Mabfan's Musings

Last week, Apex Blog posted three of my stories for free on their blog. This week, in my blog post The Utility of Free Fiction, I explain why I allowed them to do this, and in fact, why I encouraged it. Go read it, and let me know what you think.

#SFWApro

I was late with my Apex Blog for February, so it got posted just yesterday. In The Robots of Huckleberry Finn, I discuss my own thoughts about the controversy that came up in January when a publisher chose to bowdlerize Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."

Go read and comment over there if you're so moved.

Now is that time of year when many writers have posted links to their works online, reminding their fans – and hoping that their fans are members of Worldcon – that they are eligible to be nominated for the Hugo Award.

I've actually been in this racket a little longer than most. It's a little known fact that I was the first person to suggest to a Worldcon that Hugo-nominated works be posted online. The 1993 Worldcon had provided a CD-ROM of nominated works for sale to its members, but in 1996, when I was nominated for a Hugo for the first time, the Worldcon went one step farther. I contacted the Hugo administrator and told him that I wanted to put my nominated short story, "TeleAbsence," up on my website. I suggested that we get other nominated works up on the web as well, to help the voters track down the nominated stories, and I offered to host works on my own website. As a result, I ended up hosting my own competition, which was fine with me. (And I lost to a story that was hosted elsewhere, anyway.)

Of course, things are a little different today. Many, many more writers are posting their works online, and everyone has a greater opportunity to get their signal lost in the noise. That said, it behooves me to add a signal of my own, so here goes.

If you're planning to nominate in the Hugo Awards this year, as far as I can tell, I'm actually eligible in three categories. Here are the categories and how I'm eligible.

1. Best Short Story: "Hope" by Michael A. Burstein

I'm proud of that short story, which appeared in Destination: Future edited by Z. S. Adani and Eric T. Reynolds and was published by Hadley Rille Books in February 2010. Publishers Weekly called my story "sublimely moving." I'm delighted to announce that Hadley Rille has posted a PDF of the story, along with other stories, at Hadley Rille: Read Stories Online. Or you can click on the story title above and download the PDF directly.

2. Best Fan Writer: Michael A. Burstein

I continue to be eligible for Best Fan Writer not just for my writing here, but also for my writing on Apex Blog and for Argentus, among other places. One of my Apex Blog posts even got picked up by io9, so I must be doing something right. If you want to read some of my Apex Blog posts and even a story of mine, click here for my name on the Apex site. Or you could click here for a tagged list of my personal blog posts pointing toward my Apex Blog posts.

3. Best Related Work: Mabfan's Musings

Yeah, technically, this blog is eligible as a Related Work. I doubt it'll have a chance given all the great related books that were published this year, but I thought I'd mention it.

So there you go. I've tried to do a little more than just promote myself in this post; I've also provided a little fannish history and links to some free fiction and nonfiction. If you're so inclined, please go read and consider my works for nomination.

And, as always, thanks for reading.