Best Fancast

I punted.  I'm not interested enough to listen to these.  I ranked the two that are not on a slate in a random order.  Please forgive me if I chose unwisely.

Best Fan Writer

Oh god. This one was miserable.  I read the entries in the packet and went to a couple of the websites.
I read part of Laura Mixon's report on the Requires Hate/Thai writer conundrum.  I don't entirely understand the situation, but I think that's because the person involved (not Ms. Mixon) is, as we say in the south "not right".  I've never heard of any of the people involved, I can't understand why she was willing to spend this much time on it*, but she was.  I have read arguments and counter arguments on whether this piece "deserved" to be nominated.  Oy!

David Freer's submitted material was not appealing, but the bio on his website was.  He addressed the fact that he is also a professional writer.  I skimmed the first two posts from the submitted blog.  Okay, the third was a re-post from another nominee.  I was unable to finish it.  This nominee I am dithering on.  Oy!

Next - I didn't finish the sample.

Next - Ditto.

Jeffro Johnson submitted three samples, all book reviews of older books.  One and three were fine.  Two, two was dodgy.**.  However, he is a fan, he is writing, and some of his writing is interesting/helpful.  Even the squicky review was helpful, I'm not going to read the book.

Next year, I hope there are better choices.

*I initially meant why Ms. Mixon was willing to write about it, realized it was ambiguous, realized I meant it in both senses.  I don't understand why the blogger in the report spent so much time being awful to people.  What's the point?

**I have to say that Mr. Johnson's second review evoked certain stereotypes for me.  I'm not going to say anymore because I don't want to be hateful.

Best Editor - Long Form

This one wasn't too bad.  Only two of the Editors submitted anything to the packet, in both cases lists of what they had edited in the year 2014.  I ranked them based on how much I had enjoyed the books they edited.  I recognize that this is a proxy with issues, but it's what I have.

Sheila Gilbert & Anne Sowards (not necessarily in that order)

Two of the remaining editors work at Baen, edit a variety of works, some I like, some I don't.  They got ranked in a order that seemed appropriate to me:

Jim Minz & Toni Weisskopf

The other nominee was not ranked as I have yet to be able to finish anything he's edited.

Best Professional Artist

              I ranked four of the five nominees.  One nominee didn't include any work in the packet and the only results to my search were improbably large breasted women in impractical armor.  

My first choice was Julie Dillon.  Her stuff is incredible.  My biggest issue with it is I want to READ the novels that go with them, and they don't exist.  These worlds she created for her art are fascinating.

The other three are apparently from a puppy slate, but they appear to be talented professionals and I ranked them in the order they appealed to me based on their submitted works.

**Note: I set as one of my rules for myself that if I couldn't finish it, it didn't get ranked.  I think I am going to have to break that one.  I don't think I'm going to be able to get into The Three-Body Problem.  It's just not grabbing me.  I'm not nuts about a bunch of Asmov's stuff either, but I'm glad I read it.  I may be able to read this at another time, so I will rank it above no-award.

Reading for the Hugos

As a younger person I was a rabid reader of Science Fiction (and Fantasy).  Robert Heinlein, AnneMcCaffrey, Madeline L'engle, Patricia Mckillip, C.J. Cherryh, Andre Norton, and E. Nesbit come most quickly to mind.  I've since added Terry Pratchett, Jim Butcher, Harry Connolly, Barbara Hambly, more C.J. Cherryh, Patricia McKillip, Naomi Novik, John Scalzi and the incomparable Lois McMaster Bujold.  I've read a scattering of other authors I liked, Robin McKinley, Paolo Bacigalupi, John Ringo, David Weber, Chrostopher Paolini, Connie Willis, Tanya Huff, Cliford Simak.  You get the picture.  I have fairly broad tastes.
     I don't read a lot of fiction these days.  I work in an emotionally and intellectually demanding job and I spend most of my leisure reading time on long-form journalism.  I re-read a fair amount as I can put down a half-read book when I know the outcome.  (or skip to the last chapter without ruining my enjoyment.  I browse Reddit and follow some interesting people on Twitter which leads me to interesting articles.  I also read John Scalzi's blog, Whatever.  (I'm going to be honest, Scalzi is a good writer, but I am a bigger fan of the blog.)
     So when "PuppyGate" happened my first reaction was, "Nothing to do with me."  And then I decided it did have to do with me.  Younger me, for sure.  So I paid my $40 and I tooks my chances.   I have read 3/5; 0/5; 1/5;0/5; categories in order of length.  My thoughts after this picture break.

Reading late into the nights. 

1. I think next year for the novels, each publisher should submit the first 30% of the book.  If the voter is not inspired to buy the rest, they can rank it below "no award".  (Not sure how serious I am about this idea.  I have two novels left to go.)
2. I am going to at least start every work.  There may be valid choices on the Puppylist.  (One I've found so far is the short story "Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust, Earth to Alluvium".)
3. If I can't finish it, it goes below no award.
4. If a category is of no interest to me, I will consider using a Puppy-free voting guide. (Fancast I'm looking at you.) Or I may leave it blank.  Not sure.
5. I wish Butcher hadn't been nominated.  I read the Dresden files on the day, I'm a hardish core fan. (I buy the Kindle version and later pick up a used hardback.) I think that it would have been better for the whole series to be nominated at the end, a la Wheel of Time.  To my knowledge he has said ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about this.  I suspect he is ambivalent about being on the Puppylist.  That said, I will rank it, but it's tough to know where.
6. In reading for the Hugos I am actually growing in appreciation for Scalzi's writing.  Locked-In was a very fresh idea.  I wish it had been nominated.