Am I HAPPY?

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Okay, I've started getting congratulations from my friends, so it seems the news is officially out . . . I've been nominated for the Hugo in the short story category for "From Babel's Fall'n Glory We Fled..."

People ask me occasionally, doesn't the thrill of being nominated lessen after winning the award five times?

The answer to which is: No, no, no, no, and no.

Here's the short story slate:

Best Short Story (448 Ballots Cast)

‘‘26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss’’ by Kij Johnson (Asimov's Jul 2008)
‘‘Article of Faith’’ by Mike Resnick (Baen's Universe Oct 2008)
‘‘Evil Robot Monkey’’ by Mary Robinette Kowal (The Solaris Book of NewScience Fiction, Volume Two)
‘‘Exhalation’’ by Ted Chiang (Eclipse Two)
‘‘From Babel's Fall'n Glory We Fled’’ by Michael Swanwick (Asimov's Feb 2008)


And . . . oh, bugger, I'm up against Mike Resnick again. Which is unfortunate because Mike has this superstitious belief that I always win. Which is far, far, far from true. In fact, I think I looked it up once and determined that I had never won when I was up against him.

Well, there's a bright side to this. I get to recount the tradition Mike and I have established in such situations. Before the ceremony, I go up to him and say something like, "Mike, since it will have no effect whatsoever on the outcome -- I hope your story wins."

And he replies, "On exactly the same conditions, I hope your story wins."

Congratulations to everyone! I'm happy for us all.

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