wisb-Guardian-Express

(I've added an addendum to this post in order to pull my foot out of my mouth.  Feel free to read it after you read everything below.)

I stayed up nice and late in order to watch the event live, which may or may not have been a mistake.  Now that I'm wide-eyed and bushy-tailed, I feel up to giving my thoughts about the Hugo Awards Ceremony and the winners in the various categories.  Hopefully my attempt at organizing these thoughts won't deter you from reading them.  (Some of these are probably going to get me in trouble...)

Hosting Matters


I don't think I've ever seen these awards before, so I assume having hosts in Academy Awards fashion has been a staple of the Hugos for a while.  For 2011, Jay Lake and Ken Scholes hosted the events, following a scripted set of jokes and jibes in order to keep the audience amused between awards.  It's hard for me to fault them for what turned out to be a not-very-funny event; Lake, after all, has been battling cancer for so long now I can't remember when it all began -- as a cancer survivor, I sympathize and feel it's fair to indulge him in whatever he is interested in doing, even if he's not terribly good at it.

But mostly the jokes and constant references to singing and self-deprecating humor were forced and excessive.  The ceremony is exceedingly long anyway, and it seems to me they could have cut down on the jokes to save a good 45 minutes.  Or instead of following a script, they might have provided more natural discussion points, with some humorous anecdotes from actual interactions they've had (at the Hugos or elsewhere).  Folks seemed to enjoy them, though, so I suppose I'm out of place on this.

Now on to the individual awards:

The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
Winner -- Lev Grossmam
Who I Thought Would Take It -- Lauren Beukes

I haven't read Grossman's novel, so I can't say whether his book is any good.  A lot of folks seem to love Grossman for The Magicians, but I personally thought Lauren Beukes should have taken the award for Moxyland and Zoo City.  She's bloody brilliant and I think it's a shame that she isn't being acknowledged as such through such an important award.

Best Fan Artist


Winner -- Brad W. Foster
Who I Thought Would Take It -- No idea

I don't know who any of the people on the nomination list are, so I have no connection to either of them.  This is one of those categories that I just don't care about, which may make me a jackass.

Best Fanzine


Winner -- The Drink Tank, edited by Christopher J. Garcia and James Bacon
Who I Thought Would Take It -- StarshipSofa, edited by Tony C. Smith

StarshipSofa is the only one of the nominees that I even know about.  I don't think Smith should have won the award, though.  His podcast is not a fanzine.  It hardly produces anything of a fan-ish nature and is more accurately described as a micro-press and audio fiction joint than anything else.  But the other options on the list seem utterly irrelevant to me.  I don't read them.  Most of them I didn't know existed until they showed up on ballots in the last year.  Most of them are old format.  And to be honest, I think websites like SF Signal should be on this list.  But whatever.

The amusing thing about this award was Garcia's emotional response, which could be described as a uber-freak-out.  It was fascinating and amusing in a kind of "good for you, mate" way.

(Edit:  You really should see Garcia's response.  It was honest and, well, clearly winning the award meant a hell of a lot to him.  And you have to appreciate that for someone who has dedicated themselves to a fan pursuit and suddenly gets recognition for it by people who, largely speaking, are the objects of that venture.)

Best Fan Writer


Winner -- Claire Brialey
Who I Thought Would Take It -- No idea

This is another category I care nothing about.  I've never heard of any of the people on the list and am sure I never will beyond seeing them on this list.

Best Semiprozine


Winner -- Clarkesworld
Who I Thought Would Take It -- Clarkesworld

The real question is who I thought should take the award.  And that answer is easy:  Interzone, edited by Andy Cox.  I think Interzone is long overdue for some damned recognition.  It's one of the few print magazines with excellent production values, both in terms of its look and its fiction.  They publish amazing stuff.  I don't get why they haven't won this damned award yet.  Not to mention that Clarkesworld, which is a great magazine (in general), has published some real stinkers in the last year.  It's a good magazine, but this is not a banner year, you know?

Meh.

Best Professional Artist


Winner -- Shaun Tan
Who I Thought Would Take It -- Stephan Martiniere

To be honest, I thought Tan would get an award for "The Lost Things" instead of this particular award.  I think he's deserving of an award somewhere on the ballot, though, so saying that I think Martiniere would have and should have taken the award isn't anything against Tan.  It's more my confusion about his placement.  But good on Tan.  He damn well deserves an Hugo!

