Te Shutle March 2016 The Next NASFA Meeting is 6:30P Saturday 26 March 2016 at the Regular Location Note that this is one week later than normal Concom Meeting 3P at the Church, 26 March 2016 to be on NASFA meeting days, at least until we get close d Oyez, Oyez d enough to the con to need to meet twice a month. ! PROGRAMS The next NASFA Meeting will be 26 March 2016, at the Several future programs have been set: regular meeting location—the Madison campus of Willow- • April: Michael Mercer on costuming. brook Baptist Church (old Wilson Lumber Company building) • June: More-or-less Annual NASFA Picnic at Sue's house. at 7105 Highway 72W (aka University Drive). Please see the (This will subsume the meeting, program, and ATMM that map at right if you need help finding it. month.) PLEASE NOTE that this is one week later than the normal Saturday—the delay due to a number of people attending Mid- SouthCon on the weekend of the 3rd Saturday.

MARCH PROGRAM Road Jeff Kroger The March program will feature Stephanie Osborn, who will be reading excerpts from her book Sherlock Holmes and the Mummy’s Curse . US 72W MARCH ATMM (aka University Drive) The host for the March After-The-Meeting Meeting is TBD at press time The ATMM will probably be, at the meeting site. The usual rules will apply—that is, please bring food to share and your favorite drink. Also, please stay to help clean up. We Road Slaughter need to be good guests and leave things at least as clean as we Map To found them. Parking CONCOM MEETINGS Meeting The next Con†Stellation XXXIV Concom Meeting will be Location Willowbrook Madison 3P on 26 March 2016—the same day as the club meeting. Go- 7105 Highway 72W ing forward, it is expected that concom meetings will continue Huntsville AL 35806 Continuing Our 36th Year of Publication

Inside this issue… Nebula Awards Nominations ...... 5 News & Info ...... 2 Stoker Awards Nominations ...... 5 Minutes of the February Meeting ...... 2 Awards Roundup ...... 6 NASFA Calendar ...... 3 Letter of Comment ...... 8 Restaurant Review: Toybox Bistro ...... 4 Ceres Travel Poster from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory ...9 Deadline for the March 2016 issue of The NASFA Shuttle is Monday 28 April 2016 • August: Les Johnson will give talk as well as reading from NASFiC BID NEWS his new book On to the Asteroid (co-authored with Travis Taylor). It will be released 2 American ScienceFiction Convention. The Valley Forge bid August 2016. is for 17–20 August 2017 at • October: Con†Stellation Postmortem. the Valley Forge Convention Center with hotel rooms in • December: NASFA Christmas Party (location TBD). both an attached Radisson and the Valley Forge Casino Re- Stay tuned for other months and for info on a likely New sort Tower in King of Prussia PA. They join the existing San Year ’s Eve party. Juan bid , which is for 6–9 July FUTURE ATMMs 2017 at the Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel and Casino in San We need After-The-Meeting Meeting volunteers for all fu- Juan PR. ture months in 2016 except May (Doug and Mary) and June The selection vote will (Sue hosting the cookout/picnic). We need a volunteer for the be administered by this year’s , MidAmeriCon II, to Christmas Party. be held 17–21 August 2016 at the Kansas City Convention FUTURE CLUB MEETING DATES Center and nearby hotels in Kansas City MO. In addition to this month, two future 2016 NASFA meetings TAFF VOTING DEADLINE have been changed off of the normal 3rd Saturday due to con- The deadline for voting in the 2016 Trans Atlantic Fan Fund vention conflicts: is 11.59P (British Summer Time) 29 March 2016. • The August 2016 meeting will be on the 13th, one week ear- The candidates are Anna Raftery and Wolf von Witting—the lier than usual due to Worldcon. winner will be expected to travel in this west- • The October 2016 meeting will be on the 22nd, one week bound year from Europe to North America later than usual due to Con†Stellation. to attend MidAmeriCon II CHANGING SHUTTLE DEADLINES There are instructions on how to vote by The monthly Shuttle production schedule has been moved to mail or online (via PayPal). [If you do the the left a bit (versus recent practice). Though details are a bit latter, don’t forget to add your preferential squishy, the current intent is to put each issue to bed about 8 ballot info in the “Note to Seller” section . days before each month’s meeting. -ED] Please check the deadline below the Table of Contents each FAAn AWARDS VOTING CONTINUES month to submit news, reviews, LoCs, or other material. Voting for this year’s Fan Activity Achievement (FAAn) JOINING THE NASFA EMAIL LIST Awards is open, and will All NASFAns who have email are urged to join the NASFA continue to be through 23 April 2016. The website notes, email list, which you can do online at . The list is usually low traffic, though the rate is awards.” rather