This is my first year nominating for the Nebulas. I’ve read only one of the novels people are talking about for that award–Naomi Novik’s Uprooted–and few of the novelette and novellas–I’ve been meaning to read “The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn” by Usman Malik most of all, but haven’t had the chance–so I’m only going to nominate for short stories, of which I’ve read many. I also slushed my way through dozens of those on SFWA’s reading list.  Here are my five:

  1. “Bilingual” by Henry Lien, F&SF. Made me wander my kitchen after reading it, dreaming of how I could have helped the protagonist were I in the story. (I’d have given her my jacket and hat so she could get away more easily.) Here’s what you can do in the real world to help Akari.
  2. “La Heron” by Charlotte Ashley, F&SF. Great use of magic, especially the mushrooms. The story’s not online, but an interview with the author about the story is.
  3. “The Fox Bride” by Mari Ness, DSF. I read this in a little coastal tourist town between Toronto and Niagara Falls while waiting outside a clothing story my wife and daughter were shopping in . Made me want to put foxes in all my stories, but I don’t think I could do it as well.
  4. “The Plausibility of Dragons” by Kenneth Schneyer, Lightspeed. Utterly compelling. An interesting model for what I want to do in “The Dragons of America.”
  5. “What Wags the World” by Sarah Pinsker, DSF. The last paragraph is heartbreaking.

I hope they all win.