http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/wp-content/uploads/import/260405_800.jpg” alt=”” title=””> Congratulations are in order for David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, our showrunners, all our writers and directors and producers, our amazing cast and our incredible crew, and of course the good folks at Home Box Office, who made all this possible. Here are this year’s nominations for GOT: Outstanding Drama Series Outstanding Supporting Actor Peter Dinklage !“ Tyrion Lannister Outstanding Supporting Actress Lena Headey !“ Cersei Lannister Emilia Clarke !“ Daenerys Targaryen Outstanding Guest Actress Diana Rigg !“ Lady Olenna Tyrell, the Queen of Thorns Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series David Benioff and D.B. Weiss !“ Mother’s Mercy Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series David Nutter !“ “Mother’s Mercy” Jeremy Podeswa !“ “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” Outstanding Production Design For A Narrative Contemporary Or Fantasy Program (One Hour Or More) ”High Sparrow” ”Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” ”Hardhome” Deborah Riley, Production Designer Paul Ghirardani, Art Director Rob Cameron, Set Decorator Outstanding Casting For A Drama Series Nina Gold, CSA, Casting Director Robert Sterne, Casting Director Carla Stronge, Casting Director Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-Camera Series ”Hardhome” (Fabian Wagner, BSC, Director of Photography_ ”Sons Of The Harpy” (Anette Haellmigk, Director of Photography) ”The Dance Of Dragons” (Rob McLachlan, ASC, CSC, Director of Photography) ”Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” (Greg Middleton, CSC, Director of Photography) Outstanding Costumes For A Period/Fantasy Series, Limited Series Or Movie ”The Dance Of Dragons” Michele Clapton, Costume Designer Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Drama Series ”Hardhome” (Tim Porter, Editor) ”The Dance Of Dragons” (Katie Weiland, Editor) Outstanding Hairstyling For A Single-Camera Series ”Mother’s Mercy” Kevin Alexander, Department Head Hairstylist Candice Banks, Department Head Hairstylist Rosalia Culora, Hairstylist Gary Machin, Hairstylist Laura Pollock, Hairstylist Nicola Mount, Hairstylist Outstanding Makeup For A Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic) ”Mother’s Mercy” Jane Walker, Department Head Makeup Artist Nicola Matthews, Makeup Artist Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup For A Series, Limited Series, Movie Or A Special ”Hardhome” Jane Walker, Department Head Makeup Artist Barrie Gower, Special Makeup Effects Department Head Sarah Gower, Special Makeup Effects Assistant Department Head Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series ”Hardhome” Tim Kimmel, Supervising Sound Editor Paula Fairfield, Sound Designer Bradley C. Katona, Sound Effects Editor Peter Bercovitch, Supervising Dialogue Editor David Klotz, Music Editor Jeffrey Wilhoit, Foley Artist Dylan T. Wilhoit, Foley Artist Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (One Hour) ”Hardhome” Ronan Hill, C.A.S., Production Mixer Richard Dyer, Production Mixer Onnalee Blank, C.A.S., Re-Recording Mixer Mathew Waters, Re-Recording Mixer Outstanding Special Visual Effects ”The Dance Of Dragons” Steve Kullback, Visual Effects Producer Joe Bauer, Visual Effects Supervisor Adam Chazen, Visual Effects Associate Producer Jabbar Raisani, Visual Effects Plate Supervisor Eric Carney, Visual Effects Previs Lead Stuart Brisdon, Special Effects Supervisor Derek Spears, Lead CG Supervisor James Kinnings, Lead Animator Matthew Rouleau, CG Supervisor Outstanding Stunt Coordination For A Drama Series, Limited Series Or Movie Rowley Irlam, Stunt Coordinator It’s an incredible list, I applaud everyone on it… and all of those who didn’t make it either. GAME OF THRONES is what it is because of the untiring efforts of the best cast and crew in television today. Many were recognized by the Academy today for their work… but others, equally dedicated and talented, were not. But the show would not the hit it is without their talent and dedication. The 24 nominations garnered by GAME OF THRONES is not only the highest number of any show this year, but among the highest ever received by a single series for a single season in the entire history of television. (For numbers geeks, the record remains 27, garnered by NYPD BLUE in 1994). Today is a day for celebrations and congratulations, for popping champagne corks and raising toasts and exchanging thanks… but before we do too many cartwheels, it would be wise to remember that GAME OF THRONES also led the Emmy nominations last year, with 19 nods, only to get skunked on the night of the televised awards. The same as the year before, and the year before that. Like many fantasy shows before us, GOT is often honored for our special effects, costumes, makeup, stuntwork, set design, and cinematography (this year, please note, we have four of five finalists for cinematography), but seldom for writing, directing, or acting. Peter Dinklage’s Emmy as Best Supporting Actor for season one remains the ONLY award the show has ever won in those categories, in fact. Will that change this year? One can hope, I suppose. But no matter what happens on Emmy Night, let me say once again that it truly is an honor to be nominated, especially given the competition. This truly is The Golden Age of Television, especially for drama. GAME OF THRONES faces the usual formidable competition for the “Big One,” the award for Best Dramatic Series… but as distinguished a list as that is, there are so many incredible shows that did NOT make the cut that it boggles the mind. It’s great to see BETTER CALL SAUL and ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK on this list, but where is MASTERS OF SEX? THE KNICK? HALT AND CATCH FIRE? How about THE VIKINGS? I really thought JUSTIFIED might make it, for its final season. And OUTLANDER, how in the world did they overlook OUTLANDER, with its music and its costumes and its cinematography and the incredible performances of its three leads (especially Tobias Menzies in his double role)? Why is Nick Offermann not on the ballot for PARKS AND RECREATION? How could BIG BANG THEORY possibly fall off? Truly, the Academy (of which I am a member) moves in mysterious ways. Even where GOT itself is concerned… I am thrilled to see both Emilia Clarke and Lena Headey among the nominees, but I wanted Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner and Natalie Dormer as well… it’s great that two of our episodes got nominated for directing, but how did they overlook “Hardhome?”… and will Iain Glen and Conleth Hill and John Bradley West ever get any recognition, and… Okay, okay, I know, I am being greedy, and every producer on every other show on television is probably saying the same things about his own cast just now. Let me just savor the moment. GOT did good.

