Aussiecon IV
Melbourne Australia has won the right to host the 68th World Science Fiction Convention from September 2-6 in 2010. Aussiecon was unopposed and garnered 658 votes out of 826 cast. They have announced that their guests of honor will be Kim Stanley Robinson, Robin Johnson, and Shaun Tan. Attending membership for those who voted in site selection is currently $90, or $155 for those who did not vote in site selection.
For More Information...
Chicago Launches for 2012
Chicago has launched a bid to host the Worldcon in 2012. Chicago held a party on August 6 at which it announced its intentions and began giving away pulp magazine Confounding SF, which contained a new 2200 word story by Frederik Pohl. The bid also announced that a $100 Friend Membership would have $80 placed in escrow and all Friend memberships would be converted to attending memberships for those who vote in site selection if Chicago wins the convention.
For More Information...
Worldcon Masquerade Winners
The Worldcon Masquerade was held on August 8. Jill Eastlake is the Masquerade Director for Denvention III.
Best in Show: A Nightmare in Denver, Leann Runyanwood & Mark Runyan
Best Workmanship in Show:
Master Class: Best in Class: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Joni Dashoff, Sandy Pettinger & Pierre Pettinger
Master Class: Best Presentation: Humuhumu, Isabella Anderson, Jennifer Anderson, Lea Anderson, Kelly Bolton & Cornelia Willis
Master Class: Best Mythic Presence: The Dream Time, Stephen Clark
Master Class: Holy Hand Grenade Award: The Legendary Black Beast of Arrrghhh!", Daren Best & Marion O'Brien-Clark
Master Class: Retro-Rocket Award for Scientific Engineering: "Schoolhouse Rock Presents: A Reconsideration of the Astronomical Status of Dwarf Planet Pluto," Adina Adler, Jeanne Buss, Mary Aileen Buss, Tania Clucas, Harriet Culver, Susan de Guardiola, Morris Keesan, Elspeth Kovar, Joshua Kronengold, Serge Maillous, Joseph Meltzer, Lori Meltzer, Irene Urban, Tim Walters, Vicki Warren, Lance Weber & Ben Yalow
Master Class: Best Detail & Precision: A Touch of Winter, Sionna Neidengard
Master Class: Workmanship for Creative Use of Found Material: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Joni Dashoff, Sandy Pettinger & Pierre Pettinger
Master Class: Workmanship for Lace-Making and Embroidery: A Touch of Winter, Sionna Neidengard
Journeyman Class: Best in Class: Grave Robbers, Michael Bruno, Charles Orndorff, Tauni Orndorff & Jennifer Strand
Journeyman Class: Excellence in Re-Creation: Shimabara Jinju Redux, April Faires
Journeyman Class: Excellence in Adaptation: Jadis, the White Witch, Rebecca Tinkham
Journeyman Class: Workmanship for Skilled Wire-Knotting: Elvish Armor, Loren Damewood
Journeyman Class: Workmanship for Fabric Manufacture: Jadis, the White Witch, Rebecca Tinkham
Novice Class: Best in Class: Chairman of the Borg, Mark Cantrell
Novice Class: Best Workmanship in Class: War Machine, Karl Nordman
Novice Class: Most Intoxicatingly Beautiful: Dragon Wine, Bethany Anderson
Magellan Award: Princess Mariam Suzetta, Christina Duba
Roy G. Biv Award: Calm After the Storm, Alyssa Westfield
Duran Duran's Choice: Barbarella & Pygar: Brianna Spacekat & Frank Wu
Rising Star Award: Here Comes the Sun: James Shallcross
Workmanship for Structural Engineering: The Black Dalek, Bernadette Lee
Junior Class: Dancing Fools Award: Young Anime Fans, Corwin Thorne & Random Thorne
Junior Class: 9 Is Fine Award: Alien Ellie, Ellie Brodrick
Junior Class: Transylvania Award: Blue's Friend Magenta, Edwin Grace, Ella Grace & Niall Grace
Chesley Non Winners
ASFA has announced that the Chesley Awards will not be awarded at Denvention because ASFA was not able to distribute the ballots in time for voting and tallying to be finished in time for the convention.
WSFS Business Meeting
These amendments, first adopted at Nippon 2007, were ratified and become part of the constitution at the end of Denvention Three.
Fan/Pro Artist: Artists may now be nominated in both the Best Professional Artist and Best Fan Artist categories in the same year.
