written by David Steffen
In the previous post I suggested my own Hugo/Nebula nominated work. This post has the purpose of sharing my picks for these categories other than our own work. I welcome any and all to post in the comments with their own suggestions.
I’m a bit of an odd duck in my reading habits, in that I ready only a small niche of the types of stuff out there, but I read that very deeply. Almost all of my fiction intake comes from fiction podcasts, which are all Short Story categories, but are often reprints from previous years which are not eligible. I do read novels, but have not read any written in 2012 yet, because I am a slow read and because I re-read the entire Wheel of Time series that pretty much took all year, in preparation for the 2013 release of the final book.
Which is to say, most of the categories that I’ve voted for I am very well read in, but I just left off those categories in which I have not read at all, or haven’t read enough to have some solid picks.
Best Short Story Hugo and Nebula
This is the category I’m most interested in, covering SF/Fantasy/Horror fiction of 7500 words or less.
1. The Three Feats of Agani by Christie Yant (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
2. Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain by Cat Rambo (Near + Far)
3. All the Painted Stars by Gwendolyn Clare (Clarkesworld)
4. Devour by Ferrett Steinmetz (Escape Pod)
5. Worth of Crows by Seth Dickinson (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form) Hugo
Best dramatic presentation of 90 minutes or longer
1. The Hunger Games
2. Game of Thrones Season 2
3. True Blood Season 5
4. The Avengers
5. Wreck-It Ralph
Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form) Hugo
Best dramatic presentation of less than 90 minutes.
1. “Digital Estate Planning” –episode of Community
2. Devour–Escape Pod
3. The Dead of Tetra Manna–Dunesteef
4. The Wreck of the Charles Dexter Ward–Drabblecast
5. The Music of Erich Zann–Drabblecast
Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation (Not a Nebula)
Related to the Nebulas, but not a Nebula itself, this seems to combine the long and short dramatic forms used in the Hugo.
1. The Hunger Games
2. Game of Thrones Season 2
3. True Blood Season 5
4. Wreck-It Ralph
5. “Digital Estate Planning” — Community
Best Editor (Short Form) Hugo
Editor of short fiction.
1. Norm Sherman (Drabblecast)
2. Scott H. Andrews (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
3. Neil Clarke (Clarkesworld)
4. John Joseph Adams (Lightspeed, various anthologies)
5. Bruce Bethke (Stupefying Stories)
Best Profession Artist Hugo
1. Michael Whelan (especially this Analog cover)
Best Semiprozine Hugo
This is the most complicated category to define. It is not a professional market, which means that neither of the following are true: (1) provided at least a quarter the income of any one person or, (2) was owned or published by any entity which provided at least a quarter the income of any of its staff and/or owner. In addition, it generally has to pay contributors in something other than copies of the magazine, or only be available for paid purchase.
I’m not totally sure that all of the ones that I’ve picked here are eligible. There might be others that I’m ruling out as not being eligible that are. This category confuses me. but these are my best shot at nominations for it.
1. Drabblecast
2. Escape Pod
4. Pseudopod
Best Fancast Hugo
This is a new experimental Hugo that might get voted in as a permanent one. It is split off from the Best Fanzine Hugo, but must be an audio or video presentation. I’m not totally sure that Toasted Cake qualifies, since they do pay a few dollars per story, but I thought it was low enough that it might be considered as more of an honorarium and let me nominate it.
1. Journey Into…
see my Best Of Journey Into… list for examples.
2. Toasted Cake
3. Beam Me Up
A science fiction radio show and podcast–how cool is that?
John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (Not a Hugo)
1. Jake Kerr
I very much enjoyed his Old Equations on Lightspeed, for one.
2. Mur Lafferty
