25 July 2003

Heinlein Award Banquet at Torcon
The first annual Heinlein Awards will be presented on Friday, August 29 at Joe Badali's Italian Ristorante in Toronto to coincide with Torcon III. The Heinlein Society is selling tickets to the event for $75, which includes a cocktail hour beginning at 6:00, dinner, dessert, and the Award presentation.. Information about purchasing tickets to the event may be found at www.heinleinsociety.org/AwardDinner.html or by writing to secretary@heinleinsociety.org.

Shaver Studio for Sale
The studio purported to have been used by Richard S. Shaver, author of the Lemurian cycle for Amazing Stories, is up for auction on Ebay with a starting price of $2799. The seller is auctioning only the building and the purchaser must arrange to transport the studio, which has recently been damaged by a runaway pickup within four months of purchase. The auction ends on Sunday, July 27.

23 July 2003

Fantastic Book Club
John Betancourt of Wildside Press and Warren Lapine of DNA Publication have announced the establishment of Fantastic Book Club, a joint venture. The club will launch on September 1 and the first title will be Manna from Heaven, a collection of short stories by Roger Zelazny, including five previously uncollected "Amber" stories. The Book Club will not ship books unless they are requested by members. Although some of the books may be available in bookstores, club members will receive a discount. The Fantastic Book Club's website is http://www.fantasticbookclub.com.

Stephen King Contest
In conjunction with the release of the fifth volume of Stephen King's Dark Tower series, Penguin Putnam is sponsoring a contest which will allow one entrant to meet Stephen King. Entrants must dress in character and film themselves reading from their choice of passages found at http://www.penguin.com/darktower/contest.html.

Obituary
Walter "Matt" Jefferies (b.1921) the art director who designed the Starship Enterprise for the original "Star Trek" series, died on July 21 following a bout with cancer. In recognition of his work on the ship's design, Jefferies Tubes were named for him.

21 July 2003

Earthlight Axed
Simon and Schuster UK has announced plans to discontinue the Earthlight imprint used for science fiction. Authors who are currently being published by Earthlight will see future contracted books published under the Pocket Books imprint. Earthlight founding editor John Jarrold left the company several months ago.

Seiun Winners Announced
The Seiun Winners were announced by The Federation of Science Fiction Fan Groups of Japan at T-con2003, the 42nd Japan Science Fiction Convention. Winners of the translation awards, which will be presented at Torcon 3 at the Hugo ceremonies, were Robert J. Sawyer for Illegal Alien for best novel and for best short story Greg Egan's "Luminous."

Sci Fi Germany
The Sci Fi Channel, which runs genre networks in the United States and Britain, has announced that Sci Fi Channel will go live in Germany on September 1, 2003. The Germany network will have access to a large film library as well as rebroadcast rights to numerous television series.

Analog/Asimov Schedule Change
Analog and Asimov's magazines have announced that they will alter their schedule to eight regular and two double issues each year. Currently, both magazines publish 10 regular and one double issue each year.

New Heinlein Novel To Be Published
The Heinlein Society has announced plans to publish Robert A. Heinlein's first novel, the unpublished For Us, the Living. Believed to have been written in 1938 and 1939, all copies of the manuscript were thought lost until it was discovered by the society and turned over to Heinlein's literary estate. No publication date has yet been announced.

A Birth
Authors Eric S. Nylund and Syne Mitchell gave birth to their first son, Kai Mitchell Nylund. He was born on July 2 at home.

Bulwer-Lytton Dishonorable Mention
SF fan Lawrence Person has received a dishonorable mention in the Bulwer-Lytton Award. The Prize, named for British author Edward Bulwer-Lytton, is given for horrendous opening lines. Bulwer-Lytton's two best known works are The Last Days of Pompeii and Paul Clifford, which opens with the line "It was a dark and stormy night." Person took an honorable mentioned for the line "After escaping the clutches of that crazy cult, it was going to take more money than that to start a new life, but still, for one day's work, 30 pieces of silver wasn't bad."