Tags: awards, emmy awards, game of thrones, hbo, television

World Fantasy Shortlist Announced

July 9, 2015 at 10:46 am

This year’s shortlist for the World Fantasy Awards has been announced, and I am proud and pleased to learn that ROGUES is a finalist for the Howard as Best Anthology.

The winners will be announced at this year’s World Fantasy Con in Saratoga Springs. Which I will not be able to attend, alas. I’d hoped to… the last WFC in Saratoga was great fun, and I loved the city, and the train ride up the Hudson from NYC… but the press of work, etc.

For the full ballot, go here: http://www.worldfantasy.org/awards/

(I would be surprised if ROGUES actually won. It’s up against some strong competition, including an anthology by my dear friend Ellen Datlow, and “Never get between Ellen Datlow and a World Fantasy Award” is right up their with “Never get in a land war in Asia” and “Never play poker with a man named Doc” where life’s truisms are concerned. It is, however, an honor just to be nominated).

Tags: anthologies, awards, world fantasy convention

Locus Award to ROGUES

July 2, 2015 at 10:09 am

Would that I could be in two places at once. While I was off in Germany, Sweden, Finland, and the Aland Islands, I was winning an award in Seattle.

ROGUES, the latest in the series of massive cross-genre anthologies I’ve edited with Gardner Dozois, won the Locus Award for the Best Anthology of 2014. The award is voted annually by the readers and subcribers of LOCUS, the PUBLISHER WEEKLY of science fiction, and a “must read” publication for anyone seriously interested in our genre.

I’m thrilled to say that one of the stories in the book also took home a Locus plaque — Joe Abercrombie won Best Novelette for “Tough Times All Over.” ROGUES also had two runners-up on the list, a novella by Patrick Rothfuss and a novelette by Scott Lynch.

