We've been getting a lot of submissions--which is great for readers. With a large variety of stories to consider you can rest assured that the issue will be awesome. However, this does mean it's been taking us a bit longer to get back to authors. Sorry about that.
I have a request: Please do not email us and ask us about the status of your story. We get enough emails without having to deal with extras.
We will get back to you as soon as we can.
Good luck!
One of our guest super writers agrees. Check out Author Rob Thurman's blog "Writers Cons vs. Fan Cons". Suffice it to say: a good (and educational) time was had by all.
And, yes, Author and Editor Betsy Dornbusch was found in the bar and the hospitality suite...
I'll be volunteering for various things, moderating panels etc., and teaching a workshop:" Stealing from the Best: A Sample of Different Writing Methods To Find the Best Method for You" with author Rebecca Bates at 8:00am Saturday Sept. 21.
I'm pretty sure our awesome associate editors, Nikki Baird and Chris Devlin will also be attending.
See you there!
I recently reread "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe. You can read it for free here, among other places. Check out the beginning:
DURING the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country ; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher.
If one of my critique partners started a story with a lot of telling setting description, I'd recommend otherwise.
I'd say, this is a cliche.
Of course, you can't say that about "Usher" because it was written before all those other stories. When you're one of the first, you can't be a cliche. :)
"Usher" is the quintessential gothic horror story, the story that influenced all others that came after.
What exactly is gothic fiction? Some say it's the mode of literature that combines elements of romance and horror.
The name gothic supposedly refers to the medieval or pseudo-medieval buildings in which the stories take place. What is horror fiction? This one is harder to pin down. The Horror Writers Association says horror is fiction that elicits fear and/or dread in the reader. Thus, horror can be about or include anything as long as it elicits the desired emotional reaction(s).
I had a professor once who defined horror as fiction that tries to subvert your perception of reality. It tries to make the reader question everything.
What is real?
Are you a horror reader? A horror writer? What do you like best about it?
I'm doing a twitter chat tonight, 7 pm our time. The hash tag is #sffwrtcht
I'll talk fantasy, books, EXILE and THE SEVEN EYES series, Night Shade, Electric Spec. Feel free to drop by and lurk or ask. @BetsyDornbusch
(That's U.S. Mountain Time.)
As the letter from the editors says,
...of the stories in this issue: you're gonna love 'em. Get this--zombies hungry for artificial babies in "Little Miss Saigon" by Malon Edwards. In C.R. Hodge's "Queen Meabh," a Scottish spirit kick's some archeologist ass. And if you wanna go totally post-apocalypse, step down into the fall out shelter in "For Want of Stars" by Beth Ceto. Speaking of a post-disaster world, what to you do when indescribable death machines kill everyone else but ignore you? Find out in "Amelia Amongst Machines" by David Brookes. Finally, look how complicated your love life can get when it gets too "spirited" in David W. Landrum's "Someone."
Read on, brothers and sisters!
Thank you very much behind-the-scenes folks, including our authors (Yay!), our artist (Yay!), our tech guys, and our associate editors (Yay!). We couldn't have done it without you.
Drop us a line in the comments, here, and let us know what you think of the issue. What's your favorite story?
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