Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 17, 2004CONTACT: Nisi ShawlPHONE: 206-720-1008EMAIL: nisis@aolcomTeen Writers Produce Top-Notch StoriesFeaturing five science fiction and fantasy stories written by high school students, the premier issue of BEYOND magazine is now online at . Nisi Shawl, African American writer and critic, put together this exciting, innovative electronic magazine in conjunction with the Central District Forum for Arts & Ideas "Black to the Future" Black Science Fiction Festival. One story comes from an African American contributor and another concerns an African American protagonist. Part of the ReadOn! project, BEYOND magazine received funding support from The Safeco Corporation.Shawl describes the magazine's contents in glowing terms: "There's Seth Paradox's Brunch on the Plains of Talanshalah, a witty and lusciously detailed meditation on the rights and wrongs of a magical sword's owner; Dirt, by Elliott Bangs, a devastatingly simple piece with a stunning structure and amazing technical control; The True Story of How Halley's Comet Came to Be, by Lyra Delaunay, a beautifully straightforward tale about straightforwardness and beauty--or the lack thereof; William Martin's The Garden of the Angels, a tour of an eerily perfect post-apocalyptic Eden; and Depths of the Mirror, by Rachel Landau, a haunting evocation of desire gratified. BEYOND editor Nisi Shawl's stories have been published in Asimov's SF; Strange Horizons; Mojo: Conjure Stories; and the groundbreaking Dark Matter anthology series, which focuses on speculative fiction by people of African descent. With her friend Cindy Ward, she teaches "Writing the Other: Bridging Cultural Differences for Successful Fiction," a class based on her thought-provoking essay "Transracial Writing for the Sincere." A scholar and critic of speculative fiction as well as a board member for the Clarion West Writers Workshop, she likes to relax by pretending she lives in other people's houses.The Central District Forum for Arts & Ideas is a 501 (C) (3) non-profit organization that advocates and promotes greater awareness of African-Americans in the arts, humanities, sciences and public affairs. We offer a glimpse into the lives and accomplishments of African-Americans contributing to the vibrancy of contemporary American thought and culture.

Imagine that

The nicest rejection letter I have ever received thus far—if that isn’t a contradiction in terms…

Lyra,
Thank you for submitting your work to Bathtub Gin, but I'm going to pass on publishing your submissions at this time. Because of the overwhelming amount of submissions received recently and my desire to avoid a backlog, I'm afraid I can't provide comments at this time. My apologies for that. I invite you to take a look at the Links section of the Gin website for some great magazines currently accepting work. Thanks again.

Christopher HarterBathtub Gin, Pathwise PressPO Box 2392Bloomington, IN 47402www.bluemarble.net/~charter/btgin.htm "There's nothing worse than an undetermined person"--Pollard

ps. Tell your editor friend that they have great taste...

Hey, Adam?

What's your heaven like?

And she watches, and waits.

Lucy in the sky with diamonds…

It is a frightening thing, sometimes, to realize one can take pleasure from pain. Nevertheless it is there, and, oh, how well one can know just where to draw from, and just how far to go with it…but this subject is a heady one, and disturbs people, so I will not deign to dwell upon it, save for one thing: the ties that bind are not always wished broken.

So. Here I am, once again at a state of transition that I didn’t ask for, and having to compensate as best as I can in what ways I know how. I am feeling resentful and angry and frustrated, and I am torn between telling myself it’s all right, you’re allowed to feel, it’s not a crime—and telling myself that it’s self-centered and arrogant and this is no time for things like that, you need to focus on just accomplishing your tasks and get on with it already because feelings like that won’t help you. And the torn indecision on my part is no help in the matter, I assure you, just another wrench thrown in the whirlwind. Is it right to worry about myself, and my future? Or am I supposed to not concern myself with…well, myself…? It’s funny how quickly you can jump back and forth between opinions, and feel equally as strong about either on any given day.

The only thing I know for sure is that I don’t know anything for sure;

that awful lovely lonely universal paradoxical truth that everyone knows but won’t admit because it’s too scary to think about.;

which, like a hell-bent half-living demonic concept of reality preying on delusions and pretty tales, is merely biding it’s time out of sight to grab you at your weakest moment and devour you.

And so, in this frame of mind, without a course of action, I sit, and watch, and wait, for who knows what, some cosmic symbol maybe, to tell me that yeah, okay, it’s time now, go ahead and live already; and in the meantime I worry that it will never come and I’ll just be sitting and watching and waiting forever.

Lucy in the sky with diamonds…