This Friday, May 4th, will be an election meeting. To vote for the slate, you need to be a member of WSFA. You’ll be able to pay your dues or check your status (if  you can’t remember whether you already paid) at the meeting before the vote is taken.

The trustees’ slate is:

• President – Bob Macintosh
• Vice President – George Shaner
• Secretary – Sam Lubell
• Treasurer – Sam Scheiner
• Trustees – Barry Newton, Elizabeth Twitchell, and Rodger Burns
• Small Press – Cathy Green and Kim Hargan.

(There is no open Capclave chair since the club has already made Bill Lawhorn Chair of Capclave 2020)

Of course nominations are accepted from the floor in addition to the slate.

May the fourth be with the candidates!

Also, the committee to discuss science fiction will be discussing the March/April issue of F & SF.

Robert Sawyer Confirmed for 2019.

The 3-2-18 First Friday in March was called to order by Prez Bob. “We’ll do this quickly because we have a guest reader tonight and the committee to discuss SF has a special event. The Secretary told me that no one gave him the minutes from last time, so we may have had a meeting.”

Treasurer Sam is here.

We have $$. Reminder to pay your dues. Bob said, “Let’s make committee reports succinct.”

Cathy for Capclave 2018. Moving along. We have GoH. Will have more on website. Sam said we are registering people online.

Capclave 2019. Robert Sawyer has confirmed dates in contract.

Cap 2020, nothing new to report.

Click the link for the full text of the March/April 2018 WSFA Journal, including the Minutes of the March 2nd, 16th 2018 / April 6th, 20th 2018 meetings.

WSFA Journal March-April 2018

Note: Publication date is set to the date of the Journal, rather than the date posted, for indexing purposes

The 1/5/18 first Friday in January meeting began with an “Alright ladies and gentleman, first Friday in 2018,” said Prez Bob. “And it’s colder than you know what –I don’t actually–. It is 9:18.” Bill said, “We’re late.” Bob answered, “We had to wait for Sam’s machine.” . Sam L read minutes from last meeting.

Treasurer’s report: Current balance: $money. Year-over-year change: $. Important caveat: The Hilton has not yet cashed its check. Once you subtract that amount our net change for the past year is approximately $. Bob said that Judy will collect dues. There is a sheet. Sam S. is away for warmer weather.

Click the link for the full text of the January/February 2018 WSFA Journal, including the Minutes of the January 5th, 19th 2018 / February 2nd, 16th 2018 meetings.

WSFA Journal January-February 2018

Note: Publication date is set to the date of the Journal, rather than the date posted, for indexing purposes

The November third, 2017 WSFA meeting began with an “alright, ladies and gentlemen” said President
Bob. There were only two Sams at the meeting “That’s not a quorum.” The Secretary had brought his
computer bag, but there was no computer in it. So he didn’t know what happened at the last meeting.
Treasurer’s report was $$$ for a year over year of +$$$. But we haven’t paid the hotel bill yet. The
surplus is equal to what the hotel bill will be.

Click the link for the full text of the November/December 2017 WSFA Journal, including the Minutes of the November 3rd, 17th 2017 / December 1st, 15th 2017 meetings.

WSFA Journal November-December 2017

Note: Publication date is set to the date of the Journal, rather than the date posted, for indexing purposes

The Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA) is pleased to announce that on October 7, 2017,  at the Capclave science fiction convention, Ursula Vernon won the 2017 WSFA Small Press Award for best short fiction published by a small press in 2016.  The award consists of certificates and trophies for both the author and publisher and $500 for the author.

The winner is  “The Tomato Thief” by Ursula Vernon, published in Apex Magazine (January 2016) edited by Jason Sizemore.

The other finalists for the 2016 WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction were:

• “Foxfire, Foxfire” by Yoon Ha Lee, published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies (March 2016) and edited by Scott H. Andrews;
• “Jupiter or Bust” by Brad R. Torgersen, published in Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show (March/ April 2016), edited by Edmund Schubert;
• “The Mytilenian Delay” by Neil James Hudson in Hyperpowers (May 2016), edited by Bascomb James, published by Third Flatiron Publishing;
• “Only Their Shining Beauty Was Left” by Fran Wilde, published in Shimmer Magazine (September 2016), edited by E. Catherine Tobler;
• “Radio Silence” by Walter H. Hunt in Alien Artifacts (2016), edited by Joshua Palmatier and Patricia Bray, published by Zombies Need Brains;
• “A Salvaging of Ghosts” by Aliette de Bodard, published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies (March 2016), edited by Scott H. Andrews;
• “Vengence Sewn With A Fey Cord” by Christine Lucas, published in The Future Fire (April 2016), edited by Djibril al-Ayad; and
• “The Witch’s Knives” by Margaret Ronald, published in Strange Horizons (October 2016), edited by Niall Harrison, Jane Crowley, Kate Dollarhyde, Lila Garrott, Catherine Krahe, An Owomoyela, and Vajra Chandrasekera.

