I didn’t get as much writing done as I wanted to this month. Part of that was the summer warmth that arrived which makes it hard to do anything but enjoy the short Pacific NW summer while it lasts. I’m an oddball and love hot as long as it doesn’t come with humidity, which is pretty much the norm out here. Funny story – we are in a drought. Yup, this here rainforest-y area which gets regular rainfall most of the year is experiencing a drought. But this always happens in the summer. It’s like nature flips a switch from cool and rainy to warm, sunny, and very dry. I’ve had to water my plants so they don’t shrivel into brown nubs. However, this year, the July drought time has been exceptionally dry. The only precipitation we had this month was on the first when we got 0.05″. I think I could spit and produce that much moisture! Check it out: Rainfall in Seattle 2018. Don’t say we are always rainy because July and August will shoot that theory down.
The other reason for a slowdown in writing was for a fun cause: I was busy reading through the Hugo nominations. This entire process begins around December when I freak out and remember I want to do the Hugo thing. I frantically worry about the deadline to apply to the Worldcon in time to do the nominations. So far, I’ve managed to make it under the deadline, whew, then I have to compile a list of all the books I’ve read the past year so I can submit up to six per category. No problem! Um. Well. Maybe. I read A LOT. Even after becoming an author, I still manage to read A LOT, just not as much as before. So from Feb to March, I scramble to submit a list of books, movies, and TV shows I think represent the best of science fiction and fantasy. No pressure!
I tend to read a lot of indie books these days in a feeble attempt to reduce my book spending. As a reading addict, I have to draw the line somewhere! That means many of my nominations are for indie authors who really don’t have much of a shot at winning a nomination spot since the people who sign up to vote are usually into shorts published in magazines and trad pubbed books. Stinks for me if I ever wanted to try for a Hugo (hey, one day it could happen!) or see my favorite indie authors win, but great for my reader self since I don’t get a chance to read a lot of trad pubs these days.
So sometime in March, we submit our nominations and then they come back to us in May with the top six in each category that we have to do a final rank vote on by the end of July. Best part about signing up to do all this: you get a packet with most of the books that made the final round! Cost: $50. Value: way more than that. Then I have to squeeze time in to read all that which meant July became pretty hectic.
In the past few years the nominations were tainted by drama. Fortunately, this year the choices were all very good. Of course, that made it difficult to choose who got that top slot. But that’s a problem I’m happy to have!
If you want my run down of the nominees and my initial thoughts, go here: http://www.thegoldenelm.org/hugo-nominations-2017/
If you want to find out more about the Hugo nominations, go here:
http://www.thehugoawards.org/