Andre Norton Award Preliminary Ballot

Hear that?

[stomp, stomp, stomp, doo-doo-doo-doo...]

Yes, that's me doing a Snoopy Dance of Joy! Why, you may ask? Well, it has something to do with the fact that SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) has officially released the Preliminary Ballot for the 2007 Nebula Awards. It has even more to do with the fact that one of those awards is the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. And it has a whole lot to do with the fact that one of the four works on the 2007 Andre Norton Preliminary Ballot is Into the Wild!!!

2007 Andre Norton Award Preliminary Ballot
FLORA SEGUNDA by Ysabeau S. Wilce (Harcourt, Jan07)
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic Press, Jul07)
INTO THE WILD by Sarah Beth Durst (Penguin Razorbill, Jun07)
VINTAGE by Steve Berman (Haworth Positronic Press, Mar07)

Here's what this means: Be warned, there will be some math... To qualify for the preliminary ballot, you need 10 recommendations from SFWA members. (I'm tickled to say that Into the Wild was rec'd (as they say) by 17 very kind souls!) SFWA members then vote, and the top five works from each category make the final ballot. At this stage, for the Norton, up to three more works can be added to the final ballot by a seven-member jury. SFWA members then vote again to select the winners, which are announced during the Nebula Awards Weekend, held this year in Austin, TX from April 25-27. Sound complicated? It is.

Here's what this means as translated by my brain: SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am truly honored to have a book on the Norton preliminary ballot. One of the very first things I did after I signed the contract for Into the Wild and Out of the Wild was to join SFWA. I'd wanted to be a member for years and years. (In fact, I'd been crashing their parties for years and years.) So to be a nominee for a SFWA award really means a great deal to me.

To everyone who made it onto the preliminary ballot (especially my fellow Andre Norton nominees): Congratulations!!! I'm honored to have my name printed on the same page as yours. I've met Steve and Ysabeau, both awesome people and amazing writers. I've never met J.K., but from what I've read in Maureen Johnson's blog, she sounds like quite a character. And I've heard that those books of hers are selling pretty well.

To everyone who rec'd Into the Wild: Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

To any active SFWA members who are interested in reading Into the Wild: Please email me at sarah@sarahbethdurst.com and I will be happy to have a copy sent to you.

And to everyone, check out the rest of the Nebula preliminary ballot. There are some great books and stories in here.

Novels
Ragamuffin, by Tobias Buckell (Tor, Jun07)
The Yiddish Policemen's Union, by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins, May07)
Species Imperative #3: Regeneration, by Julie E. Czerneda (DAW, May06)
Vellum: The Book of All Hours, by Hal Duncan (Del Rey, Apr06 (Macmillan hardcover Nov05 (UK)))
The Accidental Time Machine, by Joe Haldeman (Ace, Aug07)
The New Moon's Arms, by Nalo Hopkinson (Warner Books, Feb07)
Mainspring, by Jay Lake (Tor, Jun07)
Odyssey, by Jack McDevitt (Ace, Nov06)
The Outback Stars, by Sandra McDonald (Tor, May07)
Strange Robby, by Selina Rosen (Meisha Merlin Publishing Jul06)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic Press, Jul07)
Rollback, by Robert J. Sawyer (Analog, Feb07 (serialized in Oct06 through Jan/Feb07 issues; Tor book, Apr07))
Blindsight, by Peter Watts (Tor, Oct06)

Novellas
"The Helper and His Hero," by Matt Hughes (F&SF, Mar07 (Feb07 & Mar07))
"Fountain of Age," by Nancy Kress (Asimov's, Jul07)
"Stars Seen Through Stone," by Lucius Shepard (F&SF, Jul07)
"Kiosk," by Bruce Sterling (F&SF, Jan07)
"Memorare," by Gene Wolfe (F&SF, Apr07)

Novelettes
"The Children's Crusade," by Robin Wayne Bailey (Heroes in Training, Martin H. Greenberg and Jim C. Hines, Ed., DAW, Sep07)
"A Flight of Numbers Fantastique Strange," by Beth Bernobich (Asimov's, Jun06)
"Things That Aren't," by Michael A. Burstein and Robert Greenberger (Analog, Apr07)
"The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate," by Ted Chiang (F&SF, Sep07)
"Sister of the Hedge," by Jim C. Hines (Realms of Fantasy, Jun06)
"The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs Of North Park After the Change," by Kij Johnson (Coyote Road, Trickster Tales, Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, Ed., Viking Juvenile, Jul07)
"The Sun God at Dawn, Rising from a Lotus Blossom," by Andrea Kail (Writers of the Future Volume 23, Algis Budrys, Ed., Galaxy Press, Sep07)
"Safeguard," by Nancy Kress (Asimov's, Jan07)
"Alastair Baffle's Emporium of Wonders," by Mike Resnick (Asimov's, Jan08)
"Tonino and the Incubus," by Peg Robinson (Helix: A Speculative Fiction Quarterly, WS & LWE, Ed., Oct06 (Fall06 issue -- #2))
"Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter," by Geoff Ryman (F&SF, Nov06)
"The Fiddler of Bayou Teche," by Delia Sherman (Coyote Road, Trickster Tales, Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, Ed., Viking Juvenile, Jul07)
"Not of this Fold," by William Shunn (An Alternate History of the 21st Century, Spilt Milk Press, Sep07)

Short Stories
"Unique Chicken Goes In Reverse," by Andy Duncan (Eclipse 1: New Science Fiction And Fantasy, Jonathan Strahan, Ed., Night Shade Books, Oct07)
"The Padre, the Rabbi, and the Devil His Own Self," by Melanie Fletcher (Helix: A Speculative Fiction Quarterly, WS & LWE, Ed., Oct06 (Fall06 issue -- #2))
"Always," by Karen Joy Fowler (Asimov's, May07 (apr/may07 issue))
"For Solo Cello, op. 12," by Mary Robinette Kowal (Cosmos, Mar07 (Feb/Mar07))
"Titanium Mike Saves the Day," by David D. Levine (F&SF, Apr07)
"The Story of Love," by Vera Nazarian (Salt of the Air, Prime Books, Sep06)
"Captive Girl," by Jennifer Pelland (Helix: A Speculative Fiction Quarterly, WS & LWE, Ed., Oct06 (Fall06 issue -- #2))

Scripts
Children of Men, by Alfonso Cuaron, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, and Hawk Ostby (Universal Studios, Dec06)
Pan's Labyrinth, by Guillermo del Toro (Time/Warner, Jan07)
The Discarded, by Harlan Ellison and Josh Olson (Masters of Science Fiction, ABC-TV, Apr07)
Blink, by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who, BBC/The Sci-Fi Channel, Sep07 (Aired on SciFi Channel 14 Sep07))
The Prestige, by Christopher Nolan and Jonathon Nolan (Newmarket Films, Oct06 (Oct 20, 2006 -- based on the novel by Christopher Priest))
V for Vendetta, by Larry Wachowski and Andy Wachowski (Warner Films, Mar06 (released 3/17/2006 -- Written by the Wachowski Brothers, based on the graphic novel illustrated by David Lloyd and published by Vertigo/DC Comics))
World Enough and Time, by Marc Scott Zicree and Michael Reaves (Star Trek: New Voyages, http://www.startreknewvoyages.com, Aug07 (Aired 8/23/07))