variable. Generally the list is limited to announcements MCDEVITT GOES TO SPACE (SORT OF) about club activities plus the occasional message of general Jack McDevitt [whom we like to consider a friend of Con† interest to north-Alabama sf/f/h/etc. fans. Non NASFAns are Stellation -ED] is now among the heavenly bodies. An asteroid both encouraged and welcomed to join the list, but please only (full designation “328305 Jackmcdevitt”) which was discov- do so if you’re interested in the above restricted topics. ered 20 October 2006 by L.H. Wasserman (at Kitt Peak), was NASFA CALENDAR ONLINE recently named after McDevitt by the International Astronomi- NASFA has an online calendar on Google. Interested parties cal Union . Details on the body can be found at 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/ ! f/h/etc. events) are added or changed. You can view the calen- dar online at . February Minutes ! ! by Steve Sloan The February meeting of the North Alabama News & Info Association was called to order on Saturday, February 20, ! 2016, in the Madison satellite location of Willowbrook Baptist TO SPEAK IN HUNTSVILLE Church at 6:33:20P by President Mary Lampert. “The crickets Genre authors Joe Haldeman and Vandana Singh will be are lively tonight.” the featured speakers at a symposium entitled Imagining OLD BUSINESS the Present: Science, Science Fiction, and Society, to be None. held 6–8P Friday 8 April 2016 at the Roberts Recital Hall NEW BUSINESS on the UAH campus . There will be a con-like thing at The DeeP 5 March. [The secretary hasn’t been able to find will a panel discussion moderated by UAH Physic prof Dr. any online confirmation of that. -SEC] The Huntsville Comic Richard Miller. Contact for any & Pop Culture Expo is coming up on 19 March. further info. Co-Programming Director Sue reported that next month’s HUGO NOMINATIONS DEADLINE program will be a Stephanie Osborn reading. The deadline for voting in the nomination round of the Hugo Sam is currently updating the online NASFA calendar with and Campbell Awards is coming soon—31 March 2016. See fresh info. for full details, but re- CON BUSINESS call that members of the 2015, 2016, and 2017 are Con†Stellation 2016 co-con chair Doug said there will all eligible to vote in this first round. “probably be a con.” Sam confirmed that we’ve signed a hotel 2 contract for that weekend, so we must be having some sort of 27 Easter Sunday. event. [Yes, Doug was being his version of droll. There certain- 31–03 Camp Furry Weekend—Atlanta GA. ly will be a con this year. -ED] APRIL According to Doug, additional Con†Stellation 2016 promo 01 April Fools’ Day. cards with updated information have been printed and dis- 01–03 221B Con—Atlanta GA. tributed. 02–03 Save vs Hunger—Maryville TN. Con†Stellation 2016 still needs offices filled, including guest 13 BD: Thomas Jefferson. liaison. 07 BD: Mary Lampert. Con†Stellation 2017 co-con chairs Judy and Sue reported 08–10 Conglomeration—Louisville KY. that there will be a con next year. 09–10 Walker Stalker—Nashville TN. Sam moved to adjourn at 6:39:46P. 15 BD: “Uncle Timmy” Bolgeo. The February program was an appearance by the Brown- 15 BD: Manda Freeman. coats, a Firefly-themed FIRST robotics team , along with their plastic cube gathering competi- 15–17 Expo—Chattanooga TN. tion , Vera. The After the Meeting Meeting was hosted by 15–17 Treklanta—Atlanta GA. Mary and Doug at the meeting location. 16* TENTATIVE Con†Stellation XXXIV Concom Meet- ! ing—3P at .Willowbrook Madison. ! 16* NASFA Meeting—6:30P Business, 7P Program, at Wil- lowbrook Madison. Program: Michael Mercer on cos- NASFA Calendar tuming. ATMM: TBD. ! 17 Atlanta Comic Convention—Atlanta GA. MARCH 21 BD: Randy B. Cleary. 02 Read Across America Day. 22 Earth Day. 02 BD: Ronnie Lajoie. 22–24 Catan Con—Nashville TN. 04–06 AniBlaze—Atlanta GA. 22–24 DeepSouthCon 54/JordanCon 8-- Atlanta GA. 04–06 CoastCon 39—Biloxi MS. 23 First Day of Passover. 04–06 Gnome Con—Savannah GA. 23 Dalton Comic Convention—Dalton GA. 04–06 Star Trek Creation—Atlanta GA. 26 BD: Chloie Airoldi. 04–06 Tennessee Game Days XI—Franklin TN. 27 Administrative Professionals Day. 04–06 Vampire Diaries—Atlanta GA. 28 Take our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. 05 Cardboard*Con—Atlanta GA. 29 Good Friday (Orthodox). 08 Día Internacional de la Mujer. 29 Arbor Day. 09 BD: Tracey Kennedy. 30 Last Day of Passover. 10 BD: Kerry Gilley. 30 Día del Niño. 11–13 AndoCon—Atlanta GA. 30 BD: Mark Maxwell. 11–13 JoeLanta—Atlanta GA. MAY 11–13 Kami Con 8—Birmingham AL. 01 Easter (Orthodox). 13 BD: Anita Eisenberg. 04 Yom HaShoah. 13 Daylight Saving Time Begins. 05 Cinco de Mayo. 16–20 International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts 37 05–08 Frolicon—Atlanta GA. —Orlando FL. 07 Bash Of The Empire VI—Atlanta GA. 17 St. Patrick's Day. 08 Mother's Day. 18–20 FantaSciCon—Dalton GA. 10 Día de la Madre. 