Te Shutle December 2015 ! The Next NASFA Meeting is the Christmas Party, Starting 2P Saturday 19 December 2015 at Judy and Sam’s House Concom Meetings are Expected to Resume in January 2016

FUTURE ATMMs & PARTIES d Oyez, Oyez d All NASFAns are invited to the New Year’s Eve party at ! Nancy Cucci and Ray Pietruszka’s house—211 Evalyn Street The next NASFA Meeting will be 19 December 2015, but in Madison. It will operate much like NASFA gatherings; not at the regular time or location. In fact, it will not even be at please bring food to share and your favorite drink. If you need the previously announced location—keep reading for details. further information or directions, contact Ray or Nancy at (256) DECEMBER MEETING 772-3587. All parts of the December NASFA meeting (including the We need After-the-Meeting Meeting volunteers for January Business Meeting, Program, and After-the-Meeting Meeting) 2016 and future months. will be subsumed in the annual NASFA Christmas Party. FUTURE CLUB MEETING DATES That party will be at Sam and Judy Smith’s house (see the Three 2016 NASFA meetings have been changed off of the map on page 2). The gathering will start at 2P. Please bring normal 3rd Saturday due to convention conflicts: food to share and your favorite drink. If you wish to participate • The March 2016 meeting will be on the 26th, one week later in the gift exchange, please bring a single gift ($10–15 range). than usual due to MidSouthCon. The Business Meeting will include at least elections for 2016 • The August 2016 meeting will be on the 13th, one week ear- NASFA officers and possibly the con chair(s) for the 2017 lier than usual due to Worldcon. Con†Stellation. • The October 2016 meeting will be on the 22nd, one week CONCOM MEETINGS later than usual due to Con†Stellation. Con†Stellation XXXIV Concom Meeting have not yet been CHANGING SHUTTLE DEADLINES scheduled, though Doug and Mary say they will probably start Going into 2016, the monthly Shuttle production schedule in January 2016. has not been set but stay tuned as it will certainly be at least a FUTURE PROGRAMS bit different from recent practice. No 2016 programs have been set at press time. Please check the deadline below the Table of Contents each Continuing Our 35th Year of Publication

Inside this issue… Minutes of the October Meeting ...... 4 News & Info ...... 2 Minutes of the November Meeting...... 4 Map to the Christmas Party ...... 2 Awards Roundup ...... 5 NASFA Calendar ...... 3 Art by Piotr Pest Pigłas ...... 5 Deadline for the January 2016 issue of The NASFA Shuttle is Monday 28 December 2015 month to submit news, reviews, LoCs, or other material. We MST3K REBOOT will generally need to enforce that deadline strictly. Joel Hodgson, creator of Mystery Science Theater 3000, is JOINING THE NASFA EMAIL LIST heading a Kickstarter campaign to make a new season of MST3K. email list, which you can do online at . The list is usually low traffic, though the rate is only be a day or two before the campaign deadline. At this rather variable. Generally the list is limited to announcements writing, the appeal had raised over $3.8 million from over about club activities plus the occasional message of general 31,000 donors—closing in on the 2nd stretch goal ($4.4M) that interest to north-Alabama sf/f/h/etc. fans. Non NASFAns are would enable 9 episodes. The final stretch goal ($5.5M) would both encouraged and welcomed to join the list, but please only trigger 12 eps. One of the actors signed on for the project is do so if you’re interested in the above restricted topics. Huntsville native Felicia Day, who will play Kinga, the new NASFA CALENDAR ONLINE villain and daughter of original mad scientist Dr. Forrester. NASFA has an online calendar on Google. Interested parties ! can check the calendar online, but you can also