Don't Forget Your Spacesuit, Dear

by Jody Lynn Nye (Editor)

Throughout space and time, mother still knows best. (Don't pick up that raygun -- you don't know where it's been!) The moms of the galaxy finally get their due.

1 • From Your Mouth to God's Ear • novelette by Ellen Guon
24 • I Told You So • short story by Michael Scott
42 • You Never Call • short story by Robert Asprin
48 • A Mother's Lament • poem by Judith R. Conly
49 • Your Face Will Freeze Like That • short story by Morgan Llywelyn
63 • What's the Magic Word? • novelette by Jody Lynn Nye
86 • Don't Go Out in Holy Underwear • novelette by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
111 • Would You? • short story by William R. Forstchen
120 • Just Wait Until You Have Children of Your Own • short story by Esther M. Friesner
139 • You'll Catch Your Death of Colds • short story by Bill Fawcett
152 • The Golden Years • short story by Anne McCaffrey
163 • Maureen Birnbaum Pokes an Eye Out • [Maureen Birnbaum] • short story by George Alec Effinger
182 • Clean Up Your Room! • short story by Laura Anne Gilman
201 • Return with Your Spacesuit, Or On It • short story by Christopher Stasheff and Eleanore Stasheff
221 • Don't Go Near the Water • short story by Terri Beckett and Chris Power
237 • Mother Knows Best • short story by Josepha Sherman
248 • Accidents Don't Just Happen - They're Caused • novelette by Elizabeth Moon
270 • The Starving Children on Mars • short story by Mike Resnick and Louise Rowder
284 • Don't Put That in Your Mouth, You Don't Know Where It's Been • novelette by Diane Duane

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Space

311 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1996

About the author

Jody Lynn Nye lists her main career activity as ‘spoiling cats.’ When not engaged upon this worthy occupation, she writes fantasy and science fiction books and short stories.

Before breaking away from gainful employment to write full time, Jody worked as a file clerk, book-keeper at a small publishing house, freelance journalist and photographer, accounting assistant and costume maker.

For four years, she was on the technical operations staff of a local Chicago television station, WFBN (WGBO), serving the last year as Technical Operations Manager. During her time at WFBN, she was part of the engineering team that built the station, acted as Technical Director during live sports broadcasts, and worked to produce in-house spots and public service announcements.

Over the last twenty-five or so years, Jody has taught in numerous writing workshops and participated on hundreds of panels covering the subjects of writing and being published at science-fiction conventions. She has also spoken in schools and libraries around the north and northwest suburbs. In 2007 she taught fantasy writing at Columbia College Chicago. She also runs the two-day writers workshop at DragonCon, and is a judge for the Writers of the Future contest, the largest speculative fiction contest in the world.

Jody lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, with her husband Bill Fawcett, a writer, game designer, military historian and book packager, and three feline overlords, Athena, Minx, and Marmalade.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent collection of science fiction and fantasy stories, all dealing with mothers in some form -- human moms, alien moms, even computer moms. A great collection with not one weak story in it!

[Lexie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best anthology ever but by far one that was far more diverse in how each contributor approached the theme. Spies and poems and engineers and underwear lovers and cats...seriously, this had some out there stories.

[Tracey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for themed anthologies; they range from surprisingly good to rather dire. Unfortunately, Don't Forget Your Spacesuit, Dear falls closer to the latter end of the spectrum. As you might have guessed, the stories all tie in somehow to motherhood within the sci-fi/fantasy genre.

The overbearing martyr-mom appears in annoying abundance, going over the top in a few stories. Of the pieces that use a "twist" (Hey, wait! These aren't humans!), one handled it well, while the other was rather clumsy. There were a few standout stories: "Don't Go Near the Water" (Terry Beckett & Chris Power) and "Accidents Don't Just Happen - They're Caused" (Elizabeth Moon) were two that took the approach more seriously, and (IMHO) with better results. Of the stories taking a more light-hearted tone, Nye's "What's the Magic Word?" and Esther M. Freisner's "Just Wait Until You Have Children Of Your Own" were two of the more enjoyable ones. I think the last story, "Don't Put That in Your Mouth" by Diane Duane was perhaps my favorite.

I doubt more than a couple of these stories will make it to many other anthologies besides those of the author's own work. It was a decent way to pass the time, but probably not a collection I'd bother reading again (although I may consider following up on a few of the authors). I think I'll be turning it in for credit at the local used book store.

[Heather Warner · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Throughout space and time, mother still knows best. (Don't pick up that raygun -- you don't know where it's been!) The moms of the galaxy finally get their due.”
Loved this collection of short stories-they all fit the “mom” theme and were creative & funny & entertaining. Lots of ideas and points of view of motherhood-I liked every story! Top book and strongly recommend for just pure entertainment!

[Deidra Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

funny :)

[Shaunesay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typically some were good, some were not!

My favorites were:

You Never Call by Robert Aspirin
What's the Magic Word by Jody Lynn Nye
Don't Go Out in Holy Underwear by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
You'll Catch Your Death of Colds by Bill Fawcett
Clean Up Your Room by Laura Ann Gilman
The Starving Children on Mars by Mike Resnick and Louise Rowder
Don't Put that in Your Mouth, You don't know where it's Been by Diane Duane

I didn't like, and didn't finish:
Maureen Birnbaum Pokes an Eye out by George Alec Effinger, it was just annoying!

[Erika · Rating 2 out of 5]

An anthology collection with mothers as the main theme.

There really isn't much for me to say about this one. This is the sort of book that stopped me reading themed anthologies back in the day. There were way to many bad to weak stories to make up for the few good ones. I didn't hate this book, mostly I was just very disappointed in it.

[Barbara Ab · Rating 2 out of 5]

Due stelline perchè su 19 racconti qualcuno si salva, ma nel complesso sono mediocri.
Ho notato che la maggior parte sono stati scritti da donne, segno chiaro che le madri sono un incubo più per le figlie che per i figli. :0/

[krin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this collection of science fiction stories with a maternal theme. My favorites included Jody Lynn Nye's "What's the Magic Word?" and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough's "Don't Go Out in Holy Underwear."

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover a cute take of Whistler's Mother (in Space).

Some (Most) of these were as cute at the punny story titles.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comedic Sci FI Anthology. Love Jody Lynn Nye, and msot of the other authors in this anthology.

[Maddalenah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro davvero divertente, e alcuni racconti come "Metti in ordine la tua stanza!", "Ti prenderai un raffreddore coi fiocchi" e "Te l'avevo detto" sono geniali.

[Ron Judenberg]

to-read

[josie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moms in space!

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of science fiction stories about mothers is really a lot of fun.

[Jacquie]

The Golden Years