Best Editor, Short Form


Winner -- Sheila Williams
Who I Thought Would Take It -- John Joseph Adams

In all honesty, all of the names on the list are names that we've all seen before, which leads me not to care all that much who wins.  Oh, JJA took it?  That's nice.  He'll be there next year.  Oh, it's Williams this time?  Nifty.  Then again, Strahan and Schmidt haven't taken it yet, have they?  Hmm...

(Edit:  Again, this is nothing against Williams.  In fact, she deserves the award just as much as anyone else for all her hard editing work.)

Best Editor, Long Form


Winner -- Lou Anders
Who I Thought Would Take It -- Lou Anders

I think Nick Mamatas is due for a Hugo as editor in the next year or so.  His work on Japanese genre fiction is crucial to the the publishing world.  But I don't think it's his time yet.

Anders has published some amazing books in the last few years, so it's difficult to say he doesn't deserve the award.  And hearing him accept the award with modesty by thanking readers and all the other people involved in the publishing process (including authors) earned him some serious Shaun points.  Plus:  he was dressed like a champ.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form


Winner -- Doctor Who ("The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang")
Who I Thought Would Take It -- "The Lost Thing" (Shaun Tan)

Honestly, if you're going to give an award to Doctor Who, it should go to the best of the lot, which is hands down "A Christmas Carol."  "The Pandorica Opens" was good (and I think "Vincent and the Doctor" is overrated), but nothing from Doctor Who has thus far met up to the quality of "A Christmas Carol."

That said, I seriously thought Tan would take this award.  He got an Oscar for it.  I thought he was a shoe-in...

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

Winner -- Inception
Who I Thought Would Take It -- Inception


The competition in this category was intense.  Aside from HP7 Part One and Scott Pilgrim, the other contenders (Toy Story 3 and How To Train Your Dragon) were amazing movies.  But it's hard to ignore Inception, right?  It's a film that got the whole community talking.  Toy Story didn't do that.  How To Train Your Dragon didn't either.

Best Graphic Story


Winner -- Girl Genius, Volume 10
Who I Thought Would take It -- No idea

I don't read graphic novels and what not.  I've at least heard of most of the things on the list, which is nice, but I've never read them and kind of don't care.

The hosts were semi-amusing, but again it was overly scripted and not terribly funny overall.

Best Related Book


Winner -- Chicks Dig Time Lords
Who I Thought Would Take It -- Robert A. Heinlein:  In Dialogue with His Century, Vol. 1


Some book about people who love Doctor Who?  Yippee.  I honestly thought the award could have gone to almost any other item and end up better placed (and I don't think Writing Excuses belongs in this category).  It's a fan book, contributing information we've seen on the Internet and in fanzines of all shapes and sizes for decades.  As a little book of fun, it's nice, but as a book worthy of a Hugo?  Not on your life.  Best Related Work should go to something that contributes knowledge to the genre.

But what do I know?  I haven't read any of the books on the list and I don't know the rules for half these categories anyway.  Honesty and all that.

Best Short Story


Winner -- "For Want of a Nail" by Mary Robinette Kowal
Who I Thought Would Take It -- "The Things" by Peter Watts

Well, at least "Ponies" by Kij Johnson didn't win.  That's all I have to say about that...

Best Novelette


Winner -- "The Emperor of Mars" by Allen M. Steele
Who I Thought Would Take It -- No idea

People said no to whale rape.  This is good.

Best Novella


Winner -- "The Lifecycle of Software Objects" by Ted Chiang
Who I Thought Would Take It -- No idea

I have no connection to any of the novellas, to be honest.  Maybe "Troika" by Alastair Reynolds?  Sure.  We'll go with that.

Silverberg presented this award, though, and he was hilarious.  He should present every award.

Best Novel


Winner -- Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis
Who I Thought Would Take It -- Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis

Again, I have no connection to the novels.  I would have preferred to see other books on the list.  That said, I really do like Jemisin and hope her name will appear on the ballot in the future.

• Brad W. Foster
• Randall Munroe
• Maurine Starkey
• Steve Stiles
• Taral Wayne

• The Drink Tank, edited by Christopher J. Garcia and James Bacon
• Banana Wings, edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
• Challenger, edited by Guy H. Lillian III
• File 770, edited by Mike Glyer
• StarShipSofa, edited by Tony C. Smith

• Claire Brialey
• James Bacon
• Christopher J. Garcia
• James Nicoll
• Steven H. Silver

• Clarkesworld, edited by Neil Clarke, Cheryl Morgan, Sean Wallace; podcast directed by Kate Baker
• Interzone, edited by Andy Cox
• Lightspeed, edited by John Joseph Adams
• Locus, edited by Liza Groen Trombi and Kirsten Gong-Wong
• Weird Tales, edited by Ann VanderMeer and Stephen H. Segal

