text:
Gentlefolk, Start Your
Rockets, er, Hugo Ballots!
His reviews give a nice overview of what each of the fan writers produce, with helpful links to stuff the many places you can find their work. Even if you aren't a Hugo voter, but you love sci fi/fantasy, you should check these six writers out. They are all wonderful.
Just as I'm finding it very difficult to rank the six fan writer nominees, I'm having a nearly equally hard time in the Novel category. I may have to write about that some more later.
But for now, if you're a voter, go vote! If you're a fan, go check out those fan writers!
Confessions of a homo godparent, or, Transphobes not welcome here
If you have time to read the post and the comments, it's worth the time. John moderated the comments for two days before closing them, so it probably won't be traumatic; but he does let people who remain polite and don't repeat falsehoods about trans people say a few things that might be a bit upsetting.
I'm going to steal one bit from the middle of John's piece:
"Understanding one's own sexism, or racism, or homophobia, or transphobia, isn't about reaching some plateau and getting to stop. You have to keep working at it.
"Which can be fucking tiring, you know? Now I get why so many people who were 20 or 30 years older than I was would tell me proudly that they marched with MLK or protested in the 60s: Because it was a way of saying "here's my resume, I'm on the side of angels." But the 60s were the 60s, and now is now. The fight's not the same and sooner or later, generationally speaking, there's always something to trip over."
John is much kinder to the transphobes he is talking about than I find myself able to be. And I think he might be being kinder than they deserve. Let me explain: some years ago, I was blessed to take part in the birth of the child of two of my best friends. I was in the room when my godchild was born (after a long labor where we were taking turns who was supporting the mom). There is something that happens in your brain/heart when you hold a newborn baby after going through the birthing process. There's a part of me that said, "I will walk through fire for this kid. I will slay dragons for this kid."
Some years later, my godchild told us all that we had been using the wrong pronouns. And that their old name was now a dead name. It wasn't easy to learn the new pronouns and name. Similarly, my sister's youngest child informed us a year or so ago that we had been using the wrong pronouns, and that they had a new name.
I don't think I've ever dead-named either my godchild or my nibling in person, but I know I have used the wrong pronouns more than once. Forgetting to use the correct pronoun or slippin on a name is tripping over trans issues.On the other hand, saying that trans women are not really women, repeating lies about trans people, claiming that trans people are threats, denying trans people health care, denying trans people rights? That isn't tripping over trans issues. That's erasing. That's threatening. That's attacking. That's harming.
If you believe those things about trans people? That makes you one of the dragons that my godchild and my nibling (and every other trans person out there) needs to be protected from.
The Cabal That Wasn't or, SF/F award numbers don't mean what you think they mean
I did eventually look up the long list, and confirmed that I was correct that all of those men had, indeed, received nominations23. But then I noticed that all of the books nominated for Best Novel were written by a woman4. And when I followed up to find a blog post from someone commenting on the issue and confirmed that, yes, the anger was about the Best Novel category, and how this is a terrible travesty and more proof that a political conspiracy has taken control of the Hugos, which is more proof of the downfall of civilization, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
They try what Asimov5 used to call a Judo Argument: the art of trying to use the enemy's own strength against him. Asimov was specifically talking about arguments by people of faith to try to use science to prove the existence of god. But it applies to many other endeavors. In fact, the argument that these people who are upset about the Best Novel category of this year's Hugo awards are using is specifically what Asimov called The Second Judo Argument:
"Suppose something exists, but the chances of it coming into existence due to random processes are so small (as determined by the laws of statistics and probabilities) that it is virtually impossible to suppose that it exists except as the result of some directing influence."
—Isaac Asimov, The Planet That Wasn't, essay 17, "The Judo Argument"
So, the argument that is being advanced, here, is that the having all six nominees in the Best Novel category of the Hugo Awards being written by authors of only one gender is so statistically unlikely that the only logical explanation is some kind of shenanigans. The least irrational way I've seen this notion expressed is in the form of a rhetorical question, "Are you seriously telling me that no award-worthy book written by a man in the field of science fiction/fantasy was published in 2019?"
Let me dispense with that question, first. There is nothing in the mission statement of the Hugos, nor in the rules, nor in a reasonable description of the awards that says the ballot must feature every single sf/f book which is worthy of a Hugo. Lots of great books fail to make the short list every year.
Since I participate in the awards, earlier this year I nominated five7 books for this award. Only two of the books I nominated made it to the ballot. Now that the ballot has come out, do I suddenly believe that the other three I nominated aren't Hugo-worthy? Absolutely not! It just so happens that the four books I didn't nominate that also did make the ballot were all books I hadn't read8.
The other thing I want to mention about my nominations: when I went back into my emails to check what I had nominated, one of the five books I nominated was by a man. Was I disappointed that book didn't make the final ballot? Sure! But not because of the gender of the author, just because it was a book I read recently that I really liked.
Let's move on to numbers10. The other part of the argument is that having a category on the Hugo ballot dominated by one gender is somehow so incredibly unlikely as to prove some sort of cheating is going on. So, let's look at the numbers, shall we? First, this 2019 article9 gives a lot of numbers: Gender and the Hugo Awards, by the Numbers. Nicoll breaks out more categories than I will recount here. The two most import numbers for our argument are these: how many times in the history of the Hugos has the Best Novel category been only men? And how many times have all but one nominee been a man?
The answers are enlightening. Out of the 66 years that there has been a Best Novel category for the Hugo Awards, 22 times the shortlist has been all men. That's 33⅓% of all the years. And out of those 66 years the number of times that all but one nominee was a man is 20, which is just a touch more than 30%. So the number of years in which a single gender indisputably dominated is 64%. Which means that having one gender predominate isn't a statistical anomaly at all.
Let's be perfectly clear: this year is the first time, in 66 years of Hugo history, that the Best Novel category has only had women as the authors. But by no means is it the first year that any gender has had a disproportionate place on the ballot. While there were 22 years out of that time when the category had only men, which is a subset of the 42 years out of 66 in which one or fewer of the nominated works' authors was a woman.
So, at this point we have discredited the idea that the ballot invalidates all work by male authors, and we have invalidated the assertion that a single-gender ballot is statistically unlikely. Maybe that's where I should stop, but there are more problems here. Those problems are implied above, but the people whose arguments I have dismantled have demonstrated a decided inability to understand implications, so I have a bit more to say.
So, despite my dismantling of the arguments above—specifically that statistically there isn't a problem in this year's ballot—that doesn't mean that there is no change worth discussion. For some context, let's look at this recent essay: The Decade That Women Won. There has been a change in which gender dominates. What can we infer from the data?
Mathematically from the nomination and winning data we can't conclude much. Having one gender disproportionately represented is the statistical norm for the entire history of the awards. All that's happened in recent years is which gender of author that is being nominated most often has changed. There are a lot of perfectly reasonable explanations for this that don't involve any shenanigans:
- It could be that enough people are making an effort to read outside their comfort zone that they are encountering more books written by women than they used to.
- It could be that reviewers and compilers of recommended lists are making more of a conscious effort to review a more diverse selection of works.
- It could be that social media and other modern communication possibilities provide more ways to circumvent gatekeepers11.
- It could be a slow generational change that's just hit a tipping point.
- It could be that a lot of the fans who are women and/or queer who bought their first WorldCon supporting membership in 201512 in order to protect the integrity of the awards from a slate-voting scheme stuck around13 and we tend to read a more diverse selection of sf/f books than the old guard
- It could be that more women are managing to sell in the sf/f market than in decades past, and their increased presence is starting to have an effect.
- It could all be statistical noise.
There is another form of the Judo Argument being used by the people unhappy with this year's Best Novel nominees: "I thought all you people were opposed to discrimination, yet here you are cheering on the discrimination of men." First, when I cheered when I saw the list I wasn't thinking "Oh, look! No men!" No, I was cheering because two books I'd nominated had made the list, and two more that I'd heard enough good things about that I was already planning to read had made the list. Second, when we talked about discrimination against women and other marginalized communities in sf/f publishing and such, we had more statistics than just award ballots. We could show the statistical disproportions in who was published, which books were reviewed, which books were on recommendation lists, and many other statistics which all skewed very strongly toward cishet white men. We don't have any such statistics showing a sudden skewing in the other direction. Even now, all those other numbers still favor cishet white men. And third, for decades the same people who are complaining now have insisted that an all-male or nearly-all-male ballot absolutely wasn't discrimination, so they don't now have the moral right to make that argument.
And that's the crux of it: the people complaining now never cared during any of those years that no women were nominated. They don't actually have any trouble with disproportionate nominees or wins. They only have a problem when it isn't men who are being recognized.
In other words, they aren't arguing in good faith, which is why their arguments fall flat.
1. James S.A. Corey is actually a pseudonym for Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck… but both of them are men. I just always forget their names, but I know it's a pen name for two guys, right?