18–20 MidSouthCon 34—Memphis TN. 13–14 ShudderCon—ChattanoogaTN. 18–20 Tri City Anime—Johnson City TN. 13–15 Outlantacon—Atlanta GA. 19 Comic & Pop Culture Expo—Huntsville AL. 14 BD: Nancy Whittle. 20 Palm Sunday. 14–15 Fanboy Expo—NashvilleTN. 20 Spring Equinox. 15 Peace Officers Memorial Day. 21 BD:Benito Juárez. 16 BD: Linda Bolgeo. 22 BD: Jayson Woosley. 19 BD: David O. Miller. 24 Purim. 21* TENTATIVE Con†Stellation XXXIV Concom Meet- 25 Good Friday. ing—3P at .Willowbrook Madison. 25–27 Con GT—Clarksville TN. 21* NASFA Meeting—6:30P Business, 7P Program, at Wil- 25–27 Full Moon Festival—Nashville TN. lowbrook Madison. Program: TBD. ATMM: Mary and 25–27 MTAC—Nashville TN. Doug Lampert. 26* Con†Stellation XXXIV Concom Meeting—3P at .Wil- 21 Armed Forces Day. lowbrook Madison. 25 National Missing Children's Day. 26* NASFA Meeting—6:30P Business, 7P Program, at Wil- 26–29 Nashcon—FranklinTN. lowbrook Madison. Program: ATMM Stephanie Os- 26–29 MomoCon—Atlanta GA. born, reading from Sherlock Holmes and the Mummy’s 26–30 Game-O-Rama—Atlanta GA. Curse . ATMM Stephanie Os- 27 BD: Kathy Paulk. born, reading from Sherlock Holmes and the Mummy’s 27–29 Mobicon XIX—Mobile AL. Curse .ATMM: TBD. NOTE: 27–29 Timegate—Atlanta GA. This is one week later than usual due to a conflict 29 BD: John F. Kennedy. with MidSouthCon. 30 Memorial Day. 3 JUNE mous Booklegger used book store.) 01 BD: Glenn Valentine. In conversation with my son Jayson, I learned that this 02 BD: Lloyd Penney. was a concept restaurant being opened by one of the peo- 05 Doughnut Day. ple associated with Hamacon, Huntsville’s anime conven- 06 D-Day Observance. tion. So, it seemed a fan-friendly gesture to check them out 07 First day of Ramadan. when they opened in early March. An online check of the 10–12 Magic City Con—Birmingham AL. menu on Facebook indicated an eclectic menu with some 10–12 Sci Fi Summer Con—Atlanta GA. obvious fan attraction (“Fires of Mt. Doom” chili and the 10–12 Southern-Fried Gameroom Expo—Atlanta GA. “Punisher” hot dog, for example), so I resolved to check it 12 Shavuot. out. 14 BD: Ali Scanland. I first went for dinner on Friday, March 11, their fourth 14 Flag Day. day being open. The sign in the window as you walked in 17 BD: Jeff Freeman. says it all—“eat, drink and be nerdy.” The establishment 17–19 HamaCon—Huntsville AL. was doing a good business but was not crowded. Seating 17–19 Hypericon—Nashville TN. consists of booths and tables with wicker chairs. I was seat- 18* TENTATIVE Con†Stellation XXXIV Concom Meet- ed in the far corner from the door at a table underneath a ing—time TBD during Picnic. poster. The table features a covering of Star Wars 18* NASFA Meeting—More-or-less Annual NASFA Picnic/ trading cards, protected by glass. Mounted on the ceiling is Cookout at Sue's house. (This will subsume the meeting, a selection of game boards, many going back to my youth program, and ATMM that month.) (far too long ago). I tried the meatloaf plate, with a salad 19 Father's Day. and fries. The salad was ordinary, but the fries were crunchy 20 BD: PieEyedDragon. with a good flavor and the meatloaf was some of the best I 20 Summer Solstice. have ever had in a restaurant, served in a generous portion 24–26 Fanboy Expo—Knoxville TN. that was very filling. In conversation with the manager, who 25–26 Con Kasterborous—Huntsville AL. is very friendly and easy to talk to, he said they had already OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO sold over 40 pounds of the meatloaf in four days, and point- The North Alabama Science Fiction Association meets on ed to the friend seated at the bar whose meatloaf recipe they the third Saturday of each month. (Unless there is a large were using. nearby convention being held that weekend—in which case I have been back twice since, again both times for dinner. we often move the meeting to the second or fourth The second time I was seated in the front room at a table dec- Saturday.) The regular meeting location is the Madison orated with Star Trek: TOS trading cards. The walls had campus of Willowbrook Baptist Church, (old Wilson Lum- shelves with movie tie-in toys (Darth Vader, Godzilla, etc.). I ber Company building)—7105 Highway 72W. The Execu- had the salad again, with the chicken tortilla soup and the tive Committee meeting (if scheduled) is before the business buffalo chix Rangoon. The chicken tortilla soup has a flavor- meeting. The business meeting is at 6:30P. The program is at ful rich broth, and the Rangoons are made with minced 7P. Anyone is welcome to attend any of the meetings. There chicken wrapped in wontons and served with a very good is usually an after-the-meeting meeting with directions wings sauce (I sampled the medium). The third time, seated at available at the program. a table covered with cards from a Magic: the Gathering ! clone, I tried the Punisher dog, which is a 