Arctic wolves traversing deep snow...
Hi Seanan! The Glasgow Worldcon just sent out the instruction email today to remind people to nominate things for the 2024 Hugos. With the ... everything ... that's going on with the Hugos right now, are you still wanting your works from last year nominated? And if so, is there any place you've listed which works of yours are eligible for which categories, and which you'd most like nominated? Thank you!
What happened with the Chengdu Hugos was a travesty, and I am heartbroken, on a whole bunch of levels. For the people who were unfairly left off the ballot; for the losers; for the winners. There's an asterix on that award now, and none of the people on the ballot are responsible. We didn't do anything wrong.
That said, I truly and genuinely love the Hugo awards. Like so many writers in the SF/F community, I grew up reading past winners and dreaming of one day having an award of my own to hold and hug and go to bed with at night (I don't actually do that--it's a foot-tall metal stick, I would hurt myself). And then, in high school, I became the foster child of a working Hugo Administrator, who taught me how to run the awards myself, so I'd always have a place in fandom. I love the Hugos. The awards themselves are not to blame for the bad behavior of the 2023 administrators.
What I have eligible and would truly love to see nominated:
Best Series, October Daye. Best Novella, Lost in the Moment and Found. Best Short Story, "Family Game Night," Magic Story. Best Graphic Story, Soul and Stone, Boom! Comics. Best Related Work, Overwatch: Declassified. Best Game Writing, Magic: the Gathering, Wizards of the Coast.
And please consider Grace Fong, Amy King, and Emily Smith for Best Fan Artist, and Manda Cherry for Best Fan Writer.
this is going around twitter and i thought it'd be a fun little thing to bond over
in the tags as usual
Apparently the BBC (UK) has had 144 complaints about a recent episode of Doctor Who because it contained an openly trans character.
I've made a complaint to the BBC that there weren't enough transgender characters in Doctor Who. I would love if 144 other people did the same thing. Here's the link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaints/make-a-complaint/#/Complaint
(For your easy reference: "The Star Beast" aired on 25/11/2023 on BBC One, and the trans character is called Rose.)
Please note that the complaint form asks for your UK postcode, so only UK folks can join in with this - but if you suspect you might have any UK-based followers, maybe give us a reblog to boost the signal?
Reply when you've done it, so I can keep track of us!
Here's my complaint:
I recommend:
Avoid sarcasm or irony. Assume your post will be taken literally. If you are clearly joking or being mean you will be ignored or misunderstood.
Include some gratitude/appreciation. It's pretty great that they included a trans woman in a positive way, and they should know that they have explicit support for that.
I am so sorry to have to tell you all about this. None of you, I suspect, will ever have any idea how sorry.
I am in utter shock and terrible pain to have to inform everyone that our friend, my dear husband and creative partner of nearly forty years, Peter Morwood, passed away suddenly early this morning after a brief illness that as late as yesterday (when his doctor saw him) had seemed to be on the mend.
I'm not in any position to say much more about this situation now, as you'll understand my current mental state is not up to the task. (I keep expecting to wake up from a bad dream, but it shows no sign of breaking.) I will let people know more about this in coming days.
There will be a postmortem shortly to determine the exact cause of his death. I'll share what details of this are appropriate as they become clear.
Meanwhile in the short term I'm very much going to need assistance with the expenses that in the days that follow will inevitably surround what's happened. For those people who want to assist, please feel free to use the Ko-Fi account here, and simply tag the associated messages, etc, "P expenses". ETA: Please choose the Stripe payment option at Ko-Fi rather than PayPal, as PP seems to be having some kind of obscure difficulties at the moment. I have disconnected PayPal until this is resolved.
My love will wait for me, I know, however long it takes. He's never minded waiting. (the saddest smile) My job now is to make sure he's not forgotten while I go on.
Meanwhile, can I just say to all of of you: I thank you all ahead of time for all the support and fondness for Peter that I know so many of you will express. He'd blush over it, I know. (He always did.) Please forgive me for being unable to do much in the way of answering messages, just now, in the wake of having to get to grips with this sudden and awful change in my world.
But also let me say, so urgently: Hug your loved ones now, while you can. Eventually a day will come when, expected or not, your opportunities end.
Thanks, friends.
--DD
Bloop
Bleep
WHAT IS YOUR EARLIEST HUMAN MEMORY?
I FELL THROUGH A HOLE IN THE DECK OF OUR NEW HOUSE WHEN I WAS 2 YEARS OLD OR YOUNGER