The Readers’ Guide
What’s in Issue 422
| Novel |
Fred the Rat is unable to take delivery of Jonas’ mystery parcel, but Frank pays Jonas anyway, considering the circumstances. Ásgrímur Hartmannsson, Error, chapter 10 |
|---|---|
| Serials |
Ladies Ada and Augusta, Lindy, and various Sam Clemens bid each other baroque adieux: Rob Hunter, Mark Twain in Milan, part 5; conclusion. Prof. Majis Grimble sets out to Snaketown in search of Chebma Lorink. He must get past an old lady who seems to know an unexpected lot about Grimble himself: Harry Lang, The University of Dreams and Knowledge, part 1; part 2. |
| Short Stories |
New contributor David W. Landrum revives an old theatrical superstition. If a permanent backstage light goes out, ghosts may appear. A light is put out as an economy measure and the ghost that appears is perfect for a part in an upcoming production: The Understudy, part 1; part 2; part 3; conclusion. A police station can become a rather strange place when a prisoner is required to remember how he got there: Bruce Memblatt, The Last Station. An older sister gives a young artist his first inspiration: Ron Van Sweringen, Only Scratching the Surface. |
| Flash Fiction |
How many people in this family does it take not to change a light bulb? Do they really want to know? A. S. Andrews, Burned Out. The editor of a local paper gets a better story than he expected — or dares to print: Arthur Mackeown, Deadlines. |
| Poetry | Rebecca Lu Kiernan, Bent Arrow |
| Short Poetry |
Arnold Hollander, Star Trick Oonah V. Joslin, Armchair Observatory, NASA December 5, 2010 |
Departments
| Translation | Carmen Ruggero, Aceptando la realidad |
|---|---|
| Welcome | Bewildering Stories welcomes David W. Landrum. |
| Challenge | Challenge 422 sees a Low-Light Sight. |
| The Reading Room |
Bill Bowler reviews Aidan Lucid, The Zargothian Tales |
| The Art Gallery |
A randomly rotating selection of Bewildering Stories’ art NASA: Picture of the Day Sky and Telescope, This Week’s Sky at a Glance |
Bewildering Stories News
Backlog: Our Coordinating Editor, Bill Bowler, reports that the Special Agents of our new Prose Task Force have begun making a big dent in our backlog. Their help is invaluable, because Bewildering Stories was in danger of becoming a victim of its own success. A glance at the “long works pending” in our on-line schedule will give you a preliminary idea.
What the on-line schedule does not show is that there are more than 80 titles in the Short Stories line, and the total has sometimes reached 100. The backlog was about as long.
Our Associate Editors have been doing superb work with a promptness that we appreciate and admire. But we require at least two readings for every submission. As usual, the bottleneck is at the top; your Managing Editor and Coordinating Editor simply have not been able to keep up. Our new, highly qualified “special-ops” corps is already helping us clear the road.
In the end, much of the backlog will move to the official schedule. That won’t make much difference in terms of waiting time, but our contributors will know more promptly where their submissions stand. That will be good for their — and our — morale.
Don Webb
Managing Editor
Bewildering Stories
Randomly selected Bewildering motto:
Randomly selected classic rejection notice:
Bewildering Stories’ official mottoes:
“Poems are not made with ideas; they are made with words.” — Stéphane Mallarmé
Ars longa, vita brevis. Rough translation: “Proofreading never ends.”
To Bewildering Stories’ schedule: In Times to Come
Readers’ reactions are always welcome.
Please write!
Copyright © March 7, 2011 by Bewildering Stories