10-inch, 1/2 pound ! hot dog roasted and served on a very large hoagie roll with your choice of dressings. I had the hot pepper relish they ad- Restaurant Review: vertised with the Italian sandwich; also outstanding. The staff remains friendly, and the manager has stopped by to talk Toybox Bistro every time I’ve been in. by Jim Woosley The restaurant has a standard selection of sodas (Coke Zero ! instead of Diet Coke) and tea, and plans to start offering a beer A couple of weeks ago I saw signs indicating that the former menu soon. They do not have a dessert menu as such, but the site of Beauregard’s restaurant at Jordan Lane and Holmes Av- space next door (the former third Beauregard’s dining room) enue, a long-time Huntsville staple best known for buffalo has been occupied by a coffee-and-cupcake shop (which I wings, was being occupied by a new establishment called the haven’t sampled yet), and they will bring cupcakes from there Toybox Bistro. (This is in the same strip mall as the (in-?)fa- on request. I have to admit there are a few shakedown bobbles (but again note that I went three times in 10 days), and I hope they’ll be willing to accept a few suggestions for menu additions. Con- versely, there are several things on the menu that I can’t wait to try. They offer wings in homage to Beauregard’s, plus I want to try their Bronto beef ribs, pot roast hoagie, burger, Chicago- style hero, and the aforementioned chili. I also want to get an up-close look at more of the tables. Toybox Bistro is open Monday–Saturday for lunch and din- ner and I hope you’ll give some fannish friends your support soon. The menu is on their Facebook page at , and the last page (“history”) is particularly interesting. It looks like they post their daily specials on Face- book most days. Check it out and enjoy. 4 NOMS Nebula Awards Noms (for Young Adult Science Fiction and ) ! Seriously Wicked, Tina Connolly (Tor Teen) The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America has announced nominees for the 50th Annual Nebula Cuckoo Song, Frances Hardinge (Macmillan UK May 2014; Awards and related awards. The presentations will be at the Amulet) SFWA Nebula Conference, to be held 12–15 May 2016 at the Archivist Wasp, Nicole Kornher-Stace (Big Mouth House) Palmer House Hilton in Chicago IL. For info on attending see Zeroboxer, Fonda Lee (Flux) . Shadowshaper, Daniel José Older (Levine) NEBULA NOVEL NOMS Bone Gap, Laura Ruby (Balzer + Bray) Raising Caine, Charles E. Gannon (Baen) Nimona, Noelle Stevenson (HarperTeen) The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK) Updraft, Fran Wilde (Tor) Ancillary Mercy, Ann Leckie (Orbit US; Orbit UK) ! The Grace of Kings, (Saga) ! Uprooted, Naomi Novik (Del Rey) Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard, Lawrence M. Schoen (Tor) Stoker Awards Noms Updraft, Fran Wilde (Tor) ! NEBULA NOVELLA NOMS The Horror Writers Association has announced Wings of Sorrow and Bone, Beth Cato (Harper Voyager Im- nominees for the 2015 Bram Stoker Awards (styled as for Stok- pulse) er horror). There presentations will be at the inaugural Stoker- “The Bone Swans of Amandale,” C.S.E. Cooney (Bone Swans) Con , to be held 12–15 May 2015 “The New Mother,” Eugene Fischer (Asimov’s April–May at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas NV. 2015) STOKER NOVEL NOMS “The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn,” Usman T. Malik The Scarlet Gospels, Clive Barker (St. Martin’s Press) (Tor.com 4/22/2015) The Deep, Michaelbrent Collings (self-published) “Binti,” Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com) The Cure, JG Faherty (Samhain Publishing) “Waters of Versailles,” Kelly Robson (Tor.com 6/10/2015) Black Tide, Patrick Freivald (JournalStone Publishing) NEBULA NOVELETTE NOMS A Head Full of Ghosts, Paul Tremblay (William Morrow) “Rattlesnakes and Men,” (Asimov’s February STOKER FIRST NOVEL NOMS 2015) Shutter, Courtney Alameda (Feiwel & Friends) “And You Shall Know Her by the Trail of Dead,” Brooke Mr. Suicide, Nicole Cushing (Word Horde) Bolander (Lightspeed February 2015) We Are Monsters, Brian Kirk (Samhain Publishing) “Grandmother-nai-Leylit’s Cloth of Winds,” Rose Lemberg Hannahwhere, John McIlveen (Crossroad Press) (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 6/11/2015) Riding the Centipede, John Claude Smith (Omnium Gatherum) “The Ladies’ Aquatic Gardening Society,” Henry Lien (Asi- STOKER YOUNG ADULT NOVEL NOMS mov’s June 2015) Never Let Me Sleep, Jennifer Brozek (Permuted Press) “The Deepwater Bride,” Tamsyn Muir (F&SF July–August The Ridealong, Michaelbrent Collings (self-published) 2015) Devil’s Pocket, John Dixon (Simon & Schuster) “Our Lady of the Open Road,” Sarah Pinsker (Asimov’s June Hallowed, Tonya Hurley (Simon & Schuster) 2015) The Shadow Cabinet, Maureen Johnson (Penguin) NEBULA SHORT STORY NOMS End Times at Ridgemont High, Ian Welke (Omnium Gatherum) “Madeleine,” Amal El-Mohtar (Lightspeed June 2015) STOKER GRAPHIC NOVEL NOMS “Cat Pictures Please,” (Clarkesworld January Harrow County, Vol. 1: Countless Haints, Cullen Bunn (Dark 2015) Horse Comics) “Damage,” David D. Levine (Tor.com 1/21/2015) Hellbound, Victor Gischler (Dark Horse Books) “When Your Child Strays From God,” Sam J. Miller Outcast, Vol. 