Bad news from a nice guy

Bill Crider is a genial, even-tempered man, a retired school teacher and a long-time writer of imaginative and enjoyable speculative fiction. He is prolific author and a frequent convention guest. His short story "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" is a finalist for this year's Sidewise Award in alternate history.

If you have ever met him or know him, you know he is always friendly, helpful, and approachable.

Like so many other of his friends, I was dismayed earlier in the week that he reported he had a potentially serious health problem. He posted on his blog Tuesday that his doctor ordered him to go to the hospital immediately because he thought he might be having kidney failure.

He posted Wednesday "Not kidneys. Very likely lymphoma. Biopsy tomorrow."

Bill is one of the few people of whom anyone can say "He's a nice guy" and not be suspected of the slightest sarcasm. Like so many other people today, he is in my thoughts and prayers. I hope he pulls through this health alert with his flags flying and his usual friendly grin.

Upcoming at ConDFW next weekend -

My schedule starts Friday at 3 p.m. with a panel on alternate history, "For Want of a Nail". It will be held in the Madison Room, and I am moderating. The other panelists are Julie Barrett, Melanie Fletcher, Katherine Eliska Kimbriel, and Rie Sheridan Rose.

The panel's description is as follows:

"How big of a change is needed to change history? The traditional tale of losing a war due to not having a nail for a horseshoe is a perfect indicator that not much is needed. However, if you make small changes you need to be able to predict where the nail falls, so to speak. Our alternate history experts talk about how to alter history in ways which are quite subtle, but create huge results."

I've gone to conventions over the years where the programming seems random and a bit arbitrary, or at least inexplicable, when it comes to what's handed me, and then there are times when the panels indicate my someone actually ready my biography and bibliography with an eye towards the choices.

This upcoming ConDFW has one of the best matched up line-ups for me, if not the best, I've ever seen. Having been a finalist for the Sidewise Award in 2013 gives me a modicum of respectability as an alternate history author.

Of course, anyone who plans to attend the panel needs to buy"The Clock Struck None" as the primary textbook.

Note the First: I will never, however, complain about convention programming because the people who do it are volunteers, and any time anyone gives of their time freely like that is to be thanked, and if there are any inadequacies, they're only human. A number of years ago I left a convention halfway through because my programming was messed up, but it was because of the human factor; it was when the Great Recession was beginning to bite and people were losing their jobs left and right. As it happened, that was the last time that convention was held, it didn't survive the Recession.

Not the Second: One of the best panel line-ups I ever was presented with was from last year's WorldCon. LonCon offered me panels on both Alternate History and Steampunk, but I had to renege on my offer to participate because the newspaper I worked at was sold in June and the bastards refused to honor my two weeks' paid vacation accumulated under the previous owners. I went from 14 days vacation to zero, and LonCon went out the window.

Sidewise award finalists

The Sidewise Award judges are pleased to announce this year's nominees for the Sidewise Award for Alternate History.  The winners will be announced at Loncon 3, this year's Worldcon, in London, UK during the weekend of August 14.  The Sidewise Awards have been presented annually since 1995 to recognize excellence in alternate historical fiction. This year's panel of judges was made up of Stephen Baxter, Evelyn Leeper, Jim Rittenhouse, Stu Shiffman, Kurt Sidaway, and Steven H Silver.

Short Form

* Vylar Kaftan, “The Weight of the Sunrise” (Asimov’s, 2/13)
* Ken Liu, “A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel” (F&SF, 1/13)
* Adam Roberts, “Tollund” (The Book of the Dead, Jurassic London)
* Kristine Kathryn Rusch, “Uncertainty” (Asimov’s, 3/13)
* Harry Turtledove, “Cayos in the Stream” (Tor.com, 8/7/13)
* Ian Watson, “Blair’s War” (Asimov’s, 7/12)