The award honors the efforts of small press publishers in providing a critical venue for short fiction in the area of speculative fiction. The award showcases the best original short fiction published by small presses in the previous year (2016). An unusual feature of the selection process is that all voting is done with the identity of the author (and publisher) hidden so that the final choice is based solely on the quality of the story.

The winner was chosen by the members of the Washington Science Fiction Association (www.wsfa.org) and was presented at their annual convention, Capclave (www.capclave.org), held this year on October 6-8, 2017 in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

This year’s book The Man Who Ended History by Ken Liu will be delayed.

Due to unavoidable issues with the printing schedule, we’ve been informed that “The Man Who Ended History” will not be available until the end of October/first of November, and not available at Capclave as originally planned.

To everyone that pre-ordered a copy prior to the convention and who was expecting to pick it up at Capclave, we will be mailing the book to you at our expense as soon as we receive it. Please make sure we have a valid mailing address.
(Check at the SFRevu table in the Dealer’s Room.)

We will also still take orders at Capclave at the reduced Convention price but will have to add a $3.00 shipping fee.

We apologize for any inconvenience this unavoidable delay may cause.

WSFA’s 1st Friday meeting will be held at Capclave.
Meeting will be held at 9:00 Rockville/Potomac Room in the
Hilton Washington DC North/Gaithersburg,
620 Perry Parkway, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20877

The September 1, 2017 meeting began with VP George saying, “Your backup emergency president is
here.” Rodger immediately fired back, “Please state the nature of your science fictional emergency.”
George called to the people in the back, “Care to join us, we’re having a meeting.” <noise> HEY!
<quiet> This first Friday in Virginia was called to order at 9:14.

Sam L read the minutes and there were some corrections. Treasurer Sam S. reported $money as of Sept
2017. Year over year +money.

Click the link for the full text of the September/October 2017 WSFA Journal, including the Minutes of the September 1st, 15th 2017 / October 6th, 20th 2017 meetings.

WSFA Journal September-October 2017

Note: Publication date is set to the date of the Journal, rather than the date posted, for indexing purposes

The Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA) is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2017 WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction:

• “Foxfire, Foxfire,” by Yoon Ha Lee, published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, ed. by Scott H. Andrews, (March 2016);
• “Jupiter or Bust,” by Brad R. Torgersen, published in Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, ed. by Edmund Schubert, (March/ April 2016);
• “The Mytilenian Delay,” by Neil James Hudson, in Hyperpowers, ed. by Bascombe James, published by Third Flatiron Publishing (May 2016);
• “Only Their Shining Beauty Was Left,” by Fran Wilde, published in Shimmer Magazine, ed. by E. Catherine Tobler, (September 2016);
• “Radio Silence,” by Walter H. Hunt in Alien Artifacts, ed. by Joshua Palmatier and Patricia Bray, published by Zombies Need Brains, (2016);
• “A Salvaging of Ghosts,” by Aliette de Bodard, published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, ed. by Scott H. Andrews, (March 2016);
• “The Tomato Thief,” by Ursula Vernon, published in Apex Magazine, ed. by Jason Sizemore, (January 2016);
• “Vengence Sewn With A Fey Cord,” by Christine Lucas, published in The Future Fire, ed. by Djibril al-Ayad, (April 2016);
• “The Witch’s Knives,” by Margaret Ronald, published in Strange Horizons, ed. by Niall Harrison, Jane Crowley, Kate Dollarhyde, Lila Garrott, Catherine Krahe, An Owomoyela, and Vajra Chandrasekera, (October 2016).

The award honors the efforts of small press publishers in providing a critical venue for short fiction in the area of speculative fiction. The award showcases the best original short fiction published by small presses in the previous year (2016).

An unusual feature of the selection process is that all voting is done with the identity of the author (and publisher) hidden so that the final choice is based solely on the quality of the story.

The winner is chosen by the members of the Washington Science Fiction Association (www.wsfa.org) and will be presented at Capclave (www.capclave.org), held this year on October 6-8, 2017 in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Is it time travel? Or translocation? Either way, the WSFA meetings in August will swap locations. The first Friday meeting in August will be at our Maryland location and the third Friday in August will be in Virginia.

See the Calendar for address and contact information.