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Editorial
The Senior Editor's usual drivel about whatever...
Hello and welcome!
Next month is Aphelion's birthday! We start Volume 6 of Aphelion's history next month. If you have any submissions that would be special for Aphelion's birthday, please send them soon.
As for my editorial this month... I'm looking out the window at about 5 inches of snow. Not quite usual for my area of the US, but still. Its pretty, not too cold- so it won't last long -and its happened on my days off so I don't have to drive in it. Hurrah!
The first snow of the new century. The first snow of the new millennium. The first snow of this mild winter. The road and my driveway are clear, the fields are gleaming white. Actually, I'm surprized that no one is out building a snowman. At least, no one I can see from here.
And spring is on the way. Its after the solstice, the days are gradually getting longer. The new year's re-birth is on its way. Last night, Jupiter was at its closest for the last few hundred years, and looked big enough and close enough to reach out and grasp. At least to my eyes. The skies are beautiful, the stars clear and sharp. Despite the cold, the night sky is a work of art to the brave skywatcher.
The old year is gone, the new year has come. We have weathered the storm and not been found wanting, so to speak. The Crazy Years are well and truly begun, but people all over the world are awake and alert now. We're not just coasting through life any longer. We're up and looking around, and we don't particularly like what we see.
So we're going to change it, one way or another. Aren't we? We always do, you know. The war on terrorism will continue. Maybe we'll even make our schools safe while we're at it. But we better look to preserving our rights as we get tough on crime and terrorism. Remember not to sign away your freedoms for a little bit of safety. What good would it do any of us to live in a crime-free world if it were also a police state? I doubt that we're actually headed for something like that, but each of us has to be alert so as to stave off even the smallest possibility. Something like that would have to be made manifest gradually, so its up to us to keep it from starting in the first place.
Remember, any individual freedom is also ballanced by an equal responsibility. No one can safely ignore the workings of their governments any longer. Get involved. Learn about the issues, make the best choices that you can, vote when you can, write your represenatives, write your newspaper's Editorial page... Let your voice be heard. But don't follow some leader- choose for yourself, think for yourself. Only you can live your own life, only you can be trusted with your future, so don't let someone else deside your fate. Get involved.
Take control of your own life. It is yours, after all. Sometimes we tend to forget that little fact. But you should always remember that your life is your own. Even in the coldest and darkest times of our history. This winter will pass soon. Prepare for a beautiful spring.
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
Iain Muir
Poetry/Filk Editor
Robert Wynne
WebMaven
Cary Semar
Short Story Editor
McCamy Taylor
Assistant Short Story Editor
Jeffrey Williams
Production Editor/Serials Editor
Ralph Benedetto, Jr.
Assistant Serials Editor
Roger Bennett
Editor Emeritus
Serialized Stories & Novellettes
Occasional Little Wars
By Tony Ragas Aphelion is proud to present a blast from our past as our novella this month. "One from the vaults" you might say.
Homeless Zombies
By Vincent L. Scarsella Six months after I attended his funeral, I ran into Joe Reed in the back of
Harvey's Bar and Grill.
Isle Twelve
By Mark R. Knight We may find our personal hell in the strangest of places. Sometimes it finds us.
A Night Like This
By Stephen Minchin It was a cold, wet night when he met the angel. A night just like this...
Oblivion
By J.E. Deegan Haunted by fathomless guilt, Doug Riddick is offered release in a most unlikely place.
Poetic Justice
By Indrapramit Das The forest was known by humans of the realm as the Shurai. It was a place of utter beauty and peace. Into this place came an intruder called Helt Nomarin.
Resonance
By Matt Rubinstein A young prospector finds himself drafted into a war of conquest against a world of
impalpable beings.
Riding the Web
By Shalane L. Weidow The further adventures of Captain Zosia Donovan.
The
Mare Inebrium Starter Kit.
--Updated 12/25/2001-- This is a link to all the background information for the Mare Inebrium stories so far.
This is a must read for all Mare Inebrium writers and fans!
Tales of the Mare Inebrium
The banner above links to
all the Mare Inebrium Stories on one page!
Features
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 installment!
Double Wide
by Jim Parnell The collected wisdom of Bubba
WARNING: Contains Language.
Aphelion proudly presents the installments of Double Wide all on one page of links. We wanted to make sure that the wit and wisdom of Bubba wasn't lost for new readers, so we made a mini-archive list of just the Double Wide features.
Dan Hollifield reviews: "Clovenstone"
The new novel by Ruth McIntyre-Williams A Celtic Medieval Fantasy Novel
The Listening Room
by Rob Wynne Rob Wynne bangs his head against Phoenix's "Into the Fire"
A Challenge to Writers... --8\8\2000-- Not a contest, but a series of ideas to spark off a story. Challenge 1 is the paintings of Daniel Hannaquand, Challenge 2 is a collection of narrative hooks composed by Dan Hollifield.
Aphelion Links Page --6\08\2001--
Click here to see the Links Page. Our fellow E-zines, Astronomy, research material, entertainment, and much, much more!
Aphelion IRC Chat --2\16\2001-- Information about a new feature for Aphelion. IRC Chat is a fun way to talk to our readers, writers, staff members, and other netizens. This link takes you to a basic intro and provides further links to the IRC software that you can download for free. Look for new updates as we refine this feature.
Aphelion JAVA Chat --2\12\2001-- For a quick look at the JAVA chat client, this link launches a new browser window that takes you to a Log-in form for a JAVA-based chat in your browser window. No specian programs are needed. This will be a very simple, but passable IRC client, very no-frills. This will also tell you if there's anyone else in the chatroom, by the way.
Aphelion Banners
And banner artwork for links. If you want to link to Aphelion and want more than a text link, then this page is for you. Some of these banners are finished, but most of them lack only my adding text to make them complete. Unfinished banners can be completed and e-mailed to you within 8 days. The banner HTML code-- and image --can be e-mailed on request, or can be more simply copied from the "View / Page Source" option in your web browser. Finished images can be copied from the banner artwork page itself. An exchange of links or banner links is always welcome. Link Swap E-mail should be sent to: Dan Hollifield
If you would like to receive notices from Aphelion when this page is
updated, please join our new, revised, automatic mailing list. To
subscribe:
Send a message to
majordomo@america.net with the following in the body of the
message:
subscribe aphelion <email address>
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.
Dan Hollifield reviews:
--8\8\2000-- 
