30 July 2002

A Birth...
Tammy Coxen would like to announce the formation of Midwest Fannish Conventions, Inc. (MFCI or MidFan), an organization devoted to building fannish links throughout the Midwest (including Midwestern Canada) and promoting and fine tuning the art of running science fiction and fantasy conventions. The organization's first project is Midwest Construction, a traveling con- running convention. The first Midwest Construction will take place September 20-22 in Rosemont, IL (https://www.sfsite.com/~silverag/Midwest_Construction.html). MidFan's permanent website can be found at http://www.midfan.org.

...And a Birthday
The South Hants Science Fiction Group will be celebrating its twenty-first birthday at the Magpie Public House, Fraton, Portsmouth on September 21. All friends of the group, past present and future are inviting to attend from noon to 6pm. There is no charge for the event, although there will be a raffle. Guests are yet to be confirmed and there will be light programming.

28 July 2002

New Webzine Launched
Polemicist and reviewer Gabrial Chouinard has announced that he is launching a new webzine to spotlight his reviews and essays. Dead Cities is located at http://deadcities.crimsonzine.com and was launched on July 26. In addition to essays, Dead Cities also will containa forum for discussion of the science fiction field and related topics..

27 July 2002

SFWA Bulletin Names New Editor
Sharon Lee, the new President of the SFWA, has announced that Mark Kreighbaum will take over as the new editor of the SFWA Bulletin, replacing outgoing editor David Truesdale. Mr. Kreighbaum has worked as a freelance editor for Bantam and DAW. The Bulletin has also hired a new production manager, John Teehan.

Andy Porter Leaves SFC
Warren Lapine, publisher of DNA Publications, has announced that Andy Porter will be stepping down as news editor for the Science Fiction Chronicle. Mr. Porter founded the Hugo-Award winning Science Fiction Chronicle and sold it to DNA Publications a few years ago. The new news editor at Science Fiction Chronicle, rechristened the Chronicle, is John Douglas.

25 July 2002

New Award Presented
The inaugural annual Sir Julius Vogel Awards were presented to recognize excellence in science fiction, fantasy and horror by New Zealanders during the New Zealand National Convention in Wellington New Zealand.
Best Novel: First Hunter by Dale Elvy
Best Short Story: "The Good Earth" by Peter Friend
Dramatic Presentation—Long Form: The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Best New Talent: Dale Elvy
Best Fan Writing: Alan Robson
Best Fanzine: Phoenixine
Best Fan Art: Nick Kim
Services to Fandom: Norman Cates & the SFFANZ Discussion Group
Services to SF &F: Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Phillipa Boyens

Seiun Winners
The Seiun Award winners were announced at U-Con, the 41st Annual Japanese SF Convention in Shimane Prefecture. Ted Chiang's "Story of Your Life" and Greg Egan's "Reasons to Be Cheerful" tied for Best Translated Short Story. The translation awards will be re- presented as part of the Hugo Award ceremony at ConJosé.

Prix Tour Eiffel
British author David Gemmell won the Prix Tour Eiffel for the French translation of his novel Legend (Légende). The prize, administered by the same corporation which maintains the Eiffel Tower, includes a prize of 15,000 Euros. The prize is given to French literature and translated literature in alternating years.

Obituary
Robert Randolph Medcalf, Jr. (July 3)

Robert Randolph Medcalf, Jr. (b.1949), the founder of Quixsilver Press, died at his home in Biglerville, PA. Beginning in 1976, he published short stories and poems in various magazines, most recently the March issue of the on-line magazine Strange Horizons. He also founded the on-line magazine Science Fiction Poetry Review.

24 July 2002

Prism Awards
The Winners of the 2002 Prism Awards for science fiction and fantasy romance novels were announced at the Romance Writers of America conference in Denver during the week of July 17-20. The Prism Awards are given out by the Futuristic, Fantasy and Paranormal Chapter of the RWA.
Best of the Best: Across a Moonswept Moor by Julie Moffett
Time Travel: Across a Moonswept Moor by Julie Moffett
Futuristic: Scouts Progress by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
Fantasy: Goddess by Mistake by P.C. Cast
Dark Paranormal: Danegeld by Susan Squires
Light Paranormal: Just West of Heaven by Kathleen Kane

Forrest Ackerman Auction
Items from the Forrest Ackerman Collection will be auctioned off on E-bay over the next several months. According to item descriptions, "for personal reasons Forry has decided to close the Ackermansion and part with a significant portion of his collection...Once re- located, Forry looks forward to welcoming friends, both old and new, to the new Ackermuseum." Ackerman is a long-time fan, who introduced the masquerade to the first Worldcon, received the first fan Hugo, and edited Famous Monsters of Filmland. Earlier this year, Ackerman was hospitalized (see May news).

