Reader Nominations for 2011 Million Writers Award

The 2011 Million Writers Award is now open for nominations. This page is for READERS to nominate one short story published in an online magazine during 2010. Editor nominations are here.

Nominations will be accepted through March 15, 2011. As always, there is no fee to nominate a story or to take part in the award process. If a story is already nominated below, there is no need to nominate that story multiple times. Attempts to "stuff" multiple nominations of the same story by one reader or a group of readers will be deleted.

To nominate a story, please first read the rules then use the following format to place information in the comment box at the bottom of this page.

Asimov's Science Fiction
http://www.asimovs.com
Story: "Stone Wall Truth" by Caroline M. Yoachim
Story URL: http://carolineyoachim.com/Stories/StoneWallTruth.html

(Note: the above story—while a top-notch piece of short fiction—is not eligible for the Million Writers Award because it was first published in Asimov's, a print magazine.)

Failure to use the above format when making a nomination can result in nominations not being considered.

Please enter your nomination into the comment box at the bottom of this page. To post nominations people will need to log into this site using either Facebook, Twitter, Typepad, or another social media account. If anyone experiences problems please contact Jason Sanford.

Finally, if you like what we're doing with the Million Writers Award please consider making a donation to increase the amount of prize money we can offer.

Introduction to the 2011 Million Writers Award

When I founded the online journal storySouth ten years ago, the literary establishment didn't believe online magazines were legitimate places to publish fiction. In fact, many of these heads-in-the-sand fools also believed that the internet was a passing fad.

Now these same people are tweeting each other links to their favorite online stories. It's amazing how the literary world can change in a decade.

Because the world of online publishing has changed so much, last year I asked if the Million Writers Award was still needed. The response from editors, writers, and readers was a massive "Hell yes!" As everyone pointed out, the award brings needed attention and exposure to new and emerging writers while also showcasing the best online magazines.

So here we go again, launching the 8th annual edition of the storySouth Million Writers Award.

However, just because people like our award doesn't mean we're sitting on our haunches. Several major changes have been instituted to ensure the award process continues to run smoothly.

  1. In order to keep people from spamming multiple nominations, any reader, writer, or editor who nominates stories will have to log into this site using either Facebook, Twitter, Typepad, or another social media login. The lists of ways to log in is rather long so I'll be surprised if too many people have a problem. But if you do please contact me to arrange another way of uploading your nominations.
  2. I will no longer be the only judge to pick the top ten stories of the year. Instead, two other judges will join me in this duty. I hope this will help create a diverse and interesting group of finalists.
  3. Stories published in online editions of print magazines are no longer eligible, even if the story was originally published online or was only published in the magazine's online edition. The Million Writers Award is for online publications. So while we applaud the many print magazines now publishing online stories, we can not consider these stories for the award.

The literary world has changed massively in the last decade and I'd like to think storySouth and the Million Writers Award played a part in shaking up the old ways of doing things. It'll be interesting to see what the coming decade brings.

Sincerely,

Jason Sanford

2011 Million Writers Award Rules

The purpose of the 2011 storySouth Million Writers Award is to honor and promote the best fiction published in online literary journals and magazines during 2010. 

To make a nomination, go here.

The Reason

The reason for the Million Writers Award is that most of the major literary prizes for short fiction (such as the Best American Short Stories series and the O. Henry Awards) have traditionally ignored web-published fiction. This award aims to show that world-class fiction is being published online and to promote this fiction to the larger reading and literary community.

How It Works

The Million Writers Award takes its name from the idea that we in the online writing community have the power to promote the great stories we are creating. If only a few hundred writers took the time to tell fifteen of their friends about a great online short story--and if these friends then passed the word about this fiction to their friends (and so on and so on)--this one story would soon have a larger readership than all of the works in Best American Short Stories.

To help promote online stories, the Million Writers Award accepts nominations from readers, writers, and editors (and the volunteer preliminary judges who assist with the award). There is no entry fee.

Prizes

Last year there were three cash prizes: $400 for the overall winner, $200 for the runner-up, and $50 for the honorable mention/third place. There were also non-cash prizes. All of this prize money was raised through donations from writers, editors and readers.

