The Hex Is In Release Date

August 18, 2020

The Hex Is In by Mike Resnick is out today!

Fans of urban fantasy humor definitely ought to check out this book. “It’s as cool as winning fifty large while drinking your favorite beer and it grows on you with its charm, delightful absurdity, and imaginative sense of humor where almost nothing is off-limits,” declares Chries Fried in his review, which also dropped today.

You can purchase Hex in ebook or paperback from your favorite stores, or get it directly from UFO Publishing.

Amazon

https://amzn.to/3aC5BXh

B&N

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-hex-is-in-mike-resnick/1137400861

Apple

https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1525166452

Kobo

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-hex-is-in-the-fast-life-and-fantastic-times-of-harry-the-book

Google

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Mike_Resnick_The_Hex_Is_In_The_Fast_Life_and_Fanta?id=_hnzDwAAQBAJ

Direct – eBook

https://www.kingsgames.com/online-store/The-Hex-Is-In-by-Mike-Resnick-eARC-p211473693

Direct – Paperback

https://www.kingsgames.com/online-store/The-Hex-Is-In-by-Mike-Resnick-ARC-Paperback-p211493221
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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

The Hex Is In by Mike Resnick Cover Reveal and eARC

June 22, 2020

Here’s your first look at the cover of Mike Resnick’s The Hex Is In: The Fast Life and Fantastic Times of Harry the Book.

From boxing matches to dragon races to elections, there’s no wager Harry won’t cover—so long as the odds are right.

Harry the Book operates out of a Manhattan bar booth, with his personal wizard and his zombie bodyguard close at hand. He’ll dope out the odds on any sort of contest, even if that gets him into a heap of trouble.

Be it conniving gamblers, lovelorn wizards, or flea-bitten werewolves, when it comes to the misadventures of Harry and his crew one thing is certain: the hex is always in.

This book contains fifteen tales of Harry the Book—the complete set of Resnick’s beloved Damon Runyon-inspired urban fantasy yarns, including one brand-new story and several never before published in the United States.

Edited by Alex Shvartsman
Introduction by Lezli Robyn
Copy edited by Tarryn Thomas
Cover art by Túlio Brito
Cover design by Jay O’Connell

The book will be published in August. However, we’re taking the page out of Baen’s playbook by offering advance reader copies, available only from our website. eARCs are available right now in MOBI and EPUB formats. Print copies will be shipped in August or late July, at least two weeks prior to book store release. Anyone who orders a print ARC will receive electronic ARCs immediately as well. eARCs are available worldwide while print ARCs are available in United States only. International readers will be able to order print copies from their favorite bookstore soon!

Buy eARC here.

Preorder paperback ARC here.

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Gods Playing Poker – in Galaxy’s Edge 43

March 2, 2020

I have a new story out, and it’s bittersweet.

It was the last story of mine acquired by Mike Resnick before he passed. Mike has been a friend and a mentor. I’ve edited and published his work, and he bought and published a number of my stories in his magazine. I had the honor of appearing in the very first issue, and a number of times since. This is now issue #43 of a bi-monthly magazine going into its eighth year — a huge rarity in the SF/F zine field. And it’s still there. It’s still going strong.

Publisher Shahid Mahmud and the new editor-in-chief Lezli Robyn will keep things going. Lezli is not so new — she’s been there, behind the scenes, from the beginning, tirelessly working on loads of magazine-related stuff and other Arc Manor projects. And Shahid is as professional and committed as any publisher I’ve ever worked with. But this magazine has always been Mike’s baby. His spirit permeates it. His name will remain on the cover as the creator, which is very cool. Every issue going forward will be a small tribute to Mike, from those of us writing for it, editing it, or reading it.

This issue also has dozens of appreciations written about Mike by people whose lives he’s touched. I wrote one of those as well. Check them out.

And when the mood strikes you, check out my story. It’s about trickster gods from different cultures getting together to play Texas Hold ‘Em. It will be available online for free for the next two months, until the next issue replaces it, and thereafter available wherever the magazine is sold.

