Final reminder: Hugo voting coming to a close.

[seanan_mcguire]

Ladies and gentlemen of the 2011 World Science Fiction Convention membership...have you remembered to cast your vote for this year's Hugo Awards? Because if you haven't, you're sort of running out of time; July 31st is your last day to vote.

I am reasonably sure that each and every person on that ballot wants to win. I am no different. But almost as much as I want to win, I want to know that if I lose, it will be because every possible voter looked at the works up for consideration, looked at their ballot, and made their choice fairly and well. I want you all to vote. I want to lose because I lost, not because there was a sale at Ben and Jerry's and we all got rightfully distracted because dude, ice cream.

Please. If you are eligible to vote, it has never been easier to get a clear view of the entire ballot. Thanks to the tireless efforts of the Hugo committee, we have an electronic voting package that is a bibliophile's dream; you can read and consider absolutely everything that's asking for your vote. And if you're not a member yet, but were thinking about it, you can still register with full voting rights if you do it soon.

Make this year's Hugo winners the ones you think deserve those shiny rocket ships.

Vote.

Comments

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

Ice cream?! WHERE?!

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

In mah belly om noms.

[catnip13.livejournal.com]

Having now read all of the nominated works in the 'best novel' category, I can vote for you with a clear conscience and I'd do it even if I didn't know you. D's torn between and Hundred Thousand Kingdoms ( he'll probably vote Feed), but I didn't like any of the other nominees nearly as much.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

That's very sweet. I really do mean it when I say that I just want people to vote; I want to lose fair and square (although naturally, I'd really rather win).

[taldragon.livejournal.com]

Thea Gilmore! she's so awesome :)

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

Agreed! I just bought two more of her CDs.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

World of word.

[madfilkentist]

This year I've read all the nominated novels, for the first time ever. I'm still working on my exact voting order, but let's say you don't have to worry.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Hooray for reading!

[dsmoen.livejournal.com]

I'll be honest: I haven't yet read all of Feed (ever since 2002, when I was voting during Clarion, I've adopted the habit of reading every chapter 1, then triaging the order from that, and I've been busy running conventions), but I will be reading it before I vote. I'm pretty good about finishing all the works before voting.

Fortunately, it generally takes me 1-3 evenings to get through a novel, so I have time.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Hon, I really meant it when I said I wanted people to vote fairly, not just vote for me. If you were unable to finish Feed due to hating it, well...I'd rather you didn't TELL me that, because it would make me sad, but I'd never sulk at you for not voting for me.

[mrs-norris-mous.livejournal.com]

It's worth noting that you can put a preliminary vote in and update it later as needed. For example I have voted on the novels and short stories I have read already.

I can say that Feed is at the top of my list of Novel's so far I enjoyed One hundred thousand kingdoms but I also found it quiet annoying. One of my colleague's at work is also voting and Feed is one of the top two right now, he hasn't quiet decided which way round his top two are.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

True! I think I updated my ballot twice.

[yellowblackhaze.livejournal.com]

I read all the novels, assessed them and made my decision. I think you owe it to the authors to make a proper informed choice.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I want to know that if I lose, it will be because every possible voter looked at the works up for consideration, looked at their ballot, and made their choice fairly and well.

Yes. That's what I feel, too. Hence my advising that people do so. That being said, I did not read Bujold's entry, because I don't want to be spoiled on a lengthy ongoing series just for the sake of my voting purity. I don't think that's a fair thing to ask of me.

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

I have now read all of the:

Novels
Novellas
Novellettes
Short Stories
Graphic Novels

I have seen only four of the Long Form dramatic presentations, and won't vote on that category unless I manage to get in a viewing of Toy Story 3. As we are currently not sure when we can live in our apartment (short version: fire in neighbor's apartment while we were away, no loss of life, some question of when repairs can begin, I consider us quite fortunate), TS3 isn't my priority. But Nook + Hugo Package = Big Win!

I do comprehend that people vote when they haven't read everything or seen everything in the category. I don't. (Insert rant about fan who voted for a movie when said fan had seen none of the entries in that category. Yes, this includes the movie the fan voted for. After all, the fan liked the book on which the movie was based.) This is the first year I consider it honorable for me to vote on any written fiction category other than short story.

Now, if I can only figure out how to convince the SMOFs to put in a list of what the candidates for Best Editor have edited...

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Ack! Fire! Honey, I'm sorry, that sucks.

I will vote when missing one or two items from a category if I know, without argument, that it will not change my vote. I haven't read the Bujold entry in Best Novel; I'm told that, if I do, it will spoil me on earlier books in the series to where I can't enjoy them untainted. Also, I didn't read the Heinlein bio. I bounced off the first chapter, and didn't have enough give a damn to continue.