Long Form

* Robert Conroy, 1920: America’s Great War (Baen)
* Mark Hodder, The Secret of Abdu el Yezdi (Pyr, Ebury)
* D. J. Taylor, The Windsor Faction (Pegasus, Chatto & Windus)
* Bryce Zabel, Surrounded by Enemies : What If Kennedy Survived Dallas? (Mill City Press)

The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were conceived in late 1995 to honor the best allohistorical genre publications of the year. The first awards were announced in summer 1996 and honored works from 1995. The award takes its name from Murray Leinster's 1934 short story "Sidewise in Time," in which a strange storm causes portions of Earth to swap places with their analogs from other timelines.

I was honored to be a finalist last year for my story "Great White Ship" that was published in Daily Science Fiction in 2012.

I had predicted earlier in the year that Ken Liu's short story "“A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel” would be a finalist, and I was right. Hope it wins, too.

Thoughts while shaving

My short story production this year has been diminished somewhat by the time I've spent working on my latest collection, "The Clock Struck None", which should be coming out in a while from Fantastic Books, as well as my current work on "Letters from Gardner". I haven't completed a story since April.

I've also spent some time working with the writers' group SASS, which I serve as secretary - which means I handle a lot of paperwork.

Still, I've had six stories published so far this year, and two are in line for upcoming publication: "Riders of the Red Shift" in Stupefying Stories, and "Bindlestiff's Daughter" in The Lorelei Signal. And of course, "The Silver Dollar Saucer" is being reprinted in the "Raygun Chronicles" anthology.

I'd say the highlight of the year was being a finalist for the Sidewise Award. That story, "Great White Ship", is the lead-off in "The Clock Struck None".

The nice thing about slowing down short story production is that I've had more time to mentally work out some plot outlines and issues on stories I plan to write.

The Leinster Legacy

One highlight for me of the WorldCon was briefly meeting Billee Stallings, the daughter of Murray Leinster. She attended the Sidewise Award ceremony and was introduced from the audience. She was at the convention to help promote the web site, books and legacy of her dad - whose real name was Will Jenkins.

She had a very nice handout which was prepared for the convention. I take a moment to quote from it here:

"Before Murray Leinster, many science fiction stories explored time travel, leaping ahead in time or traveling backwards. But in Leinster's imaginings, the idea of moving sidewise in time - to worlds that might have been -  first came to fruition.

"In Sidewise in Time, Leinster describes a time fault that links the untrodden paths of the past to the present, an ingenious plot that inspired the prestigious Sidewise Award in the genre."

The Leinster web site, www.murrayleinster.org, covers the whole range of his work. He was prolific during the heyday of pulp fiction magazines and he had many outlets and was able to publish in multiple genres, including westerns, adventure and mystery stories.

"Great White Ship" nominated for the Sidewise Award

Well, the news has been announced, so I can go public.

The judges for the Sidewise Awards for Alternate History have announced the short list of finalists for the 2012 Sidewise Awards.

I'm proud and grateful that my short story, "Great White Ship", has been named a finalist for the Best Short Form category.

This was the news I referred to in my post last week when I said I was gonna plotz.. I got the email about the nomination last Tuesday. This was the first time I've bee nominated for an award of this kind, and it was a new experience.

The winners will be announced at LoneStarCon 3, the 71st Annual World Science Fiction Convention the weekend of August 30, 2013, in San Antonio.

This year's panel of judges was made up of Stephen Baxter, Evelyn Leeper, Jim Rittenhouse, Stu Shiffman, Kurt Sidaway, and Steven H Silver.

The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were conceived in late 1995 to honor the best allohistorical genre publications of the year. The first awards were announced in summer 1996 and honored works from 1995. The award takes its name from Murray Leinster's 1934 short story "Sidewise in Time," in which a strange storm causes portions of Earth to swap places with their analogs from other timelines.

Thanks to Daily Science Fiction and the Sidewise judges, as well as everyone who has enjoyed the story.