The Nebulas were in DC this year. I dutifully trooped over to view them with the intrepid
oktober_ghost and the ever-chipper
Fran Wilde. Beth and I even managed to catch a glimpse of that ever elusive species of CW alumni,
William T. Vandermark. Barring one CW alum, I have now managed to collect the whole set!
I hadn't been to the Nebulas before, and it was an interesting mix of familiar and new faces. I managed to sit down with the fabulous Mike and
Rachel Swirksy, the engaging
E. Lily Yu, the somewhat suspicious Andy Duncan and the always troublesome
James Patrick Kelly. I learned interesting things about radio from
jfreund and Meagen Voss. I admired the thin orange tie of the ever-stylish John Kessel and the clattery shoes of death worn by the brave prom-goers sharing our hotel. And, as always, I left with a long list of Yet More Things to Read.
But in the meantime: the
very deserving winners of the Nebulas have been announced. Good reads all. I'm particularly fond of Jo Walton's amazing
Among Others, which seems poised to sweep many of the SF awards this year, but I'm thoroughly fond of all the nominated works I read. I have to make special mention of Genevieve Valentine's astonishing debut,
Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti, which I thought was just beautiful.