Te Shutle February 2014 The Next NASFA Meeting is Saturday 8 February 2014 at the Regular Location This is one week earlier than usual due to a church conflict Con†Stellation Town Hall 5P Sat. 22 February at The DeeP Concom Meeting Sunday 23 February; Time & Place TBD Also, please stay to help clean up. We need to be good guests d Oyez, Oyez d and leave things at least as clean as we found them. CONCOM MEETINGS The next NASFA Meeting will be 6P Saturday 8 February The schedule for Con†Stellation XXXIII concom meetings 2014 at the regular meeting location—the Madison campus of is still flexing a bit but the next full meeting will be Sunday 23 Willowbrook Baptist Church (old Wilson Lumber Company building) at 7105 Highway 72W (aka University Drive). Please see the map at right if you need help finding it.

Note that this is one week earlier than usual, to avoid a Road Jeff Kroger church conflict. FEBRUARY PROGRAM The February program will be a talk by Stephanie Osborne US 72W on “Wibbly Wobbly Ti- (aka University Drive) mey Wimey Stuff, or Time Travel in the Real World.” Book five in Stephanie’s Displaced Detective series—A Case of Spontaneous Combustion—is due out later this year.

Books six and seven are said to be in work , while the eighth Map To book is finished but won’t be published until after 5–7. Parking FEBRUARY ATMM Meeting The February After-The-Meeting Meeting will be hosted by Location Willowbrook Madison Maria and Adam Grim, at the church. The usual rules ap- 7105 Highway 72W ply—that is, please bring food to share and your favorite drink. Huntsville AL 35806 Continuing Our 34th Year of Publication

Inside this issue… Awards Roundup !...... 4 News & Info!...... 2 No Need for a Questing Beast—Chapter 4!...... 6 Minutes of the January Meeting!...... 2 Letters of Comment!...... 7 NASFA Calendar!...... 3 Art by The Concentrium!...... 9 Deadline for the March 2014 issue of The NASFA Shuttle is Monday 17 February 2014 February 2013. Stay tuned for the exact time and the location. com/zone/worldcon>. The deadline for filing a bid with this Con chair Craig Goodrick has already held one “Town year’s Worldcon (Loncon 3 ) is 11.59P EST, Hall” meeting (at The DeeP Comics and Games) to open Saturday 15 February 2014 (4.59A GMT, Sunday 16 February) communications with the wider fannish community, including so until then all bidders are unofficial. That said, a long- people who came to anticipated bid is also expected from Kansas City so it might appear Beijing would be a long shot. past but no longer do. DUFF VOTING OPENS The second Town Hall Voting for the 2014 Down Under Fan Fund is open. The will be 5P Saturday 22 Down Under Fan Fund is in a North-to-South year; the winner February. It will again will represent North America while attending the 53rd Austra- be held at The DeeP—in New lian natcon (Continuum X , to be held the upper floor of their Location 6–9 June 2014 at the InterContinental Melbourne The Rialto in new location (the former Old Melbourne Australia) and visiting elsewhere in Australia and/or Mock Electronics build- Location New Zealand. ing). Further such meet- The candidates are Aurora Celeste and Juanita Coulson. ings will be held ap- Votes are due by midnight PST 31 March 2014 and can be sent proximately monthly by postal mail or PayPal; the somewhat complex details are until sometime this explained on the ballot at . To vote you do have to make a dona- about the con to go to one of these. tion ($5 AUS/CAD/US or $7 NZ or more) and have been an CHANGING SHUTTLE DEADLINES active fan by or before the beginning of 2014. The latest tweak to the NASFA Shuttle schedule shifted the WORLDCON PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION usual repro date somewhat to the right (roughly the weekend Loncon 3 has announced a science fiction-themed photogra- before each meeting) but much of each issue will need to be phy competition open to both amateur and professional photog- put to bed as much as two weeks before the monthly meeting. raphers. There is an entry fee separate from any Worldcon Please check the deadline below the Table of Contents each membership. There are cash prizes and any winner who is not a month to submit news, reviews, LoCs, or other material. We Worldcon member will also be given a one-day admission. The will generally need to enforce that deadline strictly. categories are Alien Earth, Future Cities Today, and Junior FUTURE PROGRAMS AND ATMMs (ages 15 and under, on any science fiction or fantasy theme). Future programs include: The entry fees are £10 (senior categories) and £2 (junior •! March and forward: TBD. category). First through third prizes are £100/50/25 (senior We need ATMM volunteers for all future months in 2014 categories) and £50/30/20 (junior category). except (possibly) November. YET ANOTHER IMPRINT FUTURE CLUB MEETING DATES Simon & Schuster recently announced a new adult sf/f im- NASFA meeting dates for three months in 2014 have been print, Simon451. There’s a clear digital bent in their charter, shifted away from the normal 3rd Saturday. though print books will also be part of the mix. The focus is •! This month (February 2014) the meeting was moved one said to be on e-book originals and digital-first projects plus week earlier to 8 February to avoid a church conflict. reissuing backlist titles as e-books. The imprint name is, of •! The March 2014 meeting was moved one week earlier to course, homage to Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. 