My novella “The Giants of the Violet Sea” is a finalist for the Nebula Awards! I did not make a blog post at the time the nominations were announced because I was so overwhelmed (again). But I am deeply honored to be nominated for a Nebula Award for a second year in a row. I really did not think it was possible so when I found out I was stunned!

Shout-out to all the wonderful fellow nominees especially fellow novella finalists. Aliette de Bodard, Becky Chambers, Aimee Ogden, Premee Mohamed, Zin E. Rocklyn, and E. Catherine Tobler. And special shout-out to the great Martha Wells who declined her nomination to make space for other voices! I am extremely honored to be on the Nebula list with all of you.

In other wonderful news, the lovely Simone Heller launched her newsletter The Ever-Shifting Lexicon. It will feature the experiences of writers who write in English as a second (third?) language. Simone was kind enough to interview me for the first installment of the newsletter and I found the response to the interview illuminating. Especially the part about remembering the sound of a word instead of the word itself and having to hunt down the actual word, seems to have hit home with a lot of ESL writers. I find writing in English far less lonely now and it is mainly because I see my experiences reflected in others. It’s wonderful and encouraging. I am excited and intrigued to read the whole series of interviews and understand how each of us experiences the same process.

If you want to read my interview which Simone very eloquently named The Musicality of Language you can click here.

I hope you can find something in there that resonates with you no matter what your first language is. Some experiences can be universal.