The Nebula short list is out.  I’m really quite pleased with what is on the list (although – as always – slightly disappointed that some works which I nominated didn’t make it).  In addition to some short stories like Kij Johnson’s “Spar” that I loved, two of my novel reading recommendations made the final ballot:  Cherie Priest’s “Boneshaker” on the novel list, and Lisa Mantchev’s “Eyes Like Stars” for the Andre Norton Award.

I’m planning my Hugo recommendations now (they must be in by the end of March).   And I’ve been consuming almost half of my short fiction via podcasts (and there is a great post about podcasts and the Hugo’s over at Amy Sturgis’s site.  Primarily I listen to Clarkesworld’s podcast, Escape Pod, and Starship Sofa.  There is some talk about Starship Sofa being a candidate in the best fanzine category.

Clarkesworld and Escape Pod’s podcasts are simply the fiction – which is often great when that’s all I want, and Starship Sofa is usually a long podcast with a piece of short fiction, a piece of long fiction, a poem, and editorial, and a science article.   This makes it a magazine rather than just an audio version of a short story.  I take them along for long walks with the dog or to keep me interested in weeding long enough to make a difference.  I get through more whole issues of Starship Sofa than of Analog or Asimov’s (all are good – the podcast format is great for “reading” while I’m doing other things, too).

So is “best fanzine” the right category to give Tony C. Smith and crew a chance at a Hugo?  Or best semi-prozine?