The Nebula Awards

May 14-16, 2010Cocoa Beach Hilton, Cape Canaveral, Florida

Nominees and Winners

View past nominees and winners of the Nebula Award.

Novels

Virtual library of Nebula and Norton novels at Shelfari.

Pictures

View images from the 2007 Nebula Awards Ceremony.

Links

A list of links to other sites & blogs of interest.

Jennifer Pelland Interview

Jennifer Pelland’s short story Captive Girl is the only story from an online magazine in the final ballot for the 2007 Nebula Short Stories. Additionally, it is the first Nebula nomination received by its publisher, Helix. Last and certainly not least, it’s also Ms Pelland’s first Nebula nomination.

For those who haven’t read your work, how would you best describe your writing?

I suppose the easiest way to describe my writing is to say that it uses science fiction or horror settings to play “what if” games that explore darker human emotions, often tossing body issues into the mix.  Except for my funny stories, which are often about sex. Because when you stop to think about it—I mean really think about it—sex is hysterically funny.  Again, I suspect that has to do with my fascination with the human body.  This meat suit that houses our consciousness is a strange contraption.  There are so many ways for it to deviate from the mythical norm, and so many ways for it to break.  Today’s surgery is already making our form malleable. What will we be doing to ourselves in the near future?  In the far future?  And in what ways will that go wrong?  I can’t help but play with these ideas.

What inspired you to write Captive Girl?

This story began to germinate at the art show at the Boskone science fiction convention.  There was a painting in the art show of a woman with the top half of her head completely covered in a metal helmet. Wires trailed from it, and there was a wire-covered glove on her outstretched hand. Later, I went to a writing panel where one of the panelists asserted that you should try to write about things that fascinate you to the point of scaring you. So I started musing in my composition notebook about how terrified I was of the thought of total captivity, which lead me back to the painting, which eventually turned into a tentative idea for a story about a girl strapped into a chair with all her senses (but touch) hijacked for a greater cause.

And then I realized it was a love story.

This raised all sorts of interesting questions in my head about what it must be like to look for companionship when you have some sort of disability or disfigurement.  What do you do when your choices are limited by your physical condition?  Is it wrong to be with someone just because they’re turned on by your disability?  And what if that person is your caretaker?  Is it ethical for them to get into a romantic relationship with you?  It was a scary story to write, and even scarier to show to other people, but in the end, it was worth it.

When you write a story, do you have a theme or thesis in mind or is it during the process of your writing that you realize what subjects you really want to tackle. Was this the case for Captive Girl?

Whenever I try to write to a theme or thesis, it turns into a preachy disaster.  I do best when I come up with a story idea, write it out, and then discover that I appear to have inadvertently tackled an issue or two.  Captive Girl was no exception.

How did you get your start in science fiction? What’s the appeal of the genre for you?

I got into science fiction through my father.  We’d stay up watching late-night creature features together, or classic Star Trek repeats, and I still vividly remember him taking me to the expensive theater to see Star Wars.  Normally, we waited for movies to come to the dollar theater at the end of our block, but Star Wars wasn’t budging from the multiplex, and he realized it was important that we see it.  I got into written SF by reading his book collection.  I suspect that most child psychologists wouldn’t recommend letting 10-year-olds read Harlan Ellison, but I seem to have turned out reasonably okay (although it might explain a few things).

I could say that the appeal is that you can write grander, more imaginative stories when you write in a speculative genre, or I could say that you can play more “what if?” games if you get to invent your own worlds.  But honestly, I write science fiction because it’s the language I was raised in.

Who were some of the writers that influenced you and whose works do you anticipate reading these days?

Growing up, I was a voracious reader of Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Kurt Vonnegut, and Douglas Adams, all of whom taught me radically different lessons.  In my 20s, I latched onto the works of Octavia Butler, who was a genius at writing emotionally difficult work in a sparse style.  I certainly hope she’s been a major influence on my work.  Nowadays, the novel-length writers I leap at are Lyda Morehouse, Christopher Moore, and Neil Gaiman -- again, three very different writers.  I’d mention who I like to read in short fiction, but I have a lot of friends writing and publishing that length nowadays, and I don’t want anyone to feel slighted.  Instead, I’ll just mention that I look forward to reading each issue of Helix and Apex Digest.

At what point did you decide to move on from writing fan fiction to writing original fiction? Do you still write fan fiction these days?

My 30th birthday was a real kick in the pants in so many ways.  I’d always said that I wanted to write original fiction, but could never come up with decent story ideas.  But when I turned 30, I decided that I was done playing in other people’s playgrounds and was going to start creating my own.  So I stopped writing fan fiction, and lo and behold, my brain started coming up with viable original ideas. Apparently, I couldn’t do both.  So no, I don’t write fan fiction anymore.  I have nothing against it, but it’s not where I want to put my creativity at this point.

