BEA 2013

Just got back from BookExpo America (BEA), an annual publishing industry convention. Five days filled with tons of wonderful people who love books!  It was fantastic!

My BEA started on Tuesday when I arrived at a pre-BEA party at Books of Wonder (one of my favorite bookstores in the world), and it ended on Saturday after I was on a BEA panel about SF/fantasy with Laura Anne Gilman, Leanna Renee Hieber, and Jeri Smith-Ready that was more fun than riding a sparkly unicorn across a meadow of cheering leprechauns.  And you know those leprechauns can cheer.

You can watch the entire panel here.  I start talking at just shy of 4 minutes in.



Other highlights included the Children's Art Auction on Wednesday, my signing on Friday (So much fun! Thank you, everyone!), and the elegant and awesome Harlequin party on a rooftop bar with a gorgeous view of the Chrysler Building.  Wish I'd taken photos.  Just picture Manhattan at its prettiest.

All in all, it was a great week, and I'm already looking forward to next year!

Nebula Awards Weekend 2010

I'm writing this in the airport en route home from Nebula Awards Weekend, held this year in Cocoa Beach, Florida. My novel ICE was nominated for SFWA's Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy.

You want to know the best part of being nominated for an award from SFWA (the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America)?

Free unicorn.

Once you arrive at the event, you are spirited away to a secret room, which you must access by aligning a series of steampunk-esque locks. You are then asked a series of questions, ranging from "What is the answer to life, the universe, and everything?" to "Would you like jam tomorrow or jam yesterday?" If you answer correctly, you may proceed. If you fail, you are dropped into the Pit of Eternal Stench (or the Great Pit of Carkoon on Tatooine, depending on your preference, which you stated during the registration process, along with your beef, fish, or veggie choice for the banquet). If you succeed, you are presented with your unicorn.

As I write this, mine is attempting to bust his way out of my carry-on luggage. I'm hoping my unicorn will fit under the seat in front of me. If he doesn't... well, I don't relish the idea of explaining to the flight attendant why the overhead bin is full of unicorn poop.

Okay, okay, there was no secret room or unicorn-as-swag. But there was a space shuttle launch, which is as awesome as a unicorn. (In fact, I think that should be NASA's new motto: "Space, as awesome as unicorns.") The awards weekend (aka the Nebs) was planned to coincide with the third-to-last space shuttle launch, the final flight of the shuttle Atlantis. Launches are visible from Cocoa Beach.

I nearly missed the launch due to the tremendous traffic -- everyone else in the state of Florida was also attempting to drive to the coast to see the launch. But I arrived at the hotel ten minutes before launch, dropped my suitcase at the front desk, and booked it out to the beach.

Lots of people were already there. All of them were standing (as if that would bring you closer to the shuttle than sitting) and looking north. Kind of looked like everyone was waiting for an alien invasion.

At precisely 2:20, I saw a fat firecracker rise above the palm trees and hotels to the north. I was pretty sure it wasn't the shuttle because I thought that the water tanks in the distance were the launch pads. (Not so much.) Also, I'd expected applause or a collective "oooh" from the watchers. (Everyone was busy taking photos.) But I figured out reasonably quickly that fireworks aren't that fat. This was a long fat orange flame followed by billowing white smoke.

The Launch

It looked like the orange fire was giving birth to a huge cloud snake. After a while, the snake ended, but you could still see the shuttle as a white dot. Eventually, it vanished, and the snake slowly coiled in on itself and drifted away.

Really magical.

Cloud Snake

Before the launch, I'd noticed a group of people near me were wearing SFWA Nebula Awards Weekend name tags. I was too shy to say hello at first, but I reminded myself that I'd earned my unicorn (so to speak) and introduced myself. I spent the remainder of the weekend in pretty much constant conversation.

Really, the best part of the Nebs is talking to all the people. The science fiction and fantasy community is filled with some of the nicest, friendliest, smartest, funniest, and most interesting people that I've ever met. *waves at everyone*

Each evening had a great event. On Friday night, there was the mass book signing, followed by the ceremony to honor the nominees. For the book signing, I was seated between Allen Steele and Peter J. Heck. (Does anyone have the photo of me at the signing with Allen in which he is wearing glow-in-the-dark vampire fangs, courtesy of Lucienne Diver?)

