For the love of #SadPuppies

So, remember how I mentioned not too long ago that I was #5 in the nominations list for the Sad Puppies recommendation list?

Guess what.

List compiled by Brian Niemeier
From Data at SP4

I'm still there.

Now, obviously, the list is a little more sane. Butcher really should be on top.  Brian Niemeier's Nethereal I expect to get a bigger bump.  Why? Because Larry Correia himself tweeted about Nethereal, so I was expecting to be blown right off the list.

As I look at how close I am, I have to ponder just how strange this is. It really is odd. Last year I had barely heard of Larry Correia, and had to get caught up on Sad Puppies in a hurry just to wrap my brain around what had happened to the Hugos since the last time I page attention to them (PS: the last Hugo I cared about before SP3 was the one given to Babylon 5, so nearly 20 years ago).

And honestly? I hadn't expected to get a "Sad Puppies 4: The Embiggening" nomination in the first place for best novel.  Sad Puppies Bite Back? Sure. Absolutely. It was bizarre and brought THOUSANDS of people to the blog. But who heard of Honor at Stake? Heck, I'm not even sure who the hell nominated it in the first place.

But now that I have a shot, I think I'd like to go for it.


Recommendations for best novel are still open. I'm tied for 5th now, with Brian Niemeier, and Brian told me to go for it all the way -- he's #1 in another award category. Heh. Though I joked on my Facebook page that "As his Nethereal has been recently tweeted by Larry Correia, I will respectfully encourage some nice words in my general direction, if only so I can stay tied with him (you have no problem with a tie, right Brian?)"  He answered with "you're six votes away from #1. Go for it."

So....let's go for it.

But know what? It took me a while to figure out why I am surprisingly willing to work for something I initially didn't think I'd come close to. I've had a lot of fans -- obviously a LOT of fans -- put in work to get me this far.

It's time for me to put in the extra effort.

Now I have to say something. You might have noticed I haven't really commented on the Sad Puppy nominations. I haven't put in my own two cents beyond my own books, commentary on the individual authors, and The Aeronaut's Windlass.

There's a good reason for that. I'm still behind on last year's reading.

Also, I found out that January 31 is the last day to register before you can vote in the Hugos ... I found that out on February 4th. So, yes, I could possibly read everything nonstop, 24-7, caught up, and make recommendations, though I suspect that just trying to read Stephenson will take the next week by itself. His books are HUGE.

And Mr. John C Wright. I really want to read you book. I really would rather have a paperback copy. Could you please talk Vox into a paperback edition? Please?