The full results can be found here: http://www.locusmag.com/News/2015/06/2015-locus-awards-winners/

The two LOCUS Awards are the latest additions to the anthology’s awards haul. Gillian Flynn’s story for ROGUES earlier won an Edgar, and the book itself was voted a Stabby Award by the members of the Reddit online community.

If you’d like to check out the book for yourself, autographed hardcovers are still available from the bookstore at the Jean Cocteau Cinema: http://www.jeancocteaubooks.com/

Tags: anthologies, awards, locus awards, signed books

STATION ELEVEN Wins Clarke Award

May 6, 2015 at 7:07 pm

Just read on LOCUS that STATION ELEVEN won this year’s Clarke Award:

http://www.locusmag.com/News/2015/05/station-eleven-wins-clarke-award/

Congratulations to Emily St. John Mandel, and thumbs up to this year’s Clarke judges. In my not-so-humble-opinion, they got it right.

(That is not always the case. The Clarke Award is juried, and like all juried awards, can sometimes go very wrong, depending on the jury. I have served on an awards jury or two in my time, so I know).

I note that the Clarke prize is two thousand pounds sterling and an engraved bookend. Cool. Money is the best prize at certain points in a writer’s career. And engraved bookends are always welcome. Who doesn’t need a cool bookend?

I must admit, I am partial to awards that come with cool trophies. I mean, the honor is great and all, but a plaque is a plaque is a plaque and a certificate-suitable-for-framing is a piece of paper, really. SF and fantasy have been uniquely blessed with some nifty awards. The Hugo rocket is, of course, iconic, and still number one for me… at least in the years when the worldcon doesn’t go overboard with the base. (We have had some VERY ugly-ass bases, huge ones that overwhelm the rocket, but also some great ones). Some people prefer the Nebula, and the early Nebulas with the quartz crystals were really striking, but in more recent decades they have been more hit-and-miss. I also love HWA award, the Tim Kirk haunted house, and of course the wonderfully ghastly head of H.P. Lovecraft (by the wonderfully ghastly Gahan Wilson) that is the World Fantasy Award. (I have one of the former, and three of the latter).

With so many talented artists and sculptors in the world right now, there’s really no reason to give certificates suitable for framing any more. Give cool trophies instead!

Or big bags o’ money. That will do too, I guess.

Tags: awards

LOCUS Nominations Announced

May 4, 2015 at 7:20 pm

LOCUS has just released its list of finalists for this year’s Locus Awards. I am pleased and proud that ROGUES, last year’s big crossgenre anthology from Gardner Dozois and yours truly, earned a nomination for Best Original Anthology.

In addition, three of the stories in the ROGUES have also been nominated in their respective categories: “The Lightning Tree” by Patrick Rothfuss in Novella, and Joe Abercrombie’s “Tough Times All Over” and Scott Lynch’s “A Year and a Day in old Theradane” in Novelette.

You can find the complete list of finalists here:

http://www.locusmag.com/News/2015/05/2015-locus-awards-finalists/

While this year, admittedly, may be different due to the influence of the slate campaigns, over most of the past couple of decades the Locus Poll has traditionally had significantly more participants than the Hugo nomination process. Looking over the Locus list, one cannot help but think that this is probably what the Hugo ballot would have looked like, if the Puppies had not decided to game the system this year.

Is it a better list or a worse one? Opinions may differ. The proof is in the reading.

In any case, congratulations to Scott, Patrick, and Joe, and thanks to everyone who nominated their stories, and ROGUES. We’re glad you liked the book. Gardner and I loved doing it.

Tags: anthologies, awards, locus awards

Gillian, Meet Edgar

April 30, 2015 at 12:42 am

Here’s some HAPPY news about the awards.

No, the the Hugos.

The Edgars.

The winners were announced today: http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html

I was very pleased to see Stephen King take home the Best Novel award for MR. MERCEDES. You want to talk about writers who have been shamefully overlooked by the Hugos? (And by the Nebulas and the World Fantasy Award too). Start with King. He’s right up there with Gene Wolfe on my own list. The world thinks of him as a master of horror, and he is… but horror is also sometimes known as “dark fantasy,” and King has written plenty of SF and even some high fantasy (EYES OF THE DRAGON, anyone? THE DARK TOWER) too. He’s won the National Book Award, but he’s never taken home a rocket or a rock. So it goes, I guess. But at least now he has the head of Edgar Allan Poe. Bravo!

