mike resnick

“Hey, how about that SFWA mess?” my brother asked in an e-mail.

I winced, because I knew exactly what he meant. In my capacity as the lead of the moderating team on the SFWA internal forums, I’d been reading about it for the past few days – and working to keep the discussion — on those boards, at least — somewhat sane. There was a whole lot of shouting going on. And some of it, I think, could be avoided if some of the shouters had actually taken the time to listen to (by which I mean read) what was being said.

That’s a problem happening on both sides (and honestly, there aren’t really “two sides”. There’s a lot of possible takes on this and part of the problem is this idea of “us vs. them”.) “OMG they are attacking Mike Resnick!” screams one group. “OMG old white dudes telling us what to do!” shouts another.* There’s assumptions being made that’s there’s no room for the organization for both sides and that each is trying to somehow oust the other.

Look! Mats Minnhagen has finished the cover for A SEED ON THE WIND, the Fathomless Abyss novella I’ve got covering out this October. The scene’s one that occurs early in the book and gets referenced again and again throughout, so this cover, which comes so close to what was in my head, delights me with the way it conveys the space of the story.

If you don’t know what the Fathomless Abyss is, it’s a shared world project created by Philip Athans involving myself, Jay Lake, Joe McDermott, Mel Odom, Mike Resnick, and Brad Torgersen. Books out in the series already include Philip Athans’ DEVILS OF THE ENDLESS DEEP and J.M. McDermott’s NIRVANA GATES. I had a lot of fun writing “A Querulous Flute of Bone” for the TALES FROM THE FATHOMLESS ABYSS anthology and just as much fun writing this novella, which is the first half of a pair, to be finished in A CAVERN RIPE WITH DREAMS. Charles A. Tan recently talked with me about it for S.F. Signal.

I’m working on a novella set in the world of The Fathomless Abyss, a shared universe project with authors Mike Resnick, Brad R. Torgersen, Jay Lake, Mel Odom, J.M. McDermott, Philip Athans, and myself. We’ve all done stories set in it, and each of us will be producing novellas set there over the course of this year.

If you’re interested in finding more about the oddities of the Fathomless Abyss world, check out the From the Fathomless Abyss anthology, which contains a story of mine that I like very much called “A Querulous Flute of Bone,” a somewhat odd retelling of O. Henry’s short story, “The Pimaloosa Pancakes.”

This project, which will appear as a stand-alone, is a mash-up of William S. Burrough’s Junky and H.P. Lovecraft’s “Dreams in The Witch House,” a story which terrified me as a child. Here’s how it begins:

Kindle version of Tales From the Fathomless Abyss is now up! And got a nice review.

Amazon.com: Tales From The Fathomless Abyss eBook: Mike Resnick, Jay Lake, Cat Rambo, Mel Odom, J.M. McDermott, Brad Torgersen, Philip Athans: Kindle Store

Amazon.com: Tales From The Fathomless Abyss eBook: Mike Resnick, Jay Lake, Cat Rambo, Mel Odom, J.M. McDermott, Brad Torgersen, Philip Athans: Kindle Store

I’ve got the okay to announce this, so here you are: I’ve got a story in the upcoming Fathomless Abyss anthology and I’ll be putting out a longer work set there next year. It’s a very cool project, and I’m pleased to be part of it, along with Philip Athans, Jay Lake, J. M. McDermott, Mel Odom, Mike Resnick, and Brad Torgersen. My story’s called “A Querulous Flute of Bone,” and it’s a riff on a favorite O. Henry piece, “The Pimenta Pancakes,” from The Heart of the West.

Here’s the cover for the anthology, which will be available early next month:

Participants: Lou Anders, Brenda Cooper, Gordon Van Gelder, Cat Rambo, Sam Sykes

Works from 2010:
Ben Aaronovitch, Midnight Riot. (Kindle version)
Lou Anders, (editor) Masked. (Kindle version)
Lou Anders and Jonathan Strahan, (editors) Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery. (Kindle version)
Ilona Andrews, Bayou Moon. (Kindle version)
Ilona Andrews, Magic Bleeds. (Kindle version)
Jon Armstrong, Yarn. (Kindle version)
Paolo Bacigalupi, The Alchemist.
Paolo Bacigalupi, Shipbreaker. (Kindle version)
Elizabeth Bear, By the Mountain Bound. (Kindle version)
Elizabeth Bear, Chill. (Kindle version)
Elizabeth Bear, The White City. (Kindle version)
Lauren Beukes. Zoo City. (Kindle version)
Patricia Briggs, Masques. (Kindle version)
Patricia Briggs, Silver Borne. (Kindle version)
Patricia Briggs, Wolfsbane. (Kindle version)
Bullington, Jesse. The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart. (Kindle version)
Jim Butcher, Changes. (Kindle version)
Jim Butcher, Side Jobs. (Kindle version)
Ted Chiang, The Lifecycle of Software Objects.
James Enge, Travellers’ Rest. (Kindle version)
Catherine Fisher. Incarceron.
Eric Flint, The Tangled Web (Ring of Fire). (Not recommended as an entry into the series; those new to it should start with 1632).
Kate Griffin. The Midnight Mayor: Or, the Inauguration of Matthew Swift. (Kindle version)
Clay and Susan Griffith, The Greyfriar (Vampire Empire, Book 1). (Kindle version)
Hale, Benjamin. The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore. (Kindle version)
M.K. Hobson. Native Star. (Kindle version)
Mark Hodder, The Strange Affair of Springheel Jack. (Kindle version) Philip K. Dick award winner)
N. K. Jemisin, The Broken Kingdoms. (Kindle version)
Mary Robinette Kowal, Shades of Milk and Honey. (Kindle version)
Ian McDonald, The Dervish House. (Kindle version)
Devon Monk, Magic at the Gate. (Kindle version)
Devon Monk, Magic On the Storm. (Kindle version)
Elizabeth Moon, Oath of Fealty. (Kindle version)
Nnedi Okorafor, Who Fears Death. (Kindle version)
A G Pasquella, Why Not A Spider Monkey Jesus?
Mike Resnick, The Buntline Special: A Weird West Tale. (Kindle version)
Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Diving Into the Wreck. (Kindle version)
John Scalzi (editor), Metatropolis. (Kindle version)
Sprunk, Jon. Shadow’s Son. (Kindle version)
Sam Sykes, Tome of the Undergates (The Aeons’ Gate, Book 1). (Kindle version)
Ian Tregillis, Bitter Seeds. (Kindle version)