I would love that list so much.

Totally Off Topic...

[keristor.livejournal.com]

Have you seen the trailer for My Little Serenity? I think you'll like it...

(I'm not eligible to vote, and I think joining just to vote (for one book in one category) would be rather like buying the vote. I don't have time to read all of them, it's currently taking me well over a week per book because by the time I get to bed I read for a few minutes and then fall asleep so I think it wouldn't be fair. But good luck anyway!)

Re: Totally Off Topic...

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I have, and it delights me.

(I totally understand.)

SQUEAK!

[dormouse-in-tea.livejournal.com]

eeeeeeee! I was cleaning / packing the back bookshelves tonight, and found the hundred dollar bill I lost two and a half years ago! (...three? maybe three and a half?)

FREE MONEY! Thanks to the magic juggling involved in households where "people with credit cards" and "people who can manage to go to the bank like an adult" are not fully overlapping sets, I now have a supporting membership and can vote.

I really, really wish I'd read more of the material in the Novel and Campbell categories already, since I do have to spend most of this month packing, but I think I'll be all right. If nothing else I don't have a personal stake in the Campbell this year, my contender not having made the ballot, and Novel probably won't be that hard.

(and no, I'm not automatically voting for Feed because I know you or just because I liked the book -- but I know that Feed had my by the throat and I could not have stopped reading by chapter five, and it never let up, being solid all the way through to the ending. Therefore, if I get five chapters into one of the other books (er....maybe ten in the case of Willis' monstrosity [which I still vehemently disagree with the presence of on this ballot and the Nebulas -- what's next, trilogies being dealt with as a block after the third comes out? 20 book series being a block? ] and I am not really invested in it for any reason, it's off my list. I'd RATHER do a full ranking of all entries, but we'll see!)

Re: SQUEAK!

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

SQUEE YAY MONEY!

(I think this is a really reasonable way to do things. Who was your Campbell contender?)

[lejays17.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty pleased with myself that I've managed to read all novels / novellas / novelettes / short stories so I can make an informed decision on what / who to vote for. I really appreciated the electronic packet as it made it much easier to read all the smaller works without trying to hunt up the various magazines they were originally in.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the things I voted for go at the ceremony.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Awesome!

I'm looking forward to the ceremony being over so I can either have a good cry in my hotel room or hug my Hugo. Either way, it'll be DONE, and that'll be a huge, huge relief.

[memphismaniac.livejournal.com]

I started reading FEED yesterday, and found out that it coulda/shoulda been nominated for the Darrell Award (http://freepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~timgatewood/sf/darrell/) last year! In order to qualify, the work must be speculative fiction/fantasy/horror that is either be written by an author who is living in the greater Memphis area when the work is published OR the work must have at least one significant scene set within that area. Broadly defined, the area is western Tennessee, northern Mississippi, and eastern Arkansas.

And it appears that DEADLINE is Darrell-eligible for 2012 in the Best Novel category, and that you are eligible for the Dal Coger Hall of Fame (http://freepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~timgatewood/sf/darrell/hof.html) award.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Whoa!

[dormouse-in-tea.livejournal.com]

I ask, because you are an author, and you are on the ballot, and so maybe you know!

Do you know WHY Blackout / All Clear is being treated as a single, eligible unit this year? Has there been any discussion of it that I missed?

Because I'm vehemently opposed, but uneducated at the moment.

Found what I needed. I grumpily bow to the will of the people. *is cranky* Get off my lawn, people!

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

My lawn doesn't like your shoes.

[groblek.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the announcement - I think the electronic voter packet is a wonderful resource, as I wouldn't have otherwise picked up several of the nominated works, and I agree on the importance of an informed choice. As it is, I'm reading them while entertaining the baby this month. I'm through the shorter works, and personally a bit underwhelmed by them - which to vote for is going to take some serious thought. Feed hasn't had any serious competition in my mind, though I'm not through all the novels yet (read Cryoburn, liked it, but not as much as Feed.)

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I love that we have access to all this fabulous context now.

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

If I get around to making a post about the Hugos in my blog, may I quote the following there (attributed to you, of course):


If you are eligible to vote, it has never been easier to get a clear view of the entire ballot. Thanks to the tireless efforts of the Hugo committee, we have an electronic voting package that is a bibliophile's dream; you can read and consider absolutely everything that's asking for your vote. And if you're not a member yet, but were thinking about it, you can still register with full voting rights if you do it soon.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Of course.