8"March to avoid Tennessee Game Days. •! The May 2014 meeting was moved one week later to 24"May to avoid DSC 52. JOINING THE NASFA EMAIL LIST January Minutes All NASFANs who have email are urged to join the NASFA by Steve Sloan email list, which you can do online at . The list is usually low traffic, though the rate The January meeting of the North Alabama Science Fiction is rather variable. Generally the list is limited to announce- Association was called to order on Saturday, January 18, 2014, ments about club activities plus the occasional message of gen- in the Madison satellite location of Willowbrook Baptist eral interest to north-Alabama sf/f/h/etc. fans. Non NASFAns Church at 6:18:27P by Vice President Mike Kennedy. President are encouraged and welcomed to join the list, but please only Mary Lampert was in class, and she had the gavel with her, so do so if you’re interested in the above restricted topics. Mike downloaded a gavel sound for his iPad. He also down- NASFA CALENDAR ONLINE loaded virtual crickets. NASFA has an online calendar on Google. Interested parties OLD BUSINESS can check the calendar online, but you can also subscribe to it None. and have your Outlook, iCal, BlackBerry, or other calendar NEW BUSINESS automatically updated as events (Club Meetings, Concom Sam’s “got crap.” Meetings, local sf/f/h/etc. events) are added or changed. You Dues are due. can view the calendar online at . The next meeting is February 8. Sam and Judy will be re- turning from a trip that afternoon and should be back in time to open the church, but just in case, the key should be left with someone else. Shelley volunteered. News & Info New club credit cards have been ordered for a few of the officers, but the cards haven’t arrived yet. BEIJING WORLDCON BID The church will be putting in a new stage, so we will have to News has surfaced of a 2016 Worldcon bid Atlanta GA. Doug moved that we table this issue for one month. The 08! BD: Lin Cochran. motion was seconded and carried. (We must have been really 08*! NASFA Meeting—6P Business, 7P Program, at Wil- serious about this issue by the way, because no one even men- lowbrook Madison. Program: Stephanie Osborne: tioned the US versus British meanings of “table.”) “Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey Stuff, or Time Travel in Mike K. suggested that the 2015 con chairs be consulted, the Real World.” ATMM: Maria and Adam Grim, host- then we will bring up this issue next month. ing at the church. NOTE: This is one week earlier than Mike K. opened a “thank you” letter from SciQuest. usual to avoid a church conflict. Mike K. mentioned that we received a novel from Randy H. 09! BD: Jack Lundy. Martin from Gadsden. Will someone review it for the Shuttle? 09! Nashville Anime Day—Murfreesboro TN. CON BUSINESS 10! BD: Marcia Illingworth. 2014 Con†Stellation con chair Craig reported that there will 12! BD: Abraham Lincoln. be a convention. He is still looking at hotels and other venues. 14–16!Kami Con 6—Birmingham AL. He has looked at the Von Braun Center. It is quite expensive, 14–16!AnachroCon—Atlanta GA. but its event space is still cheaper than most hotels. He will 14! Valentine’s Day. speak to the Holiday Inn at Madison Square Mall. 16! Comic Con—Warner Robbins GA. Craig may also speak to Madison Square Mall about using 17! BD: Nancy A. Cucci. the empty space that previously held a Belk. Doug doesn’t 17! Presidents’ Day. think they will be able to commit that much space that far in 21–23!Concave—Bowling Green KY. advance. Craig knows the mall administrator, so he has a con- 21–23!ConNooga—Chattanooga TN. nection to ask. 21–23!ConDFW—Addison TX. The next concom (Con†Stellation convention committee 22! BD: George Washington. meeting) will be held January 26 at 2P at Sam and Judy’s 22! Con†Stellation XXXIII “Town Hall” meeting—5P, at The house. [Due to a family emergency, the place was later moved. DeeP Comics and Games. NOTE: This is a Saturday. -ED] 23! Con†Stellation XXXIII Concom Meeting—time and Doug believes that the Holiday Inn at Madison Square Mall location TBD. NOTE: This is a Sunday. would not have had enough event space for the last couple of 24! Día de la Bandera. Con†Stellations, but it does have enough space for a typical 25! BD: David Paulk. Con†Stellation, so it could work if they give us a decent price. MARCH Craig is taking volunteers for con positions. Email him if you 01! Cardboard*Con—Atlanta GA. would like to volunteer. 