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It's time to talk about the Campbell awards, y'all!
For those not in the know, and quoting the Writertopia website, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer "is given to the best new science fiction or fantasy writer whose first work of science fiction or fantasy was published in a professional publication in the previous two years. For the 2010 award, which is presented at the World Science Fiction Convention (WorldCon), the qualifying work must have been published in 2008 or 2009."
I know several excellent and brilliant people who are eligible for this award this year: Camille Alexa, Cecil Castellucci, Michael J. DeLuca, Amal El-Mohtar, Shira Lipkin, Seanan McGuire, and Shweta Narayan. Each of their names links to their Writertopia pages, giving you a handy listing of what publications qualified them to be eligible for the Campbell.
Each of these people are fine writers, several are my friends, and I would be over the moon to see any of them so honored for their talent and hard work.
But I really just have to take a minute and paint you a picture of amazing creative proportions:
Seanan McGuire.
She writes: she has the distinction of having two forthcoming series in her first year as a professionally published author, beginning with the first three books of the October Daye series from DAW (with Rosemary and Rue and A Local Habitation currently available, and An Artificial Night coming in September). She has a horror trilogy forthcoming under the pseudonym Mira Grant, with the first installment, Feed, poised to drop next month. She's already appeared in two anthologies: Ravens in the Library and Grant's Pass, and she's serializing her Sparrow Hill Road series of stories about the hitchhiking ghost Rose Marshall at The Edge of Propinquity. Also, she's an active member of the Book View Cafe; did I mention she's also writing an irregular crowdfunded series called Velveteen Vs. Everything about superheroes in a corporate world? And, of course, she has approximately three or four other series of books that she's currently noodling in her spare time - something I'm not sure she's allowed to have in a sane world of linear and finite time. But she does. Possibly because she has a TARDIS somewhere in her back pocket.
She sings: No, seriously, she has three albums currently available for purchase (though quantities are seriously limited on a couple of those - get them while they're in print!). I can attest to the general excellence and keen sing-ability of these albums. Also, she wrote nearly every song on them. In fact, the number of her songs that she's actually recorded is startlingly low: a look at her online songbook reveals hundreds of songs in her unrecorded catalogue. (Seriously: TARDIS.)
She draws: Again, not kidding. She's done a promotional strip or two for Rosemary and Rue which you can see here and here. Plus, on her website, she has a gallery of her quirky Art Cards and a fledgling gallery of her irregular comic series "With Friends Like These..."
Beyond all this productivity, she also manages to be a completely delightful person: she's the best kind of bizarre and often hilarious. She's full of fascinating and terrifying facts, and I'm pretty sure she's allergic to dullness. She's also generous with her attention and affection (possibly to a fault, given everything she needs to do), incredibly supportive, and kind. And she still has to work a full-time job.
Did I mention that she's in the midst of a 50 essay series on different aspects of writing?
... I mean, I don't know what else to say. If she's not a poster child for the Best of My Writing Generation, I don't know who is.
If the following nominating or voting criteria apply to you, I really hope you'll support your favorite candidate in this year's Campbells:
"To be able to nominate a writer for the 2010 award, you must have been a member of Anticipation (the 67th World Science Fiction Convention in Montreal) or a member of Aussiecon Four (the 68th World Science Fiction Convention in Melbourne) before Jan. 31, 2010. (Members include both supporting and attending members."
And, seriously, guys, let me throw out my endorsement of Seanan McGuire one more time: let's make 2010 the first year an urban fantasist takes the Campbell. Especially one who can put her bid in so stylishly:
Seanan McGuire Would Look Great in a Tiara.
(Clickenzee to embiggen!)
This entry was originally posted at Livejournal on March 4th, 2010. You can comment here or there.
For those not in the know, and quoting the Writertopia website, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer "is given to the best new science fiction or fantasy writer whose first work of science fiction or fantasy was published in a professional publication in the previous two years. For the 2010 award, which is presented at the World Science Fiction Convention (WorldCon), the qualifying work must have been published in 2008 or 2009."
I know several excellent and brilliant people who are eligible for this award this year: Camille Alexa, Cecil Castellucci, Michael J. DeLuca, Amal El-Mohtar, Shira Lipkin, Seanan McGuire, and Shweta Narayan. Each of their names links to their Writertopia pages, giving you a handy listing of what publications qualified them to be eligible for the Campbell.
Each of these people are fine writers, several are my friends, and I would be over the moon to see any of them so honored for their talent and hard work.
But I really just have to take a minute and paint you a picture of amazing creative proportions:
Seanan McGuire.
She writes: she has the distinction of having two forthcoming series in her first year as a professionally published author, beginning with the first three books of the October Daye series from DAW (with Rosemary and Rue and A Local Habitation currently available, and An Artificial Night coming in September). She has a horror trilogy forthcoming under the pseudonym Mira Grant, with the first installment, Feed, poised to drop next month. She's already appeared in two anthologies: Ravens in the Library and Grant's Pass, and she's serializing her Sparrow Hill Road series of stories about the hitchhiking ghost Rose Marshall at The Edge of Propinquity. Also, she's an active member of the Book View Cafe; did I mention she's also writing an irregular crowdfunded series called Velveteen Vs. Everything about superheroes in a corporate world? And, of course, she has approximately three or four other series of books that she's currently noodling in her spare time - something I'm not sure she's allowed to have in a sane world of linear and finite time. But she does. Possibly because she has a TARDIS somewhere in her back pocket.
She sings: No, seriously, she has three albums currently available for purchase (though quantities are seriously limited on a couple of those - get them while they're in print!). I can attest to the general excellence and keen sing-ability of these albums. Also, she wrote nearly every song on them. In fact, the number of her songs that she's actually recorded is startlingly low: a look at her online songbook reveals hundreds of songs in her unrecorded catalogue. (Seriously: TARDIS.)
She draws: Again, not kidding. She's done a promotional strip or two for Rosemary and Rue which you can see here and here. Plus, on her website, she has a gallery of her quirky Art Cards and a fledgling gallery of her irregular comic series "With Friends Like These..."
Beyond all this productivity, she also manages to be a completely delightful person: she's the best kind of bizarre and often hilarious. She's full of fascinating and terrifying facts, and I'm pretty sure she's allergic to dullness. She's also generous with her attention and affection (possibly to a fault, given everything she needs to do), incredibly supportive, and kind. And she still has to work a full-time job.
Did I mention that she's in the midst of a 50 essay series on different aspects of writing?
... I mean, I don't know what else to say. If she's not a poster child for the Best of My Writing Generation, I don't know who is.
If the following nominating or voting criteria apply to you, I really hope you'll support your favorite candidate in this year's Campbells:
"To be able to nominate a writer for the 2010 award, you must have been a member of Anticipation (the 67th World Science Fiction Convention in Montreal) or a member of Aussiecon Four (the 68th World Science Fiction Convention in Melbourne) before Jan. 31, 2010. (Members include both supporting and attending members."
And, seriously, guys, let me throw out my endorsement of Seanan McGuire one more time: let's make 2010 the first year an urban fantasist takes the Campbell. Especially one who can put her bid in so stylishly:
Seanan McGuire Would Look Great in a Tiara.
(Clickenzee to embiggen!)
This entry was originally posted at Livejournal on March 4th, 2010. You can comment here or there.