Pro-File: Mike Resnick

"A clever plot lifts Resnick’s sequel to 1995’s Dog in the Manger''
...A wealth of horse-racing and horse-breeding lore adds interest ."
-Publisher's Weekly

"[This] engrossing puzzler. . .captures the essence of the antiheroic PI."
-Library Journal 

"Lighthearted, but with a solid mystery, the book showcases Resnick’s ability to tell stories economically and to create characters who feel real enough to step off the page."-Booklist
        

       Mike Resnick is, according to Locus, the trade paper of the science fiction field, the all-time leading award winner, living or dead, for short fiction. When you add in his novels and related non-fiction, he stands fourth on the all-time list, ahead of Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein, George R. R. Martin, and Philip K. Dick.

       Mike is the winner of 5 Hugo Awards, from a record 36 nominations. He has also won the Nebula, and other major awards in the United States, France, Spain, Poland, Catalonia, Croatia, and Japan, and has been short-listed for major awards in England, Italy and Australia.

       He is the author of 70 science fiction novels and 2 mystery novels, more than 250 short stories, and 3 screenplays (one for Miramax, one for Capella International, and one for Jupiter 9), and is the editor of 41 anthologies. He has also written 7 books of non-fiction.

       Mike was the science fiction consultant for BenBella Books from 2004 through 2006, the co-editor of Jim Baen’s Universe from 2007 to 2010, and currently edits the Stellar Guild line of books for Arc Manor, as well as the bi-monthly electronic magazine, Galaxy’s Edge.

       He was the Guest of Honor at the 2012 World Science Fiction Convention, the highest honor the science fiction field has to offer.

       His 2012 book releases included ­The Doctor and the Rough Rider (Pyr), Win Some, Lose Some (Isfic Press), Stalking the Zombie (American Fantasy Press), ­Masters of the Galaxy (PS Publishing), Resnick on the Loose (Wildside Press), Resnick Abroad (Alexander Books), The Incarceration of Captain Nebula and Other Lost Futures (Subterranean Press), Resnick’s Menagerie (Silverberry Press), Dog in the Manger (reissue with new material, from Seventh Street) and The Cassandra Project (a collaboration with bestseller Jack McDevitt, from Ace Books).

       Published and/or coming in 2013 are The Trojan Colt (Seventh Street), ­The Doctor and the Dinosaurs (Pyr), The Gods of Sagittarius (collaboration with bestseller Eric Flint, from Baen Books), I.N.C.I.  (tentative title) with Tina Gower from Stellar Guild, and the anthology The Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs (co-edited with Robert Garcia, from Baen Books).

       Mike married Carol, his wife of 51 years, in February of 1961. Their daughter, Laura, is an award-winning fantasy writer. In their spare time (spare time?) they bred and exhibited 23 champion collies, and  took half a dozen  prolonged trips to Africa.

PRO-FILE Mike Resnick

1.    Tell us about your current novel or project.

I have two current projects, both under contract. The first is a mystery novel for Seventh Street, the third in the Eli Paxton series, titled CAT ON A COLD TIN ROOF. I’ve also sold a new science fiction series, “The Dead Enders”, to Pyr, the first of which will be THE FORTRESS IN ORION. And in October, Baen will bring out an original anthology, THE WORLDS OF EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS,  which I co-edited with Bob Garcia.

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    2. Can you give us a sense of what you’re working on now?

        

    Right now I’m completing a novel in the Stellar Guild line, which I edit. It consists of team-ups between a top science fiction writer and a protégé of his/her choice. My protégé for this one is Tina Gower, and the tentative title is I.N.C.I., which has some serious meaning in the book.

   3. What is the greatest pleasure of a writing career?

  

    Sleeping till noon, never wearing a suit, a tie or a wristwatch, and being able to tell anyone to go to hell without going broke. I also love my work. An interviewer once asked Picasso what he did for a hobby. His answer: “I paint.” No, said the interviewer, that’s what you do for a living. What do you do to relax, for pleasure? Picasso’s answer: “I paint.” Me, I write.        

   4. The greatest displeasure?

        

   More than 100 books into my career, I doubt that I’ve ever been paid my signing advance, delivery fee, or royalties on time by any of the major New York  houses. The smaller presses are a bit better (but not much).          

   5. Advice to the publishing world?

   Fulfill the letter of your contracts. Don’t take so damned long to reply to new writers. And stop viewing e-books and audio as enemies.

   6. Are there any forgotten writers you’d like to see in print again?

   In mystery, Craig Rice, Richard and Frances Lockridge, M. E. Chaber (pen name of Kendall Foster Crossen), and Fredric Brown. In science fiction, George Alec Effinger, C. L. Moore (in mass market), R. A. Lafferty, and Barry Malzberg.  I don’t know how forgotten they are, but they deserve to be available.

   7. Tell us about selling your first novel. 

   My first novel was an “adult” novel I chose not to use my name on. (So were my next 20 or so.) My first science fiction novel, sold in 1966, published a year later, was an Edgar Rice Burroughs pastiche titled THE GODDESS OF  GANYMEDE, that in retrospect I wish I hadn’t put my name on. My first mystery novel was DOG IN THE MANGER, sold in 1995 and reprinted in 2012.        

   I wrote DOG IN THE MANGER in 1991, and offered it to Ace, which was   publishing some of my science fiction at the time. They liked it and offered me a 

 3-book contract. Problem was, they were offering about 20% for each mystery  that they were paying for each science fiction, and I’d have been crazy to sign. I

asked for a one-book contract, they declined, I pulled it back, then got busy and didn’t think of it again until 1995, when I finally sold it to Alexander Books. I    loved writing it, but I was contracted years ahead, and in truth I half-thought I’d never get back to mysteries – until my editor at Pyr, where I’d sold maybe a dozen science fiction novels, told me in 2012 that Prometheus, his parent company, was starting a new mystery line called Seventh Street with an editor who knew his stuff. I sent him DOG IN THE MANGER and a proposal for a  sequel to be    titled THE TROJAN COLT, they bought both and got truly fine reviews, I owe them another now, and I’m thrilled to be writing mysteries again.   

Mike Resnick