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Introducing: The Hex is In

February 11, 2020

UFO Publishing will soon be releasing a Mike Resnick collection of Harry the Book stories titled The Hex is In: The Fast Life and Fantastic Times of Harry the Book.

This book will collect, for the first time, all fifteen Harry the Book stories Mike has written. These stories have appeared in a variety of anthologies and magazines spanning a decade. Several of them were only published in the United Kingdom, and one has never been published anywhere at all.

Two of these stories premiered in the Unidentified Funny Objects series while one more was reprinted in Funny Fantasy. Others have been published by such editors as Gardner Dozois, Martin Greenberg, and Eric Flint.

Harry the Book yarns are humorous fantasy set in the alternate version of New York where magic is real and fantastical creatures are commonplace. In fact, this is a shared setting with Mike’s Stalking the Unicorn series.

Harry the Book is a bookie who takes bets on everything from horse races to dancing contests to political campaigns. And — always — the hex is in. Unscrupulous magicians meddle with the odds forcing Harry and his motley crew (which includes a four-hundred-pound flunky, a six-foot-ten zombie, and a lovelorn wizard) to scramble, dealing with the consequences.

These stories are written in a unique voice–meant to emulate and pay tribute to Damon Runyon (author of Guys and Dolls and other stories). Runyon was the bard of the New York underbelly of the early 20th century, celebrating the hustlers, gamblers, and gangsters of the era.

Filled with larger-than-life characters and ridiculous scenarios, this book is sure to delight Resnick fans and Runyon fans alike.

Carol Resnick, Mike’s wife who is a Runyon fan and for whom Mike wrote these stories, will pen the introduction.

I’m very excited about the opportunity to publish this book and will keep you updated on its progress!

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Cover and TOC reveal: Funny Science Fiction

July 23, 2015

FunnySciFi_cover

Funny Science Fiction is a spin-off anthology from the Unidentified Funny Objects (UFO) annual anthology series of humorous SF/F. While UFO attempts to collect some of the best speculative humor being written today, Funny SF gathers seventeen from among the best funny science fiction stories published in the last decade.

Whereas UFO covers both genres, Funny SF collected science fiction stories specifically. There are tentative plans for a Funny Fantasy reprint anthology to follow in 2016.

Cover art is by the talented Flavio Greco Paglia. Cover design is by UFO’s amazing graphics specialist-in-residence and game designer Emerson Matsuuchi.

I’m indebted to the original publishers of these stories, who have done their share to publish and promote humor in SF/F. Special thanks to the editors and publishers of Crossed Genres and Galaxy’s Edge magazines who allowed me to include stories that are still under contract with them, because I wanted badly to make sure current short fiction is well-represented in this book.

Funny SF will be published on Amazon on September 1, 2015. It will become available on other e-book platforms in 2016.

Table of Contents:

Foreword by Alex Shvartsman

“Observation Post” by Mike Resnick (Beyond the Sun, Fairwood Press, 2013)

“Flying on My Hatred of My Neighbor’s Dog” by Shaenon Garrity (Drabblecast, 2013)

“Wikihistory” by Desmond Warzel (Abyss & Apex, 2007)

“Distant Gates of Eden Gleam” by Brian Trent (Crossed Genres, 2015)

“Half a Conversation, Overheard While Inside an Enormous Sentient Slug” by Oliver Buckram (F&SF, 2013)

“Hark! Listen to the Animals” by Ken Liu and Lisa Tang Liu (Galaxy’s Edge, 2014)

“Whaliens” by Lavie Tidhar (Analog, 2014)

“See Dangerous Earth-Possibles!” by Tina Connolly (Lightspeed Women Destroy Science Fiction, 2014)

“Kallakak’s Cousins” by Cat Rambo (Asimov’s, 2008)

“Kulturkampf” by Anatoly Belilovsky (Immersion Book of Steampunk, Immersion Press, 2011)