2. Straczynski is nominated in the Best Related Work, and Nicoll in Fan Writer, so if the other people were up in arms about the fiction categories, then I guess we can't count them, but…
3. Here's where I pedantically remind myself and the reader that people are not nominated in the fiction categories, but rather specific works of fiction which happen to be written by people.
4. At least one is a trans woman. Which I only mention because at least one of the commentators out there who are angry about no men being nominated in the Best Novel category this year had a side rant about the trans person and how having a trans author on the ballot somehow proof that something untoward has happened in the voting process. The trans woman is a woman, so for the rest of this entry I'm just going to agree that all the authors nominated in the Novel category this year are women, because they are.
5. Asimov was a Grandmaster of Science Fiction and for most of my teens and twenties I thought he was the greatest science fiction author ever. He has considerably tarnished in my eyes since I learned how he treated (and groped and otherwise sexually harassed) women who he encountered at conventions and otherwise. But the notion of a Judo Argument: someone trying to use their opponents' principals to disprove the opponents' conclusions, is apt6.
6. For more reasons than one.
7. One of the rules which the World Science Fiction Society adopted recently in order to make Slate Voting Schemes less likely to succeed is that nominators are allowed to nominate no more than 5 titles, while the top 6 nominees will appear on the ballot.
8. Although one of them was a book I had already bought but hadn't yet read, and one other was in my wishlist, for what it's worth…
9. Coincidentally written by a man, and even more coincidentally, one of the men I mention earlier who is on this year's Hugo ballot!
10. In an earlier draft of this post I started to go into statistical theory, because my major at university was mathematics, and if I had gone on to graduate school my plan was to go into statistics, probability, and game theory… but all the math makes some people dizzy. Besides, the people who have asserted the argument I'm refuting clearly don't understand logic, so…
11. And yes, there have definitely been gatekeepers.
12. My gay self, my bi husband, and a number of others, for example
13. Just as I and my husband have.
We've got a lovely bunch of Nebulas!
This year's Nebula Awards were announced at a live streaming event on Saturday. The Nebulas have been given annually by SFWA, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America since 1966. They are meant to recognize the best works of science fiction and fantasy published in the previous year. The winners are selected by the members of SFWA.
This year's winners are:
A Song for a New Day, Sarah Pinsker (Berkley)
This Is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone (Saga)
Carpe Glitter, Cat Rambo (Meerkat)
Short Story
"Give the Family My Love", A.T. Greenblatt (Clarkesworld 2/19)
The Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy Book
Riverland, Fran Wilde (Amulet)
Game Writing
The Outer Worlds, Leonard Boyarsky, Megan Starks, Kate Dollarhyde, Chris L'Etoile (Obsidian Entertainment)
The Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation
Good Omens: "Hard Times", Neil Gaiman (Amazon Studios/BBC Studios)
The Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award
Lois McMaster Bujold
The Kevin O'Donnell, Jr. Service Award
Julia Rios
The Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award
John Picacio
David Gaughran
I'm not a SFWA member so I don't get a vote in these. But it's always interesting to see what wins. Since the winning Novella and Novelette are both stories that I including in my nominations for a Hugo, I am clearly happy to see them win. And, of course, I quite love the Good Omens mini series (and I nominated the series as a whole for the Dramatic Presentation, Long From, as well as one episode [but a different one than got the Nebula] in Short Form), so I'm quite happy to see that win. And I've long been a fan of Lois McMaster Bujold's books, so I'm very happy to see her officially recognized as a Grand Master of Science Fiction.
Because I don't participate in the voting for the Nebulas, I am much less familiar with the rules defining the categories. They don't have the all the categories that the Hugos do, and while there are a number of times when the same book or story that won a particular category in the Nebulas goes on to also win in the Hugos, it isn't at all common. The voting pool is a different set for each award (though there is some overlap), so that's to be expected.
Having the Hugo Voters packed become available the same weekend as the Nebulas were announced–when I am already well into the act to reading as many of the Hugo nominees as I could without the packet (I finished Gideon the Ninth about a half hour before I noticed the email telling me the Hugo Packet was available to download), it was a very science fiction heavy weekend.
Even while the world seemed to be falling down around us.
The Stuff of Legend – loving sf/f and the illusion of logic
As more than one study has shown, emotions are actually necessary to processing logical problems. Our brains have evolved as a system to process information from our senses to evaluate our environment and make decisions about how to survive and succeed, and that processing involves hormones and emotions on at least an equal footing with what most people would think of as pure data. And as a social species, we are hardwired to take in cues from other members of our species into account, as well. This is true whether one is neurotypical or not. How a non-neurotypical person processes some of that input is what's different, not that they don't process it at all.
That biological need to take into account the feelings of others isn't an accident. It's part of a fundamental aspect of what has made our species successful thus far. Survival of the fittest means the fittest species to fill ecological niches, not the fittest individuals. Social animals, including humans, are fit for the environment because they take care of each other. Not because of a transactional obligation, but because a particular social unit benefits from having many members, sharing the burdens of keeping an eye out for danger, finding food, raising offspring, and so forth. Taking care of each other shouldn't be thought of as a matter of charity—it should be recognized as necessary to the survival of the species.
And that's just one of the reasons why feelings are important. Keeping track of each other's physical and emotional health—maintaining each others' goodwill and trust—are vital parts of our survival strategy.
But I most often encounter myths about logic divorced from emotion in certain fannish arguments where some people want to assert that there are objective criteria by which one can determine the definitive quality of a particular work. This is usually used as a cudgel to bludgeon fans who like things that the self-proclaimed logician dislikes, as well as fans who do not care for the favored thing of the logician.
And that's just incorrect.
We're talking about being fans of something. Since the logician is making a claim of definitive determination, let us turn to the Oxford Dictionary definition of fan which applies: "an enthusiast for a particular person or thing." This sense of the word is derived from the word fanatic, which Oxford further informs us means: "A fanatical person, a person filled with excessive enthusiasm."
Enthusiasm is an emotion, specifically a "strong intensity of feeling in favour of something or someone" and a "passionate eagerness or interest."
Emotions, by definition are not rational.
While it is possible to evaluate a particular work of art (whether a novel, movie, television episode, graphic novel, short story, et cetera) in terms of craftsmanship, it will never be an entirely objective analysis. Feelings, preferences, and expectations will always color these evaluations. That doesn't mean the evaluations are meaningless, we just have to recognize that there will always be subjectivity involved.
Also, craftsmanship isn't the be all and end all of art. I might well agree that a particular story employs clever use of language and high skill at plotting and dialogue and characterization, I may also still not like the story for reasons complete separate from craftsmanship. Which is a perfectly valid part of the evaluation, review, and critique process.
Fan are passionate. Many of us love talking about the things we passionately like, and sometimes the things we passionately dislike. Some fans love to debate. Others just discuss. And the level of enthusiasm some of us feel make it sound like we are debating when we think we're discussing.
Art, story telling, and the appreciation of those things are inherently non-rational. Which means that there is no formula or algorithm to settle upon a definitive, objective, or categorical determination of the relative quality of different works. Because, again, we're talking about passion, enthusiasm, enjoyment, and satisfaction. All non-rational things.
When who plug in a bunch of non-rational ingredients into a purely rational process, you're not going to get a meaningful answer.
And that's simply logical.
"I'm not a lady, I'm a witch" — or, more of why I love sf/f
About two years later—after I had transferred to university in Seattle—I was involved in a conversation with a couple of different friends who were enthusing about a book and its sequel that they both quite enjoyed. One of them had a copy of the second books with him, and suggested I give it a try. "You don't need to have read the first book to get this one," he assured me. The cover looked suspiciously familiar, but I didn't quite put two-and-two together.
Until later that week when I was trying to read it, and realized that the author of the book was the same as the other book from two years ago, and the protagonist that I had despised before was the main character of this book, too. So I gave it back, thanking my friend from loaning it, but admitting that I hadn't liked it.
About three years later, on our regular gaming night, a group of friends which included the two guys who had tried to get me into the series before were going on and on and on about this latest book in the series. One of them, however said, "Oh, wait, you already tried these books before, didn't you?" But one of the other guys chimed in to say that the first three books in the series had not been anywhere near as good as the latest, and the next thing I knew I was borrowing someone's copy of the eighth book in the series.
Admittedly, the main character of book eight was a completely different character who wasn't quite as irritating as the other guy had been, but I still found myself getting bogged down and rolling my eyes a lot at things in the book until finally I once again gave up.
A few times over the eight years, some subset of friends or acquaintances in various fannish or gaming situations would talk about the series, including explaining which were their favorites and which they could take or leave. And at least one more time during this interval I picked up another book in the series, but it just didn't grab me.