subscribe to it ! and have your Outlook, iCal, or other calendar automatically ! updated as events (Club Meetings, Concom Meetings, local sf/ HUNTSVILLE VS. ZOMBIES f/h/etc. events) are added or changed. You can view the calen- Website TheBlaze.com has ranked Huntsville in their Top 10 dar online at . US cities that could best survive a zombie apocalypse . They rated various cities in three areas: ! resources, defense, and demographics. At #6, Huntspatch rated high in the latter two categories, but fell down a bit in re- News & Info sources. Columbia MO took the top spot, with an overall rating ! of 91.9, only slightly higher than Huntsville’s 90.0. SASQUAN DONATIONS MOVING TO A HIGHER ORBIT Sasquan, the 2015 Worldcon, sent a series of tweets 2 De- Orbit US , the left-side-of-the-At- cember 2015 listing the organizations to which they have lantic sf/f imprint of the Hachette Book Group, has announced passed along part of their surplus (or will do so, in some cases). it will be increasing the number of titles it publishes by 50% to They include “passalong funds” to the next three Worldcons approximately 90 titles each year—beginning Fall 2016. (Kansas City, Helsinki, and the to-be-selected 2018 con), the It was not immediately known how or whether this would Down Under Fan Fund, the Association of Science Fiction & affect the publishing schedules of sister imprints Orbit UK or Fantasy Artists, the WSFS Mark Protection Committee (pro- Orbit Australia. tects Worldcon service marks), efanzines.com, the KC World- WORLD FANTASY AWARD TROPHY DESIGN con (for purposes of bringing an astronaut to the con and other Some Shuttle readers may have been following the contro- NASA related costs), the Worldcon Heritage Organization,Con- versy around the statue of H.P. Lovecraft used these past sever- or-Bust.org (which helps people of color attend sf/f cons), the al decades for the World Fantasy Awards . International Costumers Guild, the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund, Well, technically the controversy is about Lovecraft himself FANAC.org, Westercon 69, and Westercon 70. and his history of racism. Map To Christmas Sam & Judy Smith Party 1501 Slaughter Road

Madison AL 35758 Road Rideout University Drive Slaughter Road Slaughter I-565

Memorial Parkway

From near the I-565/Memorial Parkway intersection, either: (1) Take I-565 West; exit at Madison Boulevard (exit 13); turn right (North) on Slaughter Road; the house is about 3.3 miles ahead, on your right —or— (2) Take University Drive West; stay on University for about 7 miles; turn left (South) on Slaughter Road; the MadisonI-565 Blvd. house is about 1.1 miles ahead, on your left

2 The World Fantasy Convention Board (the ruling body for and Judy Smith’s house (starts at 2P). WFCs and the WFAs) has announced they are seeking submis- 19 BD: Yvonne Penney. sions for a new design for the trophies. Submissions are open 20 BD: Aaron Kennedy. until 2 April 2016. The announcement says, “The ideal design 22 Winter Solstice. will represent both fantasy and horror, without bearing any 24 The Prophet’s Birthday. physical resemblance to any person, living or dead.” Inquiries 24 Christmas Eve. should be emailed to . 25 Christmas Day. CORFLU REDO 26 BD: Michael R. Stone. The next Corflu (33rd in the series of con- 26 First Day of Kwanzaa. ventions for fanzine fans) will be Corflu Chiflu, to be held 13– 31 New Year’s Eve/Nochevieja—NASFAns are invited to a 15 May 2016 at the Club Quarters Hotel in Chicago IL. New Year’s Eve party at Ray Pietruszka and Nancy Supporting memberships are $25/£15. Attending Cucci’s house. memberships are $75/£50 through the end of 2015 JANUARY 2016 and $100/£60 thereafter. Attending memberships 01 New Year's Day/Año Nuevo. include a Sunday lunch banquet. 