As a few people on my Friends list have already noted, today is in fact my birthday. It feels odd to be celebrating a birthday so soon after my Mom's death, but in a way it's appropriate. My shloshim mourning period ended yesterday, which means that I've made it through the second phase of mourning (from a religious perspective) and am now entering the last phase, which I'll be observing for the rest of the year.

Much to my amusement, I've discovered that my birthday has made it onto the This Day...In Jewish History blog. This Day, February 27, in Jewish History notes my birthday and quotes a few sentences from an article about me that appeared in The Jewish Advocate in May 1999.

However, a more significant announcement has been made today. The final Nebula ballot has been released, so now I can state that I am officially a Nebula nominee again, this time for my novella "Sanctuary" (Analog, September 2005). The news is all over the Internet, from the SFWA website to SF Signal to SF Site to the brand-new SF Scope news site. I notice that the Nebula short fiction jury chose not to add a work to the Novella category, which has me scratching my head but also grateful; it means that, statistically, I have a better chance of winning. (Of course, Jim, Paul, and Bill will probably have something to say about that...)

For some reason, though, the posted ballots aren't linking to the public portion of "Sanctuary," even though they do link to other works. So if you haven't read the story and are curious about it, here's the link to a partial copy of "Sanctuary" at the Analog website. For SFWA members, a locked private copy can be found here.

Tags: announcements, jewish, mom, personal, science-fiction, writing