We need to thank our excellent cover artist and authors. Hurray for our creatives!
We need to thank our excellent editors and tech staff. Thank you for all your hard work!
And most of all, we need to thank our readers! Woo hoo! We wouldn't exist without you!
Thank you, everyone!
After being heavily and emotionally influenced by Longfellow's poem and the specific quote that goes "Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing, only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness; So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another, only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence," I was struck by the utter solitude of it. I wanted to capture that in a character, and to do so I chose the last dragon, still eking out life after life and now in the modern world. He always has to hide his true self, he seldom can risk showing his true form. But he is old now, even for a dragon, and must die again in order to become someone else...or not.
A lot of my stories are born of the 'what if' question, plus something warm and fuzzy. In this one, an elephant is our warm and fuzzy, and proof of what humanity can do when it chooses: taking care of each other. Some people call me naïve. I call it having faith in my people.
However this world formed (take your pick: science, religion, or a combination of both), like everything that has a beginning, it will eventually endure its end. No one wants to think about that, but considering everything that's happened in the past 50 years, I did just that in writing For the Love of Earth.
When considering our end, the questions of utmost important are how, why, and when. I won't address those possibilities today, but instead, I call upon humankind. We have accomplished too much, overcome so many challenges, that if we just all turn our focus to saving our world, we can do it. There are enough people who love our world, our home, that we can slow down the damage done to our planet. We have time to heal the wounds. Not much, I understand, but it isn't too late. Not yet.
As in my story, the 'hourglasses' of water and trees hold the world up, but what holds it together is love. Love for human kind, love for the gentle and fierce creatures that we share this world with, and love for the very Earth itself. Many of us the share passions of the guardians in this story. I look forward to the day when we can celebrate Earth's revival together.
The overall color of this artwork is pink. From a metaphysical perspective, pink is considered a healing, peaceful, harmonious color. Thus the tone of this artwork, "Gem City," represents an otherworldly destination for repose, meditation, and healing.
In the lower-left corner, a lone horseman on a cliff overlooks a valley covered in dense pink fog and mist. The horseman is partially blurred as if in a dreamscape. Is he real, or is this a dream of his making? Rising out of the shrouded valley are immense purple and pink mountains. The mountain peak in the center-right of the picture emanates a pink beacon of light/frequency from its top extremity. This gem-like beacon represents an intangible siren song beckoning those on a quest for spiritual knowledge, whether in the dream state or waking state.
At their heart, stories are images translated into words. My inspiration for "The Tailor of Gloomwick" began with a Norman Rockwell type drawing of a tailor seated in his workshop, mending hearts with a needle and thread. I sat with the image for several weeks, allowing the story to unfold in my mind.
Gradually, the characters began to come into view, followed by pieces of the plot. Once I was ready to write, the first version of the story did not transpire from the point of view of the Tailor, but rather Louis, his future apprentice.
Early critiques on the story came in. I was disappointed to discover the story did not have the resonance I was hoping for and that I thought I had worked hard to achieve. I went back to the drawing board. Determined to portray the story as I experienced it so deeply in my heart, I brainstormed slavishly over how to convey the spark of inspiration I had gleaned from the drawing.
And then it came to me.
Although Louis was a prominent character, he wasn't the central figure in the story. The Tailor of Gloomwick was. The story belonged to him.
The story underwent a major rewrite, and the current "Tailor of Gloomwick" was born.
I will leave you with this little piece of writing advice: if you are having trouble achieving the kind of impact you want your story to have, try telling it from another character's perspective. It may be all the change your story needs to shine.
So, all authors should have received an email from us with either a 'Yay,' or 'Nay,' by now, along with a contract and other info. We haven't heard back yet from all the authors, so check your spam folder(s)!
If you think you sent us a story by the issue deadline of July 15, 2022 and you haven't heard from us--you're story may be lost in cyberspace. I don't know why, but sometimes we don't get stories. :(
In other news, at least one of the editors will be at the annual rambunctious Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference in Denver in early September 2022. Writers conferences are awesome opportunities to learn more about the craft of writing and to have loads of fun! There's lots of info online about many, many conferences. You can also check with your public library for resources in your local area.
Next time we'll start bragging about the new issue! Be sure to check it out!
Posts
All Comments