The 2011 Million Writers Award is starting off with an award base of $150, which has been donated by Jason Sanford and Spring Garden Press (storySouth's publisher). To help raise the amount we can give for prize money, we are seeking additional donations. To donate, go here.

Please note that since these donations do not go through Spring Garden Press (storySouth's publisher), donations are not tax deductible. However, the entire donated amount will be used for prize money, minus the small fee PayPal deducts for transmitting the money.

All donors will have the option of having their name and donation listed on the Million Writers Award page. Donors may also remain anonymous.

Please note that the all prizes will be transferred to the winners by PayPal. In order to receive the prize money, winners must have a PayPal account.

 

Best Online Publication Award

In addition to the award for best fiction, the online magazine or journal that ends up with the most stories selected as "Notable Stories of the Year" will be honored as the year's best publication for online fiction.

Why Should I Do This?

The general gripe among writers is that no one pays attention to quality writings, while bad or mediocre writings get lots of attention because they are published in prestigious magazines or written by authors who are good at gaining media attention. This award is about countering this trend by promoting the best online writers and stories.

The Rules

1) Only stories first published in online literary journals, magazines, and e-zines that have an editorial process, during the 2010 calendar year, are eligible for nomination. This means that an editor must have selected the story for publication. Self-published stories are not eligible. Stories published in the online versions of print journals or magazines are not eligible even if the story was first published in their online edition. Stories reprinted online, but originally published in a print edition, are not eligible.

2) Anyone may nominate ONE story for the award. This means that readers of magazines can nominate one story and that writers can nominate one their own stories, provided the story was published in 2010 in an online magazine. Editors of online magazines and journals can nominate up to THREE of the stories published in their magazine during 2010.

3) To be eligible for nomination, a story must be longer than 1,000 words.

4) In addition to nominations from writers, readers, and editors, the Million Writers Award also uses preliminary judges to nominate stories for the award and to screen nominations from writers, readers, and editors. The names of the preliminary judges will be released after the award has been announced.

5) From all of the nominees, the judges will select the "Notable Stories of the Year." From this list of notable stories, Jason Sanford and two other judges will chose the top ten stories of the year. The overall winner of the year's award will be selected by a public vote from among the top ten stories of the year. The public vote will use a secure voting system.

6) The online journal or magazine gaining the most "notable story" selections will be named as the Million Writers Award publication of the year. The editors will also select one publication as the Million Writers Award new magazine or journal of the year. Other awards for excellence may also be given out, if the editors feel there is a reason for doing so (such as highlighting a journal or magazine for doing something new or unusual which added to the overall prestige of online publishing).

7) Nominations of stories will begin February 15, 2011 and end March 15, 2011. The list of notable stories of the year will be released by April 1, 2011, with the top ten stories released by the first of May. Voting on the top story of the year will last for one month from May 1 through May 31.

8) Any attempt by writers to distort or manipulate the public vote will result in the disqualification of their respected stories. Writers are allowed to promote their own stories during the vote and to ask others to vote for them. Attempts to repeatedly vote for their own story or to compromise the secure voting system will result in disqualification. The editors of storySouth have final authority to determine if any writer is attempting to distort or manipulate the public vote and the editors' decisions regarding disqualification are final and can not be appealed.

To Nominate a Story

To nominate a story, readers and editors will submit their name, a valid e-mail address, the name of the nominated author, the name of the magazine or journal, and a URL hyperlink to the story. The URL must go directly to the story's page in the online magazine or journal that originally published it. Links to author home pages where the story is posted are not eligible. DO NOT e-mail the entire story to any storySouth editor or to Jason Sanford. Doing so will guarantee that a story is not considered for the award.

How Can I Help?

If you want to help promote this award and online writers in general, please pass the word about this contest or link to this page. Also, please consider supporting the Million Writers Award by making a donation to help increase the award money we give out.

For more information, please e-mail Jason Sanford at lapthai@yahoo.com.

Why Doesn't Locus Review Daily Science Fiction?

If you've had your head buried in the sand for the last year, you can be excused for not knowing that Daily Science Fiction is one of the most exciting new SF/F magazines to emerge in 2010. Established by editors Jonathan Laden (a Clarion alumni and Writers of the Future author) and Michele Barasso, DSF has a simple publishing model–stories are emailed for free to subscribers five days a week. The stories are also archived on the DSF website.

