2020 SFF Awards Eligibility Post!
Back in 2014, I wandered out of a parenthood-induced media desert into a teeming jungle of a genre-fiction scene. I was desperate for a guide to everything I’d missed. Where was the best work, the hottest writers, the coolest markets? Short stories, novels, movies, articles, comics, TV shows, bloggers, Tweeters, all of it was new (or new to me).
That December, all those cool new writers logged on to their blogs and did the work for me with Awards Eligibility posts. As I read and wrote and submission-ground story after story, I imagined someday being a Real Author who could round up the work they’d done that year so fans could nominate them for all the shiny rockets and such.
I haven’t had any fiction published this year. But I HAVE done some other related work, and for the first time ever I feel like it’s worthy of award consideration.
The incomparable Sarah Gailey has been publishing a series of essays called “Personal Canons,” where writers talk about the books and stories that molded them (for good and for otherwise). I poured my heart out about ENDER’S GAME, a book (and author) which has left an indelible imprint on me:
“Kill The Canon!” comes the call from around the Internet, and with good reason. The beloved authors and honored greats of genre fiction have spent most of the existence of the Internet proving they’re all too human, all too flawed, every bit as self-interested and defensive and reactionary as the old dead literary zombies they beheaded.
This might be more true for Orson Scott Card, the author of Ender’s Game, than any other. He worked tirelessly to build an interactive online community around himself and his work, years before it became common (let alone obligatory). He blogged, he forumed, he started his own short-fiction market, he reviewed everything.
But apparently, all of that work was just to ensure he had the largest possible audience for his slow curdling from the cream-of-the-crop to the garbage disposal.
I genuinely believe this is one of the best things I’ve ever written, and if you’d consider nominating it for Best Related Work-type categories I’d be beyond honored.
But that’s not the only geeky thing I’ve written this year. I also started a Medium — uh, you know, this one — where I’ve begun offering opinions on all sorts of things, including SFF fiction like READY PLAYER ONE/TWO:
But then…GamerGate. Sad Puppies. Rabid Puppies. The various iterations and reiterations of RaceFail, the #BlackSpecFic reports, several rounds of #MeToo-style revelations and allegations. The SFF community was in conversation with itself, but it was also at war with itself.
In the context of all this, a book where the world can only be saved by a true and proper nerd-man who could recite all of Holy Grail on demand wasn’t just uninteresting, it was all the worst aspects of fandom rolled into one — the embodiment of all the gatekeepy, shamey, exclusionary rituals forward-thinking fans had grown to hate about old-school fandom.
And then of course there’s my Twitter feed, where I often opine on SFF fiction, fandom, and the trials and tribulations of being a writer in 2020.
If you think this all adds up to a Best Fan Writer-type nomination, again, I’d be incredibly flattered and deeply grateful.
But mostly, I’d really really just really like you to read my ENDER’S GAME piece!
