Quick Sips 09/16/2022

So I’m back to being behind on things…kind of. I mean, I did catch up on Sip of the Week posts (and hope to have another one out today for patrons, but I also just feel behind in general. Most of that is purely personal—for whatever reason there’s a lot going on. Some of it’s good, some of it’s not so good, and all of it is taking something of a toll. So the struggle bus continues to roll its way.

Quick Sips 09/09/2022

Well, I didn’t win a Hugo Award. Indeed, Quick Sip Reviews ended up tied for fifth place with the estimable The Full Lid. Which is about as high as I’ve ever placed in the Hugo Awards. So it’s humbling in many ways—in that I’m humbled to be honored as a Hugo finalist, and in that I’m faced once more that I’ll probably never reach that particular brass ring, or at least not as a dedicated short fiction reviewer. Which…fair. As I’ve said before, what I do is rather niche, and it’s hard to be particularly angry that it means that it’s always going to be a far stretch to compete with projects/blogs/writers who cover a wider (and arguably more popular) field.

Quick Sips 09/02/2022

So it’s WorldCon week and alas I am not going to be there in person. It’s my fifth year as a hugo finalist, and I’ve only been able to attend in person once, though for the past three years that has been at least in part pandemic related. The rest has been down to not being able to afford to go. Indeed, the only way I attended in San Jose was because there was such an effort to get finalists there who couldn’t otherwise afford. It was incredibly appreciated, and definitely a highlight in my time as a finalist. I had hoped, what with Chicago so close, that this year was going to be a sure thing, but some complications, including a lingering pandemic, have made it impossible. Boo.

Quick Sips 08/26/2022

[apologies this is getting up late, but Friday I wasn't feeling great and so I've been low key the last few days and starting to catch up now. Thanks for understanding!]

Hi all! This week brings a mild annoyance of my air conditioner not working, which is kinda blah as it’s been warm (though admittedly not nearly as hot as many places in the country and world where things are much more so). Perhaps not surprisingly it’s made sleeping more difficult, as I like to sleep in the cold and even in the basement it’s been warm. Sigh. Anyway, a service person is coming out and at least now the prospect of a bill of an air conditioner fix or even a new air conditioner isn’t something that’s doing its own kind of chilling. I’m sure we’ll be able to afford whatever it is, though it’s still rather unwelcome. Plops.

Quick Sips 08/19/2022

So there’s not a whole lot to report right now in the land of me. I am busily working to turning in my next Locus column, and have read a whole lot to get that done (another 90+ month). That has put me behind on some other things, like recommendations, but I hope to catch up on those soon too. Until then, I’m just trying to try.

Quick Sips 08/12/2022

Hello again! By the time this releases publicly, voting for the Hugos will have closed, and I hope if you had a membership you took the time to vote. It’s a slightly strange place to be in, as a finalist once more in the Fanzine category, in part because it’ll likely be the last time that QSR is up for that prestigious award, which means it might also be my final time as a finalist. Maybe not, but there’s a strong chance. Coming off of winning the Locus, I find that it’s a little harder to push down the hope that QSR might win this year, but I also know that historically my little review blog that could doesn’t fare well in the final voting, so I will try not to let myself hope.

Quick Sips 08/05/2022

So voting closes for the Hugo awards on the 11th, and that means there’s less than ten days left to get those ballots in. Of course, I am up in the Fanzine category for Quick Sip Reviews (for the fourth year in a row) and would definitely be honored by any consideration during voting. It’s a little weird, as this might be the last time that QSR will be really eligible, given that it’s most just my weekly hot takes these days. But for seven years it was a source of wide short SFF coverage, and last year was its biggest year to date.