01! OnyxCon Sankofa—Atlanta GA. 3 02! BD: Ronnie Lajoie. 25–27!Trek Trax—Atlanta GA. 03! Read Across America Day. 25! Arbor Day. 04! Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras. 26! BD: Chloie Airoldi. 05! Ash Wednesday. 26–27!Comic & Anime Con—Knoxville TN. 06! Bailey Cove Library Book Discussion: Seventh Son, 26–27!USA Science & Engineering Festival—Washington DC. Orson Scott Card; 6P. 28! Yom HaShoah. 07–09!CoastCon 37—Biloxi MS. 30! BD: Mark Maxwell. 08*! NASFA Meeting—6P Business, 7P Program, at Wil- 30! Día del Niño. lowbrook Madison. Program: TBD. ATMM: TBD. MAY NOTE: This is one week earlier than usual to avoid a 01! BD: Russell McNutt. convention conflict. 01! Bailey Cove Library Book Discussion: Gate to Women’s 09! BD: Tracey Kennedy. Country, Sheri S. Tepper; 6P. 09! Daylight Savings Time Begins. 01! Día del Trabajo. 10! BD: Kerry Gilley. 02–04!Corflu—Richmond VA. 13! BD: Anita Eisenberg. 02–04!Outlantacon—Atlanta GA. 14–16!Game Days IX—Franklin TN. 05! Cinco de Mayo. 16! Purim. 09–11!Anime Southeast—Sevierville TN. 17! St. Patrick’s Day. 10! Día de la Madre. 17! BD: Benito Juárez (observed). 11! Mothers’ Day/Fête des Mères. 19–23!International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts 14! BD: Nancy Whittle. 35—Orlando FL. 16! BD: Linda Bolgeo. 20! Spring Equinox. 17! Armed Forces Day. 20–23!Furry Weekend Atlanta—Atlanta GA. 19! BD: David O. Miller. 21! BD: Benito Juárez. 22–25! NashCon—Franklin TN. 21–23!FantaSciCon—Dalton GA. 22–26!Game-o-Rama—Atlanta GA. 21–23!MidSouthCon 32—Memphis TN. 23–25!Mobicon XVII—Mobile AL. 22! BD: Jayson Woosley. 23–25!Timegate—Atlanta GA. 28–30!Secrets Con 1—Atlanta GA. 23–25!MomoCon—Atlanta GA. APRIL 24*! NASFA Meeting—6P Business, 7P Program, at Wil- 01! April Fool’s Day. lowbrook Madison. Program: TBD. ATMM: TBD. 03! Bailey Cove Library Book Discussion: Declare, Tim NOTE: This is one week later than usual to avoid a Powers; 6P. convention conflict. 04–06!221B Con—Atlanta GA. 26! Memorial Day. 04–06!AggieCon 45—College Station TX. 27! BD: Kathy Paulk. 04–06!Wizard World—St. Louis MO. 29! BD: John F. Kennedy. 06! Toy & Hobby Show—Gray TN. 30–01!ConCarolinas—Charlotte NC. 07! BD: Mary Lampert. 30–01!Phoenix Festival—Birmingham AL. 11–13!Conglomeration—Louisville KY. 30–01!Fanboy Expo—Knoxville TN. 11–13!JordanCon 6—Atlanta GA. 30–01!Wizard World—Atlanta GA. 11–13!Anime St. Louis—St. Louis MO. 31! JABECon—Lebanon TN. 11–13!EyeCon: Teen Wolf—Atlanta GA. OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO 11–13!Gnome Con 3—Savannah GA. The North Alabama Science Fiction Association meets on the 11–13!Marble City Comicon—Knoxville TN. third Saturday of each month. (Unless there is a large nearby 13! Palm Sunday. convention being held that weekend—in which case we often 15! Tax Day. move the meeting to the second or fourth weekend.) The regu- 15! BD: “Uncle Timmy.” lar meeting location is the Madison campus of Willowbrook 15! BD: Manda Freeman. Baptist Church, (old Wilson Lumber Company build- 15! First day of Passover. ing)—7105 Highway 72W. The Executive Committee meeting 17–20!Frolicon—Atlanta GA. (if scheduled) is at 5P. The business meeting is at 6P. The pro- 18! Good Friday. gram is at 7P. Anyone is welcome to attend any of the meet- 18! Orthodox Good Friday. ings. There is usually an after-the-meeting meeting with direc- 18–20!Gateway FurMeet—St. Louis MO. tions available at the program. 18–20!MTAC in Love—Nashville TN. 18–20!Full Moon Festival—Nashville TN. 19*! NASFA Meeting—6P Business, 7P Program, at Wil- lowbrook Madison. Program: TBD. ATMM: TBD. Awards Roundup 19–20!Awesome Con—Washington DC. 19–20!NashiCon—Columbia SC. NEWBERY, CALDECOTT, MORE ANNOUNCED 20! Easter Sunday. The Association for Library Service to Chil- 20! Orthodox Easter. dren (part of the American Library Associa- 21! BD: Randy B. Cleary. tion) has announced the winners of the 22! Last day of Passover. Newbery and Caldecott Medals and sev- 22! Earth Day/Fête de la Terre. eral other awards. Many genre works are 23! Administrative Professionals Day. among the winners and Honor Books 25–27!Science Fiction Film Festival—Baton Rouge LA. (runners-up) in each category. The full list 4 can be found online at . awards>. The Newbery winner (Kate DiCamillo for Flora & BSFA AWARDS NOMS ANNOUNCED Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures [Candlewick]) has gar- The British Science Fiction Awards has nered perhaps the most attention since that Medal is styled as announced the shortlist for their 2013 