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Issue 136 Volume 13 September 2009

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Archives Editorial Serials and Long Fiction Poetry and Filk Music Short Stories Features Series

Editorial

Dan L. Hollifield

The Senior Editor's usual rants about whatever…


Serials and Novellas

Hazardous Materials
Matthew Quinn Martin
Jarrod kicked the smoking habit, but who can resist the lure of the arcade game from hell?

Three Revolvers On Mars
Kristen Lee Knapp
A tale of murder and revenge set in the future.

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Short Stories

Butterfly Cocoon
A. R. Norris
Marie Hadner's life as a law enforcement officer on the isolated space colony was tedious beyond belief, one trivial incident after another blown out of proportion people as bored as she was. Then the comet — at least it looked like a comet — parked itself nearby, and people began to disappear.

Eat Me: My Dinner With The Last of the Got'a'sniz'scuzmi Tribe
Mark Edgemon and Robert Moriyama
Samuel Winston's trip to New Guinea was a memorable one. Good thing, because the voice and video recordings that he might have used for his show on The Travel Network were lost…

Experiment 1919
Richard Tornello
In the name of science and The System, "A" and "B" tortured condemned prisoners to death and tried to capture their thoughts.

It Is Better To Give…
Michael Bagen
The other inmates of the prison colony called Prisoner 87 a whore and a traitor, believing her to be the mistress of the Commandant. They didn't know she was really the mechanic that kept him — it — running.

One With The Stars
Steele Tyler Filipek
Cowrie's people wandered the stars at will in their "planetoids", sentient machines that could cross interstellar distances in an instant. But for her, the prospect of her grandfather's imminent demise outweighed all the wonders her world could offer.

Pale Nations of the Dead
James Lecky
In Pame Glorias, the Llorona Xalbadora wept tears of rucrystal, and waited for one who could free her from her eternal sorrow.

Sapling
Jayne Waggoner
The young tree became the vessel for a vengeful spirit, and found itself doing untreelike things — like walking.

The Power of Reverie
Sergio Palumbo
The magic lamp, combined with Seruele's powers, brought forth wonderful things. But the child was willful and too curious for her own good.

Time Warps and Jump Fever
T. N. Dockrey
Shadow, the beautiful young stowaway, talked of 'phantoms' and 'albatrosses' — ghosts that haunted the Spines, the paths through jump-space that made interstellar travel practical and predictable.

Never Friday
Greg Barozzi
When the two Captains of the Silver Moon return to the Mare Inebrium, Max isn't very glad to see them. But they buy their way into Max's good graces with a large credit chip, and a sad story. After all, in the Mare Inebrium, a story to tell is as valuable as hard currency…

August 2009 Forum Challenge

Congratulations to Chris Callaghan, winner of the"Do Over" Forum Flash Challenge. Check out Chris's entry Second Chance and five more tales of time-editing fun — after you have read and commented on our other stories, novellas, poetry, and features, of course. Mark Edgemon of 'The Creator and the Catalyst' studio will be producing an audio version of the story. All entries are available via the Flash Index in the Fun and Games section of the Forum, provided by Nate Kailhofer, Flash Editor and Challenge Master.)

Special Note: For the second month in a row, there was a peculiar influx of votes which most believe to be the work of a "troll". The same method was used in each case, but different authors received the suspect votes, so there is no suspicion that any Challenge author is in any way responsible. However, all Challenge authors agree that the resulting fuss detracts from the purpose of the Challenges: to encourage writers to develop their skills and have a little competitive fun in the process. This may lead to changes in the voting process — stay tuned!

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Poetry and Filk Music

Once Upon a Time
Richard Tornello

Decade
J.B. Hogan

Eldritch Mistress
Richard H. Fay

It
Mike Berger

Spirit
Thomas D Reynolds

Space Message
Stephen Jarrell Williams

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Articles and features

Thoughts on Writing #13: Reading Outside The Box
Seanan McGuire
Seanan McGuire takes apart the engine of writing to find out how it works, and offers her insights into how to put it back together again.

Aphelion Review: Burnout: The Mystery of Space Shuttle STS-281
Dan L. Hollifield
Dan dives into Stephanie Osborn's space shuttle mystery novel.

It's The End Of The World As We Know It: Post-Apocalyptic Manga
McCamy Taylor
McCamy examines three manga stories set after the fall.

From the Balcony: Moon
Robert Moriyama
Robert examines Duncan Jones's tense, thought-provoking film, Moon.

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