Obituary
Jane Gallion (b.1938) died on July 18, shortly after being diagnosed with cancer. Lady Jane, as she was known, was active in Los Angeles fandom in the 1960s and 1970s and recently partnered with Jean Marie Stine to found Rennaissance e-books. Gallion published the novel Beneath the Bermuda Triangle in the June-July 1979 issue of Galaxy and also published several poems.

18 July 2003

Wedding Plans Scuttled
On July 17, a wedding license was issued in Texas for cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko to marry his fiancé Ekaterina Dmitriev on August 10. The wedding was scheduled to take place on August 10 with Malenchenko on the ISS and Dmitriev in Houston. However, Russian law states that both parties must be in the same location at the time of the wedding and Malenchenko would need clearance from his superiors to marry Dmitriev, who is a US citizen. According to Fort Bend County Clerk Dianne Wilson, this is the first time a wedding certificate has been issued to allow someone not on earth to get married.

Emmy Nominations Include Barely Any SF
The nominations for the 55th annual Emmy Awards for television were announced with only a single science fiction show among the nominees. "Steven Spielberg Presents Taken" (SciFi Channel) received a nomination in the Best Miniseries category. The awards will be presented during a live telecast on September 21.

Miniseries:
Hitler: The Rise of Evil
Napoleon
Steven Spielberg Presents Taken

Obituary
Robert Mullaney (b.1920), who was appointed the manager of the Lunar Excursion Module program in 1962, died on July 6 at his home in Bellport, NY. A former Navy pilot, Mullaney worked to develop fighter planes for Grumman before and after his work on the LEM, eventually working on the F-14 Tomcat. Mullaney earned a Purple Heart while serving as a dive bomber on the USS Ticonderoga during World War II.

17 July 2003

Argosy to Return
Argosy, sometimes credited with being the first pulp magazine, is being reborn as a literary magazine with a fantastical/surrealistic bent. The first issue of the revamped magazine is scheduled to be published later this year with Lou Anders as editor. Originally published as Golden Argosy on December 9, 1882, in 1896, Frank Munsey revamped the children's magazine as Argosy and aimed it at an adult audience. The original Argosy stopped publishing SF in 1943, but had already published works by Edgar Rice Burroughs, A. Merritt, Jack Williamson, Eando Binder, and the first story by Murray Leinster.

Phil & Kaja Foglio Addition
Artists Phil and Kaja Foglio have given birth to their second child, Alexandra Verity Foglio, on July 14.

Columbia Crew
New evidence has emerged that nearly a minute after the last communication with the crew of the Columbia on February 1, the crew was still alive. The announcement that a signal was sent from the crew to NASA so late in the Columbia's flight indicates that the crew probably knew of their plight.

14 July 2003

18th Annual Chesley Award Nominees
ASFA, the Association of Science Fiction Artists, has announced the nominees for the eighteenth annual Chesley Awards, to be presented at Torcon 3 over Labor Day weekend. The Chesley, named for the great astronomical artist, Chesley Bonestell, started in 1985 as a means for the SF and Fantasy art community to recognize individual works and achievements during a given year. This year's awards are for works and achievements in the period from January 1 to December 31, 2002.

Best Cover Illustration: Hardback Book
Bob Eggleton for Resurgence by Charles Sheffield
Mark Harrison for Diuturnity's Dawn by Alan Dean Foster
Todd Lockwood for The Thousand Orcs by R.A. Salvatore
Alan Pollack for Argonaut by Stanley Schmidt
Michael Whelan for Sorcery Rising by Jude Fisher

Best Cover Illustration: Paperback Book
Tom Canty for The Fall of the Kings by Ellen Kushner & Delia Sherman
Tristan Elwell for Briar Rose by Jane Yolan
James Gurney for Dinotopia: Dolphin Watch by John Vornholt
Don Maitz for Stealing the Elf King's Roses by Diane Duane
Matt Stawicki for Restoration by Carol Berg