For the ceremony, the nominees were called on stage by Russell Davis (current SFWA president) and given a special pin and certificate by Neal Barrett, Jr. (this year's author emeritus).

Later that night, I discovered that if you press the pin and spin around, it will open a portal to another dimension.

Totally kidding. The portal goes to Schenectady.

The Pin

On Saturday night, there was the Awards Banquet. Honestly, I wasn't the slightest bit nervous until I walked into that banquet hall. Once I was inside, I promptly started imagining that either (A) I'd win and forget to thank my husband, who is the heart and soul of everything I do, and then have to spend the next several decades trying to win something again so that I could have a do-over, or (B) my dress would inexplicably fall off.

Which reminds me... the DRESS. As is now a tradition, here is the requisite slightly-tilted self-portrait of me in a purdy dress:

The Dress

I even wore makeup for the occasion (which is shocking considering that I can count on one hand the number of times that I've worn makeup).

Also wore my polar bear necklace.

Best dressed for the night goes to Mary Robinette Kowal who wore an Oscar red-carpet-worthy gown, James Marrow who wore Godzilla slippers, and Bud Sparhawk who wore all his Nebula pins as buttons on his tux.

The event itself was extremely cool. Lots of wonderful speeches. Catherynne Valente, who won the Andre Norton Award, gave a particularly lovely speech about how this book was like a fairy tale, saving her at a time when she needed saving, but how she never expected a glass slipper at the end of it. Connie Willis gave a very funny and sweet introduction to Joe Haldeman, the Grand Master. David Levine showed fantastic photos of his two weeks inside a Mars simulation. And Allen Steele kept everything moving as toastmaster.

The Banquet

But my favorite moment (other than when Tom Doyle announced the nominees for the Andre Norton Award -- totally felt like the Oscars!!!) was when Eugie Foster won for novelette. She and her husband Matthew were sitting next to me for the banquet, and the absolute stunned joy on her face when her name was called... and the look of love and pride on her husband's face... I totally got tears in my eyes. The two of them were radiating joy.

Eugie and Matthew Foster

My favorite line of the night was after the banquet, after Paolo Bacigalupi had won the Nebula for Best Novel, he said, "I'm embarrassed to be this happy." Like Eugie, he was radiating happiness. He was even still smiling the next morning, despite total lack of sleep.

My favorite non-awards-related time of the convention was drinking pina coladas at the outside bar with Laura Anne Gilman with a view of the ocean in front of us and a very stubborn yellow butterfly behind us.

And my favorite totally unrelated to SFWA or the Nebulas moments were my two morning walks down this beach:

The Beach

Lastly, my favorite take-away from the event... I came away from the weekend feeling inspired to write, write, write! So thank you, SFWA. You're all awesome. And the unicorn is great too.

Nebula Deadline and Boskone Schedule

Nebula and Andre Norton Award Nomination Deadline

Attention SFWA Members: The deadline for nominating books for the 2009 Nebula Awards, including the Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy, is rapidly approaching -- February 15, 2010. Under the new rules, any active or associate member of SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) may nominate books. And for the Norton, any YA fantasy/SF books published between July 2008 and December 2009 are eligible.

If you're a SFWA member, click here and enter your name and password to start nominating!

There are lots of wonderful YA books in the running for the Norton this year -- including one that is particularly dear to my heart :) -- so if you're a SFWA member and you love YA, please head over to the nomination site before it's too late.


Boskone Schedule

In other news, I'm very excited to be headed up to Boskone next weekend! Boskone is a wonderful fantasy/SF convention held every February in Boston. This year it takes place from February 12-14 at the Westin Waterfront hotel. I've been attending for many, many years and have been serving on panels and such ever since I got published. Really love this con. I think it's my favorite one. Very well organized, great panels, great people, and lots of fun. And I recently got my schedule! Check it out:

Friday 6pm Schools for Magicians
Bruce Coville
Sarah Beth Durst
Ethan Gilsdorf
Lev Grossman (M)
Jane Yolen
A Hogwarts degree isn't the only path from mundanity to magicianhood. Let's consider how writers have portrayed schools, including Roke, Unseen University, Brakebills, and more. Why a school setting (well, besides innate familiarity for both reader and writer, plus a built-in rationale for info-dumps? How do these fantastical academies compare to SF's schools for space cadets. As we look beyond (and before) Harry Potter, we'll examine the continue fascination with such sorcerous scholastic settings.