03 BD: Jim Kennedy. YET MORE J.R.R.T. FROM THE VAULTS 03 BD: Karen Hopkins. The Story of Kullervo, an unfinished Tolkien manuscript 06 BD: Rich Garber. previously published only in untouched form, will see the light 07 Christmas Day (Orthodox). of day again in April 2016 in a new book edited by Verlyn 07 BD: Douglas E. Lampert. Flieger. This new version will include the manuscript plus 07 Collectors Con—Atlanta GA. Tolkien’s author’s drafts, notes, and essays. 08–09 Shadowcon—Memphis TN. Amazon is already listing it for pre-order (and likely other 08–10 GaFilk—Atlanta GA. sellers are too). The list price is $25 (hardcover). At this writ- 08–10 Wizard World—New Orleans LA. ing, Amazon is asking $17.66 for the paper version and $11.99 14 New Year (Orthodox). for the Kindle e-book. 16 BD: Bruce Butler. THE SOLAR SYSTEM—TO SCALE 16* NASFA Meeting—6:30P Business, 7P Program, at Wil- Almost all maps of the Solar System—possibly every one lowbrook Madison. Program: TBD. ATMM: TBD. you’ve ever seen in person—are distinctly Not To Scale. The 16–18 AthCon—Athens GA. distances between the Sun and the various planets are just so, 17–18 Anime & Comic Con—Murfreesboro TN. so, so much bigger than the objects themselves that it’s kind of 18 BD: Martin Luther King (observed). hard to do otherwise in physical form. Fortunately, websites are 20 BD: Larry Montgomery. not limited to, say, the biggest piece of paper you can bind into 22–23 Wizard World—Atlanta GA. a book. 29-31 Chattacon 41—Chattanooga TN. Enter Josh Worth and . Here, the scale is 1 pixel = the diam- FEBRUARY eter of the Moon, and everything is to scale (albeit linearized). 01 National Freedom Day. Scroll right and you’ll quickly see the Sun, about 400 pixels 01 Día de la Constitución. wide. Keep scrolling and there’s a big empty—punctuated by 02 Groundhog Day. an occasional witty observation—until you get to Mercury, a 05 National Wear Red Day. faint dot a bit over a pixel wide. [And no, I don’t know exactly 05–07 Days of the Dead—Atlanta GA. how they draw something 1.4 pixels wide, though there are 05–07 Seishun-Con—Atlanta GA. ways to closely imitate that by manipulating brightness. -ED] 06 AnniCon—Anniston AL. Then there’s a lot more scrolling past another big empty to 06–07 Tennessee Comic Con—Memphis TN. bring you to 3.5 pixels worth of Venus. 08 BD: Lin Cochran. After that, well, you get the idea. 08 Chinese New Year. The site titles itself “A Tediously Accurate Map of the Solar 09 BD: Jack Lundy. System” and it is, in some ways, a bit tedious. Especially after 09 Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras. you manage to scroll past Mars. But, it is also a very good way 10 BD: Marcia Illingworth. to get an idea just how darn big the Solar System really is. 10 Ash Wednesday. ! 12 BD: Abraham Lincoln. ! 14 Valentine’s Day. 15 Presidents’ Day. NASFA Calendar 15 BD: Susan B Anthony. ! 17 BD: Nancy A. Cucci. DECEMBER 19–21 ConNooga—Chattanooga TN. 04–06 Yama-Con—Pigeon Forge TN. 19–21 PurpleBunnyCon—Nashville TN. 07 First Day of Hanukkah. 20* NASFA Meeting—6:30P Business, 7P Program, at Wil- 07 Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. lowbrook Madison. Program: TBD. ATMM: TBD. 09 BD: Maria Grim. 20–21 MGA Con—Macon GA. 12 Bash Of The Empire V—Atlanta GA. 22 BD: George Washington. 12 BD: Toni Weisskopf. 24 Día de la Bandera. 14 Last Day of Hanukkah. 26–28 AnachroCon—Atlanta GA. 17 BD: Robin Ray. 26–28 Concave 37—Bowling Green KY. 19* NASFA Meeting—Business meeting, program, and 26–28 Salute to Supernatural—Nashville TN. ATMM all to be subsumed in Christmas Party at Sam 27–28 ETSU-Con—Johnson City TN. 3 MARCH ternational Airport by President Mary Lampert and the gavel. 02 Read Across America Day. There were 11 current club members, which was maybe a quo- 02 BD: Ronnie Lajoie. rum. (A quorum is 1/3 of the club.) 04–06 AniBlaze—Atlanta GA. OLD BUSINESS 04–06 CoastCon 39—Biloxi MS. None. 04–06 Gnome Con—Savannah GA. NEW BUSINESS 04–06 Star Trek Creation—Atlanta GA. We had a convention. 