Best Cover Illustration: Magazine
Kenn Brown for Wired, December '02
David Cherry for Computer Gaming World, November '02
Matt Hughes for Corporate Knights, October/November '02
Todd Lockwood for Dragon Magazine #302, December '02
Ron Miller for Asimov's, February '02

Best Interior Illustration
Kinuko Y. Craft for Sleeping Beauty by Mahlon F. Craft
Bob Eggleton for Dragonhenge by John Grant & Bob Eggleton
Scott Gustafson for Classic Fairy Tales by Scott Gustafson
William Stout for Abu & the Seven Marvels by Richard Matheson
Bernie Wrightson for Stuff Out' A My Head by Joseph M. Monks & Bernie Wrightson

Best Color Work: Unpublished
Richard Hescox for The Storm
Tom Kidd for The Rungius Pass
Maurizio Manzieri for Briony, Princess of Shadowmarch
Theresa Mather for Wings of the Wind
Christopher Vacher for The Endless Dream
Michael Whelan for Bean Stalk

Best Monochrome Work: Unpublished
Maurizio Manzieri for The Skimmer's Lagoon
James Owen for Old Tom's Study
Jean-Pierre Targete for Morgana Reborn
Mike Weaver for Miss Fix-It
Lawrence Allen Williams for Still Waters

Best Three-Dimensional Art
Kim Graham for Con Jose Dragon
Daniel Hawkins for The Alchemist
Real Musgrave for Rocket Science
Laura Reynolds for Hippocampus
Lisa Snellings Clark for Winter Guardians

Best Gaming - Related Illustration
William Hammock for Darkness and Light (Vigilance expansion, "Darkness and Light", Vigilance Press)
Todd Lockwood for Spider Queen (Forgotten Realms supplement "City of the Spider Queen", WotC)
David Martin for Mirari's Wake (card art for Magic: Judgment expansion deck, WotC, '02)

Best Product Illustration
David Cherry for New Age of Mythology Trio (Poster for iGames advrtising, Microsoft/Ensemble Studios)
James C. Christensen for Garden Rendezvous (fine art print for The Greenwich Workshop, June '02)
Scott Gustafson for Happily Ever After (fine art print for The Greenwich Workshop, November '02)
Dean Morrissey for The Light Ship (fine art print for The Greenwich Workshop, April '02)
Michael Parkes for The Court Painter (stone lithograph for Swan King Editions, October '02)

Best Art Director
Irene Gallo for Tor Books
Dana Knutson for Wizards of the Coast
Julia Kushnirsky for St. Martin's Press
Dave Land for Dark Horse Comics
David Stevenson for Ballantine & Del Rey Books

Award for Contribution to ASFA
Ted and Bonnie Atwood for years of service
Holly Bird for production design & layout of ASFA Quarterly
Joni Brill Dashoff for fund-raising efforts and years of service
Morgana for years of service hosting the ASFA suite at Worldcons
Geoffrey Surette for ASFA webpage management

Award for Artistic Achievement
Jim Burns
Kinuko Y. Craft
Tom Kidd
Hayao Miyazaki
Maurice Sendak

12 July 2003

Sturgeon and Campbell Awards
The Theodore Sturgeon Award for Best Short Story and John W. Campbell, Jr. Award for Best Novel were presented at the University of Kansas. For the first time, the Sturgeon Award was presented to a story originally published on the internet. This is also the first time a Campbell Award winner has previously won the Sturgeon Award and the first time a Campbell Award winner is the spouse of a previous Campbell Award winner.
Sturgeon Award: "Over Younder," by Lucius Shepard, SciFiction.com
Campbell Award, Probability Space, by Nancy Kress

Mark Time And Ogle Awards Announced
The Mark Time and Ogle Awards for the Best Audio Science Fiction of the Year were presented at ConVergence in Bloomington, Minnesota on July 4th. The awards honor excellence in audio theater in science fiction and fantasy, with the Mark Time Awards being presented for science fiction and the Ogle Awards presented for fantasy.

