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Editorial
The Senior Editor's usual drivel about whatever...
Hello and welcome!
I ought to use this time to rave about the X-Men movie --
'cause I really liked it and I hope that it'll spawn half a dozen
sequels -- but I figure that most of you have seen the movie by now and
anything else I say about it will be just sad fan-boy gush. If a sequel
happens, I just hope that it doesn't premier opposite a Star Wars or
Trek movie. There's a lot of fan-crossover there and fans on a budget
can only see so many movies a year.
Instead, I'm going to muse about how this editing gig is
turning me into Peter Parker.
Now, I haven't got sticky fingers or toes, and I can't lift
a bus and throw it at someone... although there have been times -- I'm
talking about Stan Lee's greatest observation; "With power comes
responsibility, with great power comes great responsibility." This is
Spider-Man's greatest driving motive -- to use his power responsibly.
How does that apply to me? Simple, some of you have used me as a
spark-plug of ideas to craft stories around. Not only from the Writer's
Challenge page, or my Mare Inebrium stories, but even here in my
editorial I spark ideas in people.
That's a sort of power -- one I never dreamed I'd receive,
by the way, when I was thrust into e-publishing -- the power to induce
others to think. That sort of makes me the opposite of a TV advert,
LOL! Now I have to be responsible and use this power for good. So don't
look for me to endorse a particular political candidate, or even a
brand of after-shave... Sometime this year, I'd planned to run an
editorial about the superstition that whoever gets elected president
this year stands a good chance of getting shot at by some lunatic. You
remember, "presidents elected in years that end in zero wind up being
stalked by assassins" is the way the superstition runs. I was going to
point out that if the trend holds, then whoever runs for vice-president
will be more important than the candidates for president. Now I can't
do that. Some crazy might be prompted to fulfill my "prophecy" and take
it upon himself to shoot some innocent ( I hate to use the word
"innocent" to describe a politician, but in this case it really does
apply ) politician whose only crime ( in this one instance ) was to be
elected. However, if someone uses that illustration to write a story
from, then that's OK. Stories are fine, hurting folks is out. Clear?
How could I use the power to generate ideas to do good? What
sort of ideas could I cause? What impact could I have upon society?
Very little, I would suspect. I'll be the first to admit
that I'm not a guru, nor a prophet. In a vague way I suppose that one
could consider me as some sort of un-trained English teacher. ( Very
un-trained, as compared to Jeff, who is an English
teacher, or Kim, an English major in college. ) I can honestly say that
I don't have all the answers, nor even all the questions. Shall I be
provocative or conservative? Which way does responsibility lay? Or
should that be "lie"? See? Infallibility is one thing that I'm never
going to have to live in fear of... of which I will never have to live
in fear... whatever.
I'd call myself a philosopher, but hemlock tastes too much
like gin.
I'd call myself a commentator, but I'm more of an
opinionated jerk.
I guess I'm a idea man. I like that. Sounds good, evocative
even. I give others the fuel to brainstorm. Wow, what a concept! Then
the responsibility kicks in -- I can affect people, and people can
affect reality -- the more people I affect, the more I affect reality.
Awesome sort of concept, really -- I can change the world. By becoming
an e-publisher, I touch people's lives. I can only pray that I affect
them for the better.
Thanks for your time.
Dan
I'd like to thank those of you who have sent e-mails or signed into the
Lettercol for your feedback. Keep those messages coming, folks! Without
those messages we will never know what we need to improve upon. Hope
you like the improvements so far!
Aphelion Staff:
Dan
Hollifield
Senior Editor, Publisher
Roger
Bennett
Editor Emeritus
Robert
Wynne
WebMaven
Cary
Semar
Short Story Editor
Kim
Holec
Poetry Editor
Jeffrey
Williams
Production Editor/Serials Editor
Serialized Stories & Novellettes
Thorne
River
By Luke Hodgson His eyes strained against the midmorning sunlight as
it poured into the
wood. The night seemed so long ago, but the way his body felt, it
seemed as
though it had just happened. He'd been hunched over in-between the
foliage nearly all morning, covered in dark paint, camouflaged, and
waiting. Waiting for
the riders to eventually come and try to take them. He knew they would
come sooner or later, but Thorne also knew that both he and his charge
mustn't
be taken.
