ladybusiness | I'm a Hugo Finalist!?

Hugo finalists were announced and the thing I've been sitting on for several weeks is out. Wow.

In 2024, when I was burnt to an intellectual crisp, I decided that 2025 would be a year where I focused more on refilling my creative cup. I didn't know what that looked like at the time I made the decision. I only knew I had to take a break from my political organizing and volunteer work and do something by me, for me, centering me. It was me-o'clock so I could become less of husk that had no personality or interests besides "annoying fascists in my community" and "managing data for a political org". Still important, but everyone needs a break.

As summer approached and I started to emerge from my Emotional Regulation Cocoon, I decided I wanted a place to engage in a special interest (organizing information, reccing things) about my special interests (SFF, media, fandom, technology). I wanted a space that didn't have any baggage attached, because I've been writing on Lady Business so long I've had lots of time to make media literacy mistakes that continue to follow me around. I love Lady Business and I hope to write here in long form for many years to come! But I share Lady Business with the other editors. I didn't want to take it over wholesale. If I launched a new project on another platform, I could...maybe not start over, but start fresh. I could let people opt-in, instead of trying to force a new project to fit into an existing structure.

For ages my main group chat, Sparkle Rocket, had talked about a SFF newsletter. We knew it could be cool, even though it would be a lot of work. None of us took the dive, because as aforementioned: the work! And yet, once I let myself imagine it the idea coalesced quickly because one of the things that rooted me in fandom was reccing culture and book blogging. With the rise of social media platforms and the consolidation of many different parts of fandom I participated in, reccing/book discussion culture felt like it had faded away. I knew it was still out there, even if it was smaller and harder to find. I know I'm not the only one fighting to resist our algorithmic present! A SFF newsletter where I could be a big, earnest nerd? It felt right, because reading other people talking about things is like a battery for me. The feeling you get when you see someone doing something you also love doing and it inspires you? That.

Intergalactic Mixtape (IGMX for short) was created as a way to rec things I enjoyed or projects that inspired me. It gave me space and mental permission to make time for myself and my own reading. IGMX also helped me recover my ability to read new books, not only reread favorites on a loop (everyone should read Finder by Suzanne Palmer tho, it's a banger). It helped with my attention span, which social media had bodied. It helped with my writing confidence in general. I'm not the greatest writer and I'm still learning, but I have verve! I have perspective! I have hot takes! IGMX has also been an exercise in learning how to be more concise. Being concise is hard. See: this post! It's okay, though, because I gave myself permission to go on a bit this time. The practice is important because Google will absolutely truncate my emails. IGMX has been a good exercise for this writing muscle, though, and I'm excited to keep learning.

I was right about the old internet, too. The internet-before-algorithms still exists, even though we were so efficiently herded into social media silos and apps. My favorite thing about technology is that no matter what, people are going to build communities, even if the creators of those technologies never intended those tools for strong community building. As I build out my RSS feeds and bookmark people's blogs and portfolio sites, I've stopped worrying about losing micro-blogs or short form video. IGMX has shown me that no matter what, we'll find a way to rebuild our communities and reconnect. We're still out there, writing and sending our thoughts into the void, hoping to find our people.

When I got the email about my nominations (because I'm also nominated in Best Related Work, for the Hugo Spreadsheet of Doom, which is a whole different bucket of emotions), my flabbers were gasted. My thunders? Radically struck. Because my newsletter isn't even a year old! It's still shaking pieces of eggshell off its scales (in this example IGMX is a tiny, freshly hatched dinosaur). I feel really grateful and sentimental about all the open arms people have offered as IGMX has grown, but y'all, the nomination really fucked me up (complimentary). I cried a lot (positive) about it before accepting. I'm probably going to cry when editing this essay (ed. note: accurate).

I'm in the Best Fanzine category with incredible people, many of them pals and SFF community colleagues: Nerds of a Feather, Ancillary Review of Books, An Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog, Galactic Journey, and Journey Planet. In this hellscape of LLM generation and efficiency-maxing, where writing about media is being devalued and defunded at every turn, here's a group of us writing about stories—books and movies and games and culture—for the love of the game. You can still support me on Patreon, though! A lady's got to ~~buy more books~~ eat.

What they say about the nomination not feeling real until the announcement is accurate. Plus, it's different this time because it's just me, not an editorial collective where I can hide, socially anxious, behind the other editors. I remind myself that this is what happens when you get brave, take a chance on an idea that brings you joy, and take up space in the world as yourself. People see you.

Thanks for seeing me, y'all.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

windancer

Congratulations! I was really happy to see your name on the list--twice!

princessofgeeks

Congratulations!

vae

Congratulations on your nom and for linking IGMX here - it looks wonderful!

sabotabby

Yaaay congrats!

ursula

From: (Anonymous)

Congratulations! DOUBLE FINALIST

umadoshi

I'm delighted to the bone about your nominations. Congratulations! <3

hrj

Congratulations on your nominations! I know exactly what you mean about "not feeling real until the announcement," having gone through that last year. I hope that the experience will be overwhelmingly positive for you.

beatrice_otter

jajalala

Congratulations!!!

Congratulations on the Hugo nominations! I look forward to IGMX every week, and I'm so glad to see it's brought you joy and been rewarding to do!

Kristen