Because DSF pays professional rates, they have been able to publish stories from top writers like Lavie Tidhar, Cat Rambo, Tim Pratt, Colin Harvey, Mary Robinette Kowal, and many more.

But despite this success, some people seem to wish DSF would go away. And yes, Locus Magazine, this head-in-sand attitude is coming from you.

I'd noticed that Locus hadn't been reviewing Daily Science Fiction. However, what this meant didn't click until I read this review on Diabolical Plots. After praising the September fiction offerings from DSF, Frank Dutkiewicz mentioned how he'd asked "the editor of a leading review outlet on why DSF is ignored. The answer I got back was there was too much to review and the editors must be nuts if they think they can keep up throwing so many stories, at the rate they pay, for essentially free."

Can anyone guess who this "leading review outlet" might be?

Here's a hint: After reading that quote, I went through my back issues of Locus. No reviews of any DSF stories until the current Feb. 2011 issue. I also checked Lois Tilton's online reviews of short fiction. Again, no reviews of DSF.

This is not acceptable.

To the credit of Locus, they did include Lavie Tidhar's DSF story "Butterfly and the Blight at the Heart of the World" on their 2010 recommended reading list. The story was reviewed by Gardner Dozois in that same Feb. 2011 "Year in Review" issue.  As he says, DSF "has the ambitious – perhaps too ambitious – goal of publishing a new SF or fantasy story every single day of the year. Probably unsurprisingly, most of them are not terribly good, although some interesting stuff pops up occasionally."

I appreciate that Gardner took the time to review the story and DSF. His review is exactly why I subscribe to Locus. I'm not asking them to heap praise on DSF; I'm asking the magazine to treat DSF like any other outlet and simply review their stories.

I'll admit when DSF first came out I was also suspicious of their publishing model. But they've established themselves by now and deserve to be treated like any other professional-paying magazine. In fact, I recently submitted my first story to DSF and had it accepted. I wouldn't have done this if I didn't think DSF was a quality publisher.

I must also admit I was hesitant to criticize Locus for not reviewing DSF. Not only do they frequently review my fiction, I'm a long-time subscriber to the magazine. So while I hope other people will join me in calling for Locus to start reviewing DSF on a regular basis, don't take this as a reason to cancel your subscription or call the editors nasty names.

Locus holds an integral place in our genre community. I simply want them to remain integral by regularly reviewing professional-paying magazines like DSF!

Award Nomination Reminder

This is a reminder that the deadline for Nebula nominations is February 15 while Hugo nominations are due March 26. In addition, the Locus Award Poll is now open.

If you're still looking for people and works to consider for a nomination, my recommendations are here.

In addition, Rachel Swirsky has posted her recommendations for young adult novels, short stories, and novelettes. John Scalzi also opened a thread so people could make their own recommendations. There's a lot of worthy reading at those links so check them out.

"Plague Birds" Podcast on Dunesteef

The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine has released an amazing podcast of my story "Plague Birds," which was originally published last year in Interzone. This is my fourth appearance in the Dunesteef and it is mind blowing how great a job they did with my story. I mean, if Michael Bay called and wanted to podcast of one of my stories, I doubt he'd do a better job.

Of course, considering my reaction to Bay's recent films maybe that isn't the best comparison, but you get my drift.

If you've never heard any of the Dunesteef's full cast audio productions, you are in for a treat. This isn't one person simply reading my story—instead, Dunesteef brings in multiple people to act out the different voices. They also mix in top-notch sound effects. The result is a professional reading which feels like an updated version of those old-time radio dramas. If you're interested in learning more about this production, check out Fullcast Podcast where Bryan Lincoln details how he created the story's special effects and more.

Thanks to Rish Outfield and Big Anklevich at the Dunesteef for publishing this podcast, to Bryan Lincoln for producing the story, and to L. "Scribe" Harris, Abigail Hilton, Norm Sherman, R.E. Chambliss, Stacy Dooks, John Riendeau, and Liz Lincoln for providing the voices. And as Rish and Big mentioned during the podcast, I have indeed written a sequel to the story. I hope it will be published soon.

In related news, author Rachel Swirsky selected "Plague Birds" as one of her five nominations for the Nebula Award for Best Novelette. Many thanks to Rachel; people should also check out her other great recommendations. And if anyone wants to read "Plague Birds," I've posted a PDF version on my website.