Reporting Nominations: Committees no long need report the nomination totals for nominees receiving fewer than five votes.
These amendments received first passage, and will be sent on to Anticipation for ratification. They will not become part of the WSFS constitution unless ratified at Anticipation.
Peter Weston's Contribution: WSFS recognizes Peter Weston's refinement of Jack McKnight and Ben Jason's design of the Hugo Award rocket as the official version of the rocket.
Web Eligibility: Clarifies the eligibility of works published in electronic and other non-print forms; in particular, changes Best Related Book to Best Related Work.
Repeal Semiprozine: Removes the Best Semiprozine category, while modifying Best Fanzine so that, substantively, works previously qualified as Semiprozines are not eligible as Fanzines. (Editors of such works are and would continue to be eligible for Best Editor, Short Form.)
Add Graphic Works: Adds a new Best Graphic Story category.
Sidewise Award Winners
This year's Sidewise Award winners were announced at Denvention following a short discussion in which the nominees in attendance discussed what made for bad alternate history. This year was also the second time there was a tie for the award.
Long Form: The Yiddish Policemen's Union, by Michael Chabon
Short Form (tie): "Recovering Apollo 8," by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and "Quaestiones Super Caelo et Mundo," by Michael Flynn
For More Information...
World Fantasy Awards Nominations
The nominations for this year's World Fantasy Awards have been announced. The winners will be announced at the World Fantasy Convention, to be held in Calgary, Canada from October 30 through November 2.
Novel
Fangland, John Marks
The Gospel of the Knife, Will Shetterly
The Servants, Michael Marshall Smith
Territory, Emma Bull
Ysabel, Guy Gavriel Kay
Novella
"Cold Snap," by Kim Newman
Illyria, Elizabeth Hand
"The Master Miller's Tale," by Ian R. MacLeod
The Mermaids, Robert Edric
"Stars Seen through Stone," by Lucius Shepard
Short Story
"The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics," by Daniel Abraham
"The Church on the Island," by Simon Kurt Unsworth
"Damned If You Don't," by Robert Shearman
"The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs of North Park After the Change," by Kij Johnson
"Singing of Mount Abora," by Theodora Goss
Anthology
The Coyote Road, edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
Five Strokes to Midnight, edited by Gary A. Braunbeck & Hank Schwaeble
Inferno, edited by Ellen Datlow
Logorrhea, edited by John Klima
Wizards, edited by Jack Dann & Gardner Dozois
Collection
Dagger Key and Other Stories, by Lucius Shepard
Hart & Boot & Other Stories, by Tim Pratt
Plots and Misadventures, by Stephen Gallagher
Portable Childhoods, by Ellen Klages
The Secret Files of the Diogenes Club, by Kim Newman
Tiny Deaths, by Robert Shearman
Artist
Ruan Jia
Mikko Kinnunen
Stephan Martiniere
Edward Miller
John Picacio
Special Award, Professional
Allison Baker & Chris Roberson (for MonkeyBrain Books)
Alan Beatts & Jude Feldman (for Borderlands Books)
Peter Crowther (for PS Publishing)
Jeremy Lassen & Jason Williams (for Night Shade Books)
Shawna McCarthy (for Realms of Fantasy)
Gordon Van Gelder (for F&SF)
Special Award, Non-Professional
G. S. Evans & Alice Whittenburg (for Cafe Irreal, http://home.sprynet.com/~awhit/)
John Klima (for Electric Velocipede)
Rosalie Parker & Raymond Russell (for Tartarus Press)
Midori Snyder & Terri Windling (for Endicott Studios Website)
Stephen Jones (for Travellers in Darkness: The Souvenir Book of the World Horror Convention 2007)
For More Information...
British Fantasy Awards Nominations
The winners of the awards will be announced at the British Fantasy Convention, Fantasycon 2008. The convention will be held on 19 - 21 September 2008 at the Britannia Hotel, Nottingham, UK.
Novel: The August Derleth Award
The Grin of the Dark, by Ramsey Campbell
Heart Shaped Box, by Joe Hill
The Intruders, by Michael Marshall
The Taken, by Sarah Pinborough
The Terror, by Dan Simmons
The Servants, by Michael Marshall Smith
Novella
Starship Summer, by Eric Brown
After the War (Double Novella), by Tim Lebbon
All Your Gods are Dead, by Gary McMahon
Black Tide, by Del Stone, Jr.
