Dear Universe:

Enough already.

The deal on Daddy's house has fallen through after weeks of delay. That pre-approved financing turned out not to be worth the paper it was printed on, or much of anything else, either. No financing, no mortgage = no deal, no sale.

janeehawkins has cancer. Again. It's an early catch on lung cancer, unrelated to the colon cancer she dealt with last summer. Here's hoping for a similarly good outcome, but still. Arrrgh.

Paul Williams is dead. Lenny Bailes has given me permission to share some of his thoughts on Paul's life here. Watch this space, film at 11, and All That Jazz....

I'm behind on...everything. I'm not at Minicon. Or Eastercon, or even ConBust, a mere 40 miles away.

Getting things done will improve my ability to deal with the plateful of shit the universe is handing me right now.

Music will probably help, too.

Onward.

RIP: Paul Williams – a few thoughts from Lenny Bailes and me

SF fan, rock journalist, and all-around fascinating friend Paul Williams died Wednesday night following a long decline due to a brain injury from a biking accident in 1995. I met Paul a few years before the accident, and think I last saw him in 2002 when he and Cindy Lee Berryhill stopped by Conagerie, that year's Westercon in Los Angeles. But it might have been the 2006 Westercon in San Diego instead. The years, they blur.

I met Paul through his decades-long friendship with galacticvoyeur. IIRC, Jeff designed and typeset the 2000 edition of Paul's book, Time Between. He might have done another book of Paul's, too.

I don't have a lot to say about Paul. Knowing him, even just a bit, always happy to see him much as that only happened in passing...it enriched my life and, I hope, brought a bit of pleasure and interest to his. It seemed to. It seem to enough that I'm carrying buckets of guilt at not having stayed in touch these past several years, at having not kept current enough with Cindy Lee's blog to even know about the Paul Williams/Crawdaddy! Day at Boo-Hooray last Sunday until mid-week. I so wish I had been there. And, yes, I'm so unwilling to accept that I can't do everything, much as I give lip-service to knowing otherwise.

Lenny Bailes kindly gave his permission for me to share his thoughts on Paul here. The rest of this post is his:

Paul published his first fanzine, "Within," when he was fourteen years old. Paul was, for some of us, that very best possible "inner fourteen year-old" s-f fan given external reality. He was a boy who exemplified, for me, Van Morrison's couplet "And your dreams come true, if you want them to." (V.M., "Everyone.") Paul stood for all of us who wished to be the child coming to San Francisco wearing a flower in our hair. Paul applied the fan-honored discipline of mimeo ink and stencils, picking up the craft of Ted White in his East Coast associations and giving that craft new meaning in the hippie revolution, Out West. Consider that in his early fantasies about Paul Mu'ad Dib of Dune, and the relationship of those fantasies to rock n roll, Williams was not so unlike the young men who read "The Time of the Hawklords" and were carried away with it to become the band, "Hawkwind."

Maybe not. Maybe we readers of "Outlaw Blues" were wankers who lacked the ability to sort the differences between our hippie fantasies of The Byrds and The Beatles, and the real world, outside. I'm aware that [some among us] know infinitely more about Hawkwind than I do; and there I've gone and made a reference to TEW, which may not evoke sympathy with your own inner fourteen-year old boy -- but whose history is inextricable with the 14-year-old "neofan prodigy" who became Paul Williams, an early young dude carrying the news in San Francisco, also sailing the boat with John Lennon, asking everyone to "Give Peace a Chance."

I've been speaking of the young Paul Williams who was, for me, the stuff of fannish legend. (I didn't meet him, I think, until 1967.) He was another (the youngest!) of those U.S. East Coast fanzine publishers who shaped my ideas through his participation in s-f fandom. And then he went beyond that. Like Greg Shaw, his compatriot, he reflected in his rock journalism the songs we shared as a common affirmation of the reality of alternative lifestyles in the years of Humphrey-Johnson, going to college, Vietnam, and the U.S. Draft.

The older Paul Williams, the literary scholar of Philip K. Dick and Ted Sturgeon (and the constant biographer-celebrator of Bob Dylan) was someone I got to know a bit in the 1990s. Yes, it's true, we all (I) romanticized PK Dick. We overlooked his blindness, his immaturity, and his having gone 'round the bend. Because there was something in PKD's drug-tinged fantasies that struck common chords in us. We danced around the pathology and the cruelty in Dick's life and work. A similar "distortion field" might be said to apply toward Paul Williams' obsession with Dylan and the way it reflected the obsessions of other hard-core Dylan fans. I considered myself to be a huge Dylan fan, but I personally thought Paul had gone a little bit round the bend with his dedication and obsession in tracking the man.