But that wasn’t all. Down in the Short Story category, I was thrilled to see that Gillian Flynn will be taking home Edgar for her story from ROGUES, “What Do You Do?” Well deserved! It was an amazing story, and Gardner Dozois and I are delighted that we had the honor of publishing it. I believe this is Gillian’s first Edgar, but it won’t be her last. She’s a terrific writer, and a delight to work with.

Congratulations to all of this year’s Edgar winners. I trust that winners and losers both enjoyed a night of celebration, free of rancor and politics and puppies.

(Maybe I should become a mystery writer).

Tags: awards

For Your Consideration: Stuff Not By Me

March 8, 2015 at 6:39 pm

Now that I’ve done the de rigeur listing of all of my own stuff published in 2014, I wanted to say a few words about some other things that I will nominating.

DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, LONG FORM. It was a great year for SF and fantasy movies. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY was a lot of fun and will undoubtedly end up on the final ballot… but I’d go with INTERSTELLAR as the best of the year. The most ambitious and challenging SF film since Kubrick’s 2001. A feast for the eyes, and a film that demands to be seen more than once. I will also be nominating a long-shot: PREDESTINATION, the film version of the ultimate time-travel story, Robert A. Heinlein’s “All You Zombies.” RAH himself would have liked this, I suspect: very faithful to his story, well directed, superb acting (Sarah Snook especially). It’s a small film compared to blockbusters like GUARDIANS and INTERSTELLAR, but I hope it won’t be overlooked.

DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, SHORT FORM. Sure, I’d be thrilled if one or more episodes of GAME OF THRONES made the ballot… but I have to admit, there was a LOT of great SF and fantasy on TV last year. It would great if the voters would start looking beyond our show and DOCTOR WHO. ORPHAN BLACK got a nomination last year, and probably deserves another one. The British anthology series BLACK MIRROR had some wonderfully original and mind-bending segments. Horror fans had a lot to enjoy between THE WALKING DEAD, Z NATION, and PENNY DREADFUL. And for something truly from left field, the always witty crime romcom CASTLE has been known to wander into SF from time to time. The time travel episode from 2013 was overlooked, alas… but 2014 included “The Time of Our Lives,” a parallel worlds story that I enjoyed almost as much.

BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST. John Picacio, of course. Donato, for the calendar, as mentioned in my last post. But also MICHAEL KOMARCK, and JOHN HOWE, and ALAN LEE, and MAGALI VILLENUEVE.

BEST NOVEL. The big one. I read a lot of good novels in 2014… but, alas, not all of them were published in 2014. So many books, so little time, it’s hard to match the reading to the awards calendar. One of the 2014 books that I did read stands above all the others, however: STATION ELEVEN, by Emily St. John Mandel. As best I can recall, I’ve never met Emily St. John Mandel, and I’ve never read anything else by her, but I won’t soon forget STATION ELEVEN. One could, I suppose, call it a post-apocolypse novel, and it is that, but all the usual tropes of that subgenre are missing here, and half the book is devoted to flashbacks to before the coming of the virus that wipes out the world, so it’s also a novel of character, and there’s this thread about a comic book and Doctor Eleven and a giant space station and… oh, well, this book should NOT have worked, but it does. It’s a deeply melancholy novel, but beautifully written, and wonderfully elegiac… a book that I will long remember, and return to.

BEST FAN WRITER. There have been arguments in the past about what, precisely, constitutes fan writing, and who should or should not be eligible for this award. LAURA J. MIXON is a professional writer, and a very talented one, with half a dozen strong novels under her own name and her pseudonym of M.J. Locke… but this year she published on-line, in a non-professional and unpaid capacity, ‘A Report on Damage Done by One Individual Under Several Names,’ a detailed, eloquent, and devastating expose of the venomous internet troll best known as ‘Requires Hate’ and ‘Winterfox.’ You can find it here: http://laurajmixon.com/2014/11/a-report-on-damage-done-by-one-individual-under-several-names/ It’s not your usual sort of fan writing, admittedly… but it wasn’t done for money, and it wasn’t published professionally, and it’s a terrific piece of journalism, an important piece that speaks to issues of growing importance to fandom in this internet age. So I’m nominating Mixon for Best Fan Writer, and I urge you to do the same.

