Of course our lead story for the Monday news has to be the fact that it is Shannon’s birthday today! Everyone wish her happy birthday and be sure and tune in to this week’s podcast to see who the new co-host will be after she fires me for putting the above picture together.

Thursday’s podcast will also include our Norwescon wrap-up! We had a great time at the con even though we were both extremely busy with ConCom related duties. If you didn’t make it to the con you may not have heard the announcement that the Guest of Honor for Norwescon 34 next year will be none other than Jim Butcher! You can hear our interview with Jim Butcher on Episode #56 and you can catch him in Seattle this Wednesday at Kane Hall on the University of Washington campus.

Your Monday news is under the fold

Books

• Seattle is well represented in the Hugo Award nominations that were announced yesterday. Local authors Cherie Priest and Kij Johnson have both been nominated, Johnson in the Best Short Story category for her story, “Spar” and Priest in the Best Novel category for Boneshaker. Also, the Seattle-based team behind Girl Genius was nominated in the Best Graphic Story category for Girl Genius, Volume 9: Agatha Heterodyne and the Heirs of the Storm. The rest of the nominees include Joss Whedon, who was nominated in the Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form category for Dollhouse: “Epitaph 1″, and Neil Gaiman, Andy Kubert and Scott Williams for Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?. The full list of nominees is up at the official Hugo Awards site.

  

• This year’s Phillip K Dick award was given to Bitter Angels by C. L. Anderson (Ballantine Books Spectra) at Norwescon 33 this weekend. The award is presented annually with the support of the Philip K. Dick Trust for distinguished science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States. It is sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and the Philip K. Dick Trust and the award ceremony is sponsored by the NorthWest Science Fiction Society.

Comics

• At his spotlight panel at WonderCon this weekend, Writer Greg Rucka announced that he will no longer be working for DC Comics. Digital Spy is reporting that Rucka said that he had been unable to agree with the publisher over certain decisions but is not leaving DC on bad terms. This leaves the future of the upcoming Batwoman title that Rucka was scheduled to write in some doubt. There is also no concrete word on Rucka’s post-DC plans.

  

• Geek Tyrant has a few details on the recently announced Marvel Comics app for the iPad. The app includes over 500 Marvel titles, from classic stories to modern tales, featuring Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, Hulk, Thor and more. It will allow users to view a three page preview before purchasing any comic and will have a recommendation engine and a store locator.

  

• Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer rejoice! Dark Horse will be publishing Season Nine starting this Spring. Robot 6 is reporting that Season Nine, the second “season” to be produced as a comic series after the TV show ended, will be “more concise” than the 40 issue Season Eight. No writers have been announced for Season Nine, but Georges Jeanty will continue as artist and one can only assume that Joss Whedon will continue as Executive Producer.
  
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