If the same hard core crew (I'm connected to it) were to examine our attitudes and reactions to the work of Theodore Sturgeon, we might find some similar patterns. "More than human, can we be."

If I might be allowed to switch between wearing my J.Garcia custom aviator frames to a darker-rimmed pair of glasses, here we are (for values of "we" belonging to 21st Century science fiction fandom) in 2001 at Potlatch 10, a California literary s-f convention -- with Paul Williams attending as special guest/editor of the Collected Works of Ted Sturgeon for the Sturgeon estate.

We all put on our darker-rimmed "mature" reading glasses for that convention and spent the weekend discussing common myths and "harder truths" about Sturgeon's work. FWIW, I compiled notes on the discussions that are still up on the Potlatch website.

Paul speaks for himself there, if anyone is still interested in reading, as a literary scholar who is also our fellow Theodore Sturgeon fan.

The wild-eyed fourteen year old boy is still in there, at that point, but he's hiding a bit in the twinkle-eyed, smiling older sage.

"More than human can we be!"

Can we?

Hugo nominations...live right now!

Diane Lacey & Joel Phillips, live from Minicon!

Text at....

CoverItLive coverage

2013 Hugo Nominations

Edited to add: Nominations with text formatting now online at The Hugo Awards website.

Text from the CoverItLive announcement, which kevinstandlee coordinated beautifully with Diane Lacey & Joel Phillip's live announcement from Minicon on UStream:

Kevin Standlee: 1343 ballots cast this year, breaking the record once again.
1:02
LoneStarCon 3@LoneStarConAnd now the nominees for the John. W Campbell award.

1:03
Kevin Standlee: JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD FOR BEST NEW WRITER (476 ballots)
Award for the best new professional science fiction or fantasy writer of 2011 or 2012, sponsored by Dell Magazines (not a Hugo Award).
• Zen Cho *
• Max Gladstone
• Mur Lafferty *
• Stina Leicht *
• Chuck Wendig *

*Finalists in their 2nd year of eligibility.

1:03
Kevin Standlee: BEST FAN ARTIST (293 ballots)
• Galen Dara
• Brad W. Foster
• Spring Schoenhuth
• Maurine Starkey
• Steve Stiles

1:04
Kevin Standlee: BEST FAN WRITER (485 ballots)
• James Bacon
• Christopher J Garcia
• Mark Oshiro
• Tansy Rayner Roberts
• Steven H Silver

1:05
Kevin Standlee: BEST FANCAST (346 ballots)
• The Coode Street Podcast, Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe
• Galactic Suburbia Podcast, Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Presenters) and Andrew Finch (Producer)
• SF Signal Podcast, Patrick Hester, John DeNardo, and JP Frantz
• SF Squeecast, Elizabeth Bear, Paul Cornell, Seanan McGuire, Lynne M. Thomas, Catherynne M. Valente (Presenters) and David McHone-Chase (Technical Producer)
• StarShipSofa, Tony C. Smith

1:05
Kevin Standlee: BEST FANZINE (370 ballots)
• Banana Wings edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
• The Drink Tank edited by Chris Garcia and James Bacon
• Elitist Book Reviews edited by Steven Diamond
• Journey Planet edited by James Bacon, Chris Garcia, Emma J. King, Helen J. Montgomery and Pete Young
• SF Signal edited by John DeNardo, JP Frantz, and Patrick Hester

1:06
Kevin Standlee: BEST SEMIPROZINE (404 ballots)
• Apex Magazine edited by Lynne M. Thomas, Jason Sizemore and Michael Damian Thomas
• Beneath Ceaseless Skies edited by Scott H. Andrews
• Clarkesworld edited by Neil Clarke, Jason Heller, Sean Wallace and Kate Baker
• Lightspeed edited by John Joseph Adams and Stefan Rudnicki
• Strange Horizons edited by Niall Harrison, Jed Hartman, Brit Mandelo, An Owomoyela, Julia Rios, Abigail Nussbaum, Sonya Taaffe, Dave Nagdeman and Rebecca Cross

1:07
Kevin Standlee: BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST (519 ballots)
• Vincent Chong
• Julie Dillon
• Dan Dos Santos
• Chris McGrath
• John Picacio

1:07
Kevin Standlee: BEST EDITOR - LONG FORM (408 ballots)
• Lou Anders
• Sheila Gilbert
• Liz Gorinsky
• Patrick Nielsen Hayden
• Toni Weisskopf