I found myself after that in a conversation with another friend about the series. She was a little bit surprised that I didn't like it, as she thought a lot of the themes the author explored were things I enjoyed. We ended up having a very long conversation about books other people had recommended that we didn't like, and why we thought that was in various cases. This last conversation happened around the same time that my first husband, Ray, was undergoing chemotherapy. Or maybe it was during one of his surgeries? What I know is that the conversation happened in a waiting room at a medical facility where she was hanging out with me specifically to give me emotion support and distract me a bit.
A few months later, Ray died —just two weeks before Thanksgiving. Just before Christmas, she dropped by one day to drop off a Christmas present, but more importantly, to loan me a few books. Most of the books in the pile I recognized as series that I had been interested in trying one day. And then one of the books was in the series that people had been trying to get me to try for a long time.
She pulled it out of the pile and said, "I've been thinking a lot about that conversation we had about why you didn't like other books in this series. The more I think about it, I think if any of the books will appeal to you, it's this one. Give it a try. I won't be offended if you don't like it."
It was one of the books I stuck in my suitcase when I went to spent about a week at Mom's for the holiday. Mom tended to go to bed a lot earlier than I did, at least on the nights that weren't filled with holiday things with the family. So the first night after Christmas, I was laying in her guest room, trying to occupy myself quietly until I was ready to sleep. And I opened up the loaned copy of Terry Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters. I had intended to just force myself to read it for an hour or so until I go sleepy. Because I was not at all confident that I'd like it any more than any of the other Discworld books I had tried before.
The next thing I knew, I was on the last page of the book. The sun had risen outside. I had stayed up all night, eagerly turning pages to find out what happened next!
I re-read the book from beginning to end two more times before that vacation was over. Shortly after getting home, I was telling my friend how much I loved it and that I knew I needed to get my own copy. A couple days later she dropped by and loaned me the next book from the series with the same character, Witches Abroad. And while at the end of Wyrd Sisters I was a big fan of Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Magrat, and Greebo the world's scruffiest cat, by the end of Wyrd Sisters, I was ready to say that Granny Weatherwax was the greatest fictional character ever created.
It was at this point that the friend advised me that there was an earlier book starring Granny Weatherwax, but it was "written while Pratchett was still figuring out the world, so it's almost like she's only a similar character who happens to have the same name."
Over the course of the next few months I read all of the witches books in the Discworld series which existed at that time (Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, and Maskerade). By this time I was dating Michael, and he was as surprised as many other friends had been that it had taken me so long to start reading these books. It was his copy of the first Granny Weatherwax book, Equal Rites, that I finally read. And I could see that my other friend had been correct, if I'd read it before I had come to love the more fully realized Granny, I would definitely not have liked it.
Having reached the end of the witch books available at the time, I was eyeing some of the other books in the series, when the friend who had picked Wyrd Sisters for me said, "Skip the earlier guard books. Start with Feet of Clay, then if you like the characters try circling back to the beginning."
And that's how I eventually wound up reading (and buying my own copies of) almost the entire Discworld series mostly out of order. Because the earlier ones did make more sense once I had gotten into the mindset of the series overall.
The earliest books in the series feel like broad parodies of epic fantasy novels. They have their funny moments, but when the jokes clunk, they remind me (at least) of the non-parody fantasy books that I love and make me wish I was reading one of those.
Wyrd Sisters, in my humble opinion, was the first time that one of the discworld books became full-on satire. Parodies always contain satirical elements, but a full literary satire doesn't lampoon or ridicule an individual person or work—it uses the elements of irony and humor to lampoon society as a whole.
Several of the books immediately following Wyrd Sisters strayed a bit back into more broad parody elements, but by Reaper Man and Witches Abroad, Pratchett had finally found the groove of holding up a mirror to the reader and the world we live in rather than poking fun at individual works.
This post was originally supposed to be about Witches Abroad, why I love it, and how it changed the way I looked at the world, so maybe I should get to those specifics.
The premise: the tiny mountain kingdom of Lancre is served by three witches: Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat Garlik. There are many other witches who live in neighboring and not quite so neighboring communities, but these three form the core of most of the witches books. Nanny Ogg is the ultimate grandmother—she has outlived a rather large number of husbands, has sons working in various jobs in her hometown and the neighboring communities, a large number of daughters-in-law who fear her, and innumerable grandchildren. She loves to drink and is famous for singing a particularly naught song. Magrat is the youngest of the coven, and is prone to trying new and modern things like crystals and meditation. Granny is older, has never married, and would never, ever be described as nice. But she is also the undisputed leader of their coven, and the one that everyone turns to when the situation gets dire.
This particular book is kicked off when a witch who lives in a neighboring county dies, and leaves a powerful magic wand (and the fairy godmothering duties that go with it) to Magrat. And she writes her will in a way that she knows will provoke Granny and Nanny to insist on going with Magrat to help the girl she is now the godmother to.
The middle of the book involves adventures the three witches have traveling through unfamiliar lands (with a lot of funny events along the way). But there is also a growing sense of trouble, as it becomes clear that the goddaughter in the far-off land is under the influence of someone who is quite dangerous, indeed.
When they find the girl (living in a sort of parody of New Orleans), they quickly discover that the other godmother is someone known to Granny and Nanny: Lily Weatherwax, Granny's older sister.
The image I included above is a bit of dialog from Witches Abroad.
"You'd have done the same," said Lily.
"No,"" said Granny. "I'd have thought the same, but I wouldn't have done it."
"What difference does that make, deep down?"
"You mean you don't know?" said Nanny Ogg.
—from Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett
Lily does not fit the mold of villain when we first meet her. She is nice and charming. She claims her only goal is to ensure everyone is happy and get what they want. It becomes clear fairly quickly that what Lily really wants is for everyone to act happy and cheerful and more than content with whatever their lot in life is.
I mentioned above that Granny isn't nice. She is sharp-tongued and blunt. She is ruthless when going up against someone who is causing harm to others. But she isn't one of those characters who is rough and mean on the outside and turns out to have a soft squishy golden heart. Granny is granite all the way through, but it is a granite of morality.
In the above quote, Lily just given her explanation for why she uses her magic to force people into the roles she deems them suited for. She has explained how people make foolish mistakes, live inefficient lives, and waste a lot of time and effort of frivolities, often causing themselves misery and trouble along the way. Isn't it better, she argues, for someone like her who can see how they could be happier, to make sure that they are?
When Granny objects, that's what causes Lily to say, "You'd have done the same."
It is this exchange that shows the core of Granny's hard, granite soul. She knows that she is capable of doing immoral things. She has had those unkind, cruel, manipulative thoughts. And she refuses to give in to them. She can be harsh-spoken, but she is always harsher to herself, and she knows that kindness isn't about how we talk to people, but what we actually do for them.
In more than one of the books, Granny defines evil not as maliciousness nor cruelty nor depravity. No. Evil, she tells us, begins when you start thinking and treating people like things.
The book hits on many other ideas along the way, but I think the heart of it was the revelation that how you treat and care for each other is what matters. And there isn't a grey area between treating everyone as a person entitled to dignity and consideration, and treating them as expendable.
A round up of Hugo round-ups
So other people have been posting about the Hugo ballot since it came out. This isn't an exhaustive list, by any means, but I found all of these posts interesting and informative.
Cora Buhlert shares her views on the Retro Hugo nominees: Some Thoughts on the Hugo Award Finalists, Part I: The 1945 Retro Hugo Awards and the 2020 finalists: http://corabuhlert.com/2020/04/10/some-thoughts-on-the-hugo-award-finalists-part-ii-the-2020-hugo-awards/.
Nerds of a Feather have a bit to say: Adri and Joe Talk About Books: The Hugo Awards.
Paul Fraser and SF Magazines has some thoughts: 1945 Retro Hugo Award and 2020 Hugo Award Finalists.
Camestros Felapton has an overview: 2020 Hugo Finalists. And has begun following up with posts on specific categories Dramatic Presentation and Short Stories thus far.
And let's not forget J.J.'s excellent round-up of where you can find most of the nominees or excerpts thereof, online: Where To Find The 2020 Hugo Award Finalists For Free Online.
Line up your rockets! Or, we have the 2020 Hugo Award Finalists!
While I knew I could just buy a membership and vote, I never actually did it until the Melancholy Canine Kerfuffle motivated me to get involved.
And I've been happily nominating, reading the packet after the ballot comes out, and voting ever sense.
Which *drum roll* brings us to—the finalists for the 2020 Hugo Awards and the 1945 Retro Hugo Awards have been announced!
2020 Hugo and Astounding Awards
Best Novel
Only two of the books I nominated made it to the final ballot, but three more were already in my to-be-read pile, so this is a very strong selection, and I suspect I'll have a very hard time picking in this category.
