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SmokeLong Quarterly

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Letter from the Editor (37)

Story by Nancy Stebbins September 24, 2012

Art by Marty D. Ison

What an exciting time at SLQ! I’m talking about this issue, of course (more on that, below) but also the upcoming anthology, which will celebrate ten years of SmokeLong Quarterly. We’ve been reading and re-reading stories going back to the first issue, struggling to choose from so many wonderful stories, and we are so excited about how it’s shaping up. In addition, two of our editors have their own soon-to-be-released collections. Tara’s Modern Manners for Your Inner Demons (Matter Press) will be out in October and Ashley’s The Way Home (Dancing Girl Press) in November.

And this issue! It’s always interesting to see what common elements show up in the stories selected by our guest editors and permanent staff, and for a while we thought we would have a Texas issue, though it ends up that “lost at sea” wins out as a more common theme. This is not to say that there is repetition: the stories (the watery ones and the not-so-watery ones) vary in range from the ruminative and fast-paced “Wreck” to quieter stories like “Pianola” and “A Collector,” with their fragile imagery of moths and eggs. I’m sure each reader will have their own take on the similarities and differences, so I’ll just say, “Happy Reading!”

Nancy Stebbins
Senior Editor, SmokeLong Quarterly

September 24, 2012

About the Author

Nancy Stebbins is a psychiatrist, a Flash Factory groupie, and an MFA student at Pacific University. Her short stories have been published in The Summerset Review, Grey Sparrow Journal and other places. She shares a blog with three other Pacific students: http://pop-upprincesses.blogspot.com.

About the Artist

A native of Ohio, Marty D. Ison lives with his wife transplanted in the sands of the Gulf of Mexico. He studied fine arts at Saint Petersburg College. In addition to the visual arts, he writes poetry, short stories, and novels. See more of Ison’s work here.

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