Mark Time Awards
Gold: Anne Manx and the Trouble on Chromius," by The Radio Repertory Company of America, Angelo Panetta, Producer. Elmwood Park, NJ.
Silver: "Not From Space," by The Borgus collective, Jeffrey Bays, Producer. Marshall, MO.
Honorable Mentions: "Nebulous Rex," by Shirley & Spinoza, Internet Radio. San Francisco, CA, and "Red Shift," by Seem Real Theater, Thomas O¹Neill, Producer. Bridgeport, CT.

Ogle Awards
Gold: (Tie): "Fears for Ears," by Positive Living Productions, Aida Memisevic, Producer. Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, and "Dragon Song," by Texas Radio Theater Company, Richard Frohlich, Producer. Arlington, TX.
Silver: "Up On the Rooftops," by Imagination X, Jeffrey Adams, Producer. Monmouth, OR.
Honorable Mention: "Background," by Imagination X, Jeffrey Adams Producer. Monmouth, OR.

Enigmatic Pluto Has Strange Behavior
Confounding scientists' expectations, as Pluto moves further away from the sun in its highly eccentric orbit, its atmosphere has expanded and the temperature has increased according to James Elliott of MIT. Pluto watchers hope that this news will help the movement for a launch of an unmanned probe to the icy world in 2006. Discovered in 1930 by Clyde W. Tombaugh, Pluto is the only planet not yet visited by human artifacts.

Oldest Planet Found
Astronomers believe they have identified a planet which is 12.7 billion years old in orbit around a star 7200 light years away. The planet, which is twice the size of Jupiter, was formed when the universe was only 1 billion years old and is nearly twice the age of our own solar system. Planetary formation experts say that the new discovery will revolutionize their field. Furthermore, the planet's current location, in the middle of the M4 star cluster, is an area in which scientists previously thought planetary systems would not be able to survive.

9 July 2003

Jane Gallion Update
Lee and Barry Gold report that Jane Gallion has been moved to a hospice (Christopher House, 2820 E Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Austin, TX 78702; 512- 322-0747). Her pain medication program has been changed and she is now awake and talkative. Jane said she'd appreciate it if people could send her their snailmail addresses so she can write letters.

Endeavor Award Finalists Announced
The finalists for the Endeavor Awards, to be presented at Orycon in November, were announced this past weekend at Westercon. The Endeavor Awards are given for books published by authors living in the Pacific Northwest and include a $1,000 honorarium. The judges for 2003 are Joe Haldeman, Martin H. Greenberg, and Douglas Smith.
The Disappeared, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Lion's Blood, by Steven Barnes
The Maquisarde, by Louise Marley
Solitaire, by Kelley Eskridge
Technogenisis, by Syne Mitchell

Deutscher Phantastik Preis 2003 Nominations Announced
The nominations for the Deustcher Phantastik Preis have been announced and fans can vote on-line until September 30. The winners will be announced at BuchmesseCon in Frankfurt, Germany on October 11. This year has seen the addition of three new categories, Debut Novel, Audio and DVD.

Novel, National
"Das glaeserne Wort", Kai Meyer
"Die Macht des Elfenfeuers", Monika Felten
"Imagon", Michael Marrak
"Maddrax 3: Der schwarze Feind", Jo Zybell
"Perry Rhodan Kosmos-Chroniken 2: Alaska Saedelaere", Hubert Haensel

First Novel, National
"Das Schwarze Auge: Das Daimonicon", Markus Tillmanns
"Das schwarze Auge: Die Muehle der Traenen", Alexander Lohmann
"Die dunkle Zeit 1: Schatten ueber Ulldart", Markus Heitz
"Seelenflucht", Horst Hermann Boehlke
"Sylke", Achim Mechler

Novel, International
"Forever Free", Joe Haldeman
"Prey", Michael Crichton
"Darwinia", Robert Charles Wilson
"Black House", Stephen King/Peter Straub
"Die ewige Bibliothek", James A. Owen

Short Story
"Komm schweb mit mir, mein Amethyst", Kai Meyer
"Mesmeristische Experimente", Andreas Gruber
"Numinos", Michael Marrak
"Unerlaubte Werbung", Andreas Eschbach
"Was von uns bleibt...", Florian F. Marzin

