The Open Page: Book & Print News – 3/10/08
 
1) Nebula Controversy: One of the Nebula Award nominees for Best Script is “World Enough and Time,” written by Marc Scott Zicree and Michael Reaves for the online series Star Trek: New Voyages. Some members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, the organization that judges and disperses the Nebula Awards, have challenged this nomination on the grounds that New Voyages is a fan production and also potentially violates the copyright and trademark rights to Star Trek held by Gene Roddenberry’s estate, CBS Corp and Paramount Pictures. The SFWA committee in charge of the nominations have decided that the episode should remain eligible for the award because Zicree and Reaves were paid for the script under Writers Guild of America rules, some of the actors in the production were paid for their work, and the script meets past interpretations of the award rules about professionalism. New Voyages has operated so far with Paramount’s acceptance and even encouragement, though not official authorization. Series creator James Cawley, however, has issued a statement that New Voyages is solely a fan-based, amateur production that does not attempt to earn money, and that any payments to cast or crew are made purely on that basis. Should the show be considered a professional production, it might be shut down by Paramount. However, the SFWA has ruled that their decision still stands and “World Enough and Time” remains on the Nebula ballot for Best Script.
 
2) The Australian Horror Writers Association has announced the short list for this year’s Shadow Awards, a juried prize for horror written by an Australian author. The nominees are:

"Between the Memories," by Matthew Chrulew
"Subtle Invasion," by David Conyers
"Toother," by Terry Dowling
"The Dark and What It Said," by Rick Kennett
"There Was Darkness," by Martin Livings
The Darkness Within, by Jason Nahrung
 
Honorable Mentions: David Conyers & John Sunseri for The Spiraling Worm, Kaaron Warren for “Cooling the Crows,” and Marty Young for “The Wildflowers.”
 
3) Best-selling writer Joanne Harris is best known for her non-genre novel Chocolat, which was turned into an Oscar-nominated film. Her latest novel is a fantasy work called Runemarks, set in the world of Norse and Scandinavian myth. The story takes place 500 years after Ragnarok, the final battle between the gods, when magic has been outlawed and a powerful religious order seeks to obliterate any traces of it and any of the old gods left around. Harris plans a sequel to the novel, entitled Runelight, and is also working on a non-SFF mystery novel, Blue-eyed Boy.
 
4) The National Space Society and Hadley Rille Books are running a Return to Luna Short Story Contest with entries to be about human lunar settlement. The winning stories are judged by a panel of award-wining authors and editors and will be included in the print anthology Return To Luna. The Grand Prize Winning story will also appear in the NSS’ magazine Ad Astra and the author will receive a free one-year membership to the National Space Society. Stories must be 2,000 to 6,000 words and there is no entry fee. Submissions are eligible until June 15^th. Visit www.hadleyrillebooks.com or www.nss.org for details and guidelines information.