packets and balconies
Steadfast readers,
I have some good news for you, a book recommendation with bonus urban wildlife, an upcoming reading in NYC, a bit of award nominations nerdery, and, as always, some very good cats.
good news
Good news first! My friend Adriana has her job at the NSF again. Due to a mix of lawsuits and old-fashioned political pressure, the NSF has rehired most of its "probationary" employees. (Designated experts like my friend Courtney, of So You Think You're Bad at Math fame, are still out of work.) The next few months are incredibly uncertain--DOGE might find a different pretext for illegal firings, or the administration might pursue a draconian-but-legal reduction in force--but even temporary reprieves are worth celebrating.
books and wildlife
I spent a lot of time on planes and trains last week, reading Blight, the forthcoming sequel to Rachel A. Rosen's novel Cascade. These are, simultaneously, big fat fantasy novels and pitch-black postapocalyptic stories about Canadian politics. Here's my blurb for Blight:
This is the book about monsters rising from the deeps (of Ottawa) you need in these times. A weird, bleak, startlingly hilarious story about how to keep on fighting after the end of the world.
And here's a Canadian raccoon whom I caught chilling on a third-floor Toronto balcony last summer--that seems like Blight-level pertinacity.
an upcoming reading
I'm reading with Andrea Hairston as part of the KGB Fantastic Fiction series in New York next month. April 9 seemed very far away when I was first contemplating this trip, and now it's almost upon me. Do come say hi if you're NYC-adjacent!
awards nerding
The Nebula award finalists are being announced tonight. I'm thrilled for the works I nominated (several by fellow Neon Hemlock authors!) and curious about the ones I haven't read yet. I was a first reader for Yoon Ha Lee's YA novel Moonstorm (my most important contribution was tracking continuity for snacks), so I'm particularly stoked to see it recognized.
There are a couple of days left to nominate for the Hugos, if you're planning to! (Buying a membership in the World Science Fiction Society lets you vote one year and nominate the next. If you're a moderately voracious science-fiction ebook reader, the "packet" of books and stories by finalists is enough to make the membership worthwhile.)
I've seen several flattering but anxiety-inducing recommendations for North Continent Ribbon to take a spot on Hugo novella ballots. I was worried because, viewed as a single story, North Continent Ribbon is a bit long for a novella. But a college friend pointed me at the fine print: the Hugo committee has 20% wiggle room for category lengths, so (shades of Peter Pan here) North Continent Ribbon can be a novella if we believe it is. The final story, "A Fisher of Stars", is eligible as a novelette without any special concessions.
Also, if I haven't already buttonholed you and told you to read Zohar Jacobs' alternate-space-history short story The Enceladus South Pole Base Named After V.I. Lenin, go forth and be enthralled.
cats
Kosmas has taken over my pillow every night this week. I can't take pictures when I'm all- or half-asleep, but here he is enjoying a daytime nap with Gennoveus:
Yours, always,
Ursula.