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Tags: awards, hugo awards, worldcon

For Your Consideration: Stuff By Me

March 8, 2015 at 5:57 pm

THE WINDS OF WINTER did not come out in 2014, as some of you noticed. But I did have a lot of other material published and broadcast that is eligible for Hugo consideration.

The fourth season of HBO’s GAME OF THRONES leads that list. ‘Dramatic Presentation’ is split into two categories, Short Form and Long Form. The former is mostly TV shows, the latter mostly films, though the actual division is by running time. GAME OF THRONES is actually eligible in both categories… though should it be nominated in both, the rules require us to bow out of one in favor of the other.

Season four, considered as a whole, can be nominated in Long Form.

Individual episodes are eligible for nomination in Short Form. You do need to know the episode titles. And yes, more than one episode of a given show can be nominated. Last year at Loncon the Short Form shortlist pitted one episode of ORPHAN BLACK and one episode of GAME OF THRONES against four episodes of DOCTOR WHO. That’s not unusual. The DR. WHO fans are very well organized.

I am, to be sure, enormously prejudiced, but I thought we had some very strong episodes last season. Of course, I am very proud of episode two, “The Lion and the Rose,” since I wrote the script myself for that one. For those of you who don’t remember titles, that was the ‘purple wedding’ episode. Episode nine, “The Watchers on the Walls,” scripted by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss and directed by Neil Marshall, was also huge for us: that was the battle episode, devoted entirely to the fight for the Wall. Biggest action sequences we’ve ever done. Dan and David also scripted episode ten, “The Children,” with the final confrontation between the Imp and his father. Oh, and there was also “The Laws of Gods and Men,” aka the Trial of Tyrion Lannister, scripted by Byron Cogman, with its amazing performances by Peter Dinklage and Sibel Kekilli, and “The Mountain and the Viper,” another script by Dan and Dave, wherein the Mountain That Rides faces off against the Red Viper of Dorne.

The other five episodes had some good stuff too, I think.

Aside from the television show…

ROGUES was published last year, which means that Gardner Dozois and I are both eligible for nomination as Best Editor, Short Form. Also, all the stories in ROGUES are eligible in the Short Story and Novelette categories. We had some terrific stories in that book. Take a look.

LOWBALL, the twenty-second volume in the Wild Cards series, was also published in 2014. That one I co-edited with Melinda Snodgrass. (Shared world stories NEVER get nominated for Hugos, but I mention this for the sake of completeness).

And then there’s the odd duck: THE WORLD OF ICE & FIRE, the huge and concordance of the world of Westeros by Elio Garcia, Linda Antonnson, and yours truly. Exhaustive, gorgeously illustrated throughout, and years in the making.

WOIAF cover

To tell the truth, I am not sure what category the worldbook belongs in. It’s not a novel in any traditional sense, and there’s no “fake history” category, so I suppose it fits best in “Best Related Book.”

Lastly… and not strictly by me… I want to mention the latest Ice & Fire calendar. It’s the 2015 calendar, but it came out in July 2014, debuting at Comicon. The calendar itself is not eligible for anything… but the artist certainly is.

The 2015 calender was painted by DONATO GIANCOLA, and if he doesn’t deserve a nomination for Best Professional Artist for his work therein, I don’t know who does.

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Tags: awards, hbo, hugo awards, worldcon

Hugo Nomination Deadline Draws Nigh

March 8, 2015 at 5:18 pm

It’s that time again: time for my annual Not A Blog post urging all the fans and readers out there to nominate their favorite books, stories, films, and writers from last year for the Hugo Awards.

Actually, it’s probably PAST that time. Nominations for the 2015 Hugo Awards for the best sf and fantasy of 2014 close in two days, so I probably should have made this post a month ago. What can I say? I was busy. Too little time, too much to do. But here I am regardless.