- The City in the Middle of the Night, Charlie Jane Anders (Tor; Titan)
- The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Alix E. Harrow (Redhook; Orbit UK)
- The Light Brigade, Kameron Hurley (Saga; Angry Robot UK)
- A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine (Tor; Tor UK)
- Middlegame, Seanan McGuire (Tor.com Publishing)
- Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Tor.com Publishing)
Best Novella
Again, only two of the novellas I nominated made this list, but a couple more were ones I would have nominated if I could nominate more than five. And the other two I've heard good things about, so, I'm looking forward to the Hugo packet.
- To Be Taught, If Fortunate, Becky Chambers (Harper Voyager; Hodder & Stoughton)
- "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom", Ted Chiang (Exhalation)
- The Haunting of Tram Car 015, P. Djèlí Clark (Tor.com Publishing)
- This Is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone (Saga)
- In an Absent Dream, Seanan McGuire (Tor.com Publishing)
- The Deep, Rivers Solomon, with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson & Jonathan Snipes (Saga)
Best Novelette
The further you get down the ballot ballot in the printed fiction categories, the less possible it is that any individual reader has seen a significant fraction of all the stories in that category published in a single year. So I'm not surprised that only one single entry is one that was on my ballot. But several that I haven't read yet have been written by authors I know are really good, so…
- "For He Can Creep", Siobhan Carroll (Tor.com 7/10/19)
- "Omphalos", Ted Chiang (Exhalation)
- "Away with the Wolves", Sarah Gailey (Uncanny 9-10/19)
- "Emergency Skin", N.K. Jemisin (Forward)
- "The Blur in the Corner of Your Eye", Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny 7-8/19)
- "The Archronology of Love", Caroline M. Yoachim (Lightspeed 4/19)
Best Short Story
I think this is the first time, ever, that four of the stories in this category are ones I had read before the ballot came out. This looks like, again, a great set of nominees.
- "Do Not Look Back, My Lion", Alix E. Harrow (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 1/31/19)
- "As the Last I May Know", S.L. Huang (Tor.com 10/23/19)
- "And Now His Lordship Is Laughing", Shiv Ramdas (Strange Horizons 9/9/19)
- "Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island", Nibedita Sen (Nightmare 5/19)
- "Blood Is Another Word for Hunger", Rivers Solomon (Tor.com 7/24/19)
- "A Catalog of Storms", Fran Wilde (Uncanny 1-2/19)
Best Series
This is still a very new category, and it's difficult to know which series are eligible in a give year. Only two of the entries on this list were on my nomination ballot, but I'm familiar with a couple more, and know that they are very good.
- Winternight, Katherine Arden (Del Rey; Del Rey UK)
- The Expanse, James S.A. Corey (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
- Luna, Ian McDonald (Tor; Gollancz)
- InCryptid, Seanan McGuire (DAW)
- Planetfall, Emma Newman (Ace; Gollancz)
- Wormwood, Tade Thompson (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
Best Related Work
This category is always odd, because it is intentionally a miscellaneous category intended as, among other things, a place to nominate new artforms. Anyway, three things I nominated made it here, so obviously I think it is good. I am delighted that Jeannette Ng's speech made the list, even though it never occurred to me that it was eligible. On the other hand, I think that other things on the list are more deserving of the trophy. But then, I have to admit that half the reason I'm delighted that the speech is here is precisely because of the people who are furious that it got nominated.
- Joanna Russ, Gwyneth Jones (University of Illinois Press)
- The Pleasant Profession of Robert A Heinlein, Farah Mendlesohn (Unbound)
- "2019 John W. Campbell Award Acceptance Speech", Jeannette Ng (Dublin 2019 — An Irish Worldcon)
- The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick, Mallory O'Meara (Hanover Square)
- Becoming Superman: My Journey From Poverty to Hollywood, J. Michael Straczynski (Harper Voyager US)
- Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin
Best Graphic Story or Comic
When I was younger I was reading comic books as they came out, before they were collected into graphic novels. I tend to wait, now, so I'm not as up on what all is out there, like I used to be. This year while I was trying to fill out my nomination ballot, I learned that almost everything I'd read in the last year had been published earlier, so I didn't nominate many. Only one title below is one that I have read recently (and nominated). But I'm familiar with several of the writers and artists of the other titles, so I'm looking forward to reading them.
- Die, Volume 1: Fantasy Heartbreaker, Kieron Gillen, illustrated by Stephanie Hans (Image)
- The Wicked + The Divine, Volume 9: Okay, Kieron Gillen, illustrated by Jamie McKelvie & Matt Wilson (Image Comics)
- Monstress, Volume 4: The Chosen, Marjorie Liu, illustrated by Sana Takeda (Image)
- LaGuardia, Nnedi Okorafor, illustrated by Tana Ford, colours by James Devlin (Berger Books/Dark Horse)
- Paper Girls, Volume 6, Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Cliff Chiang & Matt Wilson (Image)
- Mooncakes, Wendy Xu & Suzanne Walker (Oni Press; Lion Forge)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
Three things I nominated made this list. Two others I have reason to believe are really good. One… one is going under No Award on my ballot already. But I don't think anyone who knows me will be surprised that the number one slot on my ballot is going to Good Omens…
- Avengers: Endgame
- Captain Marvel
- Good Omens
- Russian Doll, Season One
- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
- Us
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
Only one episode I nominated made it to the list. A couple of the other series, I nominated different episodes than are here.
- Doctor Who: "Resolution"
- The Expanse: "Cibola Burn"
- The Good Place: "The Answer"
- The Mandalorian: "Redemption"
- Watchmen: "A God Walks into Abar"
- Watchmen: "This Extraordinary Being"
Best Editor, Short Form
Editor categories are always hard to predict. Three of the editors I nominated made it here. Two of the others I am familiar with their work already. It will be interesting researching the others.
- Neil Clarke
- Ellen Datlow
- C.C. Finlay
- Jonathan Strahan
- Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas
- Sheila Williams
Best Editor, Long Form
The last couple of years what I have tried to do in this category is find out the editor of the novels I nominated. This year, I was only able to find out who was one of the editors of the five novels I nominated. She made it to the list. I really wish the book publishers would make it easier to find who the editors are. It was only after the ballot was released today that I found out that one single editor who wasn't on my ballot edited two things I nominated. They didn't make it to the list, and I firmly belief part of the reason is because people like me can't find out who edited the books we love!
- Sheila Gilbert
- Brit Hvide
- Diana M. Pho
- Devi Pillai
- Miriam Weinberg
- Navah Wolfe
Best Professional Artist
Several great choices. I suspect the ones I'm not familiar with already are good, as well.
- Tommy Arnold
- Rovina Cai
- Galen Dara
- John Picacio
- Yuko Shimizu
- Alyssa Winans
Best Semiprozine
Three of my nominees made it to the list. The other three entries on the list are all things that almost made it. I just read/listen to a LOT. Every one of these publishes good stuff, so another really strong category.
- Beneath Ceaseless Skies
- Escape Pod
- Fireside
- Strange Horizons
- Uncanny
Best Fanzine
Only one of the things I nominated made it to the list this time, but three more are publications that I quite love, and the other two I've never perused before, so I'm looking forward to exploring new things.
- The Book Smugglers
- Galactic Journey
- Journey Planet
- nerds of a feather, flock together
- Quick Sip Reviews
- The Rec Center
Best Fancast
Three of my nominees made the list. I'm familiar with a couple of the others and they almost made the cut. So, once again, a strong category.
- Be the Serpent
- The Coode Street Podcast
- Galactic Suburbia
- Our Opinions Are Correct
- Claire Rousseau's YouTube channel
- The Skiffy and Fanty Show
Best Fan Writer
I was so happy watching the livestream when this category was announced. Three of the entries were also on my nomination ballot. Two of those are Blog Buddies! And the other three are people whose work I am at least partially familiar with and have enjoyed their work, so this is a category I'll have a difficult time ranking.
- Cora Buhlert
- James Davis Nicoll
- Alasdair Stuart
- Bogi Takács
- Paul Weimer
- Adam Whitehead
Best Fan Artist
Good list!
- Iain Clark
- Sara Felix
- Grace P. Fong
- Meg Frank
- Ariela Housman
- Elise Matthesen
Lodestar for Best Young Adult Book (Not a Hugo)
Only one book I nominated made it to the list. But part of the problem there is that three other books that did make it were in my to-be-read pile at nomination time and I don't feel right nominating if I haven't read it. This is another really strong list and I'm looking forward to finishing a few books and reading two more.
- The Wicked King, Holly Black (Little, Brown; Hot Key)
- Deeplight, Frances Hardinge (Macmillan)
- Minor Mage, T. Kingfisher (Argyll)
- Catfishing on CatNet, Naomi Kritzer (Tor Teen)
- Dragon Pearl, Yoon Ha Lee (Disney/Hyperion)
- Riverland, Fran Wilde (Amulet)
Astounding Award for Best New Writer (Not a Hugo)
This is another really strong list!