Are there any aspects of your experience in fan fiction writing that you carry to your current fiction?

It’s all about the characters.  That’s why people read fan fiction—to read more stories about the characters that they love. And it’s just as true in original fiction.  Only you have to convince the readers to love your characters first.  That’s the tricky part.

How has the various workshops you’ve participated in helped you in your craft? How about conventions?

Viable Paradise was crucial to my development as a writer.  When I applied, I’d only been trying to write my own stories for about a year, and didn’t have the best grounding in either the craft or business ends of the genre.  VP definitely helped me out with that.  Plus, there’s nothing like a one-on-one with Jim Kelly where he tells you not to cut the vomit from your story, no matter what any of the other critiquers say to you over the course of the week.  It was incredibly validating to have someone like Jim Kelly give me permission to write ugly.

As for conventions, early in my career, it was incredibly helpful for me to attend every writing panel I could find.  I’d nearly always come away with wonderful craft lessons and story ideas.  Now, conventions are more useful for me for keeping in touch with writing friends and for making new ones.  Plus, they can be a nice battery recharge. There’s nothing like being trapped in a hotel with hundreds of creative people!  (It’s less fun when you’re trapped in a hotel with hundreds of creative people and a norovirus outbreak, which was my WisCon this year, alas.)

What’s the most challenging part of your career so far? The most rewarding?

The most challenging has probably been learning to cope with the slow pace of my career.  I really thought I’d be further along by now.  The most rewarding is probably that I’m in a place now where I can help other beginning writers.  I’ve been a workshop pro at WisCon for a couple of years, and was an online mentor for the Speculative Literature Foundation for their pilot program.  And I sometimes get questions emailed to me or posted to my LiveJournal that I’m happy to answer.  This is how I’m paying back my writing mentors--by passing along their lessons.

You have various stories available online. What’s your opinion about online publishing and the various online ‘zines out there?

As wonderful as it is to hold a published work in your hands, it’s just so easy to point people to web-published stories.  I haven’t reached a stage in my career where I’m making significant piles of money from my short fiction, so I judge markets by the amount of exposure they’ll give me.  Online markets without toll gates are excellent for that. I wouldn’t have gotten onto the Nebula ballot if it weren’t for Helix and the easy publicity it afforded my work.  Do I still submit stories to Asimov’s and F&SF?  You bet.  But when they send their inevitable rejections, I look to web markets next.

Considering your experience in radio theater, have you considered podcasting your own stories?

Honestly? No. I don’t want to buy the equipment and learn the software, and I don’t want to take creative time away from my writing and belly dancing.  Plus, I’m just not a podcast person.  If I had a long driving commute, then I could see myself getting into them. As it is, I either drive 10 minutes or walk 30 to get to work. 10 minutes of city driving doesn’t seem like sufficient podcast-listening time, and I don’t listen to anything when I walk other than the world around me.  Walking is great thinking time. I work out a lot of story issues when I walk.  I couldn’t do that if I was listening to someone else’s words.

What can you tell us about your short story collection, Unwelcome Bodies?

I was stunned when Jason Sizemore from Apex asked me if I’d like to put out a collection.  I didn’t think I was nearly far along enough in my career to merit one.  Selecting the stories for it was an interesting process.  I decided early on to stick with my serious stories, and I also decided to only include one of my Apex Digest stories because I figured the audience for the collection would be mostly Apex readers who would already have read them all.  Jason also wanted some previously-unpublished work, so I included two stories that I’d tried on the big magazines, and one that I hadn’t submitted to anyone. 

I’ve been pleased with the response.  The collection seems to have attracted a wider audience than I’d anticipated, plus I’ve sold enough copies to put the publisher in the black, which is a nice feeling. I’ve had some successful readings and signings, gotten a little local press attention, and the book has been chosen for an online book club discussion in July.  Not bad for a small press collection from a relatively unknown author whose biggest accomplishment to date is losing a Nebula!

What are you working on right now?

I’m currently working on completing a novel draft over the summer (this will be my third), and once that’s over, going back to writing a short story a month until the end of the year. The short story a month plan is new for 2008. Now that I’ve learned to write publishable stories slowly, I’m trying to see if I can’t teach myself to write them quickly instead.

JENNIFER PELLAND lives just outside Boston with an Andy and three cats. Her stories have appeared in publications such as Helix, Apex Digest, Strange Horizons, and Electric Velocipede, among others. Her short story Captive Girl was not only a 2007 Nebula nominee, but was on the 2007 Gaylactic Spectrum Awards short list. Unwelcome Bodies, her first short fiction collection, was put out by Apex Publications in early 2008.
For more info, see her website or read her blog.