04–06 Tennessee Game Days XI—Franklin TN. Doug moved that we open officer nominations and Mike K. 04–06 Vampire Diaries—Atlanta GA. seconded. Doug nominated the current slate of suckers (except 05 Cardboard*Con—Atlanta GA. con chair) and Shelly seconded. 08 Día Internacional de la Mujer. Doug nominated Gary Shelton for President, Vice President, 09 BD: Tracey Kennedy. and Publicity Director, all declined. Gary volunteered for 2021 10 BD: Kerry Gilley. con chair. Doug nominated Mike S. for President, Vice Presi- 11–13 AndoCon—Atlanta GA. dent, and Publicity Director, all declined. Doug moved to close 11–13 JoeLanta—Atlanta GA. nominations. Mike K. seconded, and the motion carried many 11–13 Kami Con 8—Birmingham AL. to two. 13 BD: Anita Eisenberg. Mike K. announced that his Vice President and newsletter 13 Daylight Saving Time Begins. role will be dwindling soon. The club will need replacement(s) 16–20 International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts 37 within about a year. He noted that the calendar and minutes are —Orlando FL. the only things the bylaws require in the Shuttle. 17 St. Patrick's Day. CON BUSINESS 18–20 FantaSciCon—Dalton GA. There was nothing new to report for this year. 18–20 MidSouthCon 34—Memphis TN. Next year’s con will probably be at the airport hotel again. 18–20 Tri City Anime—Johnson City TN. We will probably drop the downstairs function space next year, 19 Comic & Pop Culture Expo—Huntsville AL. or use it for just one day. [Plans have already changed, but we 20 Palm Sunday. will be back at the Four Points and we will use less function 20 Spring Equinox. space. -ED] 21 BD:Benito Juárez. There was a discussion of old versus new hotel function 22 BD: Jayson Woosley. space costs. 24 Purim. Doug moved to adjourn at 2:26:27P. 25 Good Friday. The October program was the Con†Stellation 2015 gripe 25–27 Con GT—Clarksville TN. session. The After the Meeting Meeting was the last little bit of 25–27 Full Moon Festival—Nashville TN. the con and the Dead Dog Party. 25–27 MTAC—Nashville TN. ! 26* NASFA Meeting—6:30P Business, 7P Program, at Wil- ! lowbrook Madison. Program: TBD. ATMM: TBD. NOTE: This is one week later than usual due to a November Minutes conflict with MidSouthCon. by Steve Sloan 27 Easter Sunday. ! 31–03 Camp Furry Weekend—Atlanta GA. The November meeting of the North Alabama Science Fic- OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO tion Association was called to order on Saturday, November 21, The North Alabama Science Fiction Association meets on the 2015, in the Madison satellite location of Willowbrook Baptist third Saturday of each month. (Unless there is a large nearby Church at 6:36:45P by President Mary Lampert. The crickets convention being held that weekend—in which case we often still work. move the meeting to the second or fourth Saturday.) The regu- OLD BUSINESS lar meeting location is the Madison campus of Willowbrook Officer nominations: Sam nominated himself for both Pub- Baptist Church, (old Wilson Lumber Company building)— licity and Treasurer. Sam nominated Gary for President. Ray 7105 Highway 72W. The Executive Committee meeting (if didn’t want any position. We still needed a Con†Stellation 2017 scheduled) is before the business meeting. The business meet- con chair (convention committee chair). Doug said that as con ing is at 6:30P. The program is at 7P. Anyone is welcome to chair, he would have one guest and half a track of program- attend any of the meetings. There is usually an after-the-meet- ming. Sam nominated Doug for Con†Stellation 2017 con chair. ing meeting with directions available at the program. Judy and Sue were considering it. Sam moved to