Saturday 10am Reading (0.5 hrs)
Sarah Beth Durst

Sunday 9am Kaffeeklatsch

Sunday 10am Autographing

Sunday 11am Reading for Kids (0.5 hrs)
Sarah Beth Durst

Sunday 1pm Why Adults Love YA
Bruce Coville
Michael J. Daley (M)
Sarah Beth Durst
Margaret Ronald
Navah Wolfe
Are grown-ups just trying to recapture their misspent youth, or is there something either more compelling about this kind of fiction? If so, what?

So in preparation for my Boskone panels, I pose the above questions to you. Any thoughts about wizard schools or adults reading YA? Please do share. My goal, as always, is to avoid sounding like an idiot. And tapping into the collective wisdom of all of you is a great way to do that!

Nebula Awards Weekend 2008 Trip Report (Part 2 of 2)

Last weekend, I attended the 2008 Nebula Awards Weekend in Austin, Texas, as a finalist for the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Fantasy and Science Fiction. Click here for the first half of my trip report, or just keep on reading for the second half...

SATURDAY

Saturday of Nebula Weekend involved a lot more talking to fabulous people. I started the day with an in-depth discussion on the Return of the Jedi with the super-awesome Shanna Swendson and Elizabeth Wein. I then went out for a lovely lunch with Shanna. The weather was perfect, and we ate Mexican food outside at one of Shanna's old college haunts. So much fun!

Returned to the hotel in time (almost) for the SFWA Business Meeting. All the active members had to sign in. You should have seen this attendance sheet. My name was sandwiched between Joe Haldeman and Shanna Swendson. Hee-hee! I felt like a vandal who had sneaked in and added her name to the signatures on the Declaration of Independence. And then discovered there were secret clues on the back of the Declaration that were only visible with Ben Franklin's special glasses and... Sorry, bad movie reference. Couldn't resist.

Anyway, I chatted with more super-awesome people after the meeting: Rosemary Clement-Moore, Candace Havens, Amy Sisson, Paul Abell... (The ellipsis equals "and many other fabulous people".) Now, let's fast-forward... talk, talk, talk, walk, walk, walk, up the elevator, change the clothes, yada yada until...

The Nebula Awards Ceremony.

Okay, wait, back up a bit... yep, just there, to the elevator after I finished putting on my black-and-white vine dress. I walk over to the elevator, and there's a man standing there in coat and tie and jeans. He's not wearing a name tag, but he seems to know what my name tag means, so I guess that he's connected to the event and I say, "Hi, I'm Sarah Beth Durst." And he shakes my hand and says, "I'm Michael Chabon."

Yep, Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon, who later that night went on to win the Nebula for Best Novel.

We chatted on the way down the elevator, and I led him to registration. He was so super sweet. Plus he seemed genuinely excited to be there. (I mean, at the event, not just the registration desk, though I'm sure he was glad... oh, never mind.) At any rate, I really enjoyed talking with him.

Me and Michael Chabon

Everyone began to arrive, and yes, I talked with more fabulous people but this time all the fabulous people were in fabulous outfits: Kij Johnson (in a gorgeous blue velvet gown), Nancy Kress (in glamorous black and white chiffon), Mary Robinette Kowal (in an elegant pants suit), Amy Sisson (in shimmery mermaid green), Diane Turnshek (in a white and gold gown), Shanna Swendson (in the red stilleto pumps that appear in her awesome Katie Chandler books), Delia Sherman (in a lovely embroidered Victorian-like dress), Rosemary Clement-Moore (in green taffeta), Candace Havens (in glamorous black), John Moore (in a tux), A. Lee Martinez (in a Futurama T-shirt and jeans because, as he said, part of the writing gig is that you don't have to dress up if you don't want to -- and he did point out that the shirt was new)...

Candy, Me, and Rosemary all dressed up

After we'd all sufficiently admired each other, we commenced to the banquet. I had an awesome table. Starting on my left: Elizabeth Wein, Gay Haldeman, Joe Haldeman, Diana Gill, Candace Havens, Rosemary Clement-Moore, Anne Sowards, Jack McDevitt, and Liza Groen Trombi. I had a particularly great conversation with Liza, whom I'd never met before.

