The Journal of Michael Merriam

The Nebula Nomination Short List is out and I am pleased as punch to see several of my friends get the nod this year. I am also pleased that it is a very diverse list. And of course, a whole mess of talent. Good luck to the all the nominees!

http://www.sfwa.org/2011/02/2010-nebula-nominees/

I have just found out through mariness that my novella, Should We Drown in Feathered Sleep has been nominated for the Nebula Award.

This is me, boggled: o.O

Whether it makes the short list or not, I am both honored and tickled to have even been nominated.

My understanding is that there is a place in either the SFWA or Nebula forums where nominees can, if the piece is not available for free to read on the web, place a copy of their nominated piece for the voting SFWA membership to read. I think this is a grand idea, and would love to put Should We Drown in Feathered Sleep in front of the voting members, except…

Except I am not a member of SFWA, and do not have access to these forums.

So I am asking, most politely, if one of my friends who is a SFWA member would be willing to put a copy of Should We Drown in Feathered Sleep in the correct forum. I can email someone a copy in .pdf, if they would we willing to help me. Thank you samhenderson for offering to post my novella to the boards! If you are a voting member of SFWA and would like to read the novella, I would be willing to send you a .pdf as well. You can message me through Live Journal or email me at mmerriamATgmailDOTcom.

Oh, and this is still me, boggled: o.O

Being under no illusions, but also subscribing to the theory of "you can't win if you don't play," here is a listing of all my fiction that is eligible for Nebula Award nomination this year. I have provided links to fiction online. If someone is interested in nominating a story not online, I will happily send you the file to put up in the SFWA Forums, since I am not a SFWA member.

Novellas:

The Horror at Cold Springs, published by Sam's Dot Publishing. When a disparate group of travelers find themselves stranded in a ghost town on the western Nebraska frontier, will they unravel the mystery of the missing townsfolk and survive to tell the tale?

Should We Drown in Feathered Sleep, published by Carina Press. After war destroys modern society, Grace Kriske finds herself trapped in a community that disapproves of her rebellious ways. Grace’s only solace is her lover, David Tvedt, a trader who wants to take her away with him—if she’d let him. Yet something else calls to Grace: Loons haunt her dreams, lurking in her mind as if part of her deepest primal self. Will Grace risk everything to help the community that shuns her, or will she choose her own path?

Short Fiction:

"A Hot Cup at the Last Station" in Bards and Sages Quarterly. "A Hot Cup at the Last Station" is a tale of lost love, ghost trains, and finding your way back to living, set in an old train depot turned coffeeshop in a Minneapolis suburb.

"And the River Shall Be Your Bed" in Tower of Light Fantasy. "And The River Shall Be Your Bed" is a ghost story of love, forgiveness, and redemption set in Minneapolis. When the ghost of Christine Larson reaches out across the veil to her old friend Mandy and her fiancé Chad, what will be the price of forgiveness, and will Mandy and Chad be willing to pay?

"By Moonlight" in Aofie's Kiss #33. "By Moonlight," an urban fantasy tale set in Minneapolis, follows Selma, a blind, middle aged magician as she tries to protect a new friend and potential lover from her half-fae brother.

"Doors Through the Places You Live" in Ray Gun Revival #55 (opens a .pdf). "Doors Through the Places You Live" is a science fiction tale of two salvagers as they roam the haunted decks of derelict ghost-ship. Will they survive the restless spirits, and if so, what will they bring back to their own ship?

"Fourth Dimensional Pony in the Concourse of the Lost" in Golden Visions Magazine's print edition, Fall 2010. "Fourth Dimensional Pony in the Concourse of the Lost" explores the plight of a group lost souls in an airport and the creature summoned to carry them out of the darkness. When one of the lost performs a desperate bit of medicine to save his nephew, what will be the cost and how will reality change?

"The Shipmaster's Widow" in 365 Tomorrows. "The Shipmaster’s Widow" is a flash fiction story of love lost to a neutron star and lives left with unanswered questions.

