The 2013 Hugo Award Nominees

April 12, 2013April 13, 2013 / Susan O. / 1 Comment

Congratulations to all of Hugo Award nominees for 2013! The Hugo award is given to the year’s best science fiction, including print, film, podcasts, art, and fans. The Hugos are awarded at the annual World Science Fiction Convention, which will be held this year at LoneStarCon 3 in San Antonio, Texas, August 29-September 2, 2013. This year’s toastmaster will be British author Paul Cornell.

This year’s nominees are:

Best Novel

2312, Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit)
Blackout, Mira Grant (Orbit)
Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance, Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas, John Scalzi (Tor)
Throne of the Crescent Moon, Saladin Ahmed (DAW)

Best Novella

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

Best Novelette

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

Best Short Story

“Immersion”, Aliette de Bodard ( Clarkesworld, June 2012)
“Mantis Wives”, Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld, August 2012)
“Mono no Aware”, Ken Liu (The Future is Japanese, VIZ Media LLC)

Best Related Work

The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature, Edited by Edward James & Farah Mendlesohn (Cambridge University Press)
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, Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler and Jordan Sanderson

Best Graphic Story

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, written and illustrated 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)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

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)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

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)
“Blackwater”, Written by George R.R. Martin, Directed by Neil Marshall. Created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (HBO)

Best Editor, Short Form

John Joseph Adams
Neil Clarke
Stanley Schmidt
Jonathan Strahan
Sheila Williams

Best Editor, Long Form

Lou Anders
Sheila Gilbert
Liz Gorinsky
Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Toni Weisskopf

Best Professional Artist

Vincent Chong
Julie Dillon
Dan dos Santos
Chris McGrath
John Picacio

Best Semiprozine

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

Best Fanzine

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

Best Fancast

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

Best Fan Writer

James Bacon
Christopher J. Garcia
Mark Oshiro
Tansy Rayner Roberts
Steven H Silver

Best Fan Artist

Galen Dara
Brad W. Foster
Spring Schoenhuth
Maurine Starkey
Steve Stiles

The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
Award for the best new professional science fiction or fantasy writer of 2011 or 2012, sponsored by Dell Magazines. (Not a Hugo Award, but administered along with the Hugo Awards.)

Zen Cho
Max Gladstone
Mur Lafferty
Stina Leicht
Chuck Wendig

This Disc Won’t Play! (part 1, Fingering the Culprit)

April 8, 2013April 6, 2013 / Susan O. / 2 Comments

You’ve put in your favorite CD or DVD, and the stupid thing just won’t play! It skips, it freezes, it pixelates into pretty colors, or the player spits it out and declares “Bad Disc!” Your heart was set on that, and now you’re out of luck and your kids are getting cranky.

Don’t despair! The solution is often very simple. By far, the most common, annoying, easily fixable problem with disc materials is FINGERPRINTS. Turn it over and look at the non-label side. It should look like a mirror. Are there fingerprints? Is coffee spilled on it? Or maple syrup (that’s happened)? CLEAN THE DISC.

“But it’s a library disc!” you say. “If I damage it, they’ll charge me!” Don’t worry. While discs are fragile, they’re more durable than you think. Some of our discs have been used more than 150 times and still play fine. CDs and DVDs are made from polycarbonate, with a layer of foil (gold or aluminum) protected by a layer of lacquer. That’s the same plastic as your eyeglasses! General rule is, if it’s safe for your eyeglasses, it’s perfectly safe for a disc. You can clean them with eyeglass cleaner, water, hand sanitizer, baby wipes, even liquid dish soap, but *make sure you clean them with a liquid*. You can even rinse them under the tap if you must. To dry them, you can use a glass-cleaning cloth, a clean piece of flannel, or in a pinch, a clean cotton dishcloth or Tshirt.

DON’T: rub the mark with something dry, use a paper towel, newspaper, or rough cloth. All these things will leave fine scratches on the polycarbonate. If the laser can’t penetrate the polycarbonate layer, it can’t read your disc. You can clean them with Windex or window cleaner, but repeated exposure to the ammonia in them can eventually dull and damage your disc. Don’t run them through the dishwasher.

Clean the disc, try it again. Audio CDs (music or audiobooks) are very forgiving. They can look scratched and still play fine. Sometimes it’s the player: what plays perfectly in your computer or your cd player won’t play right in your car. DVDs, with their video component, are much fussier, and Blu-rays the fussiest of all. If it still won’t play right, bring it back, but stick a note on it or tell us, and we’ll give it a more thorough diagnostic. Be especially careful with those awful double-sided DVDs – always hold them from the very edge, or you’ll be cleaning one side while dirtying the other.