And then after dinner... the awards.

Oddly, during dinner, I hadn't thought much about the awards. (I say "oddly" because I was only a few feet away from the trophies. If I hadn't been in heels and, y'know, trying to look professional and all that, I could have grabbed one, tucked it under my arm like a football, and bolted out of the room. Not that the thought crossed my mind or anything.) Anyway, as soon as the emcee stepped on stage, my heart started to pound in this really fast and cliched way. It wasn't a scary sort of nervousness. I knew my chances were astronomically small -- seriously, folks, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the most popular YA fantasy book since, like, EVER was on the list -- but astronomically small is still not zero.

John Moore introduced the award, and Amy Sisson and Chris McKitterick walked across the stage to present. John handed them a black envelope with silver writing on the outside. My heart was thumping so fast and loud that I felt like my skin was vibrating. And they said, "And the nominees for the Andre Norton Award are..." And then they got to my name, "... Sarah Beth Durst for Into the Wild..." and they said it just like that, like the presenters do at the Academy Awards. Hearing those words, I nearly started to levitate.

A moment later, they sliced open the envelope with a sword-shaped letter opener and read the name "J.K. Rowling." The funny thing was that I kept smiling. I still felt like flying. My name had been announced as a finalist! I had to remind myself to quit smiling for at least a couple of seconds so that I didn't look like one of those idiots on award shows that acts overly-excited when someone else wins.

Don't get me wrong -- I wanted that award. (See above plan for grabbing the trophy and bolting.) But how could I be sad? I was there! I got to be a finalist! The only thing I was sad about was that the announcement of the award meant the experience was nearly over.

My heart rate calmed as I listened to the rest of the awards and speeches. In addition to J.K. Rowling for the Norton, the 2007 Nebula winners were Michael Chabon for Best Novel, Nancy Kress for Best Novella, Ted Chiang for Best Novelette, Karen Joy Fowler for Best Short Story, Guillermo del Toro for Best Script, and Michael Moorcock as SFWA Grand Master.

Afterwards, everyone gathered in the hospitality suite to talk, shoot pool, and bean each other with the foam moon-like balls given as party favors at the banquet. Really, I think it shows remarkable decorum and self-restraint that we didn't pelt each other with those balls during the banquet.

In keeping with the theme of the weekend, I talked to more fabulous people, including many already mentioned, plus Connie Willis, John Picacio, David Watson, Michael Marano, Michael Ehart, David Levine, Sheila Williams, Tobias Buckell...

SUNDAY

Next morning, I checked out. By lucky coincidence, the super-sweet Sean Fodera was on the same flight as I was so I got to continue my streak of talking-with-fabulous-people all the way back to New York.

Really, the weekend was all about the people (and pins, certificates, ribbons, and pretty dresses, of course). In addition to everyone already mentioned in today and yesterday's posts, I also got to say hello to Jennifer Pelland, Betsy Mitchell, Beth Meacham, Peter Heck, Mary Turzillo, Bert Chamberlain, Neal Barrett, A.C. Crispin, C.J. Mills, Jessica Reisman, Milaka Falk, Eric James Stone, Scott Edelman... and many, many more. (If I didn't list you, please know that I still think you're fabulous!)

And last but certainly not least, a shout-out to the awesome Austin science fiction community... Karen Meschke (the fearless leader of the Nebula Awards Weekend committee), Sandy Del Monte (the tireless Hospitality Suite Goddess), Laura Domitz, Lillian Butler, Lee Martindale, Beverly Hale, Cherly DuCoin, Stina Leicht, and all the other wonderful people who organized everything for this event. Thank you for an incredible weekend!

Nebula Awards Weekend 2008 Trip Report (Part 1 of 2)

I'm back from Nebula Awards Weekend. The results are in. And alas, I did not win the Andre Norton Award. J.K. Rowling did. (Isn't it wonderful to finally see good things happening for her career?) But as I'd hoped, I had an absolutely awesome time losing in person. Plus, now I have a better idea what it's like to be Voldemort. Both of us were beaten by Harry Potter. And we were both wearing little black dresses when it happened. (Okay, so he called his a "wizard's robe". Whatever.) And like Voldemort, it turns out that I can also summon fireballs in the palm of my hand:

Mwah-ha-ha-ha

(Especially while I'm trying to take a flash photo of myself in the mirror.) And yes, that is the dress, though the picture above is (for obvious reasons) not the best. Here's a better one:

The Dress

Anyway, Voldemort did not attend the 2008 Nebula Awards Weekend in Austin. But lots of really amazing people did attend, and I talked to anyone who was foolish enough to make eye contract with the curly-haired girl who was grinning as broadly as a dolphin all weekend.

