Author: Marion Deeds

I asked on Twitter if The King’s Daughter was based on The Moon and the Sun by Vonda McIntyre, but no one answered. Reason.com came to my rescue, via File 770. Yes, it is. The film was made eight years ago, this article says, and the review is… not kind. Maybe I’ll just reread the Nebula-winning book.

I’d hate to think I didn’t fill you guys in the “squeecore” thing! Is it a controversy? A dust-up? A revelation of a movement? A kerfuffle, a tempest in a teapot?

Filippo Bernardini was arrested last week on charges of wire fraud. The Simon and Schuster employee may have impersonated agents, members of award juries and even famous authors to get his hands on pre-published manuscripts. I want to know what he planned to do with those manuscripts.

The Con Committee chair of ConFusion provides a long, blunt article about why ConFusion 2022 is going forward in-person. She provides two paragraphs on the precautions they are taking. This is a worthwhile read, letting us see how groups are grappling with the physical and fiscal realities of the pandemic.

Hogmanay is the Scottish New Year’s Eve celebration. Here are a few of the enduring traditions.

Tomorrow, January 6, is Epiphany, Three Kings Day or Twelfth Night, and has its own set of traditions. To wrap things up, I tracked down Mary Berry’s King’s Cake recipe on Pinterest. (It’s a super-deluxe fruit cake, but so much more British than ours.)

File770 highlighted the problems some authors are having with Amazon Kindle direct Publishing (KDP). Lexi Ostrow gives a blow-by-blow of her horrendous experience here.

I said this week’s column would be a single-issue one, and it is, but that issue is the Hugo winners. WorldCon 79 was held last weekend in Washington D.C. and the winners were announced on December 18.

This will be short. Find all the winning works here.

Best Novel:

Network Effect by Martha Wells

Best Novella:

The Empress of Salt And Fortune by Nghi Vo

Best Novelette:

Two Truths and Lie by Sarah Pinsker

Best Short Story:

Metal like Blood in the Dark by T.