Original Anthology/Collection
"Alte Götter sterben nicht", David Kenlock (ed.)
"Dunkle Sonne", Gerd Frey
"Feueratem", Michael Nagula (ed.)
"Jenseits des Hauses Usher", Markus Korb (ed.)
"Nova" Nr. 1

Serial
"Caine: Der Dunkle Prophet"
"Maddrax"
"Perry Rhodan"
"Prof. Zamorra"
"Rettungskreuzer Ikarus"

Author of the Year, National
Andreas Eschbach
W.K. Giesa
Wolfgang Hohlbein
Claudia Kern
Michael Marrak

Author of the Year, International
Michael Crichton
Stephen King
China Miéville
J.K. Rowling
J.R. Tolkien

Film
"Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"
"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"
"Ice Age"
"Minority Report"
"Spider-Man"

TV Series
"Angel"
"Buffy"
"The Simpsons"
"Futurama"
"Stargate SG-1"

Actress
Halle Berry ("Jinx"/"Die Another Day")
Kirsten Dunst ("MJ"/"Spider-Man")
Sarah Michelle Gellar ("Buffy"/"Buffy")
Alyson Hannigan ("Willow"/"Buffy")
Liv Tyler ("Arwen Eveningstar"/"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers")

Actor
Richard Dean Anderson ("Jack O'Neill"/"Stargate SG-1")
Christopher Lee ("Saruman"/"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers")
Tobey Maguire ("Peter Parker"/"Spider-Man")
Ian McKellen ("Gandalf"/"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers")
Andy Serkis ("Gollum"/"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers")

DVD Features
"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" (Special Extended Edition)
"Spider-Man" (Deluxe Edition)
"Star Trek - The Feature Film" (Director's Edition)
"Star Trek: The Next Generation"
"Tron" (Deluxe Edition)

Audio
"Das Jesus-Video"
"John Sinclair: Der Anfang"
"Necroscope 1"
"Sieben Siegel"
"H.P. Lovecrafts Bibliothek des Schreckens 1"

Internet Site, National
www.alien-contact.de
www.bastei.de/maddrax
www.herr-der-ringe-film.de
www.perry-rhodan.net
www.sf-radio.de

Internet Site, International
www.boxofficeprophets.com
www.harrypotter.com
www.movie-mistakes.com
www.starwars.com
www.theonering.net

Honor
"Nova" (A new German SF-Story-Magazine)
"Perry Rhodan" (Series)
Peter Jackson ("Lord of the Rings" Film)
Sam Raimi ("Spider-Man" Film)
Wolfgang Jeschke (Ex-Editor of the SF Program of Heyne-Verlag)

Flop
"He Walked Among Us," by Norman Spinrad (SF Novel, first time published by Heyne)
"Dinotopia" (TV Mini-Series)
George Lucas ("Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones")
"Men in Black 2" (SF Film)
"Star Trek" (SF TV-Series)

7 July 2003

Westercon 2005 Site Selected
The location for Westercon 2005 has been announced as Calgary, Canada, which beat out Silicon Valley in the voting. The convention will be held from July 1- 4 with guests of honor S.M. Stirling, Dave Duncan, Mark Ferrari, Cliff Samuels, and Eileen Capes. The Westercon 58 website is located at http://calgaryin2005.org

Obituary
Actor Buddy Ebsen (b.1908), who was originally cast as the Tin Woodsman in the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz," but had to cede the part to Jack Haley when he developed an allergic reaction to his makeup, has died on July 7 following a lengthy treatment for an undisclosed illness. Ebsen's name is probably best known for his television roles as Jed Clampett on "The Beverly Hillbillies" and Barnaby Jones in the eponymous series.

6 July 2003

Jane Gallion Diagnosed with Cancer
Jane Gallion, a.k.a. Lady Jane, a fan who was active in Los Angeles fandom during the 1960s and 1970s, has been diagnosed with cancer, according to Jean Marie Stine, Jane's partner in Rennaissance e-books. Reports indicate that she is being kept heavily medicated to deal with pain.

