Aphelion: The Webzine of Science Fiction and Fantasy

Issue 131, Volume 13 -- April 2009

Editorial

Hi there! Welcome to another thrilling installment of Aphelion!

There are loads of great stories on tap for you this month. New poetry too, as well as some really lovely pieces in the Features section. Also, we're soon going to be adding Nate Kailhofer to the masthead as the Official Flash Fiction Editor in recognition of his work on the Forums in the flash fiction contests every month. In addition, Nate has asked to become the official Editor for Bill Warren's "Aphelion Solar System Explorer" series. He's already made a great start through the flash fiction contests. If you haven't been visiting the Forums or reading the flash contests, you've missed some great stories! Go check it out - It's in the Fun and Games folder of the Forums. We'll soon have Nate set up with a link to his e-mail for you to submit Aphelion Explorer stories.

Lindsey has picked a date for the Aphelion party this year. August 22nd is what she decided. We've already got a few confirmations from Aphelion folks, and from some of our friends in the Steampunk community, too. It's gonna be fun! If you want to show up, kindly send me an e-mail so I know how many folks are planning to attend. Any readers, writers, or steampunks within driving distance are invited to come hang out at Casa Vila for the event.

In other news, I'm going to become a grandfather sometime in mid-November! That's right folks, Lyn's oldest daughter, Michelle, is going to have a baby. Michelle and Mark are so excited, planning for everything, and generally going gaga over the news. Lyn and I are excited, too. Lyn's never been a grandma before and she's quite looking forward to it. Of course, I've been a granddad before, and helped raise more kids than I can keep track of, so I'm probably the calmest one of us all. Still, I'm overjoyed!

OK, that's about all the news from Casa Vila, and I'm too happy to rant about anything, so I'm going to shut up now and let you get to reading. After all, that's really why you're here.

Enjoy!

Dan

Serials & Long Fiction

The Two Dragons of the East End
By Matt Spencer
It is vampire versus vampire in Victorian London as a siren goes up against her old master---who happens to be locked in a battle with an ancient vampire enemy of his own.

Program Orange
By Dale Carothers
Jadie needs a job and the Crabs need someone to retrieve a precious artifact. Too bad it is on a world infested with dangerous monsters. However, modern science has an answer for everything.

The Gulf of Eden - Part Three
By McCamy Taylor
The conclusion to the epic tale of Isaac's mission to negotiate peace with the Elect on the planet that both races claim as their property.

Short Stories

Faux Pair
By Patrick Welch
Apprentice thief Brendell was elated to be given an important assignment the moment he arrived in Perlenz. There was, of course, a catch -- no one who had attempted the job in the past had returned.

In Any Language
By Jeani Rector
Henry had deserted his comrades in the brutal War Between the States in the hopes of finding peace. But a coward dies a thousand deaths -- one way or another.

Beauregard's Bodacious Barbeque and Ballistic Banking
By Coffee Anderson
With the world falling apart, sometimes some really good barbecue is worth its weight in -- gold?

Blue Sky
By jaimie l. elliott
Osmond had suffered a terrible loss, but somehow, the world seemed blind to it...

Are We There Yet?
By Richard Tornello
The entity call "Him" never set out to be God, but when he finally found a follower, the fellow insisted that he must be.

The Gory Pearl of Doom
By Gary W. Feather
Lady Jin and her student, One-Eyed Nu, had been sent to eliminate the notorious fighter Snake-Eye -- once Lady Jin's lover. Snake-Eye's master had other ideas. (For fans of wu xia...)

Incarnation
By E. W. Bonadio
The War On Terror had brought the U.S. Army Rangers to the Arabian Gulf to help an Egyptian Army clean up after a cruise missile strike. Of course, "terror" hadn't always meant suicide bombers and hostage taking.

The Neighbors
By Lee Gimenez
The Tors were -- strange, Harold said. Too blond, too fit, with accents he couldn't quite identify... And what the hell were they doing carrying odd bundles out of the house at 3 AM?

Time Loop
By Tony Coles
It started with what Jones thought was a very large, very persistent mosquito circling his bed. Then the wall to the spare room started to glow...

The Pen Is Mightier
By Larissa March
Amy refused to own a TV. Those things couldn't stimulate your imagination the way a good book -- or even a trasy gothic romance novel -- could.

February-March 2009 Forum Challenge

Congratulations to Richard Tornello and Nate Kailhofer, co-winners of the "Spaceman's Birthday" Forum Flash Challenge. Check out Richard's entry "Phoenix" and Nate's "Always" and four more celebrations-in-a-tin-can -- after you have read and commented on our other stories, novellas, poetry, and features, of course. (These stories will all eventually appear -- possibly in expanded form? -- in future editions of Aphelion, but if you read them now, you can say "I knew them when...")

Poetry and Filk Music

Labyrinthine Pile
by Richard H. Fay

Nonverbal
by Richard Tornello

SciFaiku
by William Landis

Glimpses Of The Folk
by Stuart Sharp

Metamorphosis
by J. B. Hogan

The Black Watch Cap
by Bob Brill

Features

Thoughts on Writing #8: God Made The Mosquito
By Seanan McGuire
In an ongoing series, Seanan McGuire takes apart the engine of writing to find out how it works, and offers her insights into how to put it back together again.

Praise for Dark Horse
By McCamy Taylor
Our Serials and Novellas Editor congratulates comics publisher Dark Horse (home of many series based on popular movie and TV franchises) for making several important "grown-up" manga series available to U.S. readers. What have you been missing? Check it out.