“Let Us Now Praise Awesome Dinosaurs” by Leonard Richardson (Strange Horizons, 2009)

“Miss Darcy’s First Intergalactic Ballet Class” by Dantzel Cherry (Galaxy’s Edge, 2015)

“Pidgin” by Lawrence M. Schoen (Aliens and A.I., Eggplant Literary Productions, 2005)

“Nothing, Ventured” by James Beamon (AE: The Canadian Science Fiction Review, 2013)

“Last Thursday at Supervillain Supply Depot” by Sarah Pinsker (Daily Science Fiction, 2015)

“Chicka-Chicka-Bow-Wow” by Mike Rimar (Cucurbital 2, Paper Golem Press, 2011)

“Troublesolver” by Tim Pratt (Subterranean Press, 2009)

#SFWAPro

 

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

New Publication: Doubt in Galaxy’s Edge, plus bonus!

May 6, 2014

GalaxysEdgeMay

“Doubt” is a near-future SF story about the battle between two cybernetically enhanced assassins! It went live on May 1 and you can read it online for free. but only for the next two months. After that, the new issue of GE will be released and the story will only be available for purchase in the GE archives as an ebook or physical magazine.

Edited by Mike Resnick, GE features a mix of work from the SF masters and neo-pros. In this issue you can read stories by Bob Silverberg, Nancy Kress, David Brin, and others. They recently became available by subscription, so please consider supporting this worthy publication.

You can also support GE’s publisher by purchasing the Book Bale bundles. This month’s bundle features books from George RR Martin, Mike Resnick, and others!

BTS

And now for the bonus. Last year, I had a short story appear in the “Beyond the Sun” anthology from Fairwood Press. edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt. The e-book distribution for this anthology is handled by Baen, one of the largest publishers in SF-dom. But it wasn’t until today that I learned that mine and several other stories are available as teasers for the anthology and can be read online! So if you’d like to read a very grim space opera tale of seeking paradise, check out “The Far Side of the Wilderness” at Baen Books web site! It also links to several other stories available as teasers. I highly recommend Jamie Todd Rubin’s “Flipping the Switch.”

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

UFO3 Cover Art and Kickstarter

January 19, 2014

#SFWAPro

image description

I’m thrilled to share cover art and the line-up of headliners for UFO3 with the world today! Although not yet listed on the cover mockup, NYT bestselling author David Farland just joined the list of headliners earlier this week. We’ll add his name on there shortly!

The Kickstarter campaign for the book launched today, with many lofty goals. I appreciate the help of anyone able to pledge, but even if you can’t spend the extra dough, please help by letting as many new people know about the UFO books as possible!

Click here to visit the Kickstarter page.

 

 

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Publication: “Requiem for a Druid” in Galaxy’s Edge

February 28, 2013

GalaxysEdge001

 

The inaugural issue (March 2013) of Galaxy’s Edge magazine edited by Mike Resnick is now live, and I’m honored to have a story included in the distinguished company of some amazing authors whose work is featured in this volume. My story in this issue is called Requiem for a Druid. It is the second Conrad Brent adventure, and although it stands fine on its own, I do recommend that you read A Shard Glows in Brooklyn first.

In Requiem for a Druid Conrad goes up against New York’s best-known real estate developer with a penchant for stamping his name on everything and a bad hairdo. You know. That guy.

In other news, I recently made appearances on two blogs.  Susan J Voss was kind enough to interview me on her blog, Deb of Darkness and  I wrote a mini-essay about the slush-reading process for Unidentified Funny Objects for Anne E Johnson’s blog. I appreciate the opportunity to talk up Unidentified Funny Objects an extra time. The e-book sales have been steady and I hope to move forward on the second volume sooner rather than later.

Finally, I’m going to be publishing several of my stories as eBooks on Amazon and other e-reader platforms. I have already lined up some absolutely amazing cover art which I can’t wait to share with everyone in the coming days.

