Chucking stuff on to a skip, mainly. For reasons that doubtless seemed sensible at the time, we decided that Christmas and New Year would present the perfect opportunity to renovate Chris’s office. Consequently we’ve been hauling books and sifting clutter, some of which hasn’t been moved or examined for twenty years. It’s been a week. Results have been pleasing, though, and continue to be so. Of course it has played havoc with both our writing schedules, but we’re both making progress, nonetheless. I had what I feel to be a major breakthrough with the new book at the weekend. Things are finally moving.
While I’m here, may I remind all BSFA members that nominations for the BSFA Awards close this coming Tuesday, January 14th, so get over to the BSFA site now and place some more nominations! The noms-list-so-far has thrown up some interesting titles as always, so if you’re seeking inspiration/some timely memory-jogging for what to nominate, it’s well worth a look. Do remember though that it’s the number of nominations that count – seeing your preferred novel, story, piece of artwork or non-fiction already on that list does not make it safe. With such a diversity of works in the running, every nomination really does count.
And awards-wise, this is just the beginning. Nominations for the Hugos have now opened, which means I’ll have to start jotting down ideas for my ballot, well, now, really. I’m hoping that plenty of people will get in there before me and post their ballots and recommendations online. Some of those lists are invaluable – especially when it comes to the curse of the novelette…
Oh, and shouldn’t we be seeing the annual list of Clarke submissions posted up any time now? If the rumours are true, the numbers are up from last year and the quality higher than ever. And to think we’re less than two weeks into 2014.