Awards. Nominations are for “the author of the most distinguished contribution to by the BSFA membership. The final voting round is open to American literature for children.” members of the annual Eastercon. Winners will be announced CRAWFORD AWARD WINNER at that convention, this year named Satellite 4 , to be held 18–21 April 2014 at the Crown Plaza Hotel in has announced the winner of their 2014 Glasgow, Scotland. The novel category is only open to UK Crawford Memorial Award (a juried award for an outstanding publications. By category, the nominees are: first fantasy book). The winner is A Stranger in Olondria, BSFA Awards Novel Noms Sofia Samatar (Small Beer Press). The award will be presented God’s War, Kameron Hurley (Del Rey) at the 35th International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie (Orbit) to be held 19–23 March 2014 at the Marriott Orlando Airport Evening’s Empires, Paul McAuley (Gollancz) Hotel in Orlando FL. Ack-Ack Macaque, Gareth L. Powell (Solaris) HEINLEIN AWARD The Adjacent, Christopher Priest (Gollancz) Geoffrey A. Landis has been chosen as the winner of the BSFA Awards Short Fiction Noms 2014 Robert A. Heinlein Award (for “outstanding pub- “Selkie Stories are for Losers,” Sofia Samatar (Strange Hori- lished works in science fiction and technical zons) writings that inspire the human exploration “Saga’s Children,” E.J. Swift (The Lowest Heaven, Pandemo- of space”). The juried award will be pre- nium) sented at Balticon 48 , “Boat in the Shadows Crossing,” Tori Truslow (Beneath to be held 23–26 May 2014 at the Hunt Val- Ceaseless Skies) ley Inn in Hunt Valley (Baltimore area) MD. BSFA Awards Artwork Noms RUSA READING LIST WINNERS Joey Hi-fi for the cover for Dream London, Tony Ballantyne The Reference and User Services Association, part of the (Solaris) American Library Association, has announced the winners and Kevin Tong for a poster for Metropolis runners-up for their 2014 Reading List Book Council Awards. Richard Wagner for “The Angel at the Heart of the Rain” (In- In the sf/f/h categories, the winners are: terzone #246) Fantasy!...... Vicious, V.E. Schwab (Tor Books) BSFA Awards Non-Fiction Noms Horror!...... Last Days, Adam Nevill (St. Martin’s Griffin) Wonderbook, Jeff VanderMeer (Abrams Image) Science Fiction!...... Love Minus Eighty, Will MacIntosh “Going Forth, Night,” John J. Johnston (Unearthed, Jurassic) (Orbit Books) “Sleeps with Monsters,” Liz Bourke (Tor.com) The full list, including a short list in each of the above cate- ACADEMY AWARDS NOMS gories and other categories that may be of interest to some The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . oscars.org> has announced the nominees for the 86th Academy SAG, PGA, DGA, AND WG AWARDS Awards. Genre films did well—mostly in the “technical” cate- In the lead-up to the Oscars, many of Hollywood’s specialty gories but they also picked up several of the top-line noms. Guilds announce their own winners. Gravity picked up a whopping The 20th Screen Actors Guild Awards were presented 18 ten nominations, including for Best January 2014 at the Shrine Auditorium & Exposition Center in Picture, Directing, and Leading Los Angeles CA. There were no genre winners in either the Actress. Other nods were for movie or TV categories. Cinematography, Directing, Film The headline award for the Producers Guild of Ameri- Editing, Original Score, Production ca—The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Design, Sound Editing, Sound Theatrical Motion Pictures—was a tie this year between genre Mixing, and Visual Effects. Gravity and non-genre 12 Years a Slave. Other genre works With a very respectable five receiving recognition for their producers were Sesame Street honors, Her came in second among (Children’s [TV] Program) and Frozen (Animated Theatrical genre films. Noms were for Best Motion Pictures). Picture, Original Score, Original The top honor in the 66th Directors Guild of America Awards Screenplay, Original Song, and also went to Gravity (director Alfonso Cuarón); in this case Production Design. The Hobbit: with nothing tying. No other obvious genre works received The Desolation Of Smaug was rec- DGA wins. ognized in 3 categories: Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Of the two top Writer’s Guild awards, a genre work (Her) Visual Effects. Two additional genre works took two noms, took the Original Screenplay award. (The Adapted Screenplay Despicable Me 2 and Frozen, both for Animated Feature Film went to non-genre Captain Phillips. Depending on how you and Original Song. count them, 2–3 other genre works took writing awards, in- An additional 10 sfnal movies were recognized in a single cluding The Last of Us in the Videogame category. Oscar category: The Croods (Animated Feature Film), Ernest APEX MAGAZINE AWARD & Celestine (Animated