close nomina- ! tions, but there was no second. Shelly nominated Judy and Sue ! for Con†Stellation 2017 con chair and someone seconded. Sam moved to close nominations, Doug seconded, and the motion October Minutes carried. by Steve Sloan NEW BUSINESS ! Sue was going to host the NASFA Christmas Party, but now [Due to timing issues, the minutes of the October meeting were she can’t do it. Judy and Sam agreed to take over, so the not ready by the time the previous issue of the Shuttle had to be Christmas Party will be held at their house. The usual rules put to bed. This issue will, therefore carry both the October and apply: bring a $10 to $15 gift to exchange, and food and drink November NASFA Minutes. -ED] to share. It will still start at 2P. The October meeting of the North Alabama Science Fiction Sam and Mike K. went over conventions listed in the South- Association was called to order on Saturday, October 18, 2015, ern Fandom Resource Guide that might conflict with third Sat- at 2:06:25P at the Con†Stellation 2015 hotel at Huntsville In- urdays (the usual day for NASFA meetings) in 2016. In March, 4 they found MidSouthCon 34 in Memphis. Judy moved that we Artist ...... Dan O’ Driscoll, covers for Bundoran Press and move the meeting to March 26, Shelly seconded, and the mo- On Spec magazine tion carried. In August, they found the 74th Worldcon in Kansas Fan Publication ...... Speculating Canada, Derek City. Sam moved to move the meeting to August 13, Doug Newman-Stille, ed. seconded, and the motion barely carried because the “pros” Fan Music ...... Kari Maaren, YouTube Channel weren’t paying attention, and the usual “cons” almost outnum- Fan Organizational ...... Sandra Kasturi, Chair, bered them. There was an obvious convention conflict in Octo- Chiaroscuro Reading Series: Toronto ber, Con†Stellation. Sam moved to move the NASFA meeting Fan Related Work ...... Derek Newman-Stille, Speculating to October 22, Mike K. seconded, and the motion carried. Canada on Trent Radio 92.7 FM In summary, three NASFA meetings were moved, and the ISFiC WRITERS CONTEST WINNER new dates will be March 26, August 13, and October 22, 2016. The winner of the 2015 Illinois Science Fiction in Chicago CON BUSINESS ISFiC Writers Contest (for previously unpub- Maria volunteered to run the Con Suite for Con†Stellation lished works of sf/f) was M. Aruguete for “Catamount.” 2016. Aruguete received a membership to Windycon 42 , held 13–15 November 2015 at the Westin 2015 helpers and officers. Lombard Yorktown Center in Lombard (Chicago area) IL plus Craig agreed to run gaming for Con†Stellation 2016. hotel accommodations and $300. Additionally the winning Sam had Con†Stellation 2015 con artifacts available for the story was included in the con’s program book and will be taking. archived on the ISFiC website. Sam reported that Con†Stellation 2015 lost about $6000. ENDEAVOUR AWARD Next year’s hotel costs should be much cheaper. Next year we The winner of the 2015 Endeavour Award (for “a distinguished science or fantasy written by ming rooms. a Pacific Northwest author or authors”) was announced at Judy nominated Chris to run Publicity, especially on Face- OryCon 37 <37.orycon.org>, held 20–22 November 2015 at book, and Mike K. seconded. the Waterfront Portland Marriott in Portland OR. The winner Toni Weisskopf has agreed to be an Also Attending next year. was Last Plane to Heaven, Jay Lake (Tor Books). Doug moved to adjourn at 7:09:16P. Since the award was posthumous, it was not immediately The November program was a presentation and reading by obvious to the Shuttle who received the prize (consisting of Jamie Marchant, author of The Goddess’s Choice, The Soul $1000 and an etched glass plaque). Stone, and an upcoming untitled book in her epic fantasy trilo- ROTSLER AWARD gy, The Kronicles of