Pre-Nebs for Jim Kelly and Peter Beagle

The preliminary Nebula ballot has been announced. (OK, it was announced a couple of days ago. It's been busy.) James Patrick Kelly has been pre-nominated in the novella category for Burn and Peter Beagle has been pre-nominated in the novelette category for "Two Hearts" from The Line Between.

How it works: the preliminary ballot gets whittled down to five nominees per category before the final ballot is voted upon. So essentially, it's the long list. The good news for Jim is that there are only four nominees in the novella category, so he's guaranteed a spot on the final ballot unless he really ticks someone off. I'll try to keep him under control somehow.

Peter has already won a 2006 Hugo Award for "Two Hearts" and Jim was a Hugo nominee for Burn, but Connie Willis brought home the strangely suggestive Hugo trophy instead, for "Inside Job." I console myself by suggesting that you read that in our Year's Best Fantasy 6.

So it's kudos to Peter and Jim. And I'm looking forward to working with them both again later this year. More about that later, after Jacob and I get catalog copy and covers to our distributor. It's the 2008 books already, and an impressive list if I say so myself. And I did.

Jill