So a couple of weeks ago I was reading one of my favorite webcomics, and I noticed the author (Tarol Hunt) talking about the Hugo nominations in his blog.
(For those of you who don’t know, the Hugo Awards are a Pretty Big Deal in the sci-fi and fantasy publishing world. Winning a Hugo is kinda like getting a Grammy, or an Emmy, or an Academy Award.)
Anyway, I was really excited when I read Tarol’s blog, because it made me realize I still had a chance to submit my nominations for this year’s Hugos.
And, embarrassingly enough, I don’t think that’s something I’ve ever done before.
It’s something I *mean* to do every year. And it’s something I *can* do because I almost always go to Worldcon. And it’s something I *should* do in order to be a responsible member of the publishing community….
But the truth is, I’m King of not having my shit together.
Well… that’s a little extreme. Maybe I’m only the Duke of not having my shit together. But I’m probably also the Marquis of forgetting what day it is sometimes, and the Earl of losing track of things when I get busy, and I own substantial lands in the Barony of being profoundly fucking clueless.
It’s pretty complicated. There’s a lot of subinfeudation going on.
The upshot is that I was the kid who couldn’t go on the field trip because he forgot to get his permission slip signed. And I grew up into the guy who typically thinks about voting on the Hugos two or three days before the award ceremony.
But I’m getting better. Last year I managed to vote on the Hugos. And this year, thanks to that well-timed blog, I’m going to submit my nominations and help determine who gets on the ballot in the first place.
Which leads me to the point of this blog.
I’m not going to beat around the bush here. If you’re eligible to vote, I’d like you to consider nominating my editor, Betsy Wollheim, for Best Long Form Editor.
The simple reason is this, if not for her The Wise Man’s Fear simply wouldn’t exist.
Not only did Betsy take a risk on publishing big fat novel by an unknown author back in 2007. But when I was struggling with The Wise Man’s Fear, she gave me the time I needed to finish it.
She didn’t give it grudgingly, either. When I turned in my horrendously rough, patchwork first draft, Betsy told me that we needed to move the publication date so I had the time I needed to make the book better. I fought her on it, but she insisted. In doing so, she not only kept book two from being a incoherent, patchwork mess, but she she probably saved my entire career as well…
Luckily, Betsy knows what she’s doing. If not for her, I would have panicked, rushed, cut corners, and the end result would be that The Wise Man’s Fear would have been ‘meh’ at best. And more likely it would have been an absolute pile of shite.
So yeah. That’s all. I’m not going to go on singing her praises. That makes me feel like a lobbyist. The simple fact is that Betsy Wollheim was responsible for a lot of the goodness in The Wise Man’s Fear. She supported me when I really needed it, and gave me time to write you a book that I’m proud of. I’d like to see her get some recognition for that.
If you’re interested in nominating people for Hugos, here’s the link.
The deadline is for nominations is January 31st. If you’re like me, you might want to go in and vote now, before you forget.
pat
P.S. Some of the Worldbuilders auctions will be ending soon. If you know of someone who’d be interested in getting their unpublished manuscript read by professionals, I’d you might want to point them in the direction of this link.
(Click to Embiggen, If You Dare…)