Feature Film), Feral (Animated Short Apex Magazine has announced Film), Get a Horse! (Animated Short Film), Helium (Live Ac- the winner of their Story of the Year award as selected by their tion Short Film), Iron Man 3 (Visual Effects), Mr. Hublot “fans and readers.” Brian Trent’s winning story,“A Matter of (Animated Short Film), Possessions (Animated Short Film), Shapespace” (issue 51, August 2013) can be read online at Room on the Broom (Animated Short Film), and Star Trek Into 5 Darkness (Visual Effects). One additional film which probably garnered some interest from genre fans—The Lone Ranger— Deathly Struggle—Panic took noms for Makeup and Hairstyling and for Visual Effects. KITSCHIES NOMS Spreads Like a Burning Fuse Nominees for the 2013 Kitschies No Need for a Questing Beast—Chapter 4 (for “the year’s most progressive, intelligent, and entertaining by PieEyedDragon works of genre literature published in the U.K.”) have been announced. [Editor’s Note: PieEyedDragon’s adventures in Middle-Earth The awards are sponsored by will resume in these pages later. In the meantime, we take you Kraken Rum and include a cash to another time and location. PED spends less time “on cam- award (reported as a total of era” as this adventure develops, but still plays a part.] £2000), a trophy, and a bottle of Professor S.P. Trelawney wakes before dawn out of a dis- run. Winners will be announced on 12 turbing dream… just like most mornings. She puts a kettle on February 2014 at a ceremony at the fire and takes care of the normal things in the loo. Emerg- London’s Seven Dials Club. Non- ing, she grabs two of the new cups and takes them to her favor- winners will also get the rum; per- ite table, along with the kettle. She strokes the silver moon can- haps to drown their sorrows. By cate- dle stand until the light is bright enough. Reaching onto the gory, the nominees are: nearby shelf, she grasps a tin of tea. She gives it a little shake Kitschies Red Tentacle (Novel) Noms and decides it is empty. Grabbing another at random (which Red Doc>, Anne Carson (Jonathan Cape) says Wulong) she breaks the seal and measures some into the More Than This, Patrick Ness (Walker) cups. She pours the hot water and waits, humming a little tune. A Tale for the Time Being, Ruth Ozeki (Canongate) Soon enough she starts sipping and drinking from one cup, Bleeding Edge, Thomas Pynchon (Jonathan Cape) taking bites from a fresh scone in between. When nearly empty, The Machine, James Smythe (HarperCollins/Blue Door) she swirls the cup and carefully upends it. Then, she pauses to Kitschies Golden Tentacle (Debut Novel) Noms closely examine the tea leaves remaining. They go all the way A Calculated Life, Anne Charnock (47 North) around the cup, in a formation that is not immediately familiar. Stray, Monica Hesse (Hot Key) Puzzled, she studies them for markers and pulls down a couple Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie (Orbit) of reference books. The first book is discarded. The second, Nexus, Ramez Naam (Angry Robot) likewise. Frowning, she pulls a much older and heavier volume Mr Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, Robin Sloan (Atlantic) from it’s place and consults the index. Keeping one finger on Kitschies Inky Tentacle (Cover Art) Noms the index, she opens the book and turns to the first reference. Homeland and Pirate Cinema, Cory Doctorow, design by Wrong. She checks the second, third and fourth. Still wrong. Amazing15 (Titan) One more to go. Dreams and Shadows, C. Robert Cargill, design and illustration She turns toward the end of the book and finds the right ref- by Sinem Erkas (Gollancz) erence. Adjusting her Apocalypse Now Now, Charlie Human, art by Joey Hi-Fi (Cen- huge glasses, she tury) reads the thin hand- Stray, Monica Hesse, art by Gianmarco Magnani (Hot Key) writing with growing The Age Atomic, Adam Christopher, art by Will Staehle (Angry alarm. Turning the Robot) page, she sees an STOKER LONG LIST RELEASED ornate illustration of a The Horror Writers Association has re- frightful, scaly beast. leased the Pre- It stands upon land liminary Ballot and water. There is a for the 2013 nimbus of flame and Bram Stoker swirling clouds Awards. HWA members will select finalists from this list; those around it’s head. One selections to be released in late February 2014. The long list hand holds an orb, or crystal ball. The other gestures toward a contains the better part of 100 works in 11 categories. Check dark doorway opening in the air beside it. There are stars within the HWA website at for the full list. Taking the Tarots, she arranges several in a specific pattern, FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION face down. Then turns them over one by one. The High Priest- Locus Magazine has published their annual Recommended ess, the Page of Cups, and a sideways Death are the first three: Reading List (for 2013) in their February 2014 issue. This is Death or Change is near, and a young seeker of knowledge… a one resource people sometimes consult in making award nomi- student?