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