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him, Robert Kirkman (Clarkesworld July 2015) (Image Comics) “Today I Am Paul,” Martin L. Shoemaker (Clarkesworld Au- Wytches, Vol. 1, Scott Snyder (Image Comics) gust 2015) Shadow Show: Stories in Celebration of , Sam “Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers,” Alyssa Wong Weller, Mort Castle, Chris Ryall, and Carlos Guzman, eds. (Nightmare October 2015) (IDW Publishing) RAY BRADBURY AWARD NOMS STOKER LONG FICTION NOMS (for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation) “Paper Cuts,” Gary A. Braunbeck (Seize the Night, Gallery Ex Machina; Written by Alex Garland Books) Inside Out; Screenplay by , Meg LeFauve, and Josh “Becoming Invisible, Becoming Seen,” Scott Edelman (Dark Cooley; Original Story by Pete Docter, and Ronnie del Discoveries #30) Carmen The Box Jumper, Lisa Mannetti (Smart Rhino Publications) : AKA Smile; Teleplay by Scott Reynolds and “Special Collections,” Norman Partridge (The Library of the Melissa Rosenberg; Story by Jamie King and Scott Dead, Written Backwards) Reynolds “Little Dead Red,” Mercedes M. Yardley (Grimm Mistresses, Mad Max: Fury Road; Written by George Miller, Brendan Ragnarok Publications) McCarthy, and Nick Lathouris STOKER SHORT FICTION NOMS The Martian; Screenplay by “All the Day You’ll Have Good Luck,” Kate Jonez (Black Stat- Star Wars: The Force Awakens; Written by , ic #47) J. J. Abrams, and The Algernon Effect, Gene O’Neill (White Noise Press) 5 “Happy Joe’s Rest Stop,” John Palisano (18 Wheels of Horror, 2016. The big “winner” was non-genre Big Time Books) Fifty Shades of Grey, but did “Sing Me Your Scars,” Damien Angelica Walters (Sing Me score a few “honors.” Fantastic Four took Your Scars, Apex Publications) home trophies for Worst Picture (in a tie “Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers,” Alyssa Wong with the aforementioned Fifty Shades), (Nightmare Magazine #37) Worst Director (Josh Trank), and Worst STOKER SCREENPLAY NOMS Remake or Rip-Off. The “win” for Worst Crimson Peak, and Matthew Robbins Supporting Actor went to Eddie Redmayne (Legendary Pictures) for Jupiter Ascending. Finally, Kayley Penny Dreadful, “And Hell Itself My Only Foe,” Cuoco-Sweeting copped the “nod” as (Showtime) Worst Supporting Actress for her voice Penny Dreadful, “Nightcomers,” John Logan (Showtime) work in Alvin & The Chipmunks: Road It Follows, David Robert Mitchell (Northern Lights Films) Chip (plus a non-genre role in The Wedding Ringer). What We Do in the Shadows, Taika Waititi and Jemaine ACADEMY AWARDS Clement (Unison Films) Winners of the Academy Awards STOKER ANTHOLOGY NOMS (AKA the Oscars; sponsored by the Academy of Mo- The Library of the Dead, Michael Bailey, ed. (Written Back- tion Picture Arts and Sciences) were announced in a wards) televised ceremony in late February 2016. Though The Doll Collection: Seventeen Brand-New Tales of Dolls, none of the headliner awards went to genre works, Ellen Datlow, ed.(Tor Books) they still did fairly well in other categories. Seize the Night, Christopher Golden, ed. (Gallery Books) Mad Max: Fury Road was by far the leader of the nEvermore!, Nancy Kilpatrick and Caro Soles, eds. (Edge Sci- pack in total awards to a genre film, taking home six of ence Fiction and Fantasy Publishing) the gold statuettes (for Costume Design, Film Editing, The X-Files: Trust No One, Jonathan Maberry, ed. (IDW Pub- Makeup and Hairstyling, Production Design, Sound lishing) Editing, and Sound Mixing). Midian Unmade, Joseph Nassise and Del Howison, eds. (Tor Inside Out took perhaps the biggest single genre Books) win, in the Animated Feature Film category. Ani- STOKER FICTION COLLECTION NOMS mated Short Film went to Bear Story. Finally, the Halfway Down the Stairs, Gary A. Braunbeck (JournalStone Visual Effects nod went to the British import Ex Publishing) Machina. In the not-quite-genre-but-some-people The Mirrors, Nicole Cushing (Cycatrix Press) count it division, Spectre won for Original Song. The Dark at the End of the Tunnel, Taylor Grant (Cemetery SFWA GRAND MASTER & SOLSTICE AWARDS Dance Publications) The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America has announced that C.J. Cherryh will receive this Books) year’s Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award (for While the Black Stars Burn, Lucy A. Snyder (Raw Dog lifetime achievement in science fiction and/or fantasy). Screaming Press) SFWA has also announced that late Sir Terry Pratchett will STOKER NON-FICTION NOMS posthumously