Issue 2

NewMyths.com

A quarterly ezine by a community of writers, poets and artists.

Issue 2, March 1, 2008

Dear Readers,

The quality of submissions continues to improve. I try to strike a balance between traditional sword and sorcery and the more modern style myths, and juxtapose that with hard and soft science fiction. Some stories had to be cut because they would have weighed the magazine too much in one direction or the other. I chose Psychic because of its realistic dialog and Class of 2054 because it was the most original submission to date (and funny besides). I received very few pieces of flash fiction and none that I wanted to print. In fact, two categories we never receive enough of are non-fiction and flash fiction. It seems writers have discovered how hard it is to tell a story in less than 1000 words.

That reminds me of a story about Samuel Clemens. When a friend thanked him for a lengthy letter, Clemens replied, "If I'd had more time, I would have written a shorter one." How true.

Quite apart from flash fiction, stories longer than 6500 words give me a headache. I just don't want to stare at the screen that long. Bone Reading is one that made me read until my eyes were sore and bloodshot.

As you read this, I’m busy reconstructing Issue 1 as best I can so it will be available in the archives. In the mean time, I hope you enjoy these stories and poetry as much as I do.

Enjoy,

Scott T. Barnes, Editor

Table of Contents

Fiction

Dust Baby by D. Eccott

Letting Go by Gerri Leen

Butterfly Hands by Catherine Knutsson

The Man Who Wrote War and Peace by Dan Rafter

Psychic by Jennifer Shumate

Bone Reading by Joanne Steinwachs

One Hell of a Cat by Celina Summers

The Class of 2054 by Julie Turner

NonFiction

Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained Review by I.E. Lester

Corrupted Science Review by I.E. Lester

Poetry

Cinnamon Sale by Johan Jonsson

Messiah by Cindy M. Kelly

A Beauty Strange by Thomas Zimmerman