Korthlundia. The After the Meeting Meet- The winner of the 2015 Rotsler Award (for “long-time wonder-working ! with graphic art in amateur publications of the science fiction ! community”) was announced at Loscon 42 , held 27–29 November 2015 at the Los Angeles Airport Mar- Awards Roundup riott in Los Angeles CA. The winner was Teddy Harvia, who ! received a $300 honorarium. PRIX AURORA AWARDS GOODREADS CHOICE AWARDS The 2015 Prix Aurora Awards The 2015 Goodreads Choice Awards (for Canadian literary and fan works) were presented at the (for the “best books of 2015”) have been announced. The full Canadian natcon, Canvention 35, (hosted by SFContario 6 ) held 20–22 November 2015 at the Ramada Plaza choiceawards/best-books-2015>. In sf/f/h-related categories, Hotel in Toronto ON. Voting statistics are available at . The winners are: Science Fiction ...... Golden Son, Pierce Brown (Del Rey) English Novel ...... A Play of Shadow, Julie E. Czerneda Fantasy ...... Trigger Warning: Short Fictions (DAW Books) and Disturbances, Neil Gaiman (Morrow) English YA Novel (tie) ...Lockstep, Karl Schroeder (Tor Books) Horror ...... Saint Odd, Dean Koontz (Bantam) and Out of This World, Charles de Lint (Razorbill Canada) Debut Goodreads Author ...... Red Queen, Victoria Aveyard English Short Fiction ...... “Crimson Sky,” Eric Choi (HarperTeen) (Analog July/August 2015) YA Fantasy & Science Fiction ...... Queen of Shadows, English Poem/Song ...... “A Hex, With Bees,” Tony Pi Sarah J. Maas (Bloomsbury Children’s) (Wrestling With Gods: Tesseracts Eighteen, EDGE) Middle Grade & Children’s ...... Magnus Chase and the English Graphic Novel ...... It Never Rains, Kari Maaren Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer, Rick Riordan (Webcomic) (Disney Hyperion) English Related Work ...On Spec, Copper Pig Writers’ Society Graphic Novels & Comics ...... Saga, Volume 4, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image) ANNIE AWARDS NOMS Nominees for the 43rd Annual Annie Awards (for “the year’s best in the field of animation”) have been announced by the International Animated Film Soci- ety/ASIFA-Hollywood . The list is extremely long—it would run around 4 pages in the Shuttle—and not completely focused on © Piotr Pest Pigłas, https://www.behance.net/Pest—Untitled. Use herein per genre animation, so check the award website at Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC 4.0). No substantive modifications made from source material; resized to fit. to see the full list. 5 P. O. Box 4857! Huntsville AL 35815-4857

***************************************************************************************************************** The NASFA Shuttle is the newsletter of the North Alabama Science Fiction Association, Inc. This is the December 2015 edition (Volume 35, Number 12). NASFA Officers for 2015: President Mary Lampert; Vice President Mike Kennedy; Secretary Steve Sloan; Treasurer Sam Smith; Program Director “JudySue Thornsmythe”; Publicity Director Jenna Stone. Shuttle Editor Mike Kennedy. Comments, inquiries, and contributions of writing by email to: [email protected]—EDITORIAL ADDRESS (EMAIL) Comments, inquiries, and contributions of writing by snailmail to: Mike Kennedy, 7907 Charlotte Drive SW, Huntsville AL 35802-2841—EDITORIAL ADDRESS (SNAILMAIL) Dues ($), subscriptions ($), and Official Mail to: NASFA, Inc., P. O. Box 4857, Huntsville AL 35815-4857—OFFICIAL ADDRESS Contents Copyright, © 2015. All rights revert to contributors. All opinions are those of the individual authors and do not reflect club policies other than by coincidence. LoCs subject to edited printing. NASFA Dues = $25/year (Family rates available) Subscription only = $15/year Single copy = $2 each. *****************************************************************************************************************