The Hugos are the oldest awards in our genre, and to my mind, the most meaningful. These are fan awards, given by the readers… your awards, in short. They have been given annually at the World Science Fiction Convention since 1953 (well, except for 1954, but that’s a detail). ((And no, I don’t count the ‘Retro-Hugos,’ which are another thing entirely)). This year they will be award at Sasquan in Spokane, Washington in August. To nominate, you need to be either an attending or supporting member of Sasquan, OR of last year’s London worldcon, Loncon, OR next year’s worldcon, MidAmericon II. Easy enough to become a member if you’re not signed up yet… and if you can’t attend, well, that’s what the inexpensive supporting memberships are for.

You can nominate on line at http://sasquan.org/hugo-awards/nominations/

All the rules and definitions are there as well.

In recent years it has become fashionable in some quarters to bitch about the Hugo ballot (ah, sweet Internet). But the truth is, the ballot is what we make it. Hundreds and sometimes thousands of people vote for the Hugos when presented with the final ballot. Far fewer ever bother to nominate. In some categories, a couple dozen votes is all that’s required to win a place on the shortlist.

And it IS an honor just to be nominated. Even if you lose. (I should know. I’ve won a few, but I’ve lost a lot more. Hell, in 1976 I founded the Hugo Losers’ Club with Gardner Dozois, but that’s a story for another day).

I am going to follow this with a couple more posts wherein I will make my own recommendations of stories and films that you might want to consider when filling in your ballot. Read them or not, as you wish. The important thing is not what you nominate, but that you do nominate.

Friends, fans, readers… this is your award. Let your voice be heard.

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Tags: awards, hugo awards, worldcon

Lose Some, Win Some

February 21, 2015 at 12:41 pm

So GAME OF THRONES failed to win either of the Writers Guild Awards it was nominated for. Congrats to THE GOOD WIFE and TRUE DETECTIVE and all the other winners.

All is not lost on the awards front, however. ROGUES won a Stabby!

The Stabby is given by the folks on Reddit. ROGUES won as last year’s best anthology. Which is very cool. Thank you, Redditters. And thanks to my co-editor, Gardner Dozois, and to an amazing lineup of writers, whose talents made the book what it was.

Rogues comp A March 17 lo res

The trophy is very cool as well: an engraved dagger. I have not received mine yet, but here’s a picture of someone else’s:

stabby

I am informed that Gardner Dozois and I will both receive one of these. I’ll post a picture when it turns up. And it will be great to have an award that I can use to stab my enemies. Battering them to death with my Hugos just takes too long.

For a full list of the Stabby winners, go to:
http://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/2rh018/best_of_rfantasy_2014_the_results_thread/

Meanwhile, on other fronts, we’ve also been informed that the audiobook of DANGEROUS WOMEN (the previous massive crossgenre anthology that Gardner and I put together) has been nominated for an Audie Award. We’re a finalist in the category of Short Story Collections. For a full list of nominees, check out: https://www.audiopub.org/Audies15/2015_Audie_Awards_Release.pdf

Thanks again to Gardner and to our writers, to Janet Stark and all the great folks at Random House Audio, and to the amazing cast of voice actors and readers they assembled: Claudia Black, Scott Brick, Karen Dotrice, Jonathan Frakes, Iain Glen, Janis Ian, Stana Katic, Inna Korobkina, Jenna Lamia, Lee Meriwether, Emily Rankin, Maggi-Meg Reed, Fred Sanders, Allan Scott-Douglas, Sophie Turner, Harriet Walter, and Jake Weber.

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Tags: anthologies, audiobooks, awards, internet

Not a Blog

Emmy Likes Us

World Fantasy Shortlist Announced

Locus Award to ROGUES

STATION ELEVEN Wins Clarke Award

LOCUS Nominations Announced

Gillian, Meet Edgar

For Your Consideration: Stuff Not By Me

For Your Consideration: Stuff By Me

Hugo Nomination Deadline Draws Nigh

Lose Some, Win Some

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