Dear SmokeLong Friends, artwork by Marty D. Ison I'd be willing to bet that most of you read more literary magazines than I do. After having read between 150 and 200 submissions a month, I don't have the same deep craving for more reading that I once had. One magazine that I do devour regularly, though, is Night Train. It's currently on hiatus (but due to come back soon!), and I dearly miss it. Its hiatus, though, opened a wonderful opportunity for us: Alicia Gifford became free to guest edit. One of the things I truly admire about Night Train is that, although the stories contained within its pages vary wildly in terms of theme, they don't diverge in quality—they are all exceptional. That sounds like an obvious goal for a literary magazine, but it's a goal that's more difficult to attain than one might realize. Well, Alicia brought some of that magic on over with her. From Amato to Zafris, this volume is packed with beauty. It seems perfect somehow that the A and Z authors both set their pieces largely on highways, a happy accidental framing device for the whole issue, setting up the journey from story to story within. It is, to quote Alicia on publishing Tod Goldberg, "a mystic, karmic crop circle." Jump on SLQ Hwy. 16 and meet the Hangin' Dragon of Glasgow, Jim Bowie and Davey Crockett, the Kiss and Run Robber, and many, many vivid characters in between. It's a hell of a ride. Welcome to the mystic, karmic crop circle, Dave Clapper Founding Editor, SmokeLong Quarterly March 15, 2007
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