LAcon V Worldcon 2026 - Locus

I'm tired just read about LAcon.

If you didn't make it to LAcon V in August, Panzer found a post at the Locus site for you.

 

The post has photos, award winners and information about all the programs and events.

 

 Panzer says, "Looks like a lot of fun."

 

Note: This is a long, long, long post.

 

To read the post tootle over to LAcon V Worldcon 2026 

LAcon V Site Selection Business Meeting - File 770

I did a lot of traveling today. I deserve a long nap.

At the File 777 site Panzer found the announcement that at the Worldcon 2028 Site Selection meeting Brisbane, Australia, won the vote.

 

 Worldcon is the World Science Fiction Convention. It will be held July 27 - 31 2028.

 

Note: This is a short announcement. You won't need anything to snack on. 

 

To read the post tootle over to Site Selection 

Bennett, Roanhorse Win 2025 Hugo Awards - Publishers Weekly

WorldCon was about 30 mile from us.

On the Publishers Weekly site Panzer found a news release about the Hugo Awards.

 

According to the news release, Robert Jackson Bennett won the Best Novel Award and Rebecca Roanhorse won the Best Series Award. The post has several links including one to the complete list of winners and one to the Administrators' Report.

 

Note: This is a short news release. Bring a cup of tea to drink while you read the post. If you plan to follow the links, you'll need to decide what else to bring to snack on.

 

To read the post tootle over to Hugo Awards 

Seattle Worldcon 2025 ChatGPT Controversy Roundup - File 770

Did they think nobody would care?

Today Panzer was shaken from his kitty bed by loud and unhappy noises coming from the Catosphere. Jumping into the Panzermobile, our brave kitty followed all the uproar to the File 770 site. There he discovered the use of ChatGPT by this year's World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) was the cause of all the anger.

 

According to the information posted by Mike Glyer, a Worldcon committee used ChatGPT to vet perspective panel members without telling them until after the panels' participants were decided. Near the beginning of the post there's a link to the Worldcon statement about ChatGPT's use. As a result at least one author removed his work from award consideration and some people are asking how to get their membership money refunded.

 

Panzer says, "LLMs, and ChatGPT in particular, are hated by a lot of writers. Remember what happened to NaNoWriMo after their AI statement? Hint: The last nail in the coffin."

 

Note: This is a very long post. You'll need to decide what to bring to snack on.

 

To read the post tootle over to Seattle Worldcon 2025

The Hugo Awards Finalists - The Hugo Awards

That's a lot of finalists.

Being the big science fiction and fantasy fan that he is, Panzer was happy to learn the Hugo Awards finalists have been announced.

 

The winners will be announced and presented their awards at the Chengdu Worldcom October 18 -22.

Panzer says, "This little kitty wishes he could go, but Mom doesn't have any vacation time left this year. She says maybe next year when the Worldcon is in Glasgow."

 

Note: Since there are sixteen awards and finalists for each award, there are too many to list here. You'll need to go to the site to see the finalists. You'll also need to decide what to bring to eat and drink for your snacks.

 

To read the list of finalists tootle over to 2023 Hugo Awards

Hugo Awards and Puppygate

Get my paws out of the litter box.

Today's post is late. When Panzer got home from the vet's today, he took a long nap. As soon as he woke up, he hopped in the Panzermobile and hit the Catosphere at cat-warp speed. Our big bad speeding kitty stopped in at The Guardian site.

According to a post there by Alison Flood, there's quite a brouhaha going on about this year's SF Hugo Awards.

Why?

Puppygate.

What's Puppygate you ask?

Puppygate is a term George R.R. Martin came up with. There are two groups, one called the Sad Puppies and the other the Rabid Puppies. Each group encouraged their followers to buy memberships for Worldcon so they could vote for stories and novels they wanted to get nominated for the Hugo Awards. Apparently, some of those nominated feel the two groups succeeded in loading the nominations with their picks. Hugo Award nominees Mark Kloos and Annie Bellet have withdrawn their work from the competition.

Panzer says, "What do you expect? They're not the smartest potato on the truck. They're puppies. You want smart? Get a kitten.  No kitten would have anything to do with this kind of litter box game."

To read the full post, tootle over to puppygate storm