Yesterday afternoon was exciting. For the first time since becoming involved in the process, I didn't feel like my Hugo nomination had simply disappeared into a black hole. I also got the thrill of hearing my name as one of the nominations. I am honored and humbled by that. My personal involvement with organized fandom began not too long ago, but from the beginning, I felt like I'd found my home. I can remember when I was much younger, looking for the collections of 'year's Best SF' in the library and devouring them. Then I started to learn that maybe I should avoid the Hugo-award winning ones, because they weren't all that good. For a few years now, I've thought about changing that. I've advocated to get more people voting in the Hugo, educating fans that yes, this is an award they 'can' have a say in.