- Sam Hawke*
- R.F. Kuang*
- Jenn Lyons
- Nibedita Sen*
- Tasha Suri*
- Emily Tesh
*Second year of eligibility
1945 Retro Hugo Nominees
The Retro Hugos are… weird. At final ballot time I seem to never pick the winners. I know that part of the problem with the Retros is that enough voters vote by looking for familiar names, so when an early story by someone who later became really good is on the ballot, even when that is one of the worst stories that later-famous author ever wrote, and clearly the weakest story on the Retro ballot, it still wins.
That said…
I'm happy that Leigh Brackett has several nominations.
I am even more happy that C.L. Moore is nominated in several categories!
I am delighted that a movie based on a story by Oscar Wilde made it into one of the Dramatic Presentation categories.
Related, a non-fiction book by H.G. Wells is also nominated. Wouldn't it be awesome if Oscar Wilde and H.G. Wells won Retro Hugos at the same time? I'm just saying!
I am not surprised that Edgar Rice Burroughs appears more than once, but remember he owned his own publishing company by this point, and was churning out work at an insane pace.
The f-ing fascist was nominated in one of the editor categories. I really hope that my fave, Raymond Palmer finally gets one of the Retro Hugos, but we all know it is almost guaranteed to go the fascist, so…
Best Novel
- "Shadow Over Mars", Leigh Brackett (Startling Stories Fall '44)
- Land of Terror, Edgar Rice Burroughs (Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.)
- The Golden Fleece, Robert Graves (Cassell)
- "The Winged Man", E. Mayne Hull & A.E. Van Vogt (Astounding Science Fiction 5-6/44)
- The Wind on the Moon, Eric Linklater (Macmillan)
- Sirius, Olaf Stapledon (Secker & Warberg)
Best Novella
- "The Jewel of Bas", Leigh Brackett (Planet Stories Spring '44)
- "A God Named Kroo", Henry Kuttner (Thrilling Wonder Stories Winter '44)
- "Trog", Murray Leinster (Astounding Science Fiction 6/44)
- "Intruders from the Stars", Ross Rocklynne (Amazing Stories 1/44)
- "Killdozer!", Theodore Sturgeon (Astounding Science Fiction 11/44)
- "The Changeling", A.E. van Vogt (Astounding Science Fiction 4/44)
Best Novelette
- "The Big and the Little", Isaac Asimov (Astounding Science Fiction 8/44)
- "Arena", Fredric Brown (Astounding Science Fiction 6/44)
- "No Woman Born", C.L. Moore (Astounding Science Fiction 12/44)
- "The Children's Hour", Lawrence O'Donnell (C.L. Moore & Henry Kuttner) (Astounding Science Fiction 3/44)
- "When the Bough Breaks", Lewis Padgett (C.L. Moore & Henry Kuttner) (Astounding Science Fiction 11/44)
- "City", Clifford D. Simak (Astounding Science Fiction 5/44)
Best Short Story
- "The Wedge", Isaac Asimov (Astounding Science Fiction 10/44)
- "I, Rocket", Ray Bradbury (Amazing Stories 5/44)
- "And the Gods Laughed", Fredric Brown (Planet Stories Spring '44)
- "Desertion", Clifford D. Simak (Astounding Science Fiction 11/44)
- "Huddling Place", Clifford D. Simak (Astounding Science Fiction 7/44)
- "Far Centaurus", A.E. van Vogt (Astounding Science Fiction 1/44)
Best Series
- Pellucidar, Edgar Rice Burroughs
- Jules de Grandin, Seabury Quinn
- The Shadow, Maxwell Gibson (Walter B. Grant)
- Captain Future, Brett Sterling
- Doc Savage, Kenneth Robeson/Lester Dent
- Cthulhu Mythos, H.P. Lovecraft, August Derleth, and others
Best Related Work
- "The Science-Fiction Field", Leigh Brackett (Writer's Digest 7/44)
- Mr. Tompkins Explores the Atom, George Gamow (Cambridge University Press)
- "The Works of H.P. Lovecraft: Suggestions for a Critical Appraisal", Fritz Leiber (The Acolyte Fall '44)
- Rockets: The Future of Travel Beyond the Stratosphere, Willy Ley (Viking Press)
- Fancyclopedia, Jack Speer (Forrest J Ackerman)
- '42 To '44: A Contemporary Memoir Upon Human Behavior During the Crisis of the World Revolution, H.G. Wells (Secker & Warburg)
Best Graphic Story or Comic
- Donald Duck: "The Mad Chemist", Carl Barks (Dell Comics)
- >Buck Rogers: "Hollow Planetoid", Dick Calkins (National Newspaper Service)
- Flash Gordon: "Battle for Tropica", Alex Raymond (King Features Syndicate)
- Flash Gordon: "Triumph in Tropica", Alex Raymond (Kings Features Syndicate)
- Superman: "The Mysterious Mr. Mxyztplk", Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster (DC)
- The Spirit: "For the Love of Clara Defoe", Manly Wade Wellman, Lou Fine, and Don Komisarow
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
- The Canterville Ghost
- The Curse of the Cat People
- Donovan's Brain
- House of Frankenstein
- The Invisible Man's Revenge
- It Happened Tomorrow
Best Professional Editor, Short Form
- John W. Campbell, Jr.
- Oscar J. Friend
- Mary Gnaedinger
- Dorothy McIlwraith
- Raymond A. Palmer
- W. Scott Peacock
Best Professional Artist
- Earle Bergey
- Margaret Brundage
- Boris Dolgov
- Matt Fox
- Paul Orban
- William Timmins
Best Fanzine
- The Acolyte
- Diablerie
- Futurian War Digest
- Shangri L'Affaires
- Voice of the Imagi-Nation
- Le Zombie
Best Fan Writer
- Fritz Leiber, Jr.
- Morojo (Myrtle R. Douglas)
- J. Michael Rosenblum
- Jack Speer
- Bob Tucker
- Harry Warner, Jr.
Edited to add: Where To Find The 2020 Hugo Award Finalists For Free Online.
The return of the attack of the fumble fingers
Dang it, was barely started on the formatting, let alone my comments!
Okay, now you can read the post: Line up your rockets! Or, we have the 2020 Hugo Award Finalists!
Star Trek: Picard wraps season one in a retro doozy
I have to start this review of the season one finale by paraphrasing Spider Robinson's famous review of Children of Dune: It's got plot holes so big you could fly fleets of Borg Cubes through them, but you probably don't care because it's such a fun ride. And yes, I think season one as a whole, and the final episode, were fun rides. To quote a friend who is not nearly as hard core of a fan as I am (who binge-watched it at the end and thus didn't have to wait for any episodes), "Holy shit, that was amazing!"
For all earlier episodes of the series I scheduled my review to publish on the following Monday, in part just so there was some predictability, but there really isn't a reason to put this off until then.
While there were some groan-worthy moments and several disappointments in the plot, the finale had its amazing moments. And to be perfectly frank, the first season of Star Trek: the Next Generation didn't hang together half as well as this show has. It's easy to look back on the old series with rose-colored glasses and only remember the episodes and arcs that we liked and forget the many (or so many) missteps.
Anyway, the rest of this is going to be all spoilers, all the time, so if you don't want to be spoiled, don't read on.
If you click through, you're crossing into the former Neutral Zone without backup!
Read More…


text:
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Preparedness Information Learn More
Our hospital is committed to providing the highest quality care and ensuring the safety of our patients, employees, providers, volunteers and visitors. We continue to monitor the evolving situation with the coronavirus (COVID-19) and are taking the necessary steps to ensure we are fully prepared to care for patients, in accordance with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and in partnership with our local and state health departments.
Below are a number of resources to help educate you and your family on COVID-19. For more information on the virus, please contact the health department.
To help support the health of our community, we are providing access to an online COVID-19 risk assessment developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This tool does NOT provide a diagnosis, and it should NOT be used as a substitute for an assessment made by a healthcare provider.
Quick Links:
Novel Coronavirus (COVID–19) Updates:
May 19 Visitation Policy update: https://www.mysumnermedical.com/hospital-news/visitation-policy-update-may-19-2020
Elective Surgery and Outpatient procedures restart: https://www.mysumnermedical.com/hospital-news/sumner-regional-resumes-elective-and-non-urgent-surgeries-and-prcedures
Covid-19 and Labor and Delivery Safety: https://www.mysumnermedical.com/hospital-news/keeping-expecting-mothers-and-newborns-safe-at-sumner-regional-medical-center
Sumner Regional Medical Center is committed to protecting the health and safety of everyone who walks through our doors.
We are continuing to work closely with the Tennessee Department of Health and following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to ensure the safety of our patients, the clinical teams who have been caring for these patients and all those within our facility.