• Shaun Tan
• Daniel Dos Santos
• Bob Eggleton
• Stephan Martiniere
• John Picacio

• Sheila Williams
• John Joseph Adams
• Stanley Schmidt
• Jonathan Strahan
• Gordon Van Gelder

• Lou Anders
• Ginjer Buchanan
• Moshe Feder
• Liz Gorinsky
• Nick Mamatas
• Beth Meacham
• Juliet Ulman

• Doctor Who: “The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang,” written by Steven Moffat; directed by Toby Haynes (BBC Wales)
• Doctor Who: “A Christmas Carol,” written by Steven Moffat; directed by Toby Haynes (BBC Wales)
• Doctor Who: “Vincent and the Doctor,” written by Richard Curtis; directed by Jonny Campbell (BBC Wales)
• Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury, written by Rachel Bloom; directed by Paul Briganti
• The Lost Thing, written by Shaun Tan; directed by Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan (Passion Pictures)

• Inception, written and directed by Christopher Nolan (Warner)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, screenplay by Steve Kloves; directed by David Yates (Warner)
• How to Train Your Dragon, screenplay by William Davies, Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders; directed by Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders (DreamWorks)
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, screenplay by Michael Bacall & Edgar Wright; directed by Edgar Wright (Universal)
• Toy Story 3, screenplay by Michael Arndt; story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich; directed by Lee Unkrich (Pixar/Disney)

• Girl Genius, Volume 10: Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse, written by Phil and Kaja Foglio; art by Phil Foglio; colors by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment)
• Fables: Witches, written by Bill Willingham; illustrated by Mark Buckingham (Vertigo)
• Grandville Mon Amour, by Bryan Talbot (Dark Horse)
• Schlock Mercenary: Massively Parallel, written and illustrated by Howard Tayler; colors by Howard Tayler and Travis Walton (Hypernode)
• The Unwritten, Volume 2: Inside Man, written by Mike Carey; illustrated by Peter Gross (Vertigo)

• Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It, edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O’Shea (Mad Norwegian)
• Bearings: Reviews 1997-2001, by Gary K. Wolfe (Beccon)
• The Business of Science Fiction: Two Insiders Discuss Writing and Publishing, by Mike Resnick and Barry N. Malzberg (McFarland)
• Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century, Volume 1: (1907–1948): Learning Curve, by William H. Patterson, Jr. (Tor)
• Writing Excuses, Season 4, by Brandon Sanderson, Jordan Sanderson, Howard Tayler, Dan Wells

• “For Want of a Nail” by Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov’s, September 2010)
• “Amaryllis” by Carrie Vaughn (Lightspeed, June 2010)
• “Ponies” by Kij Johnson (Tor.com, November 17, 2010)
• “The Things” by Peter Watts (Clarkesworld, January 2010)

• “The Emperor of Mars” by Allen M. Steele (Asimov’s, June 2010)
• “Eight Miles” by Sean McMullen (Analog, September 2010)
• “The Jaguar House, in Shadow” by Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s, July 2010)
• “Plus or Minus” by James Patrick Kelly (Asimov’s, December 2010)
• “That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made” by Eric James Stone(Analog, September 2010)

• “The Lifecycle of Software Objects” by Ted Chiang (Subterranean)
• “The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen’s Window” by Rachel Swirsky (Subterranean Magazine, Summer 2010)
• “The Maiden Flight of McCauley’s Bellerophon” by Elizabeth Hand(Stories: All New Tales, William Morrow)
• “The Sultan of the Clouds” by Geoffrey A. Landis (Asimov’s,September 2010)
• “Troika” by Alastair Reynolds (Godlike Machines, Science Fiction Book Club)

• Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (Ballantine Spectra)
• Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
• The Dervish House by Ian McDonald (Gollancz; Pyr)
• Feed by Mira Grant (Orbit)
• The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)

Earlier this week, I started writing a short story entitled "The Girl Who Flew on a Whale" as part of my WISB Podcast project.  The story, as my friend Adam Callaway remarked, is a whimsical fantasy for young readers (chapbook level).  I've always wanted to write a story like this.  They're fun to read and the current venture has been fun to write.  But one of the issues I've had is the tug in my mind to turn this short story into a much larger project.