… stands between it and someone who is probably nations or just choosing reading material. Fortunately for non- herself. More cards reveal the Moon, the Fool, the Cosmos, and subscribers the list is available on their website at . One more card, to determine how soon these things will In a somewhat similar vein, website writertopia maintains a come together. She turns it and gasps. Now! list of writers eligible for the John W. Campbell Award (for a Professor Trelawney stumbles away from the table, flings new science fiction or fantasy writer whose first genre work was open the hatchway to the lower corridor, and starts down the published in a professional publication in the previous two ladder in a panic. The Headmaster was away, she had to get to years). The 2014 list is up at . These aren’t recommendations per se, but might rungs causes her feet to slip partway down, and she tumbles to help if you’re researching Campbell noms for your Hugo ballot. the floor. Disentangling herself from her long shawl and beads, 6 she pulls herself up and runs down the stairs. Behind her on the floor lies a tumble of scarves, chains and strings of beads. Ex- Letters of Comment tending outward from them are a long thin arm and hand, which trembles slightly; also a pair of legs, one bent at an angle LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC and oozing blood; and some thick-lensed spectacles. — O — O — O — Sheryl Birkhead! 4–7 January 2014 Luna Lovegood, budding wizarding naturalist, was staying 25509 Jonnie Court in her old Ravenclaw bed while spending a few days at Hog- Gaithersburg MD 20882 warts; looking up some details and observations of rare crea- tures that she had not come across in her formal studies. The With any luck (Hah!) I can get the two issues that I located in Library here had been opened for her use; as it often was for the short stack reread, think of a few comments, and get this many others who needed to do research among scarce tomes mailed in time to be… ahem… timely. I’ll give it a real try! not generally available. She had risen early in order to spend Before actually getting started: some time with Professor Trelawney. She shivered with a freezing sensation as something very cold passed her. Probably Happy New Year just a ghost. This was July after all. Luna rounds the last curve Okay, now that is out of the way… in the stairway and sees the jumble of scarves on the floor. Seeing T-shirt comments reminds me that I ought to check Then, she sees an arm and hand. them out this year—need to start replacing my old ones… Can Professor! She cries, rushing over. She takes the wrist and they be purchased (i.e., are the “still” available) on-line? If so, cannot tell if there is a pulse or not, since she herself is trem- image available to check the design? I had hoped to be able to bling. Drawing her wand, she points it at her teacher and cries buy one or two from the Worldcon online, but this year “Enervate!” couldn’t locate any “store” from the convention. I poked Nothing. around using Google, but none of the sites I found were from Again, “Enervate!” anyone I knew and I’d rather patronize family. Just thought I’d The skin is turning gray and clammy. ask. What to do, what to do? When her mother died, there was I guess I am more out of the fannish streak than I thought— nothing she could do. Not even what they had learned from congrats to all the Faned Awards winners. Lloyd and Taryl Grandmama. Her muggle Grandma Jane had insisted they learn jump to mind, but I have also had contact with R. Graeme some new Muggle lifesaving practices, “just in case.” It went Cameron—but need much more online activity to take a look against her nature to strike anyone, but that seemed to be the at his Space Cadet. next step. She set down her wand, balled her hands tightly to- That is just the tip of the awards iceberg, but the ones that gether, raised them taking a deep breath, and brought them seem more close to home (um… ignore the WSFA and Con- down hard on the center of Professor Trelawney’s chest as she clave venue!)