Our hospital is prepared with the appropriate plans to detect, protect and respond. We have been preparing for the potential of COVID-19 in our community for several months, building upon the robust emergency operations plan we have in place year-round.
The safety and protection of our patients is our utmost concern. To protect our community and all who need medical care, all our positive or suspected Covid-19 patients are isolated on specialized units that are disconnected from the remainder of our hospital. Negative-pressure air units are in place to ensure that the airflow from these areas of the hospital remains separate from our other patient, visitor and staff areas.
Additionally, we are taking extra precautions to keep all our non-Covid-19 areas clean. Nursing, physician and all additional staff for Covid-19 patient areas are ONLY working in Covid-19 patient areas and are not traveling to other areas of the hospital. We are dedicated to providing a safe and secure hospital environment for all of our community's needs. We are here for you in this time of need.
We want to reassure our communities that it is safe to come to the hospital should you or your family need care. We stand ready to serve you.
Additional Information:

subset: commoncrawl


text:
What's new
Webinar on Supporting enterprises for rapid economic recovery: timely responses and the case of the Russian Federation
18 June 2020
ILO Moscow Office has organized the third out of five webinars under a general title "From the immediate crisis response to COVID pandemic towards economic recovery, with decent work in focus". The participants discussed country responses to support enterprises for rapid economic recovery, especially for employment retention in micro- and small enterprises, support to self-entrepreneurs and dismissed workers.
Extending social security coverage to workers in informal economy - webinar
04 June 2020
On 04 June 2020 the ILO DWT/CO Moscow held a Subregional Webinar "Extending social security coverage to workers in informal economy". This was the second webinar in a series of webinars devoted to social protection response to COVID-19 pandemic.
Webinar on the Role of institutions, including PES, in protecting jobs and delivering services to vulnerable groups
01 June 2020
ILO Moscow continues the series of five webinars "From the immediate crisis response to COVID pandemic towards economic recovery with decent work in focus".
Current projects
«From the Crisis towards Decent and Safe Jobs», Phase II
The development objective of the project is to improve employment opportunities, working conditions and social protection of women and men, by contributing to the implementation of DWCPs in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The project is supported by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.
A frank dialogue in an "Open Space"
In June 2009 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, the International Labour Organization (ILO) organized a two-day "Open Space" session in which young women and young men, employed, unemployed, with different education, met with policy-makers to discuss most challenging issues in the field of education, career guidance, employment and to develop clear proposals for improving the labour market for young people. The decision makers were so impressed with the volume and quality of the proposals and simply said "Wow!".


text:
One of my recipes is very similar to this one. I have six different recipes because they get tired of the same thing plus, they need different vitamins just like we do. What I make depends on what's on sale but I do try to feed them fish high in omega 3's at least twice to three times a month. I also switch out the veggies, too. It's so much cheaper! I made two weeks worth of food for my two small dogs and the whole batch only cost 11 dollars. I found chicken liver on sale for 75 cents a carton, so I bought all they had! Such little effort to provide my dogs with food that they love and is so good for them. Why wouldn't you do it for them?
So dairy products may not make you dog drop down dead, but they're still not good for dogs! It's annoying because SO many dog products have dairy in them EVEN IN HOME MADE RECIPES! Dairy, through studies, has lactose in it–which may cause a real stomach upset in some dogs! Although some dogs are fine with dairy (tough stomachs!) I prefer to avoid it along with the risk of sickness and stomach upset.
Usually soft and chewy Buddy Biscuits are just that, soft and chewy. Not these. They were so hard and stale that my dog who normally won't eat any treats except the soft and chewy Buddy Biscuits, just looked at me with a glare as though to say, Are you kidding me?! So I tried to give them away to dogs I saw loose in the park. Again no deal. Amazon is great on some things but not Buddy Biscuits. Save your money and buy locally where you'll get the fresh, soft and chewy Buddy Biscuits.
Just because humans eat dairy does not make it a healthy food for dogs. You can find anything online to agree with a particular viewpoint. I would say cow's milk is a species inappropriate food for both dogs AND humans— that's my online viewpoint. 😉 Each dog may have minor variances from each other, but each dog is not THAT unique. Both humans and dogs seem to adapt to whatever they eat, but that doesn't mean that what they are eating is exactly the best for them. Dogs can't tell us when they don't feel well after eating something. And unfortunately, a lot of dietary intolerances come out as health issues down the road instead of being an immediate reaction.
My dogs are 9-lb Chihuahuas, and they LOVE these Buddy Biscuits Soft & Chewy Peanut Butter treats! l like that they are soft and easy for my dogs to chew, and the size is perfect for small breed dogs. Because they are soft treats, my dogs don't leave a pile of crumbs on the floor after eating these treats! I usually give my dogs each a few of these treats right before heading out the door whenever I have to leave the house; because these are peanut butter flavor, my hand doesn't stink like meat right after reaching into the bag to give them to my dogs! Major plus in my book!
An important part of my dog's diet is the kefir course, which she gets in the morning. The probiotic is important. It is homemade kefir with ground flax seed a little raw oats, and either flax or coconut oil. After that she gets a bowl of chicken or fish or leftover meat from my son's unfinished meals, dal (chana or split peas or lentils) cooked with quinoa or rice (occasionally) or raw oats with veggies like carrots, small potatoescelery, yams or squash or even blueberries. Long ago with other dogs i fed raw lamb when i first read about homemade dog meals, but it is pricey now.I add greens to the stew but often she removes. Therefore i always add wheatgrass power. She gets oil or butter with every bowl of food, feeding the dal/rice/meat dish 2x day. She also gets vinegar in the dal along with indian spices and garlic. Some day yea some nay on garlic but i thing it is good. No onions or avocados. No chocolate or pizza or pasta. She gets the vinegar to help with itchy skin. The fish is generally raw or lightly poached. Their stomachs were designed to be able to handle raw meat. Sometimes she gets eggs lightly cooked, on the loose runny side. I add good homemade bone broths when cooking dal. I add liverwurst to pigs ears for snackage. I also add iodine drops to her water, which is never tap, except when in the park. I am in search of a non rip off vitamin and appreciate others' comments herein regarding vitamins. And i always examine her . Not saying perfect but better than the hell of neverending kibble. Sometimes i give her a handful of kibble as a snack. Good to keep a small bag of good stuff for emergencies.
Save 5% when you buy online and pickup in-store. Offer valid online only. Transaction total is prior to taxes & after discounts are applied. Offer valid on select merchandise when choosing In-Store Pickup. Savings will automatically reflect in the shopping cart with the purchase of qualifying merchandise. While supplies last. Quantities may be limited. Maximum value $150. Offer not valid on gift cards, gift certificates, previous purchases, charitable donations and may exclude all or select items from the following brands: Adaptil®, Advantage®, Advantus™, Andis®, API®, Applaws®, Aqueon®, ARM & HAMMER™, Bayer, Benebone®, Blue Buffalo®, Brown's® Tropical Carnival®, Burt's Bees®, CANIDAE®, Capstar™, carefresh®, Castor & Pollux, Catit®, Cesar®, Charlee Bear®, Cheristin™, Chuckit!®, Cloud Star®, CRAVE™, DESIGNING HEALTH, DR. ELSEY'S® Precious Cat, DURAFORCE®, Eukanuba®, Fancy Feast®, Feliway®, flexi®, Fluval®, Free Spirit®, FRONTLINE®, FURminator®, Glandex®, GREENIES®, HALO®, Hikari, Hill's® Science Diet®, Himalayan Dog Chew®, Iams®, Jackson Galaxy®, JW Pet®, K9 Advantix®, KAYTEE®, KONG®, Kurgo®, Lafeber's®, Litter Genie™, Manna Pro, Merrick®, MILK-BONE®, Muse®, Natural Balance®, Naturally Fresh®, NATURE'S RECIPE®, Nature's Variety® Instinct®, NaturVet®, Nite Ize®, Nulo, NUTRO® ULTRA™, NUTRO® MAX CAT®, NUTRO® MAX®, NUTRO™, Nylabone®, Old Mother Hubbard®, Omega™, Outward Hound®, Oxbow™, PawZ®, PEDIGREE®, Pet Corrector™, PetArmor®, Petmate®, PetSafe®, PetSafe® Drinkwell®, PetSafe® ScoopFree®, Petstages®, Plato®, PureBites®, Purina® ONE®, Purina® Beyond®, Purina® Friskies®, Purina® Pro Plan®, Purina® Yesterday's News®, Rachael Ray™ Nutrish®, Redbarn, Royal Canin®, Seachem, SENTRY®, Seresto®, SHEBA®, Simple Solution®, Skout's Honor®, Smart Pet Love Snuggle Puppy™, Solid Gold®, Starmark®, Temptations™, The Missing Link®, ThunderShirt®, TropiClean®, True Chews®, TUFFY®, Vet's Best®, Virbac®, Vitakraft®, Vittles Vault®, Wellness®, WHIMZEES™, Whole Earth Farms®, WORLD'S BEST, ZOO MED™, Zuke's®, ZuPreem® Offer may not be combined with other promotional offers or discounts. Terms and conditions of this offer are subject to change at the sole discretion of PetSmart. Offer valid on PetSmart.com through January 6, 2020 @ 6:30 am EST.