Mind
Over Matter
By Joanna Berry The psionic agent Mauran Cooper has just closed her
latest case by fatally
wounding a serial killer. But destroying her fugitive only serves to
lead her into intrigue, crippling guilt and danger.
Akeldama
By Richard Behrens Sheldon the Art Student has a lot to learn about
career choices. You
simply don't move to the City of God when you want to paint visions of
Hell. But
then again, Sheldon was always a little different.
Whose
Sword Is It, Anyway? --Part 2 of 5--
By Ralph Benedetto, Jr. Having made some unwise decisions concerning their
educational
futures, Caitlin, Mal and Rivenbark find themselves loose in the wide
world
where they find magic, fighting and adventure. In other words, all of
the
things they're bad at.
The
Moll's Initiation
By Jeanne G'Fellers-Walker Somewhere among the stars lies the prison colony of
Trimar, where the men
are strong and the women are beautiful. Otherwise, they are dead.
Roots
By Kate Thornton This story was first published in "Neverworlds"
issue #2. It takes place
when the first pilot of the Linda Rae was some guy
named Sullivan.
The
Collection
By Noel Carroll The glacier gave up a frozen body which floated down
the river and was
found. On that body was a notebook, still barely readable. The notebook
spoke of
an "ancient treasure" guarded by a frozen corpse. In Alaska, "ancient
treasure" could
only mean one thing. Gold!
Chant
of the Mandala
By Anthony Giovia When people walk into an architectural artwork
called The Mandala but
don't walk out, you send for Manny Levels.
The
Crowd
By Daniel Beaupre' In the future, everyone will be famous for fifteen
minutes. Consider
yourself warned.
Digital
By Ronald R. Delgado C. Have you ever wonder how it is to live in perfect
Clarity?
Deadly
Star
By Ron Capshaw There are no evil sciences, only evil scientists.
Scientist-Hero Johnathan
Silverberg, a.k.a The Ghost, uses Superscience in the unending battle
against Super-Evil.
McJock's
Beanstalk
By Craig Cornwell Once again, we join Snow Spackman as he walks down,
or in this case up, the
mean streets of myth and legend.
Nebula
By Kai Blackbird What happens when a Human scoutship with a crew of
two encounters a
Behemoth class Charlay cruiser? Nothing good.
The
Melody
By Andrew D. Scott To hear the music of the spheres you must have the
right plug-in. Click on
the link to download it now.
Watch
the Monkey
By Ralph Benedetto, Jr. The goal of observation is understanding, The usual
result, however, is
data.
The
Bouncer
By Claude Hopper Every bar has a bouncer, usually really big guys
that could easily be mistaken for heroic statuary, until they get the
signal to kick your butt. The Mare's new bouncer was a little guy, but
that's just a measure of how good he really is. Bruce is one bad
mother- Well, you know what I mean.
Aphelion's Daily Comics
By Mark Stanley, and Steve Troop Did he say daily? Yep, Aphelion is proud to feature two
of the funniest comic strips on the Internet, Mark Stanley's "Freefall"
and Steve Troop's "The Melonpool Chronicles". Bookmark this page, you
don't want to miss a single instalment!
Double Wide
by Jim Parnell Home of the Strange...
WARNING: Contains Language.
In case anyone is curious as to exactly what's been
keeping me so busy, I've planned a few webpages that show the progress
of my landscaping, interior decoration, and housework. Look for it in
my personal pages at Casa
Vila. It’s the beginning of a sort of photographic
timeline of my yard work and such. I don't know why anyone would want
to
see it, but Rob thought that someone might, so I worked it up. Expect
it
to be updated as I get new film developed and scanned. I have two new
rolls of film shot for this page and expect to update it within the
next few weeks.
Dan
If you would like to receive notices from Aphelion when
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Send a message to
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As always, this mailing list will only be used to notify
you of new issues and will never be given out to anyone else... 'cause
I hate spam as much as you do!
Instead of the back issues
the banner below now takes you to the Archives-where all our past
stories are available for you to read.
I've decided to ditch the
back issues in favor of the Archives. The Archives are easier to use
and can be indexed by author or story title. Hopefully this will ease
the task of finding a favorite story. We may start a page of our past
cover art, if there is a call for it. Thanks for your readership for
without you, nothing we do has any meaning.