A guest editorial
A Change Will Do You Good
Yeah, so. It’s the name and the chorus of a Sheryl Crow song, but I like Sheryl Crow’s music, and I’ve always liked this particular song a lot. I wouldn’t go so far as to call these lyrics words of wisdom, but they fit my latest guest editorial’s theme, and that’s about all I can ask for.
Abyss & Apex continues to evolve, and this spring, I’m feeling very good about the changes. With this issue, we’ve completed our transition to a quarterly publication schedule, which I believe will allow us to bring our readers more quality fiction and poetry in the long run. Authors take note: we have changed our submissions guidelines as well, so please … please … visit our Submissions page to review these guidelines before sending us your work.
If you haven’t visited our “About Us” page lately, please take a moment to see who’s reading your work. We are pleased to welcome back Benjamin Buchholz, Wendy Delmater and Amy Valleau as submissions editors and introduce two new submissions editors: Lynda Beauregard and Mary Jo Jeffers. All of these editors are volunteering some of their precious spare time to help read and evaluate submissions on a part-time basis, and Carol and I deeply appreciate their assistance.
Speaking of Wendy Delmater — whose name should be familiar to many of our readers — I’d like to take a moment to congratulate Wendy on several recent publications of her own. She sold her poem “Fëanor” to Parma Nole – The Official Journal of the New York City Tolkien Society, and has included “Brain Coral” (poem) and “Free the Sky” (science fiction short story) in the anthology SPIRIT HOUSE: Dark Tales from New York Writers to Benefit Asian Relief. Money raised by the anthology will go to children orphaned by the December 2004 tsunami. To learn more, or order a copy, visit http://spirithouse.5u.com/index.html.
On April 8, 9 and 10, Wendy will be at I-Con, representing the SPIRIT HOUSE anthology, doing live readings with the Spirit House team, and participating on two Author’s Track panels: “It Made me Cry: Emotion in SF” and “Intelligent Design and other Myths.” If any of you are going to I-Con, be sure to say hi to Wendy and tell her you’re glad she’s back helping A&A.
While we’re offering congratulations, the entire staff here is just pleased as punch to congratulate three of our authors whose poetry published in A&A has been nominated for 2005 Rhysling Award consideration. Our heartfelt kudos goes out to Greg Beatty, whose “No Ruined Lunar City” is nominated in the short poem category, and to long poem nominees John Borneman (“Gargoyle”) and Larry Hammer (“Her First Affair”). Our only regret is that they can’t all win; all are deserving. If you are a member of the Science Fiction Poetry Association, please be sure to vote for your favorites when you receive the Rhysling ballot.
This first quarterly issue is packed with similarly outstanding work. The two longer short stories are as different to one another as can be, but each is entertaining and deeply thought-provoking. The three flash fiction pieces also vary widely in length, tone and scope. For poetry enthusiasts, we have an eclectic group of three poems that share a certain similarity of form but entirely different themes and emotional contexts. I hope you enjoy reading these stories and poems as much as the editorial staff did.
If you do enjoy this issue, please consider supporting us with a donation. As the saying goes, no amount is too small! We will be more than grateful for your contribution, which will help us continue to buy such high-quality material. As always, please feel free to send us your comments, and let us know if we can pass them along to the authors. You’ll also find e-mail links for many of the authors in the bios at the end of each story or poem.
Thanks for your support and loyalty.
—Aleta Daknis, Associate Editor
April 5, 2005
Copyrighted by the author unless otherwise noted.
Art Director: Bonnie Brunish