As Your Great-Grandparents Saw the World

For the last two weeks I've been thinking about an essay Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote called "Grappling With Genosha," which explores why the pre-Civil War American South—and by extension, the entire United States—supported something as morally wrong as slavery.

Coates finds "almost any explanation that invokes individual evil to be unpersuasive." Instead, he says one must look at how society and self interest makes people rationlize and support things they might personally disagree with. Many people in the pre-Civil War South no doubt realized slavery was wrong but supported it because of the cumulative weight of their culture and self-interest. That's why slavery was accepted. It was far easier to go along with the evils around you than to take a stand which may cause you to lose your social standing, job, family, and much more.

I agree with this analysis. While it is easy to look back at slavery and say we enlightened modern people would never have supported such a horrible system, we're saying that from the comfort of a 150 years distance. Instead of saying how you'd have fought against slavery if you'd been alive back then, find a major societal trend in today's world and see how accepting you are of it.

For example, gasoline powered automobiles create polution and other planet-wide side effects. But how many people are willing to cut themselves off from the benefits of the internal combustible engine? Instead, the best people seem to do is slowly change things. To hope that one day technological advances will result in cleaner engines so we can have the benefits of cars without the bad things. I wonder what our descendents will think about such rationalizations?

And that is at the heart of how to view history—time changes what humans are willing to accept and how we see our world.

Last year I took part in an Authors and Ideas Panel at the World Fantasy Convention. One of the participants—author S.M. Stirling—said something which really resonated with me. To quote:

"If a writer is arguing for a point of view or a belief in their work, that's not what they really strongly believe. The things you believe most strongly, the things you never even think to argue about—your default assumptions about what the world is, what humans beings are, how they operate, that sort of thing—that suffuses what you write. These things vary both between individuals and over time. That's one of the reasons it is valuable to read stuff written a long time ago. You're looking through alien eyes. There is no one more alien than your great-great-great-grandparents. Reading stuff they wrote gives you a valuable corrective on assuming that you are the default condition for human beings. That your basic assumptions are the laws of the universe and will endure forever, or that everything changed up until it came to you and your glorious self and now it will be that way until the end of time."

I love that quote. And Stirling is absolutely correct. No one is more more alien than your great-great-great-grandparents.

But that also brings to mind how our great-great-great-grandchildren will see us. To them we will also be totally alien and they will likely condemn us for the moral choices we made—choices which to us seem totally acceptable but to our descendents will be nothing but evil.

This isn't to say slavery was anything but morally wrong. I hope that if I'd lived back then I'd have taken a stand against this evil institution. But as Ta-Nehisi Coates points out, we don't have that luxury.

Instead, Coates says that to understand how you would have lived in the past "You almost have to forget who you are and start thinking about what you might have been. But if you're going to go there, you have to go there. If this feels safe, comfortable, or affirming, you've done something wrong."

Yes! Ohio is the Nerdiest State!

The-United-States-of-Shame So a map called "The United States of Shame" is making the rounds by listing what your home state is worst at. Since I was born and raised in Alabama, I'm less than pleased to be from the nation's stroke capital.

But the good news is I now live in Ohio, where the worst that could be hung around our neck is that we're the nerdiest state in the union. I mean, compared to being the bestiality state, the dumbest state, or the state with the ugliest residents, I have no problem embracing Ohio's nerdhood.

I'd also like to point out that Ohio is home to a number of other science fiction writers, including Tobias Buckell, Kameron Hurley, Geoffrey A. Landis, Paul Melko, Mary A. Turzillo, and John Scalzi. It's quite likely that our combined nerdhood helped bump Ohio over the top in this category. So if you live in the Buckeye state, thank your local science fiction author. We may have kept Ohio from being known as the state with the most mobile homes.

The Best Samurai Film You've Never Seen: Harakiri by Masaki Kobayashi

One of the best Japanese films I've seen in recent years is Harakiri, a 1962 samurai movie by Masaki Kobayashi. I stumbled onto the film by accident in my local library and, since I'm a fan of samurai cinema, took a chance. I'm glad I did and I urge people to seek out this classic film.