Rain, by Conrad Williams
The Scalding Rooms, by Conrad Williams
Short Fiction
"Digging Deep," by Ramsey Campbell
"The Spider Kiss," by Christopher Fowler
"Thumbprint," by Joe Hill
"My Stone Desire," by Joel Lane
"Discovering Ghosts," by Tim Lebbon
Collection
Midnight Bazaar: A Secret Arcade of Strange and Eerie Tales, by Simon Clark
Stains, by Paul Finch
Old Devil Moon, by Christopher Fowler
Plots and Misadventures, by Stephen Gallagher
Dirty Prayers, by Gary McMahon
Going Back, by Tony Richards
Anthology
The Black Book of Horror, edited by Charles Black
New Writings in the Fantastic, edited by John Grant
The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 18, edited by Stephen Jones
Zencore! edited by D. F. Lewis
The First Humdrumming Book of Horror Stories, by Ian Alexander Martin
Small Press
Andy Cox, Black Static
Peter Crowther, PS Publishing
Peter Crowther, Postscripts
Andrew Hook, Elastic Press
Steve Upham, Screaming Dreams
Artist
Vincent Chong
Les Edwards (Edward Miller)
Dave McKean
Bryan Talbot
Steve Upham
Non-Fiction
Planet Dodo Column, by Allen Ashley, PLANET DODO COLUMN, Midnight Street
Whispers of Wickedness Website Reviews, by Peter Tennant
Nightmare USA: The Untold Story of the Exploitation Independents, by Stephen Thrower
UKSF Booknews, by Darren Turpin
Wormwood, by Mark Valentine
For More Information...
Free Black Gate
Publisher John O'Neill has announced that the 12th issue of Black Gate will be available for a limited time as a pdf download from the Black Gate website. This issue includes new stories by John R. Fultz, James Enge, Martha Wells, Constance Cooper, Todd McAulty, Ed Carmien, Howard Andrew Jones, as well as a classic story by Charles R. Tanner.
For More Information...
WSFA Small Press Nominees
The 2008 WSFA Small Press nominees, given for science fiction and fantasy short fiction published by small press publishers in the
previous year, have been announced. The winner will be announced at
this year's Capclave in October.
"Bufo Rex," by Erik Amundsen, Weird Tales #347
"Orm the Beautiful," by Elizabeth Bear, Clarkesworld Magazine, January 2007
"The Wizard of Macatawa," by Tom Doyle, Paradox #11
"Harry the Crow," by John Kratman, Aeon Speculative Fiction #12
"Mask of the Ferret," by Ken Pick and Alan Loewen, Infinite Space, Infinite Gold
"The Third Bear," by Jeff VandeMeer, issue of Clarkesworld Magazine, April 2007
For More Information...
Chesley Nominees
ASFA has announced this years nominees for the Chesley Awards. They note that not all nominees have been checked for eligibility at this time and some categories may not be complete.
Hardcover
Alan M. Clark for Shades
Daniel Dos Santos for Farseed
Bob Eggleton for The Taint and Other Novellas
Jon Foster for The Well of Ascension
Donato Giancola for The Outback Stars
Vance Korvacs for Seeing Redd
Todd Lockwood for The Orc King
Stephan Martiniere for Mainspring
John Jude Palencar for Fatal Revenant
John Picacio for The Margarets
Paperback
Greg Bridges for Emissary
Daniel Dos Santos for Blood Engines
Les Edwards for The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, Vol. 18
Donato Giancola for Crystal Dragon
Michael Komarek for In The Cities of Coin & Spice
Cliff Nelson for Ilario: The Lion's Eye
John Picacio for Time's Child
David Stevenson for Maledicte
Stephen Youll for Boudica: Dreaming the Serpent Spear
Magazine
Paul Bielaczyc for Apex Digest, Issue #9 March 2007
Bob Eggleton for Analog October 2007
Cory & Catalina Ench for Fantasy & Science Fiction March 2007
David A. Hardy for Analog June 2007
Julie Heffernan for Tin House Fall 2007
Maurizio Manzieri for Fantasy & Science Fiction June 2007
Ian McCaig for Thrilling Wonder Stories Summer 2007
Edward Miller for Subterranean, Issue #6 2007