Let me recap...

THURSDAY

Arrived late. The hotel was overbooked, so they upgraded me to a suite! And this was a "Texas-sized" suite. You entered in Austin, and by the time you reached the bedroom, you were in Houston. It had a living room (with two couches and a dining room table for six), a kitchen (full refrigerator plus washer and dryer), a walk-in closet, two bedrooms, and three bathrooms. Significantly larger than many apartments I've lived in.

Texas-sized Hotel Room

FRIDAY

Woke early and fetched my name badge. It came with a black ribbon that said "NOMINEE" in gold letters. Because I am a total dork, I immediately ran back to my room, hiked across the living room, and tried to take photos of myself with the badge by stretching my arm out with the camera. I am NOT posting those photos. Turns out that taking photos of yourself by stretching your arm out is an even worse idea than taking a flash photo of yourself in a mirror. Who knew? So here is just a photo of the name badge with ribbon:

The Badge

I then returned downstairs and tried to keep from doing cartwheels across the hotel lobby while the little Sarah inside my head was shrieking, "Nom-i-nee! Nom-i-nee! Nom-i-nee!" in a very cheerleader-esque fashion.

I then proceeded to talk to many, many fabulous people, including Vera Nazarian, Russell Davis, Jane Jewell, Gay and Joe Haldeman...

Late afternoon, I checked out the room for that night's mass autographing. The booksellers from BookPeople were all set up, and they had two giant stacks of the paperback edition of Into the Wild. I didn't even know the paperback existed yet! It's not due out until May 29th. But there it was! I did a little Snoopy Dance of Joy before remembering that I'm supposed to look professional. Oops.

I talked with more fabulous people: Delia Sherman, Ellen Kushner, Rosemary Clement-Moore, Candace Havens, Shanna Swendson, Elizabeth Wein, Geoffrey Landis, Gordon Van Gelder... I'll show pictures in just a second, but first... the Nominee Ceremony!

During the Nominee Ceremony, Jane Jewell announced the name of each nominee, Michael Capobianco presented the certificates, and Cheryl DuCoin affixed the "Nebula Nominee" pins. And I grinned like a deranged dolphin the entire time. A very, very happy deranged dolphin. Here's a photo of me receiving my certificate:

The Certificate

And here's a photo of all the nominees:

The Nominees

After the ceremony, I was lucky enough to sit between Delia and Ellen for the autographing session.

Ellen Kushner, Me, and Delia Sherman

I was also lucky enough to score a giant chocolate chip cookie, as seen in above photo. Certificates, pins, fabulous writers, and chocolate chip cookies... what more can a little Sarah ask for? Here's a photo of me with more fabulous writers:

Me, Rosemary Clement-Moore, Candace Havens, and Shanna Swendson

The answer to "what more can a little Sarah ask for" turned out to be dinner. Candace (Candy), Rosemary, Elizabeth Wein, A. Lee Martinez (Alex), and I ventured out into Austin for dinner, and I had the most fantastic time. I adored my dinner companions. I even got extra bonus time with them -- after dinner, it began to rain. And when I say "rain," I mean that the Hoover Dam broke over our heads, and the entire Colorado River crashed down on Austin in a torrent of water. We hid out in the restaurant lobby until the dove, the rainbow, and Noah said it was safe again.

And then came Saturday, the day of the awards ceremony itself, which I promise to tell you all about. But for now, I am exhausted and must sleep. Much more coming soon...

Nebula Awards Weekend 2008

It's finally here!!!

Tomorrow, I am hopping on a plane (and by "hopping" I mean that I'm arriving at the airport several hours early and staring fixedly at the Arrival/Departure board in hopes that by sheer force of will, I can prevent the flight from being delayed or cancelled -- I am not what you'd call a relaxed traveler) and flying to Austin, Texas, for the 2008 Nebula Awards Weekend.

