The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America have released their final ballot for this year's Nebula Awards. Bill's novella "Inclination" made the cut, together with works by Paul Melko, Michael Burstein, and James Patrick Kelly.

The winners will be announced during SFWA's Nebula Awards Weekend, held May 11-13 in New York City.

Nippon 2007 has released its list of nominees for this year's Hugo Awards. Bill's novella "Inclination," published in the April/May 2006 issue of Asimov's, made the cut, together with works by Paul Melko, Robert Reed, Michael Swanwick, and Robert Charles Wilson.

The Hugo Award is science fiction's highest honor, and is voted on by members of the World Science Fiction Convention. This year's Worldcon, Nippon 2007, will be held August 30–September 3 in Yokohama, Japan, with the Hugos awarded in a ceremony on Saturday, September 1.

"Inclination" is also a current nominee for the Nebula Award.

A collaborative horror novella written by Derryl Murphy and William Shunn, Cast a Cold Eye, will be published by England's PS Publishing in a standalone edition in Spring/Summer 2009.

Cast a Cold Eye is the story of a teenage boy who has been haunted by ghosts in statues ever since losing parents to the Spanish flu epidemic in 1918. He won't understand why until a lady spirit photographer with ghosts of her own comes to town and takes him on as her unwilling apprentice.

PS Publishing are the original publisher's of such fine works as Joe Hill's debut collection 20th Century Ghosts Robert Charles Wilson's Hugo-nominated novella Julian: A Christmas Story. The company is based in East Yorkshire, England.

William Shunn's short story "Objective Impermeability in a Closed System" has been selected for inclusion in David Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer's Year's Best SF 13, to be published in May 2008 by Eos. The story was originally published in Shunn's chapbook An Alternate History of the 21st Century, still available from Spilt Milk Press for $5.00 (including US shipping). In his Locus review, critic Nick Gevers called this story "an intense evocation of the ethical and emotional dilemmas of a scientist of whom idealism is expected but for whom compromise is easier.... Shunn opts for an unusual, psychologically resonant conclusion, and a subtle questioning of the essentials of cause and effect. The implications run quite deep." Pre-order your copy of The Year's Best SF 13 now from Amazon.com.

Bill has two stories due out soon, one in print and one in audio form. "Timesink," a science-fiction horror story set before and after 9/11, will appear in the forthcoming double issue of Electric Velocipede. Please subscribe now and support this marvelous little zine. Or for a limited time take advantage of their special benefactor-level subscription that gets you a lifetime of EV, plus everything else Spilt Milk Press publishes.

And for you podcast aficionados, Bill's short story "Colin and Ishmael in the Dark," originally published in Science Fiction Age in September 1993, will appear in the excellent fantasy podcast PodCastle on about October 24. This creepy little number comes just in time for Halloween, so subscribe to PodCastle now and don't miss out. It's free!

Today the online audio fantasy magazine PodCastle presents an early short story of Bill's for your Halloween listening pleasure.

A free podcast, PodCastle presents readings of at least one original or reprinted fantasy story every week. This week they feature Bill's short story "Colin and Ishmael in the Dark," which originally appeared in print in the September 1993 issue of Science Fiction Age. You can listen to the story, or download the audio file, here.

We suggest listening with the lights off, for best effect. Happy Halloween!