1:07
Kevin Standlee: BEST EDITOR - SHORT FORM (526 ballots)
• John Joseph Adams
• Neil Clarke
• Stanley Schmidt
• Jonathan Strahan
• Sheila Williams

1:09
Kevin Standlee: BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (SHORT FORM) (597 ballots)
• Doctor Who: “The Angels Take Manhattan” Written by Steven Moffat, Directed by Nick Hurran (BBC Wales)
• Doctor Who: “Asylum of the Daleks” Written by Steven Moffat; Directed by Nick Hurran (BBC Wales)
• Doctor Who: “The Snowmen” Written by Steven Moffat, Directed by Saul Metzstein (BBC Wales)
• Fringe: “Letters of Transit” Written by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Akiva Goldsman, J.H.Wyman, Jeff Pinkner. Directed by Joe Chappelle (Fox)
• Game of Thrones: “Blackwater” Written by George R.R. Martin, Directed by Neil Marshall. Created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (HBO)

1:10
Kevin Standlee: BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (LONG FORM) (787 ballots)
• The Avengers Screenplay & Directed by Joss Whedon (Marvel Studios, Disney, Paramount)
• The Cabin in the Woods Screenplay by Drew Goddard & Joss Whedon; Directed by Drew Goddard (Mutant Enemy, Lionsgate)
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro, Directed by Peter Jackson (WingNut Films, New Line Cinema, MGM, Warner Bros)
• The Hunger Games Screenplay by Gary Ross & Suzanne Collins, Directed by Gary Ross (Lionsgate, Color Force)
• Looper Screenplay and Directed by Rian Johnson (FilmDistrict, EndGame Entertainment)

1:11
Kevin Standlee: BEST GRAPHIC STORY (427 ballots)
• Grandville Bête Noire written and illustrated by Bryan Talbot (Dark Horse Comics, Jonathan Cape)
• Locke & Key Volume 5: Clockworks written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW)
• Saga, Volume One written by Brian K. Vaughn, illustrated by Fiona Staples (Image Comics)
• Schlock Mercenary: Random Access Memorabilia by Howard Tayler, colors by Travis Walton (Hypernode Media)
• Saucer Country, Volume 1: Run written by Paul Cornell, illustrated by Ryan Kelly, Jimmy Broxton and Goran Sudžuka (Vertigo)

1:12
Kevin Standlee: BEST RELATED WORK (584 ballots)
• The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature Edited by Edward James & Farah Mendlesohn (Cambridge UP)
• Chicks Dig Comics: A Celebration of Comic Books by the Women Who Love Them Edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Sigrid Ellis (Mad Norwegian Press)
• Chicks Unravel Time: Women Journey Through Every Season of Doctor Who Edited by Deborah Stanish & L.M. Myles (Mad Norwegian Press)
• I Have an Idea for a Book… The Bibliography of Martin H. Greenberg Compiled by Martin H. Greenberg, edited by John Helfers (The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box)
• Writing Excuses Season Seven by Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler and Jordan Sanderson

1:12
Kevin Standlee: BEST SHORT STORY (662 ballots)
• “Immersion” by Aliette de Bodard (Clarkesworld, June 2012)
• “Mantis Wives” by Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld, August 2012)
• “Mono no Aware” by Ken Liu (The Future is Japanese, VIZ Media LLC)

Note: category has 3 nominees due to a 5% requirement under Section 3.8.5 of the WSFS constitution.

1:13
Kevin Standlee: BEST NOVELETTE (616 ballots)
• “The Boy Who Cast No Shadow” by Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Postscripts: Unfit For Eden, PS Publications)
• “Fade To White” by Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld, August 2012)
• “The Girl-Thing Who Went Out for Sushi” by Pat Cadigan (Edge of Infinity, Solaris)
• “In Sea-Salt Tears” by Seanan McGuire (Self-published)
• “Rat-Catcher” by Seanan McGuire (A Fantasy Medley 2, Subterranean)

1:14
Kevin Standlee: BEST NOVELLA (587 ballots)
• After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress (Tachyon Publications)
• The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson (Tachyon Publications)
• On a Red Station, Drifting by Aliette de Bodard (Immersion Press)
• San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats by Mira Grant (Orbit)
• “The Stars Do Not Lie” by Jay Lake (Asimov's, Oct-Nov 2012)

1:15
Kevin Standlee: BEST NOVEL (1113 ballots)
• 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit)
• Blackout by Mira Grant (Orbit)
• Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
• Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas by John Scalzi (Tor)
• Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed (DAW)

Congratulations to this year's Hugo nominees!