Looks like we've reached 200,000 hits on our counter tonight, folks. Let me tell you, that's a great feeling. Thank you, one and all, for coming back time after time. Everyone at Aphelion has a right to be proud. Its taken us seven years to get this far- Who know where we'll go in the future? Aphelion is a perfect example of "if you build it, they will come." Construction began a long time ago. It never ends. Something needs to be renovated every month. Well, people still seem to keep wandering in. I hope everyone will continue to have a good time for a long time to come.
I got to see the recent lunar eclipse. It was an awsome sight. Sometimes being on night shift can be a blessing. Would have made a really great film sequence, too. There was a thin layer of fast-moving clouds over my area. Very dramatic. It was nice to be able to take the time to just go outside and look up at the night sky.
Its little snapshots of life like that one that wind up being used in a story. Everyone has a collection of them. Life's little treasures. Writers tend to mine those treasures for scenes in their work. This is a good thing. It makes the stories better.
The task of looking at those snapshots with a new perspective, I leave to the writers as an exersize. Stretch your imagination a bit. Look at the world around you a little bit differently. There are lots of things out there that you can use to your advantage. You just have to think a little differently about your surroundings.
The night sky, a foggy morning, a meteor shower, the face of a stranger, the howl of a train rumbling away in the night, the aroma of flowers, smoke from a fire... These are some of the paints you have on your palette. By carefull mixing, new colors can be made. New portraits can be painted.
And your readers get a better story, too.
Dan
I now return you to your regularly scheduled reading...
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
Swords in the Fire
By Dan Edelman
Sailor Omen Swords thought the invasion of his island was harsh enough
retribution for having slept with the sister of two strange landlubbing
Westerners. But that didn't compare to what he got when he sought
revenge on the brothers.
Shadows Of Europa
By Jeff Hemsley
Caught between corrupt Intra-Solar Security officers and a Local Mob
Boss,Thaddeus Edison Clinton runs as far from Earth as he can get, only
to find it isn't far enough.
Hollywood Ending
By Frank Byrns
Zen Jackson found himself surrounded. He couldn't run and he couldn't hide.
The End of The Beginning
By Noel Carroll
Seventeen thousand years of life is enough for anyone. Or is it?
Queen Lysandra
By Linda J. Dunn
When Queen Lysandra learned of the king's murder, she had to find a way to
thwart the assassin's scheme to take power.
Shadows
By Robert Moriyama
Timmy Morgan had a secret. He knew something that no one else -- and
especially, no grownup -- knew, or even suspected. Timmy knew that shadows
were alive, that they were parasites (a big word, but Timmy understood it all
too well) that clung to everything ...
The Psychic Warrior
By Donald Sullivan
Since he had first learned of and developed his psychic powers, Al had learned to control them from the start. He could turn his telepathy on and off at will. And a good thing, too, for he had no desire to hear the secret thoughts of others. More voices began to filter into Al’s mind, and moments later it was a babble of voices.
The sequel to "The Zenin Menace"
Wingles and Wafoons
By Vera Searles
He was staring at a sign across the aisle, and noted that Edna was still haggling. Herb walked over to the opposite booth. The sign read WINGLES AND WAFOONS in large green letters with a border of shamrocks. Probably he saw that sign when they were here last week.Still feeling befuddled, Herb looked at the display. Jars. Empty Mason jars?
We Can Remake You
By Greg Guerin
There was a knock on the door- the first time in a thousand years, not counting Brian's practical joke on Usula three hundred years ago. The sub-sonic reverberation accompanied by a sharp electrical discharge woke everyone in the Herman Munsfeld clinic except Brian and Herman; Herman was deeply entranced in the sleep machine- it would take considerably more effort to rouse him- and, technically, Brian never slept.
The Mare Inebrium Starter Kit.
--Updated 2/7/2004-- 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!
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.
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
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 --3\01\2003--
Click here to see the Links Page. Our fellow E-zines, Astronomy,
research material, entertainment, and much, much more!
Aphelion IRC Chat --7\31\2003-- Information about an underused 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 --Repaired 3\25\2003-- 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 special 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.
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@lists.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!
--8\8\2000--
