The Nebula Awards Conference weekend was a blast! I got to meet new people, put faces and voices (!) to names and still pictures, and hang out with some familiar friends–and watch as John Wiswell, one of my Viable Paradise classmates, won the award for Best Short Story with his story (published at Diabolical Plots), “Open House on Haunted Hill.” Go ahead and read it. I’ll still be here, and you won’t regret it. So first of all, a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to John!
I also volunteered a bit, and got to help people enter the Hopkinson Suite, many for the first time. I really enjoyed my volunteering time, and was very fortunate that no laser bats found the Airship during my watches! Things went a lot smoother this year, since the people behind the scenes had last year’s ongoing re-boots as a “don’t do this” training exercise. And many of the good things remained–the Airship role-play embraced through Slack, Cuddles the dragon at the ceremony, and the continuation of increasing BIPOC faces both in attendance, on panels, and receiving awards.
In my house, things went a bit sideways when (because the conference was run on Pacific Time in honor of its supposing to be held in person in LA) I just set my office clock to PT and referred to all times in PT to my husband so as not to mess up and miss my volunteer time slots. But my husband kept referring to ET, where we live–and lunch came at some truly strange times, let me tell you.
And how about that photo? That’s what happens when the universe leaks in through your Airship porthole!
I know this is a wayyyyyyy too short a summary of three days, but I’m still tired, still trying to get back to “regular life” in the wake of the conference chaos, and honestly, unless you were there, you won’t want to relive it with me. Just know it was fun and I hope I see you there next year.
Speaking of which…it’s still not too late to join the 2021 Nebula Conference! All the panels were recorded, and can be viewed from now through March 2022 when you have a membership. In addition, there will be ongoing Co-Writing Dates throughout the year, where you attend through Zoom, write for a period of time, then break to chat or get advice, then write some more. More words through peer pressure–but only with a membership. And you don’t have to be a SFWA member for any of this. If you just want to watch the awards ceremony, you can do that, too, right here.
Everyday Magic | M. E. Garber 