receive this year’s Kate Wilhelm Solstice The Unique Legacy of Weird Tales: The Evolution of Modern Award (for having “a significant impact on the science fiction Fantasy and Horror, Justin Everett and Jeffrey H. Shanks, or fantasy landscape, and is particularly intended for those who eds. (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers) have consistently made a major, positive difference within the The Art of Horror, Stephen Jones (Applause Theatre & Cinema field.”). Books) The presentations will be at the SFWA Nebula Conference, Author’s Guide to Marketing with Teeth, Michael Knost (Sev- to be held 12–15 May 2016 at the Palmer House Hilton in enth Star Press) Chicago IL. Horror 201: The Silver Scream, Joe Mynhardt and Emma Aud- HWA LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT & OTHER AWARDS sley, eds. (Crystal Lake Publishing) The Horror Writers Association has announced Studies in the Horror Film: Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, that Alan Moore and George A. Romero will receive this Danel Olson (Centipede Press) year’s HWA Lifetime Achievement Awards. STOKER POETRY COLLECTION NOMS The HWA has also announced that Borderlands Press will Resonance Dark and Light, Bruce Boston (Eldritch Press) receive the Specialty Press Award and that both Patrick Eden Underground, Alessandro Manzetti (Crystal Lake Pub- Freivald and Andrew Wolter will receive the Richard Lay- lishing) mon President’s Award. The latter is awarded by HWA’s pres- Dark Energies, Ann Schwader (P’rea Press) ident for service to the organization Naughty Ladies, Marge Simon (Eldritch Press) The presentations will be at the inaugural StokerCon —to be held 12–15 May 2015 at the Screaming Press) Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas NV—during the Bram Stoker ! Awards ceremony. ! NESFA AWARDS The New England Science Fiction Association, Inc. has announced winners of the Edward E. Smith ! Memorial Award for Imaginative Fiction (aka the Skylark RAZZIE AWARDS Award) and the Jack Gaughan Award for Best New Artist. The “Winners” of the 2016 Razzie Awards Winners (for Worst announcements were made at Boskone 53 , held 19–21 February 2016 at the Westin Waterfront Hotel 6 in Boston MA. KIDS’ CHOICE AWARDS Skylark ...... Gardner Dozois Winners of the 2016 Kid’s Choice Awards (sponsored by TV channel Nickelodeon) BAFTA AWARDS were announced in early March 2016. Genre winners included: Winners of the 2016 EE British Academy Film Awards TV Show ...... The Thundermans were announced 14 February Family TV Show ...... The Muppets 2014 during a televised ceremony. Winners of genre interest Female TV Star (Kids’ Show) ...... Zendaya (K.C. Undercover) (most in the “technical” categories) included: Cartoon ...... SpongeBob SquarePants Rising Star ...... John Boyega (Star Wars VII) Movie ...... Star Wars: The Force Awakens Animated Film ...... Inside Out Movie Actress ...... Jennifer Lawrence Editing ...... Mad Max: Fury Road (: Mockingjay, Part 2) Production Design ...... Mad Max: Fury Road Animated Movie ...... Hotel Transylvania 2 Costume Design ...... Mad Max: Fury Road Voice from an Animated Movie .....Amy Poehler (Inside Out) Make Up And Hair ...... Mad Max: Fury Road Some people would also consider Jim Parsons’ win in the Special Visual Effects ...... Star Wars: The Force Awakens Male TV Star (Family Show) category—for The Big Bang British Short Animation ...... Edmond Theory—to be genre related. WGA AWARDS RONDO AWARDS VOTING OPEN Winners of the 2016 Writers Guild of America Awards were Voting (online) has opened for the 2016 Rondo Hatton announced in early February 2016. Winners included several Awards (for classic horror research, creativity, and film preser- works of genre interest, including: vation) . The full lists (27 categories; hun- New Series ...... Mr. Robot; Written by Kyle Bradstreet, dreds of nominees) are too long to print in the Shuttle so see Kate Erickson, Sam Esmail, David Iserson, Randolph Leon, for the Adam Penn, and Matt Pyken nominees as well as voting instructions. Short Form New Media–Adapted .“Chapter Two: Phoebe,” NOMS Heroes Reborn: Dark Matters; Written by Zach Craley (one Finalists for the 2016 Compton Crook Award (for best first genre novel by an Animation ...... “Housetrap,” Bob’s Burgers; individual) have been announced. The winner will be an- Written by Dan Fybel nounced at Balticon 50 , to be held 27–30 Children’s Script–Episodic and Specials ...... “Gortimer, May 2016 at the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel in Ranger and Mel vs. The Endless Night,” Gortimer Gib- Baltimore MD. The finalists are: bon’s Life on Normal Street; Written by Gretchen Enders 5 to 1, Holly Bodger and Aminta Goyel Owl and the Japanese Circus, Kristie Charish Achievement in Videogame Writing ...... Rise of the I Will Love You Forever, Brian Groover Tomb Raider; Lead Narrative Designer John