Quick Hugo Follow-up Q&A
Posted on March 21, 2008 Posted by John Scalzi 26 Comments
Hugo announcement days are good for your ego when you’re on the ballot, but not great for getting a huge amount of work done, because you’re busy answering congrat e-mails and such. Yes, this is in the class of “problems one wishes one could have.” But I’m getting some specific questions in e-mail and comments which I thought I’d post up here.
1. How can I vote for the Hugo? (this is from a family member, bless ’em)
Get a membership to Denvention 3. It’s this year’s Worldcon, for those of you who don’t know this already. If you plan to go to the convention, you should get an attending membership, which is $200. If you don’t plan on attending but still want to vote, get a supporting membership, which is $50. Buying either sort of membership also means you’ll be able to nominate for the Hugos in 2009.
2. Will you be attending Denvention 3?
Indeed I will be; I reserved my hotel room about a month ago. I actually have a busy travel schedule in late July and August — among other things I will be Guest of Honor at ArmadilloCon in Austin a week after Denvention 3 — so even though I had reserved a room I was sort of holding off on getting a membership. But now I have a couple of reasons to go, aside from seeing a whole bunch of friends and fans and enjoying Denver. So, yes: See you there.
3. Will you be making an electronic version of The Last Colony available for Hugo voters?
Yes. Some of you may recall that when Old Man’s War was nominated for the Hugo, I made it available electronically for Hugo voters, in a bundle that included Robert Charles Wilson’s Spin and Charlie Stross’ Accelerando. I’ll definitely be making TLC available to Hugo voters in electronic form, and I’ll ping the other nominees to see if they want to bundle up our books into a single package. This might take a few days to organize, especially as we’re heading into a weekend (and an Easter weekend at that) so be patient while I see if any of the other authors want in.
Of course, you can just pop into a bookstore (or a library) for a copy of my book or of the books of any other of the nominees.
4. Have you sent your band of secret ninja assassins to deal with the other nominees?
Of course not. The nominations aren’t rescinded in the event of death, and their untimely demise at the hands of shadowy martial artists would just create sympathy for them. Also, I like most of the other nominees in my categories on a personal level. I would be sad if they were dead. They’re safe from my ninja horde.
And yes, someone really did e-mail this question to me.
5. Think you’ll win?
Don’t know. At this point, don’t care. I’m just enjoying the nods for now. Seems the sane thing to do.
And there you have it. If you have any other Hugo-specific questions for me, feel free to leave them in the comment thread.
“4. Have you sent your band of secret ninja assassins to deal with the other nominees?
“Of course not. The nominations aren’t rescinded in the event of death, and their untimely demise at the hands of shadowy martial artists would just create sympathy for them. ”
Then, perhaps, you should send your secret ninja assassins after *yourself*!
My wife would not allow such transparent vote mongering, especially if it ended in my death.
Is your band of secret ninja assassins available for parties?
Yeah, but it’s not like you’ll know if they actually showed up.
Personally, I think it’s a silly question. I mean, if you went and told everyone you were sending secret ninja assassins, they wouldn’t exactly be secret would they? Great cover-up answer!
Drop me a note when Last Colony is online. Thanks!
Nathan, Too:
Well, I might send the Not-Secret Ninjas as a distraction. See, deception is key!
Off-topic, but I really can’t help myself: I bought the MMP of Ghost Brigades on Monday, and I’ve been wondering a while now…
Is there deliberate Douglas Adams fanservice on page 77 (when JD’s being taken planetside for training)?
Well, you can’t string those words together in that particular sequence without making a nod in Adams’ direction.
So…how does one become a member of your band of secret ninja assassins? Do you have an application form?
@9: …That’s what I figured, but it’s great to have the confirmation from the horse’s mouth. Many thanks, sir.
TransDutch:
If you could be part of the band of secret ninja assassins, you would be, already.
I’m looking forward to awkwardly saying ‘Hello’ to you at Denvention while silently screaming to myself in my head!
*laugh*
No, but seriously. I’m really looking forward to having Denvention in my home town.
So will there be a Denvention bash where we can celebrate all things Scalzi?
Jeri:
Hopefully it will be called the Hugo Awards ceremony.
Plenty of seats for Denvention events – but it’ll be a bash for over 3,000-odd…um people.
I am actually the head of the secret ninja assassins and can confirm we haven’t been deployed for Mission: Hugo Martyr as yet.
(If you want confirmation of my status, just wait until Mr Scalzi confirms that he has never heard of me ;) )
Hi John – thank you for sending your friend to see me. I’ve never met a secret ninja assassin before. I confess that I was a little disappointed when she said that she wasn’t allowed to kill me, as I’ve always fancied a posthumous Hugo. I figured it was the only way I’d ever beat The Fanglord. Anyway, she did let me see her knives, which are quite the sharpest things I have ever seen. Other than that, she was very solicitous about my health. When I told her about my cholesterol problem she kindly bought me a large slab of cheesecake with extra whipped cream.
Would you be willing to give some sort of indication who is *not* safe from your ninja horde? In generic, non-incriminating, non-foreshadowing terms, I mean.
People who express concerns about the secret ninja horde are usually in trouble.
As I was saying, both the NCAA tournament and the budding PGA season seem to have a lot of storylines going.
(Looks around nervously in the privacy of his own home.)
Jeri! You, me, Anne, Janeice, and my roommate Cindy can have a party at Denvention! And maybe dress up as ninjas, secretly.
I’m really bummed that Armadillocon isn’t in our travel plans. Our friend Kelly Persons will be fan guest of honor, you will be GoH, and Joe & Gay Haldeman will be special guests.
What a great line-up of wicked nice people!
I can see that if I’m in San Antonio as usual in August, I’m gonna drive north for the weekend and FACT is going to get some of my money.
What a great line-up of wicked nice people, indeed!
While you’re in town, I recommend Pint’s Pub and the Mercury Cafe if you feel like leaving the con to do some drinking.
If this Anonymous should see you in either place, he’ll buy you a drink.