You can also find other additives to toss in to ensure your dog gets all the nutrients he needs, like Nupro Dog Supplement or Wiz Pet Multi Goodness. These supplements will ensure your dog's homemade diet is well balanced and good for them. For even more recipes than we've outlined in this post, we've suggested dog cookbooks after each recipe so you can test out other feasts.
If your fur baby has a sweet tooth he will love these chews, and oatmeal adds protein and is good for digestion. To make these chewy treats, puree 1/4 C. diced peaches, 1 tbsp. canola oil, 1 tbsp. molasses, 1/4 tsp. vanilla and 1/8 C. water. Combine the puree with 2 C. rolled oats, 1/2 C. water, 1 C. flour and 1 tsp. cinnamon. Scoop spoon-sized dollops on to a lightly greased baking sheet, press them flat with the back of the spoon, and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes. These chewy cookie treats can be stored for two weeks in the refrigerator or six months in the freezer.
I would love to make these for my dogs! We feed our dogs a raw diet, but unfortunately our Miniature Schnauzer ended up getting pancreatitis (they are prone to it) because of too much fat in his diet. Now, he's still on raw – just a lower fat diet, but we can't give him any treats like this anymore – no matter how awesome they sound. Our other dog would LOVE these though. 😉
I have been cooking for my Boston Terrier for about 4 months now. She kept throwing up every dog food I bought, and it wasn't cheap food either. I boil whole chicken, and then the rice,buy frozen vegetables, green beans, peas, carrots, spinach, and want to check on adding something else because she is still shedding so bad and can't figure out why. I give her a multivitamin from GNC for dogs and wondered if she needs something else. When I take her to the vet I'm going to have her checked because she still chokes and throws up but not like with the dog food. She had some throat problems when she was a puppy, he said was tonsillitis, but I'm thinking she has something wrong with her soft palate or stomach. At least making her food is better than having her throw up every day. I do use coconut oil in the recipe. So sweet potatoes or potatoes would be good to add to? I cook all mine up in a big pot and put in quart freezer bags and it lasts a month. I've even started giving my bully about 1 cup w/his dry food and he's got skin problems he's doing better. Is there something I can use for her hair?
This Easter we were gifted a 22-pound ham (!!!) and while we had our share of Easter feasts, we've still got a decent amount left over. I'm not even a little bit mad, because I know I can freeze some for future use and that there are plenty of ways — big and small — that we can use it up this week. Here are 17 of my favorite recipes for using up leftover ham. City hams freeze incredibly well. My suggestion? Freeze the ham in different forms for future use.
Lori Lapierre holds a Bachelor of Arts and Science in public relations/communications. For 17 years, she worked for a Fortune 500 company before purchasing a business and starting a family. She is a regular freelancer for "Living Light News," an award-winning national publication. Her past writing experience includes school news reporting, church drama, in-house business articles and a self-published mystery, "Duty Free Murder."
Also, the things you said about a raw diet is 100% false. The AVMA may not be behind it but there are many vets that advocate a raw diet. I have been feeding my dog a PMR (prey model raw) diet for a year and just started my 7 month old pup on it and they've never been healthier. If you're clean and sanitary in your meat handling and clean up, like you would be if it were for your own consumption, it's completely safe.
The easiest way is to throw everything in a large slow cooker. 5 pounds regular ground beef, 3 pounds chopped beef liver, three cups of frozen or fresh veg and/or fruit, (carrots, peas, butternut squash, broccoli, blueberry, pumpkin etc.) 4 cups parboiled rice, 8 cups of water. 5 hours on high, longer on low and its done. A weeks worth in the fridge in what it was cooked in for an 80 lb dog. (substitute liver with any other organ, or rice with oats, quinoa, egg noodles, rice noodles).
When preparing DIY homemade dog food, it's likely you'll be making large quantities of it. After all, you don't want to cook it every day. However, with the larger quantities come some potential storage problems. And not storing your pet's food properly in a special dog food storage container or fridge, not freezing when needed, is about as dangerous as not storing your own food in an adequate way.
I have a 9 year old toy poodle mix and a 5 year old shih tzu- and they are very finicky so I started cooking for them and my vet was okay with it. I make either turkey or chicken I use brown rice, green peas ,green beans, carrots, zucchini, pumpkin/ or sweet potatoes and sometimes broccoli and cauliflower. I cook the ground meat with olive oil then cut and boil all vegetables let both sit then cook rice. I mix everything together and I will add a can of dog pumpkin (low in sugar) I make a big pot and freeze in big freezer 1 gallon bag which is 1 week for both dogs. I usually cook once a month. My dogs love it they lick the plates. Seems happier. I also saw where people are worried about calcium, well I give my dogs every morning 3 tablespoon of goat milk for each dog. It does take about an hour or so to complete the receipt but worth it. My dogs haven't gained weight and because of all the water in vegetables they hardly drink water which they drank so much with commercial food. It makes me so happy to see them happy
When preparing homemade dog treats, make sure you take into account any allergies that your pet has to specific ingredients. You will want to avoid adding any ingredient that you suspect that your pet has reacted poorly to in the past. If you are experimenting with new flavors, only feed a small amount of the treat to your dog to see how she reacts to it before giving him an entire treat.
I can't say enough about this company! Yes, my dog has enjoyed their product (all flavors) and yes, I appreciate that they always seem fresh and soft so I can easily break them into small pieces for my shih tzu....but the main reason is I like dealing with this company. Both times I have needed to return something (once I made a mistake on my order and now, just after I ordered two more bags, my vet has placed my dog on a restrictive diet and she can no longer have these treats) they have just refunded my money ....no questions, no returning the product, no hassle! It's so refreshing! I will continue to recommend Buddy Biscuits even though Cali can no longer eat them.
It's almost fall, ya' all. It's been a little while since I made Belle some homemade dog treats, so I thought this would be a perfect time. Our family is headed to Disney World next week. We're spending five days in the parks and then will be boarding the Disney Dream for a Bahamian cruise. It will be the first time our kids have ever been on a plane, ever been to Disney. . .ever seen the ocean. We're so excited.
This post totally cracked me up! Mainly because I have been thinking of making little pup treats for 2 weeks now. I've been hooked on Diane's Gingie cookies (see OvenHug for the best gingie recipe eh=vah) and making them non-stop. Our finicky little chihuahua mix loves sharing bites with me. I want to make a gluten free version of my gingies so that our senior pup, Oscar can also join us – he has sensitive tummy issues. I just need to find a bone shaped cookie cutter and we're in business. Thanks for the laughs. Your pup cookies look amazin'! Thanks for sharing. xo
Meet the Buddy Biscuits Family Simple, Crunchy Goodness - Born in 1999, I soon set the standard for oven baked dog treats. With simple ingredients, mouth-watering flavor and a satisfying crunch, I am still a favorite of dogs near and far. Soft & delicious, naturally! The soft texture of these mouth-watering treats makes them perfect for our four-legged friends who prefer a soft treat. We packed them with flavor and simple ingredients, so you'll love them as much as your dog does. Function meets Delicious - Buddy Boosters offer a boost of glucosamine and chondroitin in every piece and Buddy Trainers are the perfect size for training your pup. These low calorie chews are oven baked and have a delicious soft texture. Naturally Purrr-fect Cat Treats! Our cat treats are made from the quality ingredients you want for your cat, like real meat and wholesome vegetables, with no grains or artificial flavors. SNUGGLEOFFOLOUS - So amazing that we had to create a new word to describe how soft, fluffy, snuggly, and wonderful smelling your dog will be after using our grooming products.
To those of us who love deviled eggs (and we are legion), there is really no occasion that could not be made better by a platter of eggs stuffed with their own whipped yolks. Maybe that's Easter lunch, their most native habitat, or a work party where everyone — even the most keto-devout! — can fall upon that plate of little morsels. But what about breakfast? Do deviled eggs belong at breakfast? Oh yes. And I have the recipe to prove it.
Awesome recipes! Our yellow lab loves the turkey/rice/veggie mix and the chicken jerky strips! Was surprised that our dog loved the rosemary spice in the turkey recipe. Just made the beef/rice meal in the crock pot yesterday and it passed the taste test! Thank you for sharing these great nutritious recipes. Our lab has a lot of energy with these well rounded recipes!
