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Posts Tagged ‘inspiration’

Never put off till tomorrow the book you can read today.

— Holbrook Jackson

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Photo by Sabina Sturzu on Unsplash

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The Nebula Award finalists for 2021 have been announced! (Actually, they were announced over a week ago but I missed it because there’s a lot going on in the world right now, you know? It’s still nice to take a little time for new fiction.)

What’s on the list? Is Uncanny still killing it? (They are.) Are the good folks at Diabolical Plots represented? (They are.) How much of it is free to read right this very? (Links below!) And what do you mean, no Murderbot? Read on!

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Nebula Award for Novel

The Unbroken, C.L. Clark (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
A Master of Djinn, P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom; Orbit UK)
Machinehood, S.B. Divya (Saga)
A Desolation Called Peace, Arkady Martine (Tor; Tor UK)
Plague Birds, Jason Sanford (Apex)

Nebula Award for Novella

A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Becky Chambers (Tordotcom)
Fireheart Tiger, Aliette de Bodard (Tordotcom)
And What Can We Offer You Tonight, Premee Mohamed (Neon Hemlock)
Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters, Aimee Ogden (Tordotcom)
Flowers for the Sea, Zin E. Rocklyn (Tordotcom)
The Necessity of Stars, E. Catherine Tobler (Neon Hemlock)
The Giants of the Violet Sea”, Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 9–10/21)

Nebula Award for Novelette

O2 Arena”, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Galaxy’s Edge 11/21)
Just Enough Rain”, PH Lee (Giganotosaurus 5/21)
(emet)”, Lauren Ring (F&SF 7–8/21) [available free for a limited time]
That Story Isn’t the Story”, John Wiswell (Uncanny 11–12/21)
Colors of the Immortal Palette”, Caroline M. Yoachim (Uncanny 3–4/21)

Nebula Award for Short Story

Mr. Death”, Alix E. Harrow (Apex 2/21)
Proof by Induction”, José Pablo Iriarte (Uncanny 5–6/21)
Let All the Children Boogie”, Sam J. Miller (Tor.com 1/6/21)
Laughter Among the Trees”, Suzan Palumbo (The Dark 2/21)
Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather”, Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny 3–4/21)
For Lack of a Bed”, John Wiswell (Diabolical Plots 4/21) 

Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction

Victories Greater Than Death, Charlie Jane Anders (Tor Teen; Titan)
Thornwood, Leah Cypess (Delacorte)
Redemptor, Jordan Ifueko (Amulet; Hot Key)
A Snake Falls to Earth, Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
Root Magic, Eden Royce (Walden Pond)
Iron Widow, Xiran Jay Zhao (Penguin Teen; Rock the Boat)

Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation

Encanto, Charise Castro Smith, Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Jason Hand, Nancy Kruse, Lin-Manuel Miranda (Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures)
The Green Knight
, David Lowery (Sailor Bear, BRON Studios, A24)
Loki: Season 1
, Bisha K. Ali, Elissa Karasik, Eric Martin, Michael Waldron, Tom Kauffman, Jess Dweck (Marvel Studios)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
, Dave Callaham, Destin Daniel Cretton, Andrew Lanham (Walt Disney Pictures, Marvel Studios)
Space Sweepers,
Jo Sung-hee 조성희 (Bidangil Pictures)
WandaVision: Season 1
, Peter Cameron, Mackenzie Dohr, Laura Donney, Bobak Esfarjani, Megan McDonnell, Jac Schaeffer, Cameron Squires, Gretchen Enders, Chuck Hayward (Marvel Studios)
What We Do in the Shadows: Season 3,
Jake Bender, Zach Dunn, Shana Gohd, Sam Johnson, Chris Marcil, William Meny, Sarah Naftalis, Stefani Robinson, Marika Sawyer, Paul Simms, Lauren Wells (FX Productions, Two Canoes Pictures, 343 Incorporated, FX Network)

Nebula Award for Game Writing

Coyote & Crow, Connor Alexander, William McKay, Weyodi Oldbear, Derek Pounds, Nico Albert, Riana Elliott, Diogo Nogueira, William Thompson (Coyote & Crow, LLC.)
Granma’s Hand, Balogun Ojetade (Balogun Ojetade, Roaring Lion Productions)
Thirsty Sword Lesbians, April Kit Walsh, Whitney Delagio, Dominique Dickey, Jonaya Kemper, Alexis Sara, Rae Nedjadi (Evil Hat Games)
Wanderhome, Jay Dragon (Possum Creek Games)
Wildermyth, Nate Austin, Anne Austin, Douglas Austin (Worldwalker Games, LLC)

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So seriously, you may be asking, no Murderbot? No, but it’s a good thing.