Stafford; Narra- The Gracekeepers: A Novel, Kirsty Logan tive Designer Cameron Suey; Lead Writer Rhianna Pratchett; The Thorn of Dentonhill: A Novel of Maradaine, Marshall Additional Writer Philip Gelatt Ryan Maresca Additionally, some people might count the win for Docu- Beasts of Tabat, Cat Rambo mentary Screenplay (Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison Flex, Ferret Steinmetz of Belief; Written by Alex Gibney) as genre related. Enter the Janitor, Josh Vogt KITSCHIES AWARDS Updraft, Fran Wilde Winers of the 2015 Kitschies Awards (for “the year’s most progressive, intelligent and enter- Baen Books has announced finalists for taining works that contain elements of the speculative or fantas- the 2016 Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award (for a short tic”) were announced in early March 2016. Winners included: story that “shows the near future… of manned space explo- Red Tentacle (novel category—£1,000 prize) ...... The Heart ration”). The award is co-sponsored by the National Space So- Goes Last, Margaret Atwood (Bloomsbury) ciety and prizes include professional publica- Golden Tentacle (debut novel category—£500 prize) ..Making tion on the Baen Books website. The finalists are: Wolf, Tade Thompson (Rosarium) Jennifer Brozek J. Lily Corbie Ronald D. Ferguson Inky Tentacle (cover art category) ...... The Door That Led C. Stuart Hardwick Bart Kemper to Where by Sally Gardner, art direction and design by Jet Steve Last Thomas A. Mays Aimee Ogden Purdie, illustration by Dover Publications Inc. and Shutter- Al Onia Eric Picholle stock (Hot Key Books) RHYSLING AWARD NOMS Invisible Tentacle (natively digital fiction category) ...... Life The Science Fiction Poetry Association has Is Strange (Square Enix) announced candidates for the 2016 Rhysling Awards (for best The Black Tentacle (discretionary genre poem in two length categories). The two lists comprise award—for outstanding achieve- over 100 entries and are thus too long to list in the Shuttle. Full ment in encouraging and elevat- info can be seen at . ing the conversation around CARNEGIE AND GREENAWAY MEDAL NOMS genre literature) went to “the genre Shortlists for the Chartered Institute of Library and Informa- community, personified by Patrick tion Professionals Carnegie Medal (for a Ness,” for the response to the children’s book) and Kate Greenaway Medal (for illustrations humanitarian refugee crisis. Ness in a children’s book) have been announced. Items of genre in- founded Save the Children, which terest include: raised £689,793.56 from over 6000 The Lie Tree, Frances Hardinge donors. The Rest of Us Just Live Here, Patrick Ness 7 Five Children on the Western Front, Kate Saunders audio). With The Martian not only did I only do a very minimal The Ghosts of Heaven, Marcus Sedgwick amount of the speeding up playback I thoroughly enjoyed lis- The Sleeper and the Spindle, , illustrated by Chris tening to it as it was. One point that I hope some reader can Riddell help work on. My TVs are not all that big. I could not read the NOMS one long handwritten message Watney relayed back. I tried The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films pause, etc.—still no clarity. I tried Googling to see if all the has announced nominations for the 2015 Saturn Awards messages were available, but I must have had the wrong search (for “multi-genre entertainment” in criteria since only that one short message “Are you receiving film, TV, and home video releases). The full list of nominees me?” showed up. I’d really like to know what it said (yeah, I’ll (in about 40 categories) is too long to list in the Shuttle; it can probably be reduced to buying the DVD anyway and then I can be seen at . work on it more if no one has the“transcript”—so to speak). LAMBDA AWARDS NOMS Yes, that DVD is going to join my very small collection The Lambda Literary Foundation Interesting news blurb on TV last night about the latest in- has announced finalists for the 28th Lambda Literary Awards coming astronaut class… that some of them may be (eventual- (for “the best lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender books of ly?) Mars bound. the year”). There are about 24 categories including a “LGBT Before I forget—loved the artwork on page—any idea of the SF/F/Horror” category. Nominees there are: medium? Down, Ally Blue (Riptide Publishing) I am betting I forgot last time to urge all who are eligible to The Caphenon (Chronicles of Alsea–Book #1), Fletcher De- nominate start working on their list. The further I get away Lancey (Ylva Publishing) from having a Worldcon membership, the less concerned I get. The Boys on the Mountain, John Inman (DSP Publications) Then, the more I look at the short list and save all the lists to The Glittering World, Robert Levy (Gallery Books) read RSN. Now that I can have no input into the process, the The Gracekeepers, Kirsty