Stellar Guild Series Questions for Mike Resnick:

You’ve edited numerous books over the years, so at this point could probably have your choice of just about any series to edit that you wished—what was it that particularly excited you about, and piqued your interest in, The Stellar Guild Series?

As I explain in the intro that precedes each of the first few books, over the years I have help quite a few new writers—I’ve taught them, collaborated with them, bought from them for my anthologies, introduced them to editors and agents, 8 or 9 have made the Campbell ballot…and Maureen McHugh calls them “Mike’s Writer Children.” And when Shahid and I put our heads together to come up with a unique new series, it occurred to me that I couldn’t be the only guy with “Writer Children.” The reason I have them—and that so many of us do—is because by the time you’re well-enough established in this field to pay back, you can’t. Everyone who helped you is dead or rich or both, so you pay forward. And I just had a feeling that our major writers would be as enthused about the notion of teaming up with one of their protégés, actually sharing the cover with him or her, as I have been over the years. And it turns out I was right.

What challenges does editing The Stellar Guild Series present to you that a traditional book, or short story anthology, does not, and how have you worked to overcome those challenges?

There are far less challenges than you would think. You don’t see seamless continuity, because this isn’t a novel; it’s a novella and a novelette, set in the same universe, but not necessary directly sequential. I don’t have to worry much about the quality. The stars have proven they have it, over and over again; and they want their protégés to shine, so they’re even more demanding if them—in a gentle way—than I am.

What is the most meaningful part of this project to you, and why?

As I said, it’s the change to pay forward, to take a couple of years off the apprenticeship of talented newcomers. You share cover credit, and a book, with Harry Turtledove or Mercedes Lackey or any of our other stars, that’s got to do your embryonic career more good than selling to half a dozen magazines and anthologies, where your story and your name are just one of many. There’s also the unspoken brag: “Hey, of all the beginners in the world, he chose me!”

What guidelines do you give the writers as they start upon the project?

These are bestsellers and multiple award winners, so all I do it give them the basic guidelines: we want 30,000 to 35,000 words from the star, and 15,000 from the protégé, whose story can be a prequel, a sequel, or a companion piece, but has to be sent in the same universe as the novella. I enourage the protégés to confer with the stars, not with me, about what they’ll be writing, since they’re doing it in the stars’ universes.

How are the writer pairings decided upon, and what role do you play in choosing or ‘okaying’ those pairings?

That choice is left solely up to the stars. If they should choose someone who I think is too far advanced in his career—these are beginners, but not unpublished beginners—I’ll step in, explain that, and suggest they choose a different one. Or if a star asks me to suggest a talented newcomer who I think would match up well I’m happy to do so…but for the most part, they know who they want to work with.

So often, when a collaboration takes place between a newer writer and an established author, the “newbie” does a lot of the work and the established name takes much of the credit. Here it’s much different: while the established writer definitely is the name the “sells” the book, the up-and-coming author also gets to shine on his/her own terms. How does that help the newer writer? What potential is there for harm?

As I said, this should take a couple of years off any new writers’ apprenticeship. An average sale for a Kevin Anderson or an Eric Flint book is probably six to ten times what a good sale for a beginner comes to. And I can guarantee that if, for example, Bob Silverberg’s name is on the cover, it’ll get ten times the reviews that a newcomer’s first or second book is likely to get. Which is the purpose behind the line: to introduce the next generation, and ease their path just a bit.

So far, of the two books I have seen, there have been more-or-less traditional sequel/prequel stories. Yet there are many other options (different viewpoints of the same set of events, distinct yet somehow related events in the same world, etc.). Are there plans for different approaches to telling the stories in the future, and if so, what can you share with SCI FI readers?

Yes, there are. I won’t speak for any other works in progress—there’s a difference between being told what they’ll be, and actually seeing the finish product—but I know that one I’m doing with my own protégé, Lezli Robyn, will not be one of your sequel/prequel things. I plan to tell one of my bigger-than-life tall tales, and she plans to tell the truth about what really happened, and why the author (me) would lie about it.

Along with Anderson and Lackey, I also understand that Eric Flint and Harry Turtledove are on the docket for future editions. What can you tell SCI FI readers about their stories, who they will be working with, etc.?

Eric hasn’t chosen his protégé yet. I actually suggested a couple for Harry—he has three brilliant and beautiful daughters, two of whom have won major writing contests—and he’ll be doing his Stellar Guild book with his daughter Rachel. (I also told him that after my daughter, Laura, won the Campbell Award back in 1993, my stud fee tripled. Who knows? That may have been the deciding factor. )

Is there anything else about The Stellar Guild Series, or anything else you are working on, that I have not asked that you would like SCI FI readers to know?

No it’s still in its infancy. But I’ll tell you what I’m most proud of. Every one of these stars iis busy as hell. Most of them are contracted two and three years ahead. When I approached them, I got as far as saying I wanted a novella and that we were paying an above-average-but-not-Wall-Street rate, and each of them began to regretfully say No. Then I came to the part about their choosing and working with a protégé, and every last one of them immediately said Yes—which is exactly what I love about this field. We may compete for the same markets and the same awards, but we are the most generous group of writers you’ll find anywhere on this Earth.