Obituary
Donald Franson, June 5

Donald Franson (b.1916) died of heart failure. Franson served several terms of the N3F President and also participated in the organization in a variety of other roles. He was a member of First Fandom and SFWA. Franson was active in welcoming new fans into science fiction and bringing fans together through the New Fanzine Appreciation Society and published the fanzine Trash Barrel.

19 July 2002

Harry Potter Birthday Promotion
Harry Potter's birthday is July 31, and to commemorate it, Random House/Listening Library, the publishers of the unabridged Harry Potter audiobooks, are arranging for a portion of the books to be read to people who dial a toll-free number. Anyone who calls 866-855-6708 after July 26 will be able to hear Jim Dale, who won a Grammy for his reading of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, read the birthday sequence from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The segments available with change every two weeks beginning in late August.

17 July 2002

Obituary
Kathleen Massie-Ferch, July 15

Kathleen Massie-Ferch (b.1955) was the editor of two fantasy anthologies, Ancient Enchantresses and Warrior Enchantresses. She also wrote several short stories and had recently completed the first draft of a novel. She had been diagnosed with cancer a few years ago, and succumbed after a period in hospice care.

15 July 2002

James White Award Panel
The panel of judges for this year's James White Award have been named. This year's judges include Orson Scott Card, Michael Carroll, Christopher Fowler, Graham Joyce and David Pringle. The Award will be presented at Novacon in Birmingham, UK. All submissions must be received by August 20. The James White Award was first presented in 2000 and are given to non-professional writers. For more information, see http://www.jameswhiteaward.com.

12 July 2002

Carnegie Medal goes to Fantasy Novel
Terry Pratchett has won his first mainstream literary award, the Carnegie Medal, for his novel _The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents_. Pratchett expressed surprise at winning the award, which is given each year by a panel of judges to the best book of the year for children and young people. According to this year's chair, Karen Usher, the selection of Pratchett's book for the award was unanimous.

Spectrum Nominations
The Spectrum Awards, presented to honor science fiction, fantasy and horror with a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transsexual theme, have announced this year's finalists.

Best Novel
Bouncing Off the Moon by David Gerrold (Tor)
Dreamer by Steven Harper (Roc)
The Ghost Sister by Liz Williams (Bantam)
The Kappa Child by Hiromi Goto (Red Deer Press)
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey (Tor)
A Paradigm of Earth by Candas Jane Dorsey (Tor)
Point of Dreams by Melissa Scott and Lisa Barnett (Tor)
The Song of the Earth by Hugh Nissenson (Algonquin Books)

Best Short Fiction
The Anthvoke by Steve Berman - from magazine Strange Horizons - from collection "Trysts" (Lethe Press)
The Devil and Mrs. Faust by Ian Phillips - from collection "See Dick Deconstruct" (Attagirl Press)
If On A Moonlit Night by M. Shayne Bell - from magazine "Realms of Fantasy, December 2001" Kindred by Alexis Glynn Latner - from anthology "Bending the Landscape: Horror" (Overlook)
Love On A Stick by Carrie Richerson - from anthology "Bending the Landscape: Horror" (Overlook)
Passing by Mark Tiedemann - from anthology "Bending the Landscape: Horror" (Overlook)
Shiomah's Land by Nisi Shawl - from magazine "Asimov's, March 2001"
Soul of Light by Catherine Asaro - from anthology "Sextopia" (Circlet Press)
Triangle by Ellen Klages - from anthology "Bending the Landscape: Horror" (Overlook)

Best Other Work
Bending the Landscape: Horror, edited by Nicola Griffith and Stephen Pagel (anthology) (Overlook Press)
Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon (television series) (WB/UPN/Fox/Joss Whedon)
Charm School (comic) (Slave Labor)
Codename: Knockout #0 - #6, Robert Rodi (comic) (DC/Vertigo Comics)
Green Lantern #137 and #140, Judd Winnick, (comic) (DC Comics)
Sextopia, edited by Cecilia Tan (anthology) (Circlet Press)
Trysts, by Steve Berman (collection) (Lethe Press)
X-Force #117-118 (comic) (Marvel Comics)

Contest Eligibility Expanded
The PARSEC/Confluence Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Story Contest, previously only open to professional authors, is now accepting submissions from non- professional authors. The deadline for the eight annual award is February 1, 2003 and details can be obtained from Timons Esaias, Confluence Short Story Contest, 6659 Woodwell Street, Pittsburgh PA 15217-1320.