Logan (Crown Publishers) less irritated I get when the results aren’t what I would hope Wonder City Stories, Jude McLaughlin (Createspace) them to be. Ah well… I do need (well want) to go take a look at Minotaur, J.A. Rock (Riptide Publishing) the prospective Worldcon bids presentations. Sacrati, Kate Sherwood (Riptide Publishing) My generator was found to be dead the day before “the” There are some genre works scattered in other categories, Blizzard hit. I just crossed my fingers and researched anyone including at least the LGBT Anthology, Gay Erotica, LGBT who would do repairs on “portable” (at 260 pounds—not in- Children’s/YA, LGBT Graphic Novels, and Transgender Fic- cluding the wheeled cart—I contest that appellation, but…) tion categories. generators. I only found one place. (Note—I did find it ironic The awards will be presented at ceremony to be held 6 June that the local electrician I have had out three times—whose 2016 at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in slogan is no job too small—said the job was too small. I was New York City. too much of a coward to point out the irony.) I called and he URSA MAJOR AWARDS NOMS said he would have to bring it back to his shop—fair enough. The Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Association has He doesn't seem to get the concept of no sidewalk, no path/ announced nominations for the 2015 Anthropomorphic Litera- driveway to the shed—someone(s) will have to carry it out; no ture and Arts Awards (aka the way it can roll. I found out multiple times that with my soaked Ursa Major Awards). The full list of nominees (in about 11 yard the cart sinks down rapidly. His window is pushed almost categories) is too long to list in the Shuttle; it can be seen at the [even] with the still deep snow—even now that the yard under- website above. Online voting is open to the public through 30 neath may be solid… I'll just keep crossing my fingers that April 2016. nothing happens to the electricity as temps plummet to single ELGIN AWARDS OPEN FOR NOMS digits. Spring thaw… well, maybe by then, but I hope he brings The Science Fiction Poetry Association is a crew with him if they intend to carry it out! accepting nominations for the Elgin Awards (for poetry books It will be interesting to see if anything comes of (as in cease —in two categories, Chapbook and Book). Nominations close and desist) the suit to stop the Fan Star Trek movie. Granted, it 15 May 2016. might be a poor precedent to allow it to go forward, but it sort ! of seems… well… petty to stop a labor of love. (But petty ! probably is poor choice—as in petty “theft.”) Time to go check on the house next door (owners winter at Letter of Comment their condo in Florida and I check in several times a week)— ! I’ll pop this into the mailbox on my way out. LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC-LOC Brrrrrr… to put it mildly. ! Thanks for the reading material—always appreciated! Sheryl Birkhead 12 February 2015 ! 25509 Jonnie Court [I’m currently excavating some much-neglected mail so I’m a Gaithersburg MD 20882 month late running this (it appears to comment on the January ! issue). For all I know you may have a more recent LoC in the I thought I had already charged into this one, but it appears pile that I haven’t gotten to yet. Regarding the artwork, the not, so I shall get going on that right now. artist doesn’t say anything about the medium on his page(s). He does mention that the sketches took 3–4 what everyone else has been saying—great. My Sony (digital hours each. The Paramount/CBS vs. Axanar Productions law- TVs with their Sony VCRs) set-ups each have a l.4X capability suit is ongoing and the Axanar production of their film (Star with the DVD player. I never realized how much “dead time” Trek Horizon) is not—at least for now. That update, such as it there is in most movies and cut down viewing time (at the l,4X is, is from a blog post on the Axanar website dated 4 March there is still audio—when I go up to the next speed there is no 2016. -ED] 8 National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Ceres is the closest dwarf planet to the Sun. It is the largest object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, with an equatorial diameter of about 965 kilometers.

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory www.nasa.gov www.jpl.nasa.gov 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 March 2016 edition (Volume 36, Number 3). NASFA Officers for 2016: President Mary Lampert; Vice President Mike Kennedy; Secretary Steve Sloan; Treasurer Sam Smith; Program Director “JudySue Thornsmythe”; Publicity Director Sam Smith. 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, © 2016. 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. *****************************************************************************************************************