Because of these several impediments, as well as other technical difficulties, you will find typos and occasional replication of text. In our humble opinion, typos show that the logs are of *live* chats, not canned interviews, and minimal editing of these logs has taken place.

Mike Resnick's Home Page

[Cybling] Welcome Mike. Glad you could join us!
[John] Hello!
[Mike] Happy to be here
[jdteehan] Heya!
[Ryan] Hello Mike.
[Mike] Hi John, Ryan
[Cybling] Mike you're nominated for a couple of pieces again this year. Was it a surprise to get two instead of one Hugo nomination?
[John] 2 hugo nominatins...Good Luck!
[Mike] In all immodesty, no -- both had won awards earlier in the year
[Cybling] Excellent.
[Mike] Now, if I win two, THAT will be a surprise
[Cybling] LOL!
[John] Who do you consider to be your biggest influences?
[Cybling] Have you been nominated for two during one convention before?
[Mike] I was up for 2 in 1991, 1992, 1994 and 1996, and for 4 in 1995
[Cybling] This is getting to be a habit then, lol!
[Ryan] o_O
[Mike] Sounds impressive til you realize I losdt 12 of the 14
[Cybling] If you have questions for our guest, please just ask. But please, let the guest answer one question before you ask another.
[jdteehan] Mike, did they straighten out the ceremony? or are you sharing a stage w/ Gardner?
[Mike] sorry for typos, but this is a small keyboard and I have big fingers
[John] But you did win 2, not too shabby
[Mike] John] I dont think they've straughtened it out yet
[Mike] Rumors abound, none of them very promising
[Cybling] the Hugos will be awarded this Saturday evening.
[jdteehan] Well looks like the ceremony will be covered here in irc, so I'll be there crossing fingers.
[Cybling] Mike, your bio says you've won Hugos and Nebulas...how many rocket ships do you have at home now?
[Mike] On the good side of the ledger...
[Mike] both Farthest Star books showed up today, both Wildside books are due to show up tomorrow, and the Obscura Press book gets here Saturday...which isn't bad for a trio of small presses
[Mike] , Cybling] I have 4 Hugos so far...17 nominations as a writer
[jdteehan] PUTTING IT TOGETHER finally came out? Excellent.
[Mike] 2 as an editor
[John] Do you have a favorite peice of writing?
[Mike] John] Tomorrow
[jdteehan] close 'nuff
[Mike] Of my own? A forthcoming Tor novel called The Outpopst
[Mike] Outpost
[Cybling] Excellent...when is that do out
[Cybling] ?
[Mike] Of my short stuff, a novelette called "For I Have Touched the Sky"
[Mike] All I know is the book is a Spring 2001 release...but "sdpring
[Mike] spring" is a very elastic term to Tor
[Mike] could be anywhere from March to August
[John] Do you think the Internet will be an asset to writers in the future?
[Mike] John] Absolutely. The instant free flow of information can't be anything but an asset
[Cybling] The novelette will be published as a stand-alone or part of an anthology?
[jdteehan] Plus it keeps you in touch with your fan base ^_^
[Mike] Cybling] The novelette appeared in 1989
[g]
[John] Do youthink the days of printed books are numbered?
[Cybling] I'm sorry.
[Mike] John] No. But the days of huge print runs may be
[Mike] There will always be a market for books, just as there is one for vinyl records or Betamaxc tapes
[Cybling] So you feel that on-demand books may be the wave of the future, or e-books?
[John] Have you considered E-publishing, like King's new The Plant?
[Mike] Both...on-demand sooner, e-books eventuaslly
[jdteehan] Mike, you've had some very good success with places like Fictionwise. Any predictions on that medium?
[Mike] John] At the moment, that onlyworks if you're King or Clancy. Ask again in 10 years
[Cybling] 10 years that long?
[John] True, though I hope ooner than that
[John] sooner, that is
[Mike] I think Fictionwise.com will make it. I -hope- GalaxyOn;line wl
[Mike] GalaxyOnline will
[jdteehan] Particularly if they take on Amazing
[Mike] s keyboiardagain...sorry for the typos...my hands are way too big for thi
[Mike] this keyboard
[Cybling] Collaborations: Murder is not an option, is one of the panels you're on Sunday. Are you saying that it's often a temptation to murder one's collaborator when working on novels?
[Mike] No, I didn't name the panel...I've collaborated with 19
[Mike] sf writers over the years, and enjoyed every one
[John] How do you decide who gets top billing in Collaborations?
[Kai] Mike would you say that some kinds of sf comics influence kids today to start writing
[Lady-Aelexis] Hiya :)
[jdteehan] C'mon... all nineteen? Not one you've contemplated dark thoughts in dark moments? ^_~
[Mike] John] Whoever gets the assugnnment or makes the sale should get it; that's been me all but once
[Cybling] Mike, you do a lot of travelling to Africa, you'll be on an Ask Bwana-Live event on Monday as well.
[Cybling] Do you find that travel is important for a writer?
[Cybling] Or do you advise other ways to feed the muse.
[Mike] John] Really, I've enjoyed them all. Some more than others. The one I work best with is Nick DiChario -- I've done eleven with him
[Cybling] Nick will be a guest online with us later during the convention, btw.