Harakiri opens with disgraced samurai Hanshiro Tsugumo entering the home of a local feudal lord with what sounds like an unusual request—to use the lord's house to commit ritual suicide. However, the lord warns Hanshiro that a number of disgraced samurai have been using this request to scam money out of nobles like himself. The lord then recounts just such a scam attempted by another samurai and how the feudal lord forced this man to follow through on his suicidal request.

I don't want to give too much away, but the performances in this film are amazing. In addition, as you watch the film your relationship to the characters changes as you learn more about their lives. When I first watched one of the samurai trying to scam money, I felt only disgust. But as the film revealed more of this samurai's backstory my disgust turned to sympathy and understanding, a change which mirrors the main character's emotional journey.

Of course, being a samurai film there are sword battles here. But pay attention to how these battles take place, and especially to how the last one is filmed by Kobayashi. Much of this final battle is shown only through the reaction of the feudal lord to the sounds of a fight he is not allowed to witness. This is one of the most powerful scenes in all of cinema.

I'm also happy to note that critic Dan Schneider has written an in-depth examination of Harakiri, which should be required reading for anyone looking for further insight into this great film. I find it especially interesting how Schneider says the film's timeless setting gives it an almost science fiction feel, and how disgraced samurai Hanshiro Tsugumo is a Japanese version of Number 6 from the British television show The Prisoner.

Two Items of Note

I'm now recovering from a camping trip in zero degrees F weather, an experience which left me feeling amazingly alive—if by alive you mean in the same way those frozen bacteria in Antarctica are technically "alive." And for the rest of world who don't have a clue what zero degrees fahrenheit means, it's -17 celsius.

BTW, am I the only one who thinks the fahrenheit scale is positively steampunkish? Maybe the U.S. is so far behind the times with our temperature measurements that we're now actually ahead. :-)

Anyway, here are two items of note:

Call for Million Writers Award Judges

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten—the 2011 storySouth Million Writers Award for best online short story will kick off very soon. I'm still working on some final touches to changes in the award process. Until those are ready to announce I'm putting out the call for volunteer judges. These judges help screen the nominations, select the notable stories of the year, and (for some of the judges) another exciting duty I'll detail when I officially launch the award.

As always, I hope to select a group of judges from across the literary genres.

To apply, e-mail me your writing, reading and/or editing experience at lapthai (circle a sign) yahoo (dot) com—be sure to tell me why you'd make a good literary judge.

My 2010 Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Award Recommendations

After a final rush of reading I've pulled together my nominations for the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards.  I highly recommend these selections and hope people will consider them for their own picks.

The deadline for Nebula nominations is February 15 while Hugo nominations are due March 26. The Locus Award traditionally opens for nominations when the "recommended reading" list and ballot are published in their February issue.

Please note my nominations are arranged in alphabetical order by author/artist/publication. If links to works are available they are also provided.

Nominations for All Three Awards

Best Novel

Best Novella

Best Novelettes

Best Short Stories

Nebula Related Category

Andre Norton Award (for Young Adult Novels)

Hugo Only Categories

Best Semiprozine

Best Related Work

Best Fanzine

Best Fan Writer

Note: While I love the fan writings of Dave Langford, Nick Mamatas, John Scalzi and other big name authors, I'm using this award to focus on fan writers who don't usually receive the notice they deserve.

Best Editor, Short Form

  • John Joseph Adams (Lightspeed, various anthologies)
  • Andy Cox (Interzone)
  • Gordon Van Gelder (F&SF)
  • Stanley Schmidt (Analog)
  • Sheila Williams (Asimov's)

Best Editor, Long Form

Note: It's hard to figure out who qualifies in this category under the arcane Hugo rules, so consider this an attempt to highlight those editors whose books impressed me in 2010.

  • David G. Hartwell (Tor Books)
  • Patrick Nielsen Hayden (Tor Books)
  • Jennifer Hunt (Little, Brown, editor of Ship Breaker)
  • Jason Sizemore (Apex Books)
  • Paul Stevens (Tor Books)

Best Professional Artist

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Locus Only Categories

Best Anthology

Best Collection

Please note I didn't nominate any works in the Hugo categories of dramatic performances, best fan artist, and best graphic story, or in the Nebula's dramatic performance category. Others will have to voice opinions on which nominations belong there.