With a little polish and a little luck, you’ll be singing along again in no time!

Make Tonight the Night

March 25, 2013April 1, 2013 / Susan O. / 1 Comment

Ever notice how some people seem to have it all – talent, timing, and a killer smile? John Barrowman has all that, and more. Born in Scotland and raised in Illinois, Barrowman is an actor with a huge array of talents. You may not know his name, but you may have come across his face. He’s performed on Broadway (Anything Goes, Putting It Together), done extensive theater in London’s West End, done American TV (Titans, Central Park West, Desperate Housewives), frequently featured on BBC programs (including Any Dream Will Do and Tonight’s the Night), appeared in feature films (The Producers, De-Lovely), and written three books. He is most well-known for the lead role of the time-hopping, immortal rascal Captain Jack Harkness on the BBC TV series Dr. Who and Torchwood. And on top of all that, Barrowman is a singer.

And an accomplished singer at that – he has more than ten albums to his credit, some of which have debuted as high as number twelve on the British album charts. Whether he honed his voice on Broadway, or it was his voice that put him there is anyone’s guess, but he certainly has the capability to belt out a tune with the best of them.

Cheshire Library recently acquired his album, Tonight’s the Night: The Very Best of John Barrowman. Barrowman is a showman, singing cover songs, but if you like easy listening – Barry Manilow, Neil Sedaka, Broadway singers, America’s Got Talent – give Barrowman a try! This album is nice in that it allows enough of a variety to really showcase some of his talent. My favorite tracks: You’re Just to Good to Be True and The Winner Takes It All. Weakest: Few people should be singing The Police, outside of The Police, and his Americanized over-enunciation on She’s Always A Woman bothers me. Barrowman has a fantastic voice that tends to be held back by poor musical direction – slow, plodding music does him no good. He needs those catchy all-out showtunes to really shine – and he’s one star that shines very brightly.

The Great Gig in the Sky

March 18, 2013 / Susan O. / Leave a comment

This month marks the 40^th anniversary of one of the most seminal rock albums of all time: Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, which was released in March of 1973.

Dark Side of the Moon, with its iconic album cover of a prism and rainbow on a black background, holds the American record for most weeks spent on the album charts – 741 weeks. That’s more than 14 years! Johnny Mathis had been the previous record holder, at 10 years on the charts. Most major music lists consistently place the album in the top 50 rock albums of all time.

Dark Side became Pink Floyd’s most successful album at more than 50 million copies sold, more than double their hugely successful 1979 rock opera, The Wall. The album was Pink Floyd’s first attempt at a concept album, loosely following former bandmate Syd Barrow’s decent into mental illness, as later would The Wall. Interspersed among the lyrical 12-string guitar solos and ethereal synthesizers are snippets of conversation, clocks, helicopters, and of course, the rhythmic banging and chiming of cash registers at the start of Money – an early melodical version of Stomp!, combined with classic rock beats and timeless lyrics.

I received my first copy of the album sometime around 1978 – so long ago I had the album on 8-track! Now, on CD, it remains perhaps one of my top-20 favorite albums, wonderful for relaxing to or as a background music for writing or painting. My favorite way of listening to it? With noise-canceling headphones, in total darkness, where the quadraphonic effects bounce around you out of nowhere, the music carries you away, and you lose all track of time. If you haven’t experienced the album, give this piece of music history a try. If you have, it’s the perfect chance to reacquaint yourself with a classic.

I Sing the Body Elektra

March 5, 2013March 8, 2013 / Susan O. / Leave a comment

Did you know that March is International Women’s month? In 1977, the United Nations declared March 8 International Women’s Day, a day for women’s rights and world peace. This year’s theme is “A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women.” One way to support women is through their music.

Women have long been an important part of the music scene. Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind, who toured with P.T. Barnum in 1850, was arguably America’s first singing superstar, performing more than 93 concerts and earning more than $350,000 – today’s equivalent of more than $10 million.

The first female Grammy winner was Ella Fitzgerald – who won in 1959, 1960, and 1961! Ella won for Best Female Pop artist, but we file her sultry swing under Jazz. Check out Ella’s albums Pure Ella, Ella Sings the Cole Porter Songbook, and The Ella Fitzgerald Gold Collection.

The first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, however, was Aretha Franklin, in 1987. Cheshire Public Library has several of Aretha’s albums, including The Great American Songbook, Jewels in the Crown, and the Very Best of Aretha Franklin.

The top-selling female singer of all time? Madonna, with certified sales of more than 160 million albums. That puts her at the fourth-highest selling performer of all time, after Elvis, the Beatles, and Michael Jackson. Not bad company at all for a Material Girl!