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Posts Tagged ‘entertainment’

Oh hey, don’t ask me how but it’s the end of October already. This holiday I bring you the winner of The Most Awesome Costume award (as determined by yours truly):

/zomg, now I so want a speeder:)
Happy Halloween!

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In case you missed it this weekend, the winners of the 2016 Nebula Awards for excellence in science fiction and fantasy have been announced.

While none of the winners for best novel, novella, novelette or short story are available to all, check out the list. Some nominees are still free to read. Examples include:

Enjoy!

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Always.

Self-portrait as Stormtrooper

Today’s quote: “We’re more complex than you think.

Open the blast doors! Open the blast doors!

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I had a post in mind for today that I thought would be cool but, sadly, it’s not ready. Rather than go with something that’s not right, I’m setting it aside until I can do a good job or come up with something better. So in the end, what did I choose as Today’s Thing I Like? Popcorn:)

Here’s an excerpt from the family cookbook to tell you why.

Popcorn
My whole family can make this with their eyes closed, but Dad really deserves credit for setting new and higher standards for butter and salt consumption. He is blessed with a genetic tolerance for such unhealthy behavior; his blood pressure and cholesterol levels are lower than mine.

For years he’d head to the kitchen after dinner, and a few minutes later I’d hear pop pop! as hot oil turned the first kernels inside out. A few minutes more and we’d be piled on the couch with huge bowls of popcorn and masses of paper towels.

There was no television in the house growing up but at some point we acquired a copy of Star Wars and a video monitor. This was back before Blockbusters popped up down the street (or closed down, for that matter), and there were certainly no DVD players.

The tape was black and white and we watched it on a Beta machine. (Don’t remember Beta? That’s funny, no one else does either.) My brother and I watched that tape until it died, literally came apart from use. To this day I can still reel off an annoying amount of dialog and get excited when I see Star Wars in color. What could be better than a cold drink, a hot bowl of popcorn, and reciting C3PO’s lines with people you love?

 

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In case you missed it this weekend, the winners of the 2015 Nebula Awards for excellence in science fiction and fantasy have been announced. Women won big.

Given that, today’s free fiction will be a double-header. The winners for Best Novelette and Best Short Story are available to all online. Enjoy!

Find the complete list of winners and nominees over at io9 or SFWA. Congratulations to all!

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For today’s free fiction I’ve chosen George R.R. Martin’s “A Night at the Tarn House.” First published in the Songs of the Dying Earth anthology, you can read this story at Clarkesworld (there’s a free audio version too, if you prefer). Does Martin need an introduction at this point? I think not:)

TARN HOUSE
Half a League On
Famous for Our Hissing Eels

Who doesn’t love hissing eels? Honestly!

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So there I was, submitting a story to Daily Science Fiction, when I stumbled upon “Shark’s Teeth” by T.A. Pratt. Now, I wasn’t planning to post this or any other DSF story because I didn’t want anyone (hello DSF editors!) to think I was sucking up, but hey, it’s a fun story. It also put me onto Pratt’s Marla Mason series, and I love finding new worlds to explore.

Marla Mason, sorcerer in exile, looked over the railing of the balcony, down at the lavish resort hotel’s pool with its swim-up bar and tanned, happy people lounging on chairs, and thought, I can’t take another day of this.

“I can’t take another day of this,” she said aloud…

Time to stock up on lembas a.k.a. chocolate chip cookies (my exploring food of choice, feel free to substitute as necessary!) and find a copy of Marla’s introductory novel, the 2007 Blood Engines🙂

Enjoy!

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I don’t know about you but (for fairly uncomplicated reasons involving a working weekend) I’m taking at least part of today off. I plan to read. A lot. I plan to read stories like Caroline Yoachim’s recent piece “Welcome to the Medical Clinic at the Interplanetary Relay Station | Hours Since the Last Patient Death: 0“, available free to all at Lightspeed Magazine.

Enjoy!

🍁

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Today’s free fiction selection is Elizabeth Bear’s “And the Balance in Blood,” from the November/December 2015 issue of Uncanny.

Bear writes both novels and terrific, frequently magical shorts.* (“Tideline,” a 2008 Hugo award-winner from Asimov’s Science Fiction, holds a special place in my heart, but the text version isn’t freely available [audio link at Escape Pod].)

If you’re curious about Bear’s other works or where to start with her (many) series, check out Tor.com’s helpful article Where To Start with the Work of Elizabeth Bear.

Enjoy!

* Also, what a great pen name. Makes me want to write as Jennifer Okapi or Swan or Fossa:)

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For today’s dose of free fiction we have a short story by Joe Haldeman. Haldeman is a Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inductee (2012), author of The Forever War and many, many other works, and retired MIT writing professor.

None So Blind” won the Locus and Hugo Awards for 1995’s best short story, and first appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine.

Enjoy!

 

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