—at least heart. Now that the new Hugo nominat- shouted “Seepiyar!” ing season is open—one and all—if you are qualified to nomi- — O — O — O — nate, please do so… and fill in as many of the blanks as you Professor Minerva McGonagall had just sat down at her can—spread that egoboo around! desk. She had sent out all the notices to the new first-year stu- Puck seems to straddle technologies and “mythologies.” But, dents yesterday. Now she had to start sending out the class as- perhaps he will meld the disparate natures?! signments and shopping lists for all the others. Consulting her Fingers crossed that you are back up to full operating speed. notes on the new seventh-years, she dipped her quill and started Obviously it is never fun to end up in the hospital, but it is even writing “Abaylan, Joseph” when a shrill voice disturbed her. more the pits when you have to miss something that you have Professor Trelawney is standing before her, looking very pale spent the better part of a year getting organized. At the very and… transparent! The door behind her is still closed. least I am glad you seem to be chugging right along. Sibyll: Professor McGonagall! Something terrible is coming, Man, always the last to know—Brad and Cindy Foster run- or may already be here. The tea leaves! The cards! Leviathan! ning for TAFF—along with Curt Phillips! I took a second look Had to tell you! Someone may die here today! You must be- at the nomination deadline—closed Dec. 31, 2014? I figured lieve me (she goes blurry for an instant)! that was a typo but misread it twice—the third time I read it Minerva: Yes, Sibyll, you have my full attention. I believe aright—yup a typo—closed Dec. 31, 2013 as I suspected. I you. need to go take another quick look and see if I can locate the Sibyll: It’s coming! Had to warn you (she goes blurry for complete slate… another instant)! Yeouch—being this close and not knowing DC will be run- Minerva: Where, Sibyll, what? ning a Worldcon bid! Sibyll: Leviathan! (she cries, and vanishes). I would have to check my records (going waay back— Professor McGonagall hobbles to the door, blasting it open maybe on disc and maybe not—if not, well, I won’t have any on the way. She looks at her canes and shakes her head. Turn- records) but I think Jim Barker is one of the fanartists I con- ing her wand, she transforms into an old tabby cat and, on four tacted a long time ago for showcasing (first in The Reluctant legs, runs toward the nearest stairway and starts climbing. Famulus and them a bit later in Challenger—haven’t had any — O — O — O — new pieces in an awfully long time—as a talented group, Fred: Professor? Blimey, she was sure in a hurry. Guess I’ll fanartists are remarkably difficult to get to write about them- have to trouble the Headmasters after all. I hope it’s Professor selves). I was hoping to get information and samples of their Dumbledore on duty this morning. work to save for posterity, sorta. Went back and looked—found — O — O — O — a file from about 1997 but can’t actually “open” it due to obso- [Some of the above beings and situations have been suggested lete software (ahem, sound familiar?). Then I found a “current” by the works of J.K. Rowling. (But you already knew that, file from 2001—but only sent in 2007 or thereabouts—with didn’t you?)] two notes in it—saying Langford was willing to forward my 7 request to him—but no response. I congratulate him on the been unjustly overlooked might be happy to cast themselves in Rotsler Award win. Agh, sat—I looked at the long list of fanart- the role of the Titanic. I should stop there—I don’t want anyone ists I was hoping to write something/send examples of their slipping into analogies with Jack and Rose. -ED] art—and pretty much all the files are grayed out—meaning obsolete—can’t open (well, I sort of can open but what I see is EMOC-EMOC-EMOC-EMOC-EMOC-EMOC -EMOC meaningless). Agh, it has been quite a few years since I have thought about that project. Sigh, wish I had been able to get so Lloyd Penney! 28 January 2014 many more. Sheesh—hadn’t realized that project was such a sore spot! 1706-24 Eva Road (Just made a quick PO run and actually got some of the Etobicoke ON Harry Potter stamps—I am trying to get a purchase list together Canada M9C 2B2 to buy Forever stamps before the temporary 3¢ increase.) Gravity is on my Netflix list—but I have heard so many Happy New Year, and thank you for the January Shuttle. I’m comments about it and the relative impossibility of suspending a few days past deadline, so let’s hope I make it in. I’ll make it disbelief—I will go ahead and watch it when it comes out, fast, and see what I can produce. knowing the disbelief aspect is, apparently, quite high. Still not a certainty about attending Loncon 3, but we have Ah, so PED does not have dew claws… or maybe yes with been very lucky so far, and have confirmed that we are in the the extra (right now) phantom digits. closest hotel, the Aloft. The more I read about what’s planned Agh, it is supposed to be “well” (for us at least) into the for Worldcon, the more I want to be there. We will be making a negative digits temperature-wise tomorrow once the wind chill firm decision on May 1, and if the answer is no, then we decide is factored in. I planned ahead. Sorta. I bought the 25 pound on what Plan B is. May or may not