If anyone sees any mistakes with my nominations—a story in a wrong category, ineligible works—please let me know. I won't officially submit these nominations until early February. In addition, as authors and publishers provide additional links to their works I'll add these to the post.

Groundbreaking Czech SF Magazine Ikarie Shuts Down, Staff Start New XB-1

Ikarie November 2010 Sad news from overseas: The groundbreaking Czech SF magazine Ikarie has shut down after over 20 years of publishing and 247 issues.

Former Ikarie editor Martin Šust shared the news with me yesterday. Their last issue was published in November 2010 (see image at right). According to Martin, the unexpected closing was not due to poor sales but instead the publisher's desire to focus on lifestyle magazines.

Named after the classic Czech SF film Ikarie XB-1 and founded in 1990, Ikarie was one of the most important science fiction magazines in Europe. Published as a 8.25 x 11.5 inch, 66 page monthly with full-color covers and black and white interiors, Ikarie contained between five or six stories in each issue in addition to reviews and nonfiction articles. Over the years Ikarie published countless Czech authors along with translated stories from the biggest names in world SF. 

New Czech Magazine XB-1

The good news, though, is that Martin and other members of the Ikarie staff have already started a new Czech SF magazine. Named XB-1 in honor of the second part of the Ikarie XB-1 film title, Martin says the new magazine contains the same editorial board.

The first issue of XB-1 was published in December and they already have a nicely designed website. It appears the magazine will continue to translate foreign-language stories.

I'm particularlly sorry to see Ikarie go—over the last two years the magazine translated and published four of my stories, including my Nebula-nominated novella "Sublimation Angels." But while Ikarie will be missed, I also know Martin and the rest of the staff will do a great job with the new XB-1.

Update: I should have specified that Martin Šust was foreign rights editor for Ikarie while the editor in chief was Vlado Ríša. They are reprising their old roles with XB-1.

Sheila Williams Deserves the Hugo Award

Sean Wallace has declared that Sheila Williams deserves this year's Hugo Award for Best Editor in the short form category. I completely agree.

As Sean states,

"In five years, she's garnered 8 Hugo wins, 21 Hugo nominations, 2 Nebula wins, 13 Nebula nominations, and 1 World Fantasy Award win, for Asimov's stories."

That's an impressive record. It also makes me shake my head at how Sheila has never won a Best Editor Hugo even though she has edited so many award-winning stories.

Of course, what matters most for the current Hugo vote is Sheila's record in the last year. As I stated when I posted my picks for the Asimov's Reader's Award, the magazine had a stellar 2010. Asimov's was the place to go for novellas last year, several of which will definitely make the upcoming award shortlists. Asimov's also published a number of great novelettes and short stories, some of which will also make the year's award lists.

However, in 2010 Sheila's work as an editor extended beyond the selection of great fiction—she also encouraged debate and discussion last year on diversity within our genre. This started when Norman Spinrad's controversial Asimov's column "Third World Worlds" stirred up a ton of negative reactions from myself and others. In response Sheila made the brave decision to open her magazine up to another point of view and published an essay by Aliette de Bodard on non-western/non-Anglophone science fiction. The fact that Sheila was willing to embrace new voices like this really impressed me and speaks highly of her editorial talent.

In conclusion, Asimov's had a damn great year and Sheila Williams deserves the Hugo Award for Best Editor, Short Form. 

A Super Sunday Grab Bag of Links

A few links this morning:

My Picks for the Asimov's Reader's Award

As I work on my nominations for the Hugo and Nebula Awards, I realize it's also time to submit for the Asimov's Reader's Award. Overall Asimov's had an amazing 2010, especially with regards to novella-length fiction. In fact, last year they published more high-quality novellas than any other SF/F magazine.

For this award readers pick their three favorite selections across different categories. Below are my top three choices in each category.

Please note: While the picks in each category are ranked when submitted for the award, for this posting my selections are unranked and listed in alphabetical order by author/artist.

Best Novellas

  • "The Sultan of the Skies" by Geoffrey A. Landis (Sept. 2010)
  • "A History of Terraforming" by Robert Reed (July 2010)
  • "Becoming One With the Ghosts" by Kathryn Kristine Rusch (Oct./Nov. 2010)

As I mentioned, Asimov's had a stellar year with many great novellas. While I could only pick three selections, other great novellas included "The Union of Soil and Sky" by Gregory Norman Bossert and "Jackie's-Boy" by Steven Popkes.

