And I'm back. The Ditmar nominations are open, at last, for 30 days at least. I feel a little confused about the rules, but such is often the case with the Ditmars. My major area of confusion is what, exactly, is eligible. It says that anything published in the year preceding the Natcon is eligible, but that might mean that things that were eligible for nomination at last year's convention are eligible again. It seems to mean that anything published this year is ineligible, even if there was more than a year between Natcons. I might just nominate things and let the committee sort it out.

There's the familiar problem with self-published works, as well. Last year, there was a heated debate about whether they were professional or fan, and that really doesn't seem to have been resolved. I'd like it to be clear, because Son et Lumiere, the collection, is eligible this year for one category or the other. In some ways, I'd prefer it to be eligible in the fan category, because it's up against Dreaming Again and a couple of other biggies in the pro category. But that, in turn, raises the question of what category the stories within it can be nominated. Are they fan or pro?

It's the familiar old confusion.

Later.