11 July 2002

Future Orbits Ceases Publications
Tom Vander Neut, editor and publisher of Future Orbits has announced that the e-magazine has not received as much of a response as he had hoped. There will not be an August/September issue of the magazine and no date has been set for any future issues. If you are a subscriber and did not receive an e-mail about the cessation, please contact service@futureorbits.com for refund information.

Obituary
Laurence M. Janifer, July 7

Laurence M. Janifer (b.1933) was an editor at the Scott Meredith Literary Agency in the 1950s who began publishing war stories in 1952 and broke into science fiction with "Expatriate" in Cosmos under his birth name "Larry Mark Harris." In the late 50s and early 60s, he collaborated with Randall Garrett on books and short stories, the two using the psuedonym "Mark Phillips." In 1963, he began using the name by which he was generally known. His last book was published in 1987, although he continued to write short stories, with the most recent, "Vibes" being published in Analog in 2001.

Author Engaged
British science fiction author Charlie Stross has announced his engagement to Feòrag NicBhrìde. The two have known each other for ten years and plan to marry in June of 2003 in Amsterdam.

Nebula Weekend 2003
The SFWA has announced that the 2003 Nebula Awards banquet will be held the weekend of April 18-20 in Philadelphia at the Crystal Tea Room at the Marriott City Center.

Fifth Harry Potter Available, sort of
Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-Up-To-Dragon, the fifth Harry Potter book, has been published in China. However, it has not been written by J.K. Rowling, who is currently writing the official fifth novel, tentatively called Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The Chinese Potter book is an unauthorized novel written by an anonymous author. The unauthorized book includes Rowling's name on the cover and her biography inside. It is being widely purchased in China, although booksellers have been threatened with a hefty fine for each copy found. Excerpts from the novel demonstrate that the writer's prose is not similar to Rowling's.

Shuttle Fleet Grounded
With the discovery of cracks in the fuel line of the fourth shuttle, Endeavor, NASA has unofficially grounded all four shuttles. The scheduled July 19 flight of Columbia has been postponed indefinitely and later shuttle missions to the ISS are in question. NASA's fear is that the cracks will grow and pieces of metal will chip off and fall into the shuttle engines, which could lead to an engine shutdown and cataclysmic results. The cracks appeared in liners used to direct the flow of super-cooled hydrogen fuel. If the liners need to be replaced, new ones will need to be manufactured as NASA does not have any spares.

9 July 2002

Wizards of the Coast Sells Magazines
Wizards of the Coast has announced that they have reached an exclusive publishing agreement with Paizo Publishing to produce Dungeon, Dragon, and Star Wars Insider magazines. In addition, Paizo will take over the management of the Star Wars Fan Club. Johnny Wilson, the President of Paizo, is a former WotC publisher. Lisa Stevens, the CEO of Paizo helped start both WotC and White Wolf. She will become the new president of the Star Wars Fan Club.

Obituaries
Ward Kimball, July 9
Rod Steiger, July 9

Ward Kimball (b.1914) was one of the "Nine Old Men" of Disney Animation. He began working as an animator for Disney on the 1936 film "Elmer Elephant" and went on to direct animation on Pinocchio, Dumbo, Alice in Wonderland and other Disney films. His most notable achievement was the creation of the character Jiminy Cricket for Pinocchio, although he also worked on the redesign of Mickey Mouse. He won an Oscar for his short "It's Tough to Be a Bird" in 1969.

Rod Steiger (b.1925) acted in numerous films and television series, most notably, for genre interest in the 1969 adaptation of Ray Bradbury's "The Illustrated Man," as Father Delaney in "Amityville Horror" and as General Decker in the 1996 spoof "Mars Attacks!." Steiger, who won an Oscar in 1967 for his role in "In the Heat of the Night," died of pneumonia and kidney failure.

8 July 2002

SFWA Officers Take Office
On July 1, the new SFWA officers began their terms. The new administration includes
President, Sharon Lee
Vice President, Catherine Asaro
Treasurer, Chuck Rothman
Secretary, ElizaBeth Gilligan
Eastern Regional Director, Catherine Mintz

All officers serve a one year term except for regional directors, who serve for three years.

Campbell, Sturgeon Winners
This year, the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, presented at the University of Kansas on July 6, resulted in the first ever tie. The co-winners were Jack Williamson's Terraforming Earth and Robert Charles Wilson's The Chronoliths. The winner of the Theodore Sturgeon Award is Andy Duncan for his story "The Chief Designer." While both Wilson and Duncan were present, Williamson was unable to attend. Williamson did, however, send a letter accepting the award and noting that Terraforming Earth would be his last novel.