As I think I've mentioned (only about a hundred times), Into the Wild is a finalist for SFWA's Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Fantasy and Science Fiction. I am really, really, really excited about this. In fact, as soon as I got the news, I booked my flight to Austin, where they will be announcing the winner, live, at the awards ceremony! Just like the Oscars! Sorta.

Don't misunderstand -- I am not expecting to win. I am up against some really stiff competition (Elizabeth Wein, Ysabeau Wilce, Steve Berman, Adam Rex, Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu, and some unknown writer by the name of J.K. Rowling). But I am ridiculously excited to lose in person.

And to wear a pretty dress.

I can't remember the last time I wore a dress. Writing isn't really a dress-wearing sort of job, which is probably a good thing because I can't walk in high heels for more than five minutes at a time and I haven't the faintest idea how to put on makeup. (Last time I wore makeup was at my wedding ten years ago. I still own that makeup. It's probably all turned toxic by now.) But I went to the mall five times to find the perfect dress for this weekend. Finally found it last week. Snoopy Dance of Joy!

Some Random Model Wearing My New Dress

Do ya like it? Do ya? Do ya? Now I just need to make it through the banquet without spilling anything on myself. So not going to happen.

On the Friday of Nebula Awards Weekend (this Friday), there's a massive book signing event at the hotel. I'll be signing along with a huge collection of other authors (click here for the full participant list). Should be a lot of fun. Here's the key info:

Friday April 25th from 5:30 to 8pm
Omni Austin Hotel Downtown
Longhorn Room (3rd floor)
700 San Jacinto at 8th Street
Austin, Texas

It's open to everyone, regardless of whether you're attending the awards ceremony, so if you're in Austin this weekend, I hope you'll stop by!

Andre Norton Award Final Ballot

It's now official! INTO THE WILD is on the final ballot for the 2007 Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. (Yay!) SFWA members vote in March and the winners will be announced on April 26th at the Nebula Awards Banquet in Austin, TX. (I just bought my plane ticket to Austin! Hee hee!) Congrats to all the Norton finalists, as well as all the finalists in the other Nebula Award categories.

[SFWA MEMBERS: Please note that an electronic version of INTO THE WILD is now available for your perusal from the private version of the final ballot.]

ANDRE NORTON AWARD

Flora Segunda, Ysabeau S. Wilce (Harcourt)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J. K. Rowling (Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine Books)
Into the Wild, Sarah Beth Durst (Penguin/Razorbill)
The Lion Hunter, Elizabeth Wein (Viking Juvenile)
The Shadow Speaker, Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu (Hyperion/Jump at the Sun)
The True Meaning of Smekday, Adam Rex (Hyperion)
Vintage: A Ghost Story, Steve Berman (Haworth)

NEBULA AWARDS

NOVEL
The Accidental Time Machine, Joe Haldeman (Ace)
The New Moon's Arms, Nalo Hopkinson (Warner)
Odyssey, Jack McDevitt (Ace)
Ragamuffin, Tobias S. Buckell (Tor)
The Yiddish Policeman's Union, Michael Chabon (HarperCollins)

NOVELLA
"Awakenings", Judith Berman (Black Gate Spr 2007)
"The Fountain of Age", Nancy Kress (Asimov's Jul 2007)
"The Helper and His Hero", Matt Hughes (F&SF Feb,Mar 2007)
"Kiosk", Bruce Sterling (F&SF Jan 2007)
"Memorare", Gene Wolfe (F&SF Apr 2007)
"Stars Seen through Stone", Lucius Shepard (F&SF Jul 2007)

NOVELETTE
"Child, Maiden, Mother, Crone", Terry Bramlett (Jim Baen's Universe Jun 2007)
"The Children's Crusade", Robin Wayne Bailey (Heroes in Training)
"The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs Of North Park After the Change", Kij Johnson (The Coyote Road)
"The Fiddler of Bayou Teche", Delia Sherman (The Coyote Road)
"The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate", Ted Chiang (F&SF Sep 2007)
"Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter (Fantasy)", Geoff Ryman (F&SF Oct/Nov 2006)
"Safeguard", Nancy Kress (Asimov's Jan 2007)

