Aug 22 2016
Interview with Mike Resnick
Part of a series of interviews with the writers for the upcoming speculative fiction anthology, Clash of the Titles. the anthology is the brain child of Glen Bavel, who conceived of an endearing conceit: he provides a list of titles and the members of his Facebook workshop, Writing the Short (SF) Story, use it as a starting point for a short speculative fiction story.
ِA full time professional writer for half a century, Mike Resnick sold his first article at the age of fifteen, and his first story at seventeen. His novels have been published by Tor, Ace, Bantam, del Rey, Pyr, and others, while his short fiction has appeared in Asimov’s, Analog, F&SF, and many others.
According to Locus, Mike Resnick is the all-time leading award winner, living or dead, for short fiction. He has won five Hugos (and has been nominated a record thirty-seven times), has recieved the Nebula and been honored with other major awards in the USA, France, Poland, Catalonia, Spain, Croatia and Japan.
He’s the author of seventy-five novels, nearly three hundred stories, and three screenplays. Mike is the editor of forty-two anthologies. His work has been translated into 27 languages, and he is the editor of Stellar Guild books and Galaxy’s Edge magazine.
Mike Resnick reprises his famous character, Harry the Book, for an upcoming anthology, Clash of the Titles. Mike was gracious enough to discuss with me his participation in the anthology, and his writng in general.
So, first some basic questions: Why Speculative Fiction?
It’s what has always interested me, perhaps because it’s the only form of fiction that acknowledges the existence of Change.
Do you have a favorite writer?
In science fiction, either C. L. Moore or Robert Sheckley. Elsewhere, Damon Runyon.
What made you want to submit to the anthology?
It was an interesting challenge, writing a story to fit a title.
How did you come up with your story? What made you choose that title?
I have a regular character, Harry the Book, a bookie in a fantasy New York. If the story is “The Fastest Dragon”, they clearly have to have a race, and that makes it prime territory for a Harry the Book story.
So, is your story for the anthology similar to your other works?
It’s the 12th Harry the Book story, so it’s similar in that respect. More to the point, one of my bibliographers tells me that I’ve done more than 130 funny sf/f stories, so this fits in that respect.
What other projects are you working on, besides your story for Clash of the Titles?
Since the beginning of 2016 I have sold a book to Subterranean Press, two more to Wordfire Press, and have signed contracts to deliver a novel to Pyr and a collaborative novel to Stellar Guild. In addition, as of March 29th, I have sold seven stories this year – six shorts, including another Harry the Book story, and a novelet.
To learn more about Mike Resnick, please visit his website.
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