1) Although my short story “Non-Zero Probabilities” has been nominated for a Nebula (and a Hugo!) this year, I will not be attending the Nebula Weekend in Florida this year. Just got too much on my plate already. But there will be a New York-area Nebula simulcast sponsored by SFWA, which is open to the public (though cheaper for SFWA members). If you’re in the area, check it out!
2) As part of the Nebula Awards process this year, the administrators are doing interviews with all the nominees, posted on the awards website. Some fantastic interviews have already been posted with Rick Bowes, Jeff VanderMeer, Saladin Ahmed, and John Scalzi among others. Mine is now up too. Some meaty stuff therein, since the interviewer asked questions about both my short fiction and the Inheritance Trilogy. An example:
Some readers have interpreted Yeine’s precarious situation among the Arameri as being a concrete metaphor for what bi/multi-racial peoples experience. Was there a conscious attempt to convey this in the writing, or are there other elements to consider when interpreting Yeine as a character?
It’s not possible to use a single person’s experiences as a metaphor or symbol for millions of people. That wouldn’t be a metaphor, it would be a gross overgeneralization. And while I know that kind of essentialism is common in epic fantasy, particularly with non-human races (e.g. “Orcs are inherently evil” or “Half-Elves are always bitter and unstable because nobody accepts them”), I think that’s a simplistic and unrealistic way to handle groups. Not to mention offensive, when this kind of thinking is applied to human beings.
Thought-provoking questions, so I got thinky with the answers.
3) Look at this!
A possible star in the process of being born — i.e., a preplanetary nebula. Which I think is superultramegamaxicool.
I just like to look at pretty things sometimes. Don’t you?