CHARLES TAN is a speculative fiction fan from the Philippines. He has lots of online doppelgangers, including a Singaporean politician and a Filipino basketball player, but people should be warned that the “real” Charles Tan is a bibliophile who stalks his favorite authors. His blog, Bibliophile Stalker is updated with daily content including book reviews, interviews, and essays. He is also a contributor for SFF Audio.

1 comments so far.

1. Kenneth Mark Hoover on 08th July 2008 at 11:59 am

Picture of Kenneth Mark Hoover

Good interview; thanks for sharing. smile

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The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

Anderson Lake is a company man, AgriGen's Calorie Man in Thailand. Under cover as a factory manager, Anderson combs Bangkok's street markets in search of foodstuffs thought to be extinct, hoping to reap the bounty of history's lost calories. There, he encounters Emiko...

Emiko is the Windup Girl, a strange and beautiful creature. One of the New People, Emiko is not human; instead, she is an engineered being, creche-grown and programmed to satisfy the decadent whims of a Kyoto businessman, but now abandoned to the streets of Bangkok. Regarded as soulless beings by some, devils by others, New People are slaves, soldiers, and toys of the rich in a chilling near future in which calorie companies rule the world, the oil age has passed, and the side effects of bio-engineered plagues run rampant across the globe.

What Happens when calories become currency? What happens when bio-terrorism becomes a tool for corporate profits, when said bio-terrorism's genetic drift forces mankind to the cusp of post-human evolution? In The Windup Girl, award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi returns to the world of "The Calorie Man" ( Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award-winner, Hugo Award nominee, 2006) and "Yellow Card Man" (Hugo Award nominee, 2007) in order to address these poignant questions.

About the Author

Paolo Bacigalupi’s writing has appeared in High Country News, Salon.com, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine. It has been anthologized in various “Year’s Best” collections of short science fiction and fantasy, nominated for a Nebula and four Hugo awards, and has won the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best sf short story of the year.

The Love We Share Without Knowing by Christopher Barzak

In this haunting, richly woven novel of modern life in Japan, the author of the acclaimed debut One for Sorrow explores the ties that bind humanity across the deepest divides. Here is a Murakamiesque jewel box of intertwined narratives in which the lives of several strangers are gently linked through love, loss, and fate.

On a train filled with quietly sleeping passengers, a young man’s life is forever altered when he is miraculously seen by a blind man. In a quiet town an American teacher who has lost her Japanese lover to death begins to lose her own self. On a remote road amid fallow rice fields, four young friends carefully take their own lives—and in that moment they become almost as one. In a small village a disaffected American teenager stranded in a strange land discovers compassion after an encounter with an enigmatic red fox, and in Tokyo a girl named Love learns the deepest lessons about its true meaning from a coma patient lost in dreams of an affair gone wrong.

From the neon colors of Tokyo, with its game centers and karaoke bars, to the bamboo groves and hidden shrines of the countryside, these souls and others mingle, revealing a profound tale of connection—uncovering the love we share without knowing.

Exquisitely perceptive and deeply affecting, Barzak’s artful storytelling deftly illuminates the inner lives of those attempting to find—or lose—themselves in an often incomprehensible world.

About the Author

Christopher Barzak grew up in rural Ohio, went to university in a decaying post-industrial city in Ohio, and has lived in a Southern California beach town, the capital of Michigan, and in the suburbs of Tokyo, Japan, where he taught English in rural junior high and elementary schools. His stories have appeared in a many venues, including Nerve.com, The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, Strange Horizons, Salon Fantastique, Interfictions, Asimov’s, and Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet. His first novel, One for Sorrow, was published by Bantam Books in Fall of 2007, and won the Crawford Award that same year. He is the co-editor (with Delia Sherman) of Interfictions 2, and has done Japanese-English translation on Kant: For Eternal Peace, a peace theory book published in Japan for Japanese teens. Currently he lives in Youngstown, Ohio, where he teaches writing at Youngstown State University.

Flesh and Fire by Laura Anne Gilman

Once, all power in the Vin Lands was held by the prince-mages, who alone could craft spellwines, and selfishly used them to increase their own wealth and influence. But their abuse of power caused a demigod to break the Vine, shattering the power of the mages. Now, fourteen centuries later, it is the humble Vinearts who hold the secret of crafting spells from wines, the source of magic, and they are prohibited from holding power.