[John] Do you each alternate chapters, or does one outline and the other finish a chapter?
[jdteehan] You did something with Keith Laumer once, didn't you? Or was it just a Bolo piece?
[Mike] Travel has help me, but that's because I've found so much rich story material in Africa.I really can't say how anyone else would fare with it
[Cybling] OK folks...let's hold on the questions...
[Cybling] let's let Mike catch up here.
[Mike] It was a story for a Bolo anthology, a collab with Barry Malzberg. Keith was long dead at the time
[Mike] Usually I make the sale, my collaborator does thefdirst draft, and I do the rewrite/polish
[Cybling] Sounds like a good plan to me. Division of labor.
[Mike] Someone -has- to have the final word. That's the only rule. In my collaborations, I've always had it
[Cybling] If you have questions for our guest, please just ask. But please, let the guest answer one question before you ask another.
[John] ah, there must sometimes be tensions when the rewriting happens?
[Mike] No. Once my partner finishes the first draft, he's out of the loop -- he doesn't see it again, except as a courtesy, until it's printed
[jdteehan] Sounds like your writing partner has to have a lot of confidence on both sides.
[Mike] I should stop saying "he" -- more ofmy vcollaborations have been "she"
[jdteehan] Something with KKRusch is coming out soon, yes?
[Mike] John] I get the assignment, so they're sure sales. I've been upfor a ton of awards and won a fair share. They usually figure they can trust me. If not, they can always say No
[Mike] The Rusch thing -- it's a piece of fluff -- came out in June. I have a strong one called "Boot Hill" with Catherine Asaro that just came out in Civil War Fantastic
[John] Is there someone YOU would like to collaborate with in the future?
[jdteehan] whoops, that's what I was thinking of. the Boot Hill.
[Mike] Yes. My daughter. She refuses.
[sigh]
[Cybling] Okay... 19 collaborations, how many
*different
* collaborators again?
[John] HA! Good luck working with family!
[Mike] 19 collaborators...maybe 35 collaborations
[Cybling] Oh! Sorry...my misread, thanks Mike.
[Mike] Other than that, maybe Connie Willis
[jdteehan] Does Carol with with Laura like she does with you?
[Cybling] BTW, folks...Mike is a big guy, and the laptops we've brought are quite small ... so please overlook the typos...teensey keyboards.
[jdteehan] work with
[Mike] No, she doesn't. Carol only works onmy stuff, and never even on my collaborations...with one exception. She turned "
[Mike] Bibi", a novella I did with Susan Shwartz, into a Hugo and Nebula nominee
[Cybling] Mike, you
*should
* collaborate with Willis. I think she needs one or two hugos before she can redeme them for Harrison Ford. 8^7
[John] LOL!
[jdteehan]
*ducks
*
[John] She better hurry, he is starting to look...OLD
* John ducks
[Mike] The Female Person From Colorado has too damnedmany Hugo awards already. One more and her house could collapse under the weight
[Cybling] lol
[Mike] So if you love and vcherish her, vote forme
[Cybling] We will.
[jdteehan]
*laughs!
*
[John] LOL, good enough reason for me!
[Cybling] folks...we have about 6 more minutes before we have to let Mike go here so we can break down and move the hardware...
[Cybling] do we have some final questions for mike about writing, editing, collaborations?
[jdteehan]
*has an different topic question...
*
[John] which do you like more, writing or editing?
[Mike] Writing
[Cybling] go for it jdteehan.
[jdteehan] Mike, any con legends in the making happen yet? something we can look forward to in the reports?
[jdteehan]
*knows it's been less than a day
*
[Mike] But with a caveat -- I -think- I'
[Mike] d like editing as well if I didn't have to edit theme anthologies, if I could just pick the best stories
[Mike] like, say, editing a magazine
[Mike] till then,I prefer writing
[Cybling] Mike, do you see that in the future then? Editing a magazine?
[TheThe] So now you're after Gardner's job...
[Cybling] LOL
[Cybling] (who isn't)
[jdteehan] look out Gordon, Ben, et alia
[Mike] No, alas...I can't afford to edit a magazine. My creditors have expensive tastes.
[Cybling] Ah. Yes, it's
*not
* that lucrative.
[John] No wonder why Gard is always looking over his shoulder
[Mike] Don't worry about Gardner. I promised to give him my overflow groupies this weekend
[Cybling] Mike, any final words of advice for our folks online re conventions?
[Cybling] LOLOL
[John] HA!
[Mike] Yeah -- come to worldcons, don't type to them. There's nothing quite as much fun in all of sf or fandom as a wqorldcon
[jdteehan] Give Gardner the ones who are clutching manuscripts
[Mike] I thought I'd give Gardner the ones who were clutching -me-
[Mike] well, the less beautiful ones
[Cybling] folks...let's give Mike a hand of applause and thank him for joining us today!
* Cybling applauds very loudly
[jdteehan]
*applauds!
*
[Mike] nice talkint to you
[John] Thanks for stopping by !!!
[jdteehan] Have fun! and good luck!
[TheThe] Good luck!