"Starry Night" in Golden Visions Magazine's print edition, Summer 2010. "Starry Night" tells of James Monroe, a man stripped of his special ability to speak mind-to-mind with others who shared this rare power. When the voice of a dying boy speaks into his mind, James must overcome his own grief to help the boy understand what is happening to him

"Wings" in The Absent Willow Review. "Wings" is the story of Lottie Caldwell and the terrible choice she faces: Save the other passengers on a damaged airplane from the vengeful ghosts of her dead family and lose her soul to them, or save herself from her family and allow the other passengers to die.

The 2010 Million Writers Award is open for nominations.

While I can, I refuse to nominate myself (I nominated Camille Alexa's brilliant Shades of White and Road).

However, if someone wanted to nominate one of my stories, these are the ones eligible.

At the Edge of Twilight, Melissa Remembers Flight appeared in Three Crow Press.

Cold Hand in Mine appeared in Khimairal Ink.

Fey Child Fair appeared in From the Asylum.

Weaving Threads appeared in Drops of Crimson.

It is that time of year, time to start nominating your favorite speculative fiction poems for the Rhysling Awards, sponsored by the Science Fiction Poetry Association.

If you are an SFPA member and are interested, I have one short form piece eligible this year: "Susan Responds," which appeared in the autumn 2009 issue of Illumen.

I would be willing to email a copy of these to anyone interested. You can reach me at mmerriamATgmailDOTcom.

After getting some clarification, it turns out that my story At the Edge of Twilight, Melissa Remembers Flight, about superheroes, disability, government plots, and finding love, and published in Three Crow Press, is eligible for the Nebula Award, if anyone wanted to nominate it.

I've been watching my flist post their Nebula Award eligible stories, and it occurred to me that though highly unlikely, you can't win if you don't play. I checked which of my stories had been published in the eligible period, and discovered "All The Leaves Your Bed" and "At The Edge Of Twilight, Melissa Remembers Flight" were in the proper time-frame.

However--like nearly all of my best work--they were not originally published in the United States, so are not eligible.

I know I said this before, but I think it's worth repeating.

I'm in support if this award, not just because all my sales have been to semiprozines, but because I think semipro fiction magazines are actually publishing some of the best stuff around. Sure, they can also publish total crap, but so can the big boys, and I think the smaller magazines provide a better platform for experimental work, work that is a little out on the fringe, work that pushes the envelope, and works by writers who are cutting their teeth and learning their chops.

If the fact that Locus has dominated this category over the years is the problem, maybe it should be divided into fiction and non-fiction sub-categories. I think that should be the case for all the magazine-based Hugos.

Rija's Tale is still chugging along. I'm out of the middle and moving toward the end. Mostly I need to figure out who lives, who dies, and how wide a swath of destruction I end up with.

Right now I'm juggling action versus romance while trying to keep the (somewhat thin) plot moving along. That said, I have notes to go back and sprinkle more plot (and sub-plot) into the story.

This isn't the most sophisticated novel I've ever put together, but it is a solid action novel with an interesting protagonist. This novel is stronger on character than anything else, but character is my strength. The next novel is going to be plot-driven instead of character driven.

Rija's Tale

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This is my absolute final schedule for Minicon. I forgot about the MinnSpec reading, so I'm overbooked. We're not staying at the hotel this year, and were not going to be at the con until later on Friday, probably around 7:00 pm or so. We'll be there all day on Saturday and most of the day on Sunday. I'll try to blog about the convention in the evenings. I'd take the laptop with me and blog at the con, but Shiba is a big old moose of a machine, really more of a desktop replacement than something easily portable.