Author Martha Wells graciously declined her nomination as a novella finalist this year for Fugitive Telemetry: Murderbot Diaries, Book 6, published by Tordotcom. Wells felt that the Murderbot Diaries series has already received incredible praise from her industry peers and wanted to open the floor to highlight other works within the community.

— SFWA Announces Nebula Award Finalists – The Nebula Awards®

And that’s that. Go forth and read!

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Photo by Stormseeker on Unsplash

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“It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.”

― Eleanor Roosevelt

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Photo by Vincent Ledvina on Unsplash

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Today is (once again) March 14th or Pi Day. For some background, I’ve written about it before:

3.14 a.k.a. Pi Day

No Pie for Pi Day. Books Instead!

Blueberry Orange Pie

Because today is a Monday there will be no pie for me, but it turns out my every waking moment is likely touched by pi. Yours too.

The New York Times has an interesting article on the history of pi and how embedded it’s become in our daily life.*

Pi Day: How One Irrational Number Made Us Modern

In every field of human endeavor, from reconstructive facial surgery to the simulation of air flowing past a jet’s wing, billions of tiny, discrete elements stand in for an inherently smooth and analog reality. It all began with the computation of pi. Pi represents a mathematical limit: an aspiration toward the perfect curve, steady progress toward the unreachable star.

So I will appreciate all the ways the irrational infinite has come to shape our rational, finite experience.

Also maybe later this week, dessert.

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Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

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* Here’s a bit more history for those who are interested: Which Came First, The Algorithm or the Pi? – Now I Know.

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“It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

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Photo by Jeb Buchman on Unsplash

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Need to take a quick break, maybe get off the planet for a bit? Now’s a great time to visit the Moon!

Send your name to the Moon with NASA’s Artemis mission!

Send Your Name to Space

Add your name here to have it included on a flash drive that will fly aboard Artemis I.

You could even do a little public service and cleanup litter once you’re up there, because Space Junk Just Crashed Into the Far Side of the Moon at 5,800 MPH.

While we’re talking space, you can also check out the current Location Map for Perseverance Rover.

Because sometimes it’s nice to be reminded of the good that humans can do, too.

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Photo by Silas van Overeem on Unsplash

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My father is not into Wordle. I’ll admit that I was a little surprised to learn that the man who helped teach me to read, let us bring books to the dinner table (and anywhere else), and encouraged my every literary step looked at Wordle and said, “Meh, I’m just not that into you.”

But hey, that’s cool. To each their own, right? And today I found something that music lovers like him might prefer.

Meet Heardle – That daily musical intros game.

The answer library appears to draw mostly/exclusively from popular music so it may not be my father’s thing (a classical version would be perfect), but it’s fun to see people pushing the original idea out into other, equally creative spaces.

Speaking of spaces, geography nerds can also check out Worldle. Guess the country from a map outline and clues that hint at distance and direction.

Creative and fun!

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Photo by blocks on Unsplash

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What with the war and the climate and the pandemic and all, the news can be a bit of a nightmare these days. Sometimes it can be hard to stay positive. What might take the edge off?

How about a pep talk from kindergartners?

A new hotline offers pep talks from kindergartners : NPR

If you need a pep talk from kindergartners, press 3. If you need to hear kids laughing with delight, press 4.

Yes, please. And thank you.

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Photo by Ben Wicks on Unsplash

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If you have ever needed to write a ransom-style note* but the decline of printed news has you at a loss, worry no more!

Polona Typo has come to the rescue!

Like many libraries, the National Library of Poland has digitized many of its holdings. They also have an interface that allows you to convert text into images based on scanned letters from their collection.

Sure, there are lots of ransom note generators out there (maybe too many; what are people up to?) but I like mine with a bit of history.

The Polona Typo project, based on the new Polona API, makes it possible to type, share and print your own sentences using thousands of letters from the books, posters and maps created over more than six centuries. Enjoy!

Test it out, reload to get a whole new look or click on individual letters to re-roll one at a time. Download and enjoy (responsibly, of course!).

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Courtesy Polona Typo.

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* Not an actual ransom note, of course. That would be wrong.

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Because some days it’s nice to be reminded that just because something looks impossible doesn’t mean that it is.

Realistic Catfish Drawing Looks Like It’s Swimming Off the Page

The linked video makes the illusion particularly clear.

In completely unrelated news, I’m almost done with my taxes.

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Photo by Kindel Media on Pexels.com

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