William Ledbetter
William Ledbetter | |
---|---|
![]() William Ledbetter holding the Nebula Award for his novelette "The Long Fall Up" | |
Occupation | Writer |
Language | English |
Nationality | American |
Genre | Science fiction |
Years active | 2000–present |
Notable awards | Nebula Award for Best Novelette |
Website | |
www |
William Ledbetter (born 1961) is a science fiction writer whose short stories have been published in Fantasy & Science Fiction, Analog: Science Fiction & Fact, Jim Baen's Universe, Writers of the Future, Escape Pod, and other magazines. His novelette "The Long Fall Up" won the 2016 Nebula Award.[1]
Life
William Ledbetter was born in a small town in Indiana[2] in 1961, the year humans first flew in space.[2] After growing up in Indiana, he moved to Waco, Texas in 1995.[3] He now lives in Prosper, Texas, north of Dallas.[4][5]
As a child, Ledbetter watched the Apollo 11 Moon landing and dreamed of being an astronaut but was unable to pursue that career due to poor eyesight.[5] Instead, Ledbetter began a thirty-year career as a mechanical designer[2] in the aerospace industry, including work on the radiator system for the International Space Station.[5][6]
Writing career
Ledbetter has published a number of science fiction short stories in magazines such as Fantasy & Science Fiction, Analog: Science Fiction & Fact, Jim Baen's Universe, Writers of the Future, Escape Pod, and others. Among the anthologies including his stories is The Year’s Best Military SF and Space Opera.[7]
Ledbetter's novelette "The Long Fall Up," originally published in Fantasy & Science Fiction, won the 2016 Nebula Award.[8] The science fiction story focuses on a future where children are not allowed to be born in zero gravity due to the risk of disfiguring mutations.[4] His story "The Rings of Mars" was a winner in the Writers of the Future contest.[2][3]
In addition to his writing, Ledbetter administers the Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award contest for Baen Books and the National Space Society. He edited the anthology The Jim Baen Memorial Award: The First Decade, released by Simon & Schuster,[9] and is a consulting editor at Heroic Fantasy Quarterly.
References
- ^ "2016 Nebula Awards Winners," Locus Magazine, May 20, 2017.
- ^ a b c d "Introduction to 'The Rings of Mars' by William Ledbetter", Writers of the Future, Volume XXVIII, Galaxy Press LLC, 2012.
- ^ a b "Prosper writer wins L. Ron Hubbard award" by Penny Rathbun, Celina Record, May 12, 2012.
- ^ a b "Meet two North Texas writers who are up for Nebula Awards" by Michael Merschel, The Dallas Morning News, February 28, 2017.
- ^ a b c "Two North Texas Writers Nominated for Nebula Awards" by Ginni Beam, D Magazine, April 11, 2017.
- ^ "Science fiction writer from Prosper stands among giants with Nebula Award win" by Amber Friend, The Dallas Morning News, May 23, 2017.
- ^ "Short stories harder to find, but still exist" by Mark Lardas, Galveston County Daily News, June 28, 2015.
- ^ "'The Long Fall Up' Wins the Nebula Award for Best Novelette" by C.C. Finlay, Fantasy & Science Fiction, May 20, 2017.
- ^ Promotional copy for The Jim Baen Memorial Award: The First Decade, edited by William Ledbetter, Simon & Schuster website, accessed July 24, 2017.
External links
- Official website
- William Ledbetter at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- v
- t
- e
- "The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth" by Roger Zelazny (1966)
- "Call Him Lord" by Gordon R. Dickson (1967)
- "Gonna Roll the Bones" by Fritz Leiber (1968)
- "Mother to the World" by Richard Wilson (1969)
- "Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones" by Samuel R. Delany (1970)
- "Slow Sculpture" by Theodore Sturgeon (1971)
- "The Queen of Air and Darkness" by Poul Anderson (1972)
- "Goat Song" by Poul Anderson (1973)
- "Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand" by Vonda N. McIntyre (1974)
- "If the Stars Are Gods", by Gordon Eklund and Gregory Benford (1975)
- "San Diego Lightfoot Sue" by Tom Reamy (1976)
- "The Bicentennial Man" by Isaac Asimov (1977)
- "The Screwfly Solution" by Raccoona Sheldon (1978)
- "A Glow of Candles, a Unicorn's Eye" by Charles L. Grant (1979)
- "Sandkings" by George R. R. Martin (1980)
- "The Ugly Chickens" by Howard Waldrop (1981)
- "The Quickening" by Michael Bishop (1982)
- "Fire Watch" by Connie Willis (1983)
- "Blood Music" by Greg Bear (1984)
- "Bloodchild" by Octavia Butler (1985)
- "Portraits of His Children" by George R. R. Martin (1986)
- "The Girl who Fell into the Sky" by Kate Wilhelm (1987)
- "Rachel in Love" by Pat Murphy (1988)
- "Schrödinger's Kitten" by George Alec Effinger (1989)
- "At the Rialto" by Connie Willis (1990)
- "Tower of Babylon" by Ted Chiang (1991)
- "Guide Dog" by Michael Conner (1992)
- "Danny Goes to Mars" by Pamela Sargent (1993)
- "Georgia on My Mind" by Charles Sheffield (1994)
- "The Martian Child" by David Gerrold (1995)
- "Solitude" by Ursula K. Le Guin (1996)
- "Lifeboat on a Burning Sea" by Bruce Holland Rogers (1997)
- "The Flowers of Adult Prison" by Nancy Kress (1998)
- "Lost Girls" by Jane Yolen (1999)
- "'Mars is No Place for Children", by Mary Turzillo (2000)
- "Daddy's World" by Walter Jon Williams (2001)
- "Louise's Ghost" by Kelly Link (2002)
- "Hell is the Absence of God" by Ted Chiang (2003)
- "The Empire of Ice Cream" by Jeffrey Ford (2004)
- "Basement Magic" by Ellen Klages (2005)
- "The Faery Handbag" by Kelly Link (2006)
- "Two Hearts" by Peter S. Beagle (2007)
- "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" by Ted Chiang (2008)
- "Pride and Prometheus" by John Kessel (2009)
- "Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast" by Eugie Foster (2010)
- "That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made" by Eric James Stone (2011)
- "What We Found" by Geoff Ryman (2012)
- "Close Encounters" by Andy Duncan (2013)
- "The Waiting Stars" by Aliette de Bodard (2014)
- "A Guide to the Fruits of Hawai'i" by Alaya Dawn Johnson (2015)
- "Our Lady of the Open Road" by Sarah Pinsker (2016)
- "The Long Fall Up" by William Ledbetter (2017)
- "A Human Stain" by Kelly Robson (2018)
- "The Only Harmless Great Thing" by Brooke Bolander (2019)
- "Carpe Glitter" by Cat Rambo (2020)
- "Two Truths and a Lie" by Sarah Pinsker (2021)
- "O2 Arena" by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (2022)
- "If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God with the Informal You" by John Chu (2023)
- "The Year Without Sunshine" by Naomi Kritzer (2024)