Locus Award Winners
This year's Locus Award winners, selected by readers of the magazine, were announced at this year's Westercon, Conagerie, in Los Angeles on July 5. The winners were:
SF Novel, Passage by Connie Willis
Fantasy Novel, American Gods by Neil Gaiman
First Novel, Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey
Novella, "The Finder" by Ursula K. Le Guin
Novelette, "Hell is the Absence of God" by Ted Chiang
Short Story, "The Bones of the Earth" by Ursula K. Le Guin
Collection, Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
Anthology, The Year's Best Science Fiction: Eighteenth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
Non-Fiction, Being Gardner Dozois by Michael Swanwick
Art Book, Spectrum 8 edited by Cathy and Arnie Fenner
Editor, Gardner Dozois
Magazine, Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy
Publisher, Tor
Artist, Michael Whelan

5 July 2002

His Dark Materials Slated for Big Screen
New Line Cinema has announced that playwright Tom Stoppard, who has also worked on the scripts for "Brazil," and "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," has been hired to adapt Philip Pullman's "His Dark Mateirals" trilogy for the big screen. The three books, which have won Pullman the Whitbread Award, will be made into at least two films.

Genre Films Account for 3 of the Worst Ten
A poll of Maxim readers has resulted in a list of the ten worst films. According to the poll, the worst film was "Batman and Robin." Other genre films in the worst ten include "Armageddon" (#4) and "The Postman" (#6).

Stan Lee to Auction Collection
This weekend (July 4-7), Stan Lee, the co-creator of Spider-Man and force behind Marvel Comics, will be auctioning a part of his personal collection, including original Spider-Man art and reference copies of Marvel Comics, at Wizard World in Chicago.

3 July 2002

DUFF Winner
DUFF (Down Under Fan Fund) Administrators Naomi Fisher, Pat Molloy and Cathy Cupitt, have announced the results of the 2002 DUFF Race which will bring an Australian fan to visit North America for ConJose and other travel. This year's winner is Julian Warner. Candidate team David Cake and Sarah Locksley Xu) placed second and there were write-in votes for two additional candidates. In addition to visiting North America, Warner's duties will include writing a trip report and taking over Australian administrative duties from Ms. Cupitt. More information and, eventually, full voting statistics, can be found at http://home.pacbell.net/jgelb/duff2k.html.

New Awards Announced
Website scifidimensions has announced the creation of the The Southeastern Science Fiction Achievement (SESFA) Awards to be presented annually in science fiction, fantasy and horror to authors born or living in the Southeastern United States. The nomination period for the first awards runs from July 1 through October 15 and covers works published for the first time in 2001. The first awards will be presented in three categories, for best novel of 2001, best short fiction of 2001 and Hall of Fame. Members of SESFA may nominate or vote and membership is $7 for the 2002 calendar year. The winners, who will receive a plaque and $100, will be announced no later than December 15. Full rules and nominating information can be found at http://www.scifidimensions.com/sesfa/sesfarules.htm.

The McNamara Achievement Award has been announced to recognize outstanding achievement by an individual or group in the area of speculative fiction within Australia or overseas. The award is named after Peter McNamara, the publisher of the short lived magazine Aphelion and SF radio interviewer. The first winner is Paul Collins, who published the first professional SF magazine in Australia, Void Magazine. Collins was also a book publisher and author who wrote 10 novels and more than 100 short stories. His novels include Old Bones (1997), and Cyberskin (2000). He has also edited several anthologies, including Metaworlds (1994). His 1997 non-fiction work The MUP Encyclopaedia of Australian Science Fiction & Fantasy just missed making the Hugo ballot.

Noreascon 4 Names Division Heads
Deb Geisler, Chairman of Noreason Four, the 2004 Worldcon, has announced several appointments. She has named Mark Olson and Sharon Sbarsky as Chairman's Staff as well as the following Division Heads: Convention Services: Jim Mann (Pennsylvania) Events: Marc Gordon (Washington, D.C.) Exhibits/Fixed Functions: Laurie Mann (Pennsylvania) Facilities: Ben Yalow (New York) Member Services: Elaine Brennan (Colorado) Program: Priscilla Olson (Massachusetts) Publications: Joe Siclari (New York)

Noreascon Four has also announced that attending membership rates will increase from $120 to $140 on August 1, 2002.

1 July 2002

Drive a Car, Receive The Fellowship of the Ring... Free
New Line Home Entertainment and Kia have announced a joint marketing deal. In addition to the new Kia Sorento being featured in advertising for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring initial DVD release, individuals who test-drive the new Kia Sorento or any Kia model between August and October, 2002 will receive by mail a free copy of the "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" home video or DVD courtesy of Kia. This is the initial August 6 DVD release which does not include all the special features which will be included on the November 12 Special Edition Release.