Best Novelettes

Best Short Stories

  • "Centaurs" by Benjamin Crowell (March 2010)
  • "The Palace in the Clouds" by Eugene Mirabelli (Sept. 2010)
  • "Under the Thumb of the Brain Patrol" by Ferrett Steinmetz (Oct./Nov. 2010)

Best Poems

  • "The Gears of New August" by Bruce Boston & Todd Hanks (July 2010)
  • "Welcome Home" by Janis Ian (Oct./Nov. 2010)
  • "Human Potential" by Geoffrey A. Landis (June 2010)

Best Covers

  • Donato Giancola, March 2010
  • Tomislav Tikulin, July 2010
  • Michael Whelan, August 2010

If you want to submit your picks for the Asimov's Reader's Awards, the ballot is open until February 1, 2011.

Where's The Great Gatsby of Today?

Here's the question for the literary crowd: Where's The Great Gatsby of today?

I keep hearing from literary writers that the difference between genre and "Literary" fiction—besides the big L and plenty of academic air quotes—is that literary fiction deals with what truly matters. Literary fiction is "serious fiction" with "literary merit" as opposed to all that trashy genre stuff, which is merely fun to read.

Now obviously I don't agree with that; for me great fiction boils down to well-written stories which reveal a deeper truth about our world. There are stories which do that and stories which don't.

But in the interest of giving literary writers a shot at proving their genre's worth, I want to know where's The Great Gatsby of today?

I ask because it appears that while journalists and scientific researchers are exploring the issues and themes raised in F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel, not a lot of literary authors are doing the same. For example, the recent NY Times article "As for Empathy, the Haves Have Not"covers research indicating there are major differences in how the "rich and the poor experience the world psychologically." Basically, the less money you have the more likely you'll develop good social skills to compensate, while the rich have what the researchers call an "empathy deficit."

Then there's the amazing Atlantic Monthly article "The Rise of the New Global Elite" by Chrystia Freeland, which explores the new upper class of people with almost no ties to the lands, cultures, and beliefs of their births. 

In light of the recent near collapse of our economy, the topics covered by these two journalistic articles cry out for the fictional treatment from an author with "literary merit." But I see nothing out there even though these cultural trends are hardly new. They've been around for almost two decades. The last big literary novel to deal which this subject was Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire of the Vanities. But since that novel came out in 1987, it hardly deals with today's new rich.

Instead, the Atlantic Monthly article opens with Fitzgerald's famous quote that the rich are different from you and me. No recent author is mentioned except for Holly Peterson, the daughter of one of the tycoons profiled in the article. Peterson evidently wrote a novel called The Manny, which "lightly satirizes the lives and loves of financiers and their wives on the Upper East Side" and is described as a "mommy lit" beach book.

If I was a literary writer with a big L and air quotes, it would bother me that Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby are still the standards by which fictional examinations of today's rich are measured. Are the screwed-up lives of the rich and how they're changing our world a topic avoided by literary fiction? Are our literary writers too tied in with uppercase ways to write truthfully about the extremely rich? Or am I missing some amazing stories and novels which are as penetrating as those two journalistic articles?

I look forward to hearing from people.

My Year in Fiction (aka the Annual Award Consideration Plugfest)

Every new year starts with authors plugging their stories for "award consideration." Never one to stand in the way of a self-promotion trend, I hope people will consider the following stories for everything from the Hugo and Nebula Awards to the Wall of Infamy Plaque at Galactic Jim's Super Emporium of Glittery Cheese.

First off, please know that the special issue of Interzone focused on my fiction (issue 231, Nov./Dec. 2010) is now in bookstores in the United States. Barnes and Nobles tends to carry them along with certain independent stores. The following stories are in the issue:

  • "Memoria" (short story)
  • "Peacemaker, Peacemaker, Little Bo Peep" (novelette)
  • "Millisent Ka Plays in Realtime" (short story)

Unfortunately, I can't post the stories online since the edition is still in stores. But I urge people to buy the magazine.

My other stories published in 2010 were:

Please note the last story isn't eligible for the Hugo Award because it was originally published in Britain in 2009. However its electronic publication by Interzone was in 2010, so it is eligible for the Nebula. Yeah, award rules are a funny, quirky thing.