Rick Sardinha for Dungeon, Issue #145 April 2007
Interior Illustration
Brom for The Devil's Rose
Brian Froud for Brian Froud's World of Faerie
James Gurney for Dinotopia Journey to Chandara
John Howe for Beowulf
Stephanie Pui-Mun Law for Witch Child
Dave Leri for The White Queen
Edward Miller for Father Chains
Tiffany Prothero for A Touch of Hell
Omar Rayyan for The Heir of Mistmantle
Shaun Tan for The Arrival
Unpublished Monochrome
A.L. Asbaugh for Oddities #6, Pen & ink
Holly Bird for Spring Guardian, Pencil
John Blumen for Lady, Digital
Kim Feigenbaum for Slioterum, Pencil
Tom Fleming for Summer, Pencil
Donato Giancola for Season of Change
Stanley Morrison for Pirate Beast, Ink
Mark Rich for Presence, Ink
L.A. Williams for Werewolves, Pencil
Unpublished Color
Kinuko Craft for The Elven Queen of the Golden Wood, Oil
Bob Eggleton for Cthulthu's Domain, Oil
Tom Fleming for Spirit & Life, Watercolor
Donato Giancola for Red Sonja, Oil
Stephen Hickman for Life House, Oil
Matt Hughes for Becoming, Colored Pencil & watercolor
William O'Connor for Composition in Red & Green #2, Oil
David Palumbo for Doc Savage: The Eye of Terror, Oil
L.W. Perkins for Very Early, Very Far Away, Oil
Ruth Sanderson for Oracle, Oil
John Stanko for Fall of Tink, Oil
Michael Whelan for Rising, Acrylic
Product Illustration
James Christensen for Fiona, limited edition print Greenwich Workshop 9/07
Alan M. Clark for Of Course He Hadn't An Inkling Website banner for Bruce Holland Rogers 2007
Lisa Hunt for Fantastical Creatures Tarot, card set U.S. Games, 2007
Todd Lockwood for War of Angels, poster for "Bullseye Tattoo" 2007
Dean Morrissey for Danu of the Celts, limited edition giclee canvas Greenwich Workshop, 3/07
William Stout for Fossil Mysteries, murals San Diego Natural History Museum, 2007
3 D
Catherine Crowe for Owl, Enamel on copper
Scott W. Hahn for Pintaurid: The Meaning of Ocean Crags, Clay
Mark Newman for Devil Dude, Resin
Laura Reynolds for Golden Kirin, Sculpy
Vincent Villafranca for A Conscious Entity and Its Maker, Bronze
Gaming-Related Illustration
Daren Bader for Oros the Avenger, "Planar Chaos" set
Wayne England for The Sinister Spire
Carl Frank for Nebin & the Gargoyles, interior for "Dungeonscape"
Michael Komarek for Scion: Hero RPG cover art
Ron Lemen for Lady Tureya, interior for "Secrets of Sarlona' "Eberron" Campaign Supplement
Terese Nielsen for Holy Strength", "Magic: Arcana" 10th ed. Card
William O'Connor for Riftmarked Knight, "Planar Chaos" set
Lucio Parrillo for Kalaak Raider, interior for "Secrets of Sarlona"
Dan Scott for Nova Chaser
James Zhang for Du'ulora Quori, interior for "Secrets of Sarlona"
Art Director
Matt Adelsperger, WoTC
Shelly Bond, DC Comics/Vertigo
Laura Cleveland, Realms of Fantasy
Irene Gallo, Tor Books
Karen Jacques, WoTC
Deborah Kaplan, Penguin
Jeremy LaCroix, Wired Magazine
David Land, Dark Horse Comics
Robert Morrish, Cemetery Dance
Jamie Warren-Youll, Bantam Books
Artistic Achievement
Frank Cho
Jean "Moebius" Giraud
Rebecca Guay
John Howe
Michael Wm. Kaluta
Ruth Sanderson
Sanjulian (Manuel Perez Clemente)
William Stout
Justin Sweet
For More Information...
Transcriptase Created
Several authors with stories published by Helix SF have banded together to repost their stories at Transcriptase. This is in response to a controversy concerning a rejection letter written by William Sanders which many have seen as racist or bigoted.
Transcriptase: For More Information...
Helix: For More Information...
Obituary
Comic artist Creig Fleissel (b.1912) died on July 17. Fleissel drew many of the early Sandman comics and drew the cover for the character's first appearance. In the 1950s, he worked on Superboy and in the 70s inked Prez. Fleissel died six days after suffering a debilitating stroke.