But now rumors come of a new darkness rising in the vineyards. Strange, terrifying creatures, sudden plagues, and mysterious disappearances threaten the land. Only one Vineart senses the danger, and he has only one weapon to use against it: a young slave. His name is Jerzy, and his origins are unknown, even to him. Yet his uncanny sense of the Vinearts' craft offers a hint of greater magics within -- magics that his Master, the Vineart Malech, must cultivate and grow. But time is running out. If Malech cannot teach his new apprentice the secrets of the spellwines, and if Jerzy cannot master his own untapped powers, the Vin Lands shall surely be destroyed.

In Flesh and Fire, first in a spellbinding new trilogy, Laura Anne Gilman conjures a story as powerful as magic itself, as intoxicating as the finest of wines, and as timeless as the greatest legends ever told.

About the Author

Born in the late 1960’s in suburban New Jersey, Laura Anne endured only moderate trauma - and some good times - before escaping to Skidmore College. After graduation, given the choice between grad school and employment, the lure of a paycheck took her to NYC and a career in publishing, while working nights and weekends to get her writing career started. In 2004, she and corporate America decided they needed a break from each other. Her first original novel contract in-hand, Laura Anne became a full-time freelancer, and never looked back. She is the author of the Cosa Nostradamus books for Luna (the “Retrievers” and “Paranormal Scene Investigations” series), a YA trilogy for HarperCollins, and the forthcoming Vineart War books from Pocket, while continuing to write and sell short fiction. She also writes paranormal romances for Nocturne as Anna Leonard. Laura Anne is also an amateur chef, oenophile, and cat-servant. She lives in New York City, where she also runs d.y.m.k. productions.

The City & The City by China Miéville

When a murdered woman is found in the city of Beszel, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks to be a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad. But as he investigates, the evidence points to conspiracies far stranger and more deadly than anything he could have imagined.

Borlú must travel from the decaying Beszel to the only metropolis on Earth as strange as his own. This is a border crossing like no other, a journey as psychic as it is physical, a shift in perception, a seeing of the unseen. His destination is Beszel’s equal, rival, and intimate neighbor, the rich and vibrant city of Ul Qoma. With Ul Qoman detective Qussim Dhatt, and struggling with his own transition, Borlú is enmeshed in a sordid underworld of rabid nationalists intent on destroying their neighboring city, and unificationists who dream of dissolving the two into one. As the detectives uncover the dead woman’s secrets, they begin to suspect a truth that could cost them and those they care about more than their lives.

What stands against them are murderous powers in Beszel and in Ul Qoma: and, most terrifying of all, that which lies between these two cities.

Casting shades of Kafka and Philip K. Dick, Raymond Chandler and 1984, The City & the City is a murder mystery taken to dazzling metaphysical and artistic heights.

About the Author

China Miéville is the author of King Rat; Perdido Street Station, winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the British Fantasy Award; The Scar, winner of the Locus Award and the British Fantasy Award; Iron Council, winner of the Locus Award and the Arthur C. Clarke Award; Looking for Jake, a collection of short stories; and Un Lun Dun, his New York Times bestselling book for younger readers. He lives and works in London.

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska’s ice. Thus was Dr. Blue’s Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born.

But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead.

Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue’s widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.

His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive.

About the Author

Cherie Priest made her debut with the Eden Moore series of Southern Gothic ghost stories that began with Four and Twenty Blackbirds. She lives in Seattle, Washington, and keeps a popular blog at cmpriest.livejournal.com.

Finch by Jeff VanderMeer

Tasked with solving an impossible double murder, detective John Finch searches for the truth among the rubble of the once-mighty city of Ambergris. Under the rule of the mysterious gray caps, Ambergris is falling into anarchy. The remnants of a rebel force are demoralized and dispersed, their leader, the Lady in Blue, not seen for months. Partials—human traitors transformed by the gray caps—walk the streets brutalizing the city’s inhabitants. Finch’s partner Wyte, stricken with a fungal disease, is literally disintegrating. And strange forces are marshaling themselves against detective Finch even as he pursues his one clue: the elusive spymaster Ethan Bliss. How much time does Finch have before time itself runs out?

About the Author

Award-winning writer Jeff VanderMeer's final novel in his Ambergris Cycle, Finch, has just been published in the US, and will appear in the UK from Atlantic's Corvus imprint. His writer guide Booklife and associated Booklifenow website focus on sustainable creativity. With his wife, he recently edited the charity anthology Last Drink Bird Head. His short fiction has appeared in Conjunctions, Library of America's American Fantastic Tales, and several year's best anthologies. He writes nonfiction for The Washington Post Book World, Omnivoracious, The New York Times Book Review, the B&N Review, and many others. Murder by Death recently completed a CD soundtrack based on Finch./.