I do not know what discussion is going on, i do have some questions. I am new to all of this making your dog food and I wish i had done this from the start, but better late then never. I can only do Chicken or Turkey recipes, my male English Setter, can not eat beef, he has had 2 severe pancreatic attacks, once at 1 1/2, and then the camp ground managers stopped and gave him treats when we were gone, both times we almost lost him. That being said, with their weight, they get 1 cup of dry in the am & pm, should taht be what i feed to them with cooked or raw dog food?
Also, avoiding any organ meat (like liver or heart) in DIY homemade dog food meals because it looks inedible to us is another big mistake. If this happens every once in a while, that won't be a problem, so don't throw away the most recent batch you've just made simply because you forgot a piece of liver. However, doing this systemically can lead to a lot of deficiencies and health issues for your dog, according to studies.
We add 1 tsp Nupro Silver supplement at each of 2 meals we feed daily and a dash of hot water to mix it into a gravy. This gives them all vitamins, minerals, probiotics, amino acids, digestive support and joint support they need and reduces the tedious task of have to greatly vary their diet to account for those things. In the end, I feel it is also more cost effective. The dogs love it!
There are a couple ways that you can do this recipe to make it more fun and interesting for you and your dog. You can either cook the meat and rice/lentils/quinoa up in a pot with water and add the vegetables near the end of cooking. The other option is to cook the rice/lentils/quinoa and vegetables until soft, mix everything together with the raw beef and form them into meatballs. Cook meatballs at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until fully cooked.
It's almost fall, ya' all. It's been a little while since I made Belle some homemade dog treats, so I thought this would be a perfect time. Our family is headed to Disney World next week. We're spending five days in the parks and then will be boarding the Disney Dream for a Bahamian cruise. It will be the first time our kids have ever been on a plane, ever been to Disney. . .ever seen the ocean. We're so excited.
5% Auto Ship - Sign up for Auto Ship and have products conveniently delivered to you at the frequency you choose! Save 5% on your initial order and 5% on recurring orders. Plus enjoy free shipping on orders over $49. Discounts will automatically apply at checkout once the customer has enrolled. Maximum value $150. Offer not valid on gift cards, gift certificates, previous purchases, or charitable donations and may not be valid on all merchandise. Offer may not be combined with other promotional offers or discounts. Terms and conditions of this offer are subject to change at the sole discretion of PetSmart.
- Free Standard Shipping offer is not valid cat litter, dog litter, ice melter, wild bird food; live fish, rock and sand, ocean water, crystals and salt; aquatic gravel and accents; crickets, live and frozen food. Cat litter, dog litter, wild bird food, live & frozen food and oversized items may incur an additional per-item shipping & handling fee or surcharge. Shipping to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands or P.O. Boxes will result in a surcharge. This is based on your default shopping address.
When preparing homemade dog treats, make sure you take into account any allergies that your pet has to specific ingredients. You will want to avoid adding any ingredient that you know that your pet has reacted poorly to in the past. If you are experimenting with new flavors, feed the treat to your dog in a small amount to see how he reacts to it before distributing an entire treat. Store your homemade dog treats in an airtight container and place them in the freezer. Allow the treat to thaw for 10 – 20 minutes prior to serving to your dog. Treats can last for up to 6 months in the freezer.


text:
𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬! 🖤🖤🖤
I saw this challenge here:
this article may contain spoilers, but I am gonna make an alert, so feel free to read it
One Male Favorite Character:
Dean from Supernatural
One Female Favorite Character:
Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost from The Flash
A character I don't like:
Rory Gilmore from Gilmore Girls
A character who looks like me mentally:
Chandler Bing from Friends
An aesthetic character:
Sabrina Spellman from Chillign Adventures Of Sabrina
A character who everyone loves:
Jake Peralta from Brooklyn Nine Nine
A psychopath character:
Dandy Mott from American Horror Story: Freak Show
A character I'm obsessed with right now:
Sherlock Holmes from Sherlock
A character who deserves better:
Regina Mills aka Evil Queen from Once Upon At Time
A dead character who deserves better:
Klaus Mikaelson from The Originals
A hot character:
Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries
A character who can sing:
Rachel Berry from Glee
A Queen character:
Blair Waldorf from Gossip Girl
A funny character:
Michael Scott from The Office
A problematic character:
Tokyo from La Casa de Papel (Money Heist)
A unproblematic character:
Poussey Washington from Orange Is The New Black
A character I didn't love at first but now I do:
Caroline Forbes from The Vampire Diaries
A character I loved at the first but now I don't:
Manuel Aguirre from Rebelde Way
A badass character:
Sara Lance from Legends Of Tomorrow
A feminist character:
Elena Alvarez from One Day At A Time
A character you wanna be friend with:
Lorelai Gilmore from Gilmore Girls
A LGBT character:
Grizz from The Society
A dorky character:
Andy Dwyer from Park and Recreation
An underrated character:
Dylan Masset from Bates Motel
An overrated character:
Elena Gilbert from The Vampire Diaries
An evil character:
Jerome Valeska from Gotham
A character I could fall in love with:
Seth Cohen from The OC
A smart character:
Michael Scofield from Prison Break
A character I have a love/hate relationship with:
Ross Geller from Friends
A character everyone hates but I love:
Anna from The OC
A character everyone loves but you hate:
Piper Chapman from Orange Is The New Black
A character I would like to be:
Izzy Lightwood from Shadowhunters
A character I love because of a friend:
Sam Winchester from Supernatural
A supernatural character:
Derek Hale from Teen Wolf
A vampire character:
Elijah Mikaelson from The Originals
A zombie character:
Sheila Hammond from Santa Clarita Diet
A character I love in a series I hate:
Cassie Answort from Skins
A character with a great development:
Jamie Lannister from Game Of Thrones
A character with a bad development:
Steven Hyde from That 70s Show
A character that deserves more screen time:
Castiel from Supernatural
A character I love thanks the actor who plays it:
Shaun Murphy from The Good Doctor
One favorite actress:
Emma Stone from Maniac
One favorite actor:
Rami Malek from Mr. Robot
A character I loved from the moment I saw it:
Jack Kline from Supernatural
A character I miss:
Crowley from Supernatural
A villain I love:
Oswald Cobblepot (The Penguin) from Gotham
A villain I hate:
Ramsay from Game Of Thrones
A kid character I love:
Will Byers from Stranger Things
I really have fun answer these questions, because I love tv shows and I have no one to talk about all of them, thanks for reading!
My similar article I did before:
and the rest of my articles over here:
© 𝙾𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝙲𝚘𝚙𝚢𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 @jonackles || 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚁𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚁𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚍.


text:
We are the construction sector's leading Trade Body, providing our members with up to the minute sales leads, market intelligence, and statistical data and networking opportunities.
Dealing with over 11,000 projects and contract opportunities each year worth in excess of £50billion, our members monitor, apply for and win work every week using Serino, our real-time data platform.
Join us today and start enjoying the benefits of being a member of Builders' Conference.
Become a member right away, or try us out by taking a free demonstration of our constantly updated data platform Serino, and gain access to thousands of construction contacts and opportunities. Click Here to register for a free demonstration.
We use our data to create our very own, unique award winning real time league of contractors who are winning work in the UK Construction Industry – powered by BC Live.
We are delighted to launch our first ever jobs board where you can search for jobs across the UK, post your CV and advertise your own vacancies. Members can use this service at a 33% discount per job credit.
On our jobs board you can search for new positions in the construction industry from quantity surveyor to site manager and bricklayer to document controller. You can use our site to upload your CV, track opportunities and apply for positions on line. If you are recruiting, you can submit vacancies and we will promote your job across our social media networks to reach all potential candidates. Our jobs board can be accessed by members and non-members. Please email Ben Chambers for charges, to confirm your credits and to place an advertisement.
Please click here to go to buildersconfjobs.co.uk.
Screedfast Ltd are a family run company specialising in floor screeding and tiling. Based in Kent operating mainly in London, Essex, Kent, Surrey and East Sussex however, they do also operate outside of these countiesRead More >
If a young worker is looking for meaning in what they do, what could offer that in greater abundance than being part of an industry that is creating the future for generations that are yet to be named and yet to be stereotyped?Read More >
The government is once again looking to construction to lead the nation out of recession with the promise of a £5 billion infrastructure cash injection. But that undertaking arrived too late to help boost the contract award totals researched by Builders' Conference and highli...Read More >
Builders' Conference signs ground-breaking partnership with the Scaffolding Association Trade body and UK construction sales leads and market intelligence provider Builders' Conference has penned a ground breaking partnership with the Scaffolding Association. Under the terms of the ag...Read More >
Contract Award Alert - Builders' Conference ref id 288415 Morrison Construction part of the Galliford Try Group have won the construction contract to design and build the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) worth £42m The works compromise a high q...Read More >
@buildersconf #Construction contracts review for June 2020 plus commentary by our CEO @neileddie0702 & interview To? twitter.com/i/web/status/1â¦