Issue 21

NewMyths.com

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

Issue 21, December 1, 2012

Dear Readers,

We're celebrating our fifth-year anniversary issue with a new look and a foray into social media. Please join me in welcoming Lisa Poh to our team. Lisa will be creating a New Myths Facebook page in the near future, a Twitter account, and other surprises.

A number of people have asked me why I began New Myths. (Seeing how many hours it consumes, my wife asks me why I continue to edit it.) Now is a good time to reflect on that question.

New Myths began on graduation day from Odyssey the Fantasy Writing Workshop with not one but two of my ideas fusing in the leaf-mold of my mind. The first was that there are very few paying markets for writers of genre fiction. Sure, there are pro-zines like Clarkesworld and Asimov's, and then there are fine non-paying markets like Bewildering Stories. But in between there isn't much. I had nearly a dozen stories published in 2008 when I began this journey, and only two of them had earned a dime. The second idea was a question. How does a writer with no product (i.e. novel) promote himself? There are a number of ways and I tried a few. Blogging doesn't fit my personality. I kept a diary when I lived in Mexico. Despite having an interesting life, I couldn't bring myself to write notes every day or every week. And I didn't have enough angst to require an introspective outlet. Blogging was even more agonizing than keeping a diary. Fortunately I had the foresight to write my blogs in Word on my computer to see if I could keep it up, so no one had the disappointment of yet another blog fizzling out on the web.

Using social media is another self-promotional avenue. That, too, doesn't fit my personality. If I log on the computer, I'm working, not surfing. Hence the employment of Lisa Poh.

Finally, I thought about scribbling Scott T. Barnes--author! ingrease pencil on my back and streaking the Superbowl, but that's so déjà vu.

What did fit my personality and experience--having a degree in journalism--was starting a magazine. I could kill two birds with one stone by offering a pro market to other writers while getting my name out there. I never publish my own stories in New Myths. That, I have always felt, would diminish the integrity of the magazine. Nor do I publish my friends...not unless their stories blow me away.

That is the short version. It takes a lot of time, dozens of hours for every issue. And with each hour I think to myself 'I could be writing. I could have finished a novel by now...' But so far the gratification of offering this service has kept me enthused. And heck, my short stories seem to be doing alright.

I am proud that we have published over a hundred writers in our five years, and particularly proud that for many of them New Myths was their first credit. It is almost as fun to note that we have published winners of the most prestigious awards in science fiction and fantasy (Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Rhysling, etc.). I can't wait for the next hundred.

I hope you enjoy issue 21.

Enjoy,

Scott T. Barnes, Editor

Table of Contents

Fiction

The Desert of Trees by M. Bennardo

The Last Listener by Eric Cline

Foolish Wishes, Fairy Kisses by Brent Knowles

God's Plan for the Lunar Colony by Nicholas Whitley

NonFiction

At the Mercy of the Heavens by Peter Jekel

Defining the Myths and Legends of the Holy Grail by Norman Rubin