Why the Entire World Doesn't Steal from Harlan Ellison

Harlan Ellison is a great writer—one of the best short story authors of the last half century. Ever since I read "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" as a wide-eyed high school student I've actively sought out his fiction. Even when his stories don't succeed his cutting prose and exploration of ideas usually far surpass the short fiction of other authors. Several well-thumbed editions of his stories rest on my bookshelves.

So yes, I really like Ellison's fiction. And that's why it pains me every time he opens his mouth and complains about someone stealing his ideas.

The latest example comes in a Wall Street Journal interview where Ellison claims Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer-Prize winning novel The Road rips off "A Boy and His Dog."

Sorry Harlan, but no f'in way.

The truth is all stories owe debts to stories which came before—especially when an author writes on a well-tread theme like the post-apocalypse. As I wrote a few years ago about The Road, there are many  stories which no doubt influenced McCarthy's novel. Along with Ellison's "A Boy and His Dog" these influences include Earth Abides by George R. Stewart, On the Beach by Nevil Shute, Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany, The Postman by David Brin, Alas,Babylon by Pat Frank, and, most notably, A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.

However, there is a big difference between influencing and stealing. Between stories sharing the same idea and plagiarism.

Each of the works listed above frames the post-apocalyptic world in different and unique ways, yet it would be silly to claim they've all stolen from each other. Instead, they've built upon each other across the years—sometimes deliberately, sometimes on a subconscious level. That is what the term "influence" means. Cultural artifacts like stories ripple to various degrees across our mental landscape, influencing viewpoints and beliefs far beyond the original creation.

But again, that type of influence doesn't amount to stealing.

It's possible Ellison was joking in that interview about McCarthy ripping off his story, but I suspect he is being serious. After all, Ellison has a history of claiming other people stole his works. He sued Orion Pictures and James Cameron for "stealing" the ideas behind The Terminator, specifically the idea of a soldier being sent into the past to fight. Ellison also claimed they stole his idea of a human-like robot from the "Demon with a Glass Hand" episode he wrote for The Outer Limits.

Orion paid Ellison off and gave him an acknowledgement credit in The Terminator, a decision the film's writer and director James Cameron totally disagreed with. According to Cameron, because he was still a new director he "had no choice but to agree with the settlement. Of course there was a gag order as well, so I couldn't tell this story, but now I frankly don't care. It's the truth. Harlan Ellison is a parasite who can kiss my ass."

Obviously that's still a sore spot with Cameron and it's easy to understand why. If you read Ellison's original story "Soldier From Tomorrow," or watch the episode of The Outer Limits  Ellison wrote based on that story, it's obviously the only similarity between these works is the general idea of a soldier travelling back in time. The same with the shared idea of a human-like robot or cyborg in both "Demon with a Glass Hand" and The Terminator. After watching The Terminator and seeing/reading the original works Cameron supposedly stole, one comes away feeling Orion Pictures paid off Ellison merely to make him go away, not because there was any merit to his claims.

The key point all authors and creators should remember is ideas are not protected by copyright. As the U.S. copyright office states, "Copyright does not protect ideas, concepts, systems, or methods of doing something. You may express your ideas in writing or drawings and claim copyright in your description, but be aware that copyright will not protect the idea itself as revealed in your written or artistic work." 

As authors and readers and lovers of films, would we want it any other way? If someone could copyright the idea of spaceships, half of science fiction would vanish with a stroke of the lawsuit. If it was theft to write about quests for a magic item—say a ring—or modern vampires who look like cute pop music stars, the fantasy genre would likewise be in for hard times.

Plagiarism is a serious charge and I wish Ellison wouldn't throw the term around like it is nothing. Simply because an author has written on an idea Ellison once wrote about does not equal theft.

There's also a down-side to Ellison crying wolf so often. In that Wall Street Journal interview, Ellison is introduced as as the guy who "penned Soldier, which James Cameron drew from for The Terminator." With a single lawsuit Ellison has caused his own legacy to be rewritten. Instead of being remembered for his ground-breaking stories, Ellison is now the guy who wrote a story which somewhat inspired a movie.

To me, the rewriting of a great author's legacy is the only true theft going on here.