BANKS, Michael A.

(1951-)

   US writer and editor who began publishing sf with "Lost \& Found", with George Wagner, for IASFM in 1978, and who has since published at least 45 stories, some as by Alan Gould. His first books of sf interest were the nonfiction Understanding Science Fiction (1982), a primer for teachers unfamiliar with the field, and Ultraheroes (1983), an sf interactive text for juveniles. His first sf novel as such was The Odysseus Solution (1986) with Dean R(odney) Lambe (1943-), an adventure tale involving ALIENS; he remains best known perhaps for his "collaborations" with the late Mack REYNOLDS (whom see for details), in which he edited or worked up material by Reynolds into Joe Mauser: Mercenary from Tomorrow (1986) and Sweet Dreams, Sweet Princes (1986). Other activities included the associate editorship of New Destinies (DESTINIES) in 1986-7. Much of his nonfiction treats material of interest to sf writers and readers. Other works: MAB's nonfiction includes several computer product-training and applications texts, as well as DELPHI: The Official Guide (1987); The Modem Reference (1988); Word Processing Secrets for Writers (1989) with Ansen Dibel; and Pournelle's Guide to PC Communications (1991) with Jerry POURNELLE.