SHORT STORY
"Always", Karen Joy Fowler (Asimov's Apr/May 2007)
"Captive Girl", Jennifer Pelland (Helix #2 Fall 2006)
"Pride", Mary Turzillo (Fast Forward 1)
"The Story of Love", Vera Nazarian (Salt of the Air 2006)
"Titanium Mike Saves the Day", David D. Levine (F&SF Apr 2007)
"Unique Chicken Goes In Reverse", Andy Duncan (Eclipse One)

SCRIPT
Children of Men, Alfonso Cuaron, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby (Universal Studios)
Doctor Who: Blink, Steven Moffat (BBC/The Sci-Fi Channel)
Pan's Labyrinth, Guillermo del Toro (Time/Warner)
The Prestige, Christopher Nolan & Jonathan Nolan (Newmarket Films, Oct06 based on the novel by Christopher Priest)
Star Trek: New Voyages: World Enough and Time, Marc Scott Zicree & Michael Reaves (www.startreknewvoyages.com)
V for Vendetta, Larry Wachowski & Andy Wachowski (Warner Films, based on the graphic novel illustrated by David Lloyd)

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))

NCTE, ALAN, TADN, and SFWA

UPCOMING EVENTS

If you plan to be in central Connecticut or central Massachusetts for Thanksgiving weekend, I hope you'll consider swinging by one of my book events and saying hello. On Friday afternoon, I'll be signing at the Borders at the Meriden Mall in Meriden, CT. And on Saturday afternoon, I'll be reading from and signing copies of Into the Wild at the Borders on Route 9 in Shrewsbury, MA. Here are the details:

Friday, November 23rd from 1-3pm
Borders Meriden - Signing
470 Lewis Avenue, Meriden, CT

Saturday, November 24th at 2pm
Borders Shrewsbury - Reading/Signing
476 Boston Turnpike, Shrewsbury, MA

Now, to recap this past weekend...

TRIP REPORT

For the past four days, I have been in acronym heaven:

TADN. NCTE. ALAN. SFWA.

Collectively, these stand for: Sarah Meets Lots of Incredible People. Individually, they stand for Teen Author Drinks Night, National Council for Teachers of English, the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (anyone know what the N stands for???), and Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

Ready for some name-dropping? To protect the innocent, I'm only going to mention the authors by name (and I'm probably going to miss a lot, so apologies in advance)...

Teen Author Drinks Night (TADN)
Friday night: Hung out with YA/MG authors at a New York bar way cooler than I am (actually, both the authors and the bar are way cooler than I am, but both the authors and the bar are way too nice to comment on that). Met Pete Hautman, Mary Logue, Laura Ruby, and Tanya Lee Stone for the first time. Chatted (okay, shouted -- bars are loud) with lots of authors I've met before including Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, Coe Booth, Scott Westerfeld, Tara Altebrando, Lisa Ann Sandell, David Levithan, Sarah Aronson, Justine Larbalestier, Alaya Johnson, and more.

Yes, there was vodka pizza.

National Council for Teachers of English Conference (NCTE)
Saturday: Circled through the exhibit hall at NCTE, which was held in the Javits Center in NYC this year. (These big conferences all include an exhibit hall where publishers and other vendors have booths. Sometimes they give out free books. Yay!) Talked with the wonderfully awesome people from Penguin Young Readers, as well as a whole slew of other amazing editors and agents and teachers. And of course authors -- see names above plus T.A. Barron, Kathleen Duey, Libba Bray, Bruce Coville, Sarah Mylnowski, E. Lockhart, Lauren Myracle, Jo Knowles, Cindy Faughnan, Robin Wasserman, and others. Had lunch with some wonderful educators. Had second lunch with some wonderful authors/editors/agents. (Note to self: just say no to organic chocolate chip cookies. I don't know what's inorganic about normal chocolate chip cookies, but whatever it is is closely tied to taste. Cassie and Sarah can back me up on this one.)

Sunday morning: more circling. Talked with more wonderful editors and teachers. Met authors Vivian Vande Velde, Elizabeth Winthrop, Elizabeth Scott, Emily Smith Pearce, and David Clement-Davies. Totally fan-girled at Brian Jacques and Gail Carson Levine. The latter conversation went something like this:

ME: Hi, I'm Sarah Beth Durst. I love your books. I've loved your books for a long time. I love books about fairy tales. I wrote a book that involved fairy tales. I'm a writer. I have a book. I love your books.

GAIL CARSON LEVINE: Thank you.

I was not exactly at my most brilliant. And I utterly forgot that I had my camera with me. In fact, I only have one picture from the entire four day extravaganza. It's this one of me and Vivian Vande Velde (who writes fabulously clever and fun fantasy books -- and also has the coolest name of any writer ever):

VVV and Me

If others surface on the internet or in my Inbox (hint, hint), I'll post them too.

Kidlit Drinks Night (or more accurately, afternoon)
Sunday afternoon: food and drinks. I treated myself to a lovely lunch at Sarabeth's, my favorite Manhattan restaurant, and then wandered down to Times Square (no particular reason -- I just like how shiny it is). En route back from Times Square, I heard someone say, "Hello, Sarah." I nearly ignored it because, well, it's Manhattan, and what were the odds of seeing someone I knew? Apparently, the odds were good because it was Jordan Sonnenblick (great author and great guy). So I dragged him with me to the next party, a Kidlit party at a bar called Faces and Names.

Again, I talked with a variety of editors, agents, and writers. Got to hear the story of how Newbery winner Linda Sue Parks shimmied against Collin Ferrell in an elevator, told by Linda herself. Also saw Rebecca Stead, Longstockings Daphne Grab and Lisa Graff, and School Library Journal blogger Betsy Bird.

Only thing I didn't like about this bar was the bathroom. I hate large single-stall bathrooms. I like to be in easy reach of the door in case the lock should fail. (Is this just me? Am I totally neurotic?) This particular bathroom faced the bar with no hallway or anything. If the lock had failed... It didn't, but I had terrible nightmares that night.

ALAN Cocktail Reception
Anyway, a troup of us headed from there to the Marriott Marquis in Times Square for the ALAN cocktail reception. (Did you know they have escalators at least as far up as the seventh floor? For some reason, I found this cooler than the glass elevators. Also cool: many of the taxis in New York are currently covered with paintings of flowers. That made me smile.)

Best part of the evening was that all the authors got to wear bright red pins that said "Author! Author!" I put mine on and swore never to take it off. (Okay, it's off now, but I wore it the whole train ride home.) I talked to more teachers, librarians, editors, and yes, more authors: Michael Buckley, Debby Garfinkle, Maureen Johnson, and others previously mentioned.

Penguin Family Dinner
The lovely Penguin folk invited me to the Penguin Family Dinner, an annual post-NCTE tradition. Other authors in attendence included Laurie Halse Anderson and Sara Ryan. We went to the restaurant next to the ice rink at Rockefeller Center. I wish I'd saved the menu. It had the Penguin logo on it. Very cool. In fact, the whole dinner was very cool.

I had to scoot out right after dessert (which was the largest slice of cheesecake I've ever seen in my entire life) to catch the last train to Long Island (which I did make -- yay!), but I returned to NYC the very next evening for...

SFWA New York Reception
On Monday, I headed back to New York for the annual SFWA NY reception, which was stuffed to the gills with writers, editors, agents, etc. Authors I talked to included Marvin Kaye, Bud Sparhawk, Roger MacBride Allen, Bill Wagner, Leigh Grossman, Keith DeCandido, Laura Anne Gilman, KZ Petty, David Keck, Beth Bernobich, Rose Fox, Diane Turnshek, Alexandra Honigsberg, Glenn Hauman, Terri Osborne, Paul Witcover, Delia Sherman, Ellen Kushner, Jane Jewell... I'm sorry, but I'm not going to remember everyone. Suffice it to say, lots of awesome people were there!

Here are two of the highlights: first, I got to hang out for a while with Jane Yolen (amazing person and author of something like two billion books -- okay, maybe only 200+). Second, I won one of the door prizes (a bottle of wine and a Society of Illustrators T-shirt) for being the only person in the room with a first novel published within the last twelve months. They handed me a microphone and told me to say my name and book title. It was all I could do to resist performing the Snoopy Dance of Joy right there while shouting, "I'm real! I'm real! I'm real!"

Snoopy Dance of Joy
I did do the Snoopy Dance of Joy as soon as I got home. And I kept my husband up until 3am on both Sunday and Monday nights, giving him the play-by-play report on the events. :)

Next up: Thanksgiving. Hope you all have a marvelous Turkey Day!