Here we are at the end of another year. Which means that it is time for the double-sized Holiday Issue! So, fair warning, the next new issue will be the February Birthday issue.

Inside you'll find some of the best stories and poetry to have graced Aphelion's pages over the past year. Also, there is a full slate of brand new material for your reading pleasure. Everyone has been working diligently to get this ready for you on time. Once again, a few minor miracles have been pulled off. When you see what's inside, you'll understand.

But that's what giving a gift is all about, isn't it? The anticipation of seeing the look on your special someone's face when they open it, see your gift for the first time, waiting for that smile that means you did good. Hoping they'll enjoy it. Hoping they'll love it and cherish it. Doesn't have to be a holiday, either. Any special occasion, or even no occasion at all. Aphelion is our gift to you. Sure, there might be a spot or two where the paint doesn't quite match up. Or a seam with a tiny blob of glue showing where the joins didn't quite match. There might be a few rough edges that could have used a little bit more polishing before we wrapped it up, but it's the best kind of gift, crafted by hand, with all the energy and creativity our writers and staff bring out from within themselves. Each story and poem is a gift from the writer, offered to you in hope that you will find something special within its words. Each issue of Aphelion is a gift crafted by many hands. The staff works with each writer, smoothing down those rough edges, carefully sanding away those tiny places where the seams show, and mixing the colors carefully so that they match as best they can. All in hope of the readers finding the joy that was enclosed within each and every line. Waiting for a critique in the Forums that will teach them a little bit more about crafting their stories.

So now we come to the end of Aphelion's 17^th year of bringing you, the reader, the very best of amateur fiction the Internet has to offer. The February issue will mark Aphelion turning 18 years old. Going on two decades of bringing you this gift, this amazing present from writers to readers. We've grown, learned more and more, improved our crafting skills, and watched with pride as Aphelion writers move on to take their rightful places among the professional writers of the world. This issue is a holiday gift. The next issue will be a Birthday gift. There is something special in every issue.

As an extra-special treat for you in the upcoming February issue of Aphelion, I managed to meet a couple of non-Aphelion deadlines in time to finish up my first Mare Inebrium story to grace Aphelion's pages in over two years! This one is the first one I've written since turning in the manuscript for the upcoming book. Just a little taste of the new stories written for the book, so to speak.

Speaking of the book, I've seen the cover art and it is amazing! I've also gone over a PDF copy to check the manuscript for those inevitable transcription errors that always seem to happen when files change format during the process. Everything should be ready when the publisher finalizes the schedule.

But don't let me hog spotlight here. There's much more for your delight, awaiting you just past my boring little blathering here. I should just shut up now and let you get to it.

Enjoy the Holidays, no matter which ones you celebrate, if any. In any case, see you in February for the Birthday Issue!

Dan

BOILERPLATE:

First off, if you do the Facebook thing, feel free to join us on the Aphelion page there. The link is Aphelion Webzine. As an aside, the Editorial Mafia and I have found Facebook to be useful while we transition between e-mailing lists. Given our different locations and schedules, it's come in handy as a way to discuss production details of new issues. Sometimes there are several of us using Facebook at the same time, so it's almost like the old chat room days.

Dan's Music Page This is my promo page here at Aphelion. All the links below, and more information about the albums, are located here.

The Never Bank On A Learning Curve CD on the Create Space website. My first album, with a wide range of styles and genres, covering the past three years of my working with the MAGIX Music Maker programs.

The Second Helping CD on the Create Space website. My second album, with just as wide a range of different musical styles, showing just how much I've learned in the past three years.

Dan's Studio-D Page on the Bandcamp website. Digital downloads of the albums, or each individual song if you prefer it that way. Just click on the album cover thumbnails and you'll see a list of each song on the album. Next to the song titles are links to read the liner notes, or to download the individual song. You can listen to each song for free. There is also a link to download each entire album at one go. I cannot say enough about Bandcamp! This is an amazing website. I have Rob, and many other friends, to thank for finally talking me into checking it out.

Here are some links to pages I have up promoting my music. When my book comes out I'll add those links to the promotion page, too. So far, there are links on that page to the Create Space Preview songs, the Create Space page for each album, the Amazon.com listings, and the link to the digital downloads page.

And here's a link to my Sound Cloud page:

Dan's Sound Cloud Page where all my music has been stored for your free listening pleasure. These are not as high a quality recordings as the ones on the CDs or on Bandcamp. But SoundCloud does have the virtue of having everything collected together in one place.

Check those links out, buy a CD or download if you like what you hear. And once again, thank you for your time,

Dan all my music has been stored for your free listening pleasure. These are not as high a quality recordings as the ones on the CDs or on Bandcamp. But SoundCloud does have the virtue of having everything collected together in one place.

Check those links out, buy a CD or download if you like what you hear. And once again, thank you for your time,

Dan