Humor With An Edge: Mixing The Silly With the Profound
Saturday, 10:00 a.m. -- Krushenko's
Michael Merriam(m), Karl Schroeder, Rob Callahan, Greg L. Johnson

What is it about the writings of humorists (like Terry Pratchett) that allows them to work on controversial issues that other writers won't touch? Does humor give more license for subversion? What about depth? How does humor allow writers to strike deep emotional chords with their readers?
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Reading:
Saturday 4:00 pm -- Veranda 1

I'll be reading something in support of Shimmers & Shadows, and maybe something new.
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Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writers Meetup
Saturday 5:30 -- Krushenko's
Michael Merriam (host)

Welcome to Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writers (aka MinnSpec)! Come learn about this valuable resource for local aspiring science fiction and fantasy writers.
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MinnSpec Rapid-Fire Reading
Saturday 7:00 pm – Veranda 1

Members of the Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writers give short (5 - 10 minutes) readings of their works.
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Breaking into publishing in the 21st Century
Sunday 10:00 am -- Veranda 3/4
Michael Merriam(m), Karl Schroeder, Scott McCoy, Rob Callahan, Rick Brignall

An update of the perennially popular "Publishing 101" topic. What do you as a new writer need to know to get your big break? How is the process changing with the advent of printing on demand, audio books, and the paperback publishing industry in a state of freefall? Last year's advice on how to break into the business may already be obsolete.
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Social Contract: What Negative Emotions is it OK to Evoke in Your Readers?
Sunday 11:30 -- Veranda 3/4
Phyllis Eisenstein(m), Michael Merriam, Rob Callahan, Scott McCoy, Pamela Dean

How much of a social contract do writers have with their readers? What about making past memories come back painfully?
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Neil Clarke has a movement to save the Semiprozine Hugo.

I'm in support if this, not just because all my sales have been to semiprozines, but because I think semipro fiction magazines are actually publishing some of the best stuff around. Sure, they can also publish total crap, but so can the big boys, and I think the smaller magazine provide a better platform for experiential work, work that is a little out on the fringe, work that pushes the envelope, and works by writers who are cutting their teeth and learning their chops.

If the fact the Locus has dominated this category over the years is the problem, maybe it should be divided into fiction and non-fiction sub-categories. I think that should be the case for all the magazine-based Hugos.
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I've been trying to read more short fiction, getting some reading done in the nooks and crannies of my day. I've got two pieces I want to recommend.

Haxan by Kenneth Mark Hoover moves at a slow, lanquid pace, building tension and suspense. The story is throw-back to short fiction of the American West, and reads a bit like Elmore Leonard back when he was writing this sort of thing, with a light, mysterious fantastical element. Having grown up on the westerns of Leonard, L'Amour, Brand, and Grey, and the fantasy stories of Moore, Leiber, and Vance, this is my kind of story, and Hoover gets the details right.

Gone Daddy Gone, Josh Rountree's tale of surfers, guitars, and nature spirits, struck a chord in me because it the kind of story I would write if I had that much skill, and it ends as any good fairy tale should. Recommended.

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have some stories up at Anthology Builder. I've been thinking about putting together an anthology made up of people on my flist, and another made up of local Minnesota writers. If you haven't thought about adding your stories to Anthology Builder's site, you should. Any new source of revenue from an old story is a good thing, and it gives your friends a chance to buy stories by you and by other friends and have it on their bookshelf to enjoy forever.

Each of the three stories I have on the Anthology Builder site are also featured in my own short story collection,Shimmers & Shadows, of which I have several copies sitting around the house, looking forlorn. I expect to find homes for them when the convention season in the Twin Cities starts, but if you'd like a copy now, drop me an email.

I also want to point out that neutronjockey is looking for stories for his Pet Rescue/Humane Society Anthology. This is a non-paying market, but the proceeds from sales go to the above charity, so if you are--like me--a writer with little cash to donate, but a desire to help this cause, here is good way to do it. Click the link for the guidelines.

There will be a non-pimpage post this weekend. For now, I need decide on nominations for the Rhysling Awards, and then get ready for dinner out with friends tonight.

Cheers!