be Detcon1. bag of salt and stored it until… I found out I now have a bag of Once again, greetings to PieEyed! I have not yet had the solid salt (so to speak). I tried all the things I was later in- chance to see the second Hobbit movie, I hope I can before it structed to do (the “bouncing” on the ground, whacking with a leaves. Ah, you’ve moved to the Hogwarts universe. That’s shovel and so on) and all I accomplished was to tear the back right, Fred Weasley died in the last HP movie. I would think and still have a solid lump… I went from congratulating myself that a dragon inside Hogwarts would not be unheard-of in its on planning ahead to hitting every store in about 12 miles and past. I look forward to seeing if there’s anything else you do finding out no one else planned ahead and they had all already around that prestigious school. purchased… but you get the idea. We shall see. Right now I am My loc… interesting! You got the spine of the older version thinking all it will be is cols and not snowy and cold. of Henry Stephen’s book. Yvonne is about a hundred pages into I think that about does it, need to go carry in a bit of fire- the book, and is finding it fascinating. The version I got was wood and I fully plan (hah) to stay home tomorrow and call it edited and abridged by Alex Langlands, one of the archaeolo- my day off since today was supposed to be my day off and I gists in the various Farm series. had to get work done (well it sounds good to me)! In some ways, Yvonne and I are reinventing ourselves yet I know it will be cold in your area too, bundle up! again… we’ve been steampunk vendors occasionally over the past couple of years, but we plan to do more of it in 2014, and [Yeah, North Alabama has had several shots of abnormally will be at three shows or conventions at least over the next few cold weather this year. We’ve mostly dodged the frozen precip months. It should be fun, and will also give us an indication of though; flurries here but the nasty stuff was south and east of the depth of the steampunk market in Toronto. us. The national news covered the Atlanta gridlock—that’s Time to go, hope I got this done in time! about 150 miles southeast of us as the crow flies. Birming- ham—75 miles south—was affected nearly as much. Heck, [I’m surprised in some ways that Steampunk seems to still be a there were closures all the way down to the gulf coast. Regard- growing thing… or if not growing at least easily sustaining. ing past Con†Stellation T-shirts, those have all been claimed That surprise is probably based in part on lack of direct per- now. For this coming year sonal interest in it—the costumes, mannerisms, and such are the design will be on our interesting but way beyond my desire to participate. Yeah, PED website when it’s available has wyrmed her way well into the Potterverse, though is miss- though that won’t be until ing from the stage in this month’s episode and, if I understand late summer or early fall. correctly, could be missing a lot as many events spin along We do take orders, but alas without her actual presence. Then again, even a rumor of a not through the website. I dragon could well excite folks. -ED] was aware of the postage rate hike, though it slipped LATE BREAKING NEWS: my mind long enough to FREE “CAMPBELL” FICTION miss the deadline for stocking up. I use very Website Stupefying Stories has collected “representative few stamps myself, but it works” of many of the writers eligible for the Campbell Award might have been nice to (that is, having their first sf/f pro work published in 2012–2013) save a few dollars for the into one volume. That’s “111 authors” and over “860,000 Shuttle and Con†Stella- words of fiction”; and it’s all free. And, it’s DRM-free. tion. After you letter I now The collection is available in Mobi or Epub format. Check have the image of an the SS website at for mind. I’m sure some of An Iceberg Shape for Awards; links to the download site(s). This is a limited time offer. those who believe they’ve Not an Awards Iceberg 8 ©The Concentrium http://www.behance.net/theconcentrium, use herein per Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC 3.0); no substantive changes made; images cropped to eliminate whitespace outside the border

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***************************************************************************************************************** The NASFA Shuttle is the newsletter of the North Alabama Science Fiction Association, Inc. This is the February 2014 edition (Volume 34, Number 2). NASFA Officers for 2014: 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, © 2014. 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. *****************************************************************************************************************