Obituary
N!xau (b.1944?), the San tribesman who appeared in the film "The Gods Must Be Crazy" has died in the remote Namibian area of Tsumkwe. Discovered by South African director James Uys, N!xau had only the most limited exposure to modern life. In addition to appearing in "The Gods Must Be Crazy," he appeared in its sequels as well as Hong Kong action films, before returning to his home.

5 July 2003

Locus Awards
The Locus Awards were presented at Westercon and included numerous special awards in addition to the standard awards. The Locus Awards are presented by Locus Magazine and are voted on by the readership of the magazine.
SF Novel: The Years of Rice and Salt, Kim Stanley Robinson (Bantam)
Fantasy Novel: The Scar, China Miéville (Macmillan; Del Rey)
First Novel: A Scattering of Jades, Alexander C. Irvine (Tor)
Young Adult Novel: Coraline, Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins)
Novella: The Tain, China Miéville (PS Publishing)
Novelette: "The Wild Girls", Ursula K. Le Guin (Asimov's, Mar 2002)
Short Story: "October in the Chair", Neil Gaiman (Conjunctions 39: The New Wave Fabulists)
Collection: Stories of Your Life and Others, Ted Chiang (Tor)
Anthology: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Nineteenth Annual Collection, Gardner Dozois, ed. (St. Martin's)
Non-Fiction: Tomorrow Now: Envisioning the Next Fifty Years, Bruce Sterling (Random House)
Art Book: Spectrum 9: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, Cathy Fenner & Arnie Fenner, eds. (Underwood Books)
Editor: Gardner Dozois
Magazine: The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
Book Publisher: Tor
Artist: Bob Eggleton
Special Award : Tom Doherty, for winning the Locus Award 15 years in a row
Special Award: Eileen Gunn, best acceptor
Special Award: Bob Eggleton, for artistic contributions to Locus
Special Award: Connie Willis, best toastmaster

3 July 2003

Clarion Funding Cut
Michigan State University, which has hosted the Clarion Writer's Workshop, has announced their decision to discontinue support of subsidizing the annual event. The organizers are asking members of the community to contact university officials to plead for continuation of funding. Clarion was founded in 1968 at Clarion State College. In 1971, it moved to Tulane, and has been in Michigan State since 1972. It has two offshoots in Clarion West, held in Seattle, and Clarion South, which is currently being established in Australia. Some alumni of Clarion include Michael Burstein, Cory Doctorow, James Patrick Kelly, Geoffrey A. Landis, and Leslie What.

1 July 2003

Another Harry Potter Record
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which set sales records in the United States and Britain following its June 21 release, has also become the number one best seller in all categories in France. What makes the book a surprise bestseller in France is that the French translation of the book will not be available until December. Nevertheless, English language editions imported from England have already sold an estimated 30,000 copies.

Potter Paycheck to School
Students who are appearing as extras in the film "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" have been informed by Lochaber High School in the Scottish Highlands, that any money they make during weekday filming belongs to the school as the school views the work as work experience. Amounting the £35/day, the students are allowed to keep any payment for work on the film they do during the weekend. Students at other schools have been permitted to retain their earnings.

Off to See the Wizard
The Kansas state legislature has renamed a 50-mile stretch of Interstate 70 "The Road to Oz." The stretch of highway, which culminates in Lincoln Avenue in Wamego, Kansas, commemorates L. Frank Baum's story The Wizard of Oz. In October, The Marvelous Land of Oz Museum will open in the small town between Topeka and Manhattan, Kansas.

Obituary
Comedian Buddy Hackett (b.1924), who appeared in the fantasy films "The Love Bug" and provided the voice for the seagull Scuttle in Disney's "The Little Mermaid," was found dead at his home on June 30. The cause of death was not immediately known. In addition to his genre work, Hackett was known for appearances in "The Music Man" and "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" as well as his stand-up routine which included a classic bit about ordering food at a Chinese restaurant.