"The Girl Who Flew on a Whale" is about a young girl who lives in a semi-Victorian-era town on the continent of Traea (many centuries after the events of The World in the Satin Bag).  Her mother wants to prune her for the aristocracy, while the little girl, affectionately called the Dreamer, wants nothing to do with that world -- rather, as her name implies, she dreams of the legends and myths of her world, wondering and wishing some of them are true.  The conflict is one that I'm sure has been seen many times before, but it is also a conflict that is close to my heart.  I don't have children, but know that when I have them, I'll do everything I can to foster their creativity.
Because children who have their dreams crushed are children who lose the very thing that makes the world grow:  creativity and innovation.  We need dreamers today more than we ever did before.  "The Girl Who Flew on a Whale" is partly about that conflict, but I've set it in a fantasy world (with plenty of whimsy) to get the message across via an adventure.

And that's where the issues arise.  The story is begging me to expand the narrative I have already started.  It's begging me to bring in swashbuckling pirates and strange creatures and wonderful magic and all sorts of silly and beautiful things.  Many of these I'll put into the story anyway, but the grand adventure my mind is trying to imagine won't fit into a short story or novelette.  I'm having to keep those things at bay while I write a more manageable tale (and one that I can actually read in a single sitting for the podcasted version I promised everyone).

Something I've been thinking of doing is providing the short version and then expanding it into a proper chapbook.  I know many writers have done things like this (writing novel versions of shorts they wrote a long time ago).  But is it as common today as it was in the old days of SF/F?  I can't think of many contemporary examples.

I bring all of this up because I'm curious about some things:

• How do you go about keeping a story under control?  Or do you throw your hands up and give it what it wants?
• Do novel versions of short stories work for readers?  Do you enjoy reading those kinds of stories?

I'm sensing a pattern in Gateways.  One really good story, followed by a bad one, followed by a good one, and so on and so forth.  Larry Niven's "Gates" is one of those bad ones.  Split between two perspectives -- a science fiction writer talking about the singularity/Bill Gates and Bill Gates making the decision to create a virtual world in which he is filthy rich -- "Gates" lacks anything resembling plot or character development.  In fact, beyond presenting a gimmick, I'm not sure if the story has a point.

Is it a story that wants us to buy its premise that the world we live in is a virtual world a la Second Life in which all but Bill Gates and his friends are intelligent programs?  If so, Niven has failed to provide a coherent "world" within which we can come to that conclusion.  Or is the singularity / Bill Gates section a fictionalized account of the tech icon's rise to "power" written by the science fiction writer of that previous section?  That might be interesting, but beyond the fact that the
science fiction writer talks about Bill Gates (from which the title obviously comes), the connection is loose.

Then again, perhaps we're supposed to think of this story as a couple of alternate histories about old Bill.  But each "vision" lacks depth.  The characters are cardboard cutouts -- people we've seen before.  The stories themselves, if you could call them that (vignettes might be a more appropriate term), go nowhere; we never see the worlds these different characters are talking about, or learn anything about the characters to give us a sense of who they are and what they've done to get here.  Maybe that's the point, but there are writers who have approached similar themes more effectively.  This story, however, is one I would recommend skipping.

I thought you all would be interested in this February 2006 talk by Ken Robinson about how schools destroy our creativity. As someone who teaches at the university level, and someone who loves the "what if" aspect of science fiction, I think there is a lot to be said about the way we teach our students. The sad truth is that people who study pedagogy know that our public schools are (at least partially) a failure. They've been saying it for decades. But the people who run our schools are, more often than not, people who either don't have degrees or didn't get them in professions which required them to learn how to teach. 

That's not the case with myself. Part of my educational requirements here at the University of Florida is to teach undergraduate composition and (now) literature courses. We're still teaching formulaic writing at the university level, something which I've tried to go against in my courses. The result of working in opposition to formula has been eye-opening. Many students simply don't know how to be creative.  Some of those students, when challenged to think for themselves and to use their critical thinking skills (what little they have) to move beyond the "right way of thinking and writing" often get flustered, because they haven't a clue what to do, how to do it, and so on.

We're not teaching our young people how to be the builders of tomorrow.  We're teaching them how to fit into a society which works like a repetitive machine.  And as we've seen in the last few years, that machine is running out of oil.  It's breaking down.

Here's the video (after the fold):

"Von Neumann's Bug" (VNB) is occupied with a trope familiar to science fiction fans:  the self-replicating machine.  In this case, the machine is an alien search drone named Bert who terrorizes a small, middle-class family in an attempt to rebuild itself and escape Earth's gravity to resume its mission.  And it does so by inconspicuously tearing apart a man's most prized possession:  his car.