Last but not least, check out an in-depth review of Unidentified Funny Objects by Mieneke van der Salm at the Fantastical Librarian blog.

 

 

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

“Requiem for a Druid” accepted at Galaxy’s Edge

December 24, 2012

Arc Manor is launching a new pro zine called “Galaxy’s Edge” in March of 2013, edited by Mike Resnick. I’m thrilled to announce that the premier issue will include “Requiem for a Druid.” My story will get to rub shoulders with works from Lou Berger, Robert J. Sawyer, Jack McDevitt, Kij Johnson, James Patrick Kelly, and Barry Malzberg!

“Requiem for a Druid” has quite a history. This is a second story in the urban fantasy series about Conrad Brent. I love writing Brent stories, which combine urban fantasy, noir, and humor with the Brooklyn setting which is so familiar to me.  And I title them with horrible puns of iconic books and movies set in Brooklyn, too. The first story in the series, A Shard Glows in Brooklyn, was published by Buzzy Magazine earlier this year.

“Requiem” was a story that got me into the Viable Paradise workshop. It was read and critiqued by brilliant writers and editors such as Patric Nielsen-Hayden, Sherwood Smith, Elizabeth Bear, Steven Brust, and Jim McDonald. Also, many of the students at the workshop.  I sent it there because it was my favorite story, and one of my strongest.

And now it’s been accepted by Mike Resnick, a writer and editor whom I admire greatly and have been a fan of for many years.

I plan to write one or two more Brent stories next year. I also hope to complete the first draft of a Brent novel in 2013. But for now, I leave you with the opening line of “Requiem”:

My job that morning was to banish a demon, but I was determined to finish my cup of coffee first.

Be sure to check out Galaxy’s Edge and read the rest of it in a few months!

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Sneak Preview: El and Al vs. Himmler’s Hideous Horde from Hell by Mike Resnick

June 21, 2012

I’m a huge fan of Mike Resnick’s fiction. I’ve been reading and enjoying his tales for years. His novel “Santiago” was among the first science fiction books I ever read in English. So I’m enormously thrilled to announce that Unidentified Funny Objects will feature his novelette “El and Al vs. Himmler’s Hideous Horde from Hell.”

According to Locus, Mike Resnick is the all-time leading award winner, living or dead, for short fiction. He won 5 Hugos (from a record 35 nominations), a Nebula, and other major awards in the USA, France, Japan, Spain, Croatia, and Poland. He’s the author of 64 novels, over 250 stories, and 2 screenplays, and the editor of 40 anthologies. His work has been translated into 25 languages.

The fate of the world itself hangs in the balance when the Third Reich summons super soldiers from hell to fight on their side. Now it’s up to Albert Einstein to engage his arch-nemesis Heinrich Himmler in a battle of sorcery that may well determine the outcome of World War II. With a little help from America’s greatest warrior — Eleanor Roosevelt.

Here’s an excerpt:

“Mein Gott, you’re big!” exclaimed Himmler as he looked at the army Satan had supplied.

There were thirteen of them, each blond and blue eyed, each armed with a magical scimitar (which is kind of like a curved lightsaber, but effective rather than pretty), each ten feet tall, each wearing naught but a leather kilt.

“Ow!” cried the nearest as his head bumped against the ceiling, an action and a cry that was repeated twelve more times up and down the line.

“Duck your heads, dummkopfs!” snapped Himmler.

“We bow to no one!” thundered one of them. “We’ll raise the ceiling!”

So saying, he lifted his magical scimitar and punched a hole in the ceiling.

“You see?” he said with a smile. “There is nothing to it.”

Well, he tried to say “There is nothing to it,” but somewhere between “There” and “is” a huge wooden desk fell through the hole and crashed onto his head. He collapsed beneath it, shoved it off to a side, and got groggily to his feet.

“Maybe I should have sacrificed two newts,” muttered Himmler.

P.S. I promise, the next few stories I’ll be unveiling feature absolutely no Nazis whatsoever.

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman