2012 Short Fiction Award Info

Original Text from late-2011:

For the first time, I am eligible to nominate works for the Nebula Awards presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. I am working at developing a list of stories which I have read and greatly enjoyed and will be considering as possible candidates for nomination.

This list is incomplete and likely will remain so until close to the February 15th, 2013 deadline as I have a good bit of reading to catch up on. It will also likely end up with many more stories than the five I am allowed to nominate per category, particularly for Short Story and Novelette. Nevertheless, if you are also reading short fiction for nominations I hope you might consider checking out some of these stories. And if you're reading strictly for pleasure, I would also endorse each and every one of these stories for those purposes.

Updated: 2/12/2013:

I haven't done nearly as good of a job as I had hoped at catching up on reading. It's a truly daunting task! This is something I hope to do better at as 2013 turns into 2014. I'm going to read as much as I can the rest of this week before the deadline arrives. I wanted to add a few stories for anyone still reading, though.

Stories are listed in no particular order other than chronologically by when I added them to this list.

Short Stories

(First three stories were added 2/12/13)
"A Bead of Jasper, Four Small Stones" by Genevieve Valentine - October, 2012 Clarkesworld
"Sensitive, Compartmented" by Gray Rinehart - April-May, 2012 Asimov's SF
"The Sea of Trees" by Rachel Swirsky - The Future is Japanese
"Nightfall in the Scent Garden" by Claire Humphrey - March 5, 2012 Strange Horizons
"Harrowing Emily" by Megan Arkenberg - Shimmer #15
"Scarred" by Damien Winter Grintalis - Fireside #2

Novelettes

"Electrica" by Sean McMullen - March/April 2012 The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
"Troll Blood" by Peter Dickinson - September/October 2012 The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
"Heaven's Touch" by Jason Sanford - August 2012 Asimov's Science Fiction

Novellas

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One Short Story of My Own

Finally, there is a single story of my own which I would like to point readers toward as they consider their nominations for Short Story awards. "Scraps" was published in October at Daily Science Fiction. It is both my personal favorite of my short stories and the one which has received the most praise from others. In December, a reviewer for Diabolical Plots wrote of it: "The story is a reflection that many people who have lost a loved one who were difficult to love can identify with." He also called it "wonderful" and "a must read."

"Kelly signs for possession of the fireproof box and wonders what her mother had felt the need to protect. No jewelry, that all would have been hocked years ago--cigarette money. Back when they still talked, Kelly always told her mom the cigarettes would kill her.

She hadn't imagined it happening so suddenly.

She is tired from the overnight drive and stares at the only legacy left to her. Of course there's no key. It seems a perfect coda to her mother's life, until the helpful officer tells her how easy it is to pop the lock.

She thanks him and leaves the station, carrying what had been transformed from a little mystery into something mundane. Just another problem with a half-assed solution."

Those are the opening four paragraphs of Scraps. It is relatively-short, approximately 1600 words, so I hope you will consider going to Daily Science Fiction and reading the rest, whether you are reading for short story nominations for awards or not. Thank you!