The nominees for this year’s Nebula Awards have been revealed, and we’ve collected free samples of all the nominees below–the best science fiction books of 2012.

Many of these stories are available to read for free online. These are marked “COMPLETE” among the links.  Here’s more about the awards:

The Nebula Awards are voted on, and presented by, active members of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. Founded as the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1965 by Damon Knight, the organization began with a charter membership of 78 writers; it now has over 1,500 members, among them many of the leading writers of science fiction and fantasy.

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To raise money for the Aicardi Syndrome Foundation, a team of five novelists posed for a gender-flipped posed copy of a sexy science fiction cover.

You can bid on an autographed copy of the photograph at eBay. Photographer Al Bogdan shot the picture, imitating the cover of Young Flandry by Poul Anderson. The io9 blog has more about the history behind the pin-up photograph.

Check it out: “This is one of only two 16″ x 16″ high-quality prints, and has been autographed by John Scalzi, Mary Robinette Kowal, Jim C. Hines, Patrick Rothfuss, and Charles Stross, as well as photographer Al Bogdan. This would be a GORGEOUS piece to frame and hang over your couch, in your bedroom, or even in your office at work. You’ll be the envy of everyone you meet! Best of all, every penny raised from this auction will go to the Aicardi Syndrome Foundation, supporting the girls and families fighting this condition and helping to fund research into the cause and, some day, a cure.”

Last month, writers around the world took the Month of Letters Challenge, a month-long letter writing marathon created by novelist Mary Robinette Kowal.

We interviewed Kowal on the Morning Media Menu podcast today, finding out how she wrote more than 300 letters in February. The author of Shades of Milk and Honey and Glamour in Glass shared how a month of writing letters influenced work on her novels.

Kowal explained: “I said that people could write to Jane, the main character of my novels and I would answer using an actual quill. She’s been getting one or two letters a day. I’m glad she isn’t getting the volume I’ve been getting. It’s been a great exercise, people will ask me questions about the world that I haven’t thought about … it gives me an opportunity to let my character think of things that are outside the plot of my novel.”

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Do you miss writing letters to your friends and family? Today author Mary Robinette Kowal launched The Month of Letters Challenge, as writers around the world will try to post a letter a day.

Check it out: “I have a simple challenge for you. In the month of February, mail at least one item through the post every day it runs.  Write a postcard, a letter, send a picture, or a cutting from a newspaper, or a fabric swatch. Write back to everyone who writes to you. This can count as one of your mailed items. All you are committing to is to mail 24 items.  Why 24? There are four Sundays and one US holiday. In fact, you might send more than 24 items. You might develop a correspondence that extends beyond the month. You might enjoy going to the mail box again.”

This GalleyCat editor fondly remembers composing stacks of letters as a young writer, and will attempt the challenge. Will you take the challenge? If you are, chime in the comments section–we’ll check in all month long. (Via Edward Champion)

Ever wish your writing group could include friends and colleagues around the world? Author Mary Robinette Kowal wrote a great post about how writers can build virtual writing groups through the new Google+ Hangouts.

If you have a Google+ account, just follow this link to set up your own hangout. The video embedded above illustrates how video chats work in the network. Using Google+ Hangouts, writers can quickly assemble spontaneous but private conversations in “live multi-person video” chatrooms.

If you end up building writing groups through Google+, keep us posted in the comments. We’d love to build a directory pointing to regular Google+ Hangouts for writers. If you are interested in joining a GalleyCat hangout for writers, email us and we can set something up soon.

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