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Edition 23: Notes From the Editor
So here we are at the final edition of 2015.
I can’t believe what a year we’ve had. We’ve been chuffed for all the nominations for awards that our writers have got, and to have been a part of that process. For 2014 stories in our mag to have been recognised in several different countries, in several Best of Year anthologies, is truly humbling for us.
The magazine is undergoing a bit of a renovation in its processes, in its quality and content. Evolving is a quite challenging process and we’re keen to be better.
I feel like this edition is not any different. It came together, not with any particular aim, but this edition has drawn together a collection of female voices in a variety of worlds. It has a finishing understated hopefulness that I feel is a wonderful rounding off to the year.
Edition 20: Notes From the Editor
It’s been a pretty exciting month or so for SQ Mag.
The eZine is a labour of love for me and for Gerry Huntman, Chief of IFWG Publishing Australia. We started humbly with six monthly hard copy editions in 2010. Eventually we moved with the times and brought SQ online.
In the last two months we’ve received some recognition for the hard work we’ve put into bringing you an eZine full of diverse voices and stories from all over the globe.
The atmospheric Inside Ferndale, winner of the 2013 Story Quest competition and published at the beginning of 2014, won the prestigious New Zealand Sir Julius Vogel award for Best Short Fiction. Congratulations to Lee Murray again on her win.
Alan Baxter’s The Darkness in Clara narrowly missed out on the Australian Ditmar Award for Best Novella or Novelette, though he was in good company in that edition with Sean Williams, who took out the category.
Treading the Brittle Shell by Rhoads Brazos, from our Australiana special edition in 2014, was picked up for Ellen Datlow’s Year’s Best Horror Volume 7. A bit of a big deal. Congratulations to Rhoads; that story was always going to be a winner, and I knew it the second I read it.
Edition 17: Notes From the Editor
Welcome again all to our November edition and Happy Halloween or All Hallow’s Eve to our northern hemisphere readers. I love this time, caught between the two hemispheres, of all the colour of these stages of life; the bursting forth of the new, ready to begin, and the slow whiling away of the old in a last burst of vivacity into decrepit waste.
Our edition unintentionally came together with a bit of a spooky feel. There’s a psychic who sees ghosts, a portal to the afterlife, a collection of dark and twisted tales reviewed, and another novel assessed with ghosts at its heart. Perhaps the forces of the other side have helped bring it all together for appropriate enjoyment for those still amongst the living…
We are on a bit of a science fiction kick at the moment in our submissions, which is lovely, as it had been lacking for a while there. There’s several stories in this edition to evidence just how versatile a genre it is. It also ties in particularly well with the great 70s and 80s-style sci-fi cover brought to you by the talents of artist and writer Andrew J. McKiernan. Thanks for the nostalgia, Andrew!
Edition 16: Notes From the Editor
As I write this entry to the new edition, I sit listening to the beautiful sounds of White Vinyl Design’s music of the solar system. It’s so fitting to the time of year in Canada, where I am currently, full of soft and lullaby-like tunes. You can find the link on any of our social media sites, posted on the 30th of August. Astounding the way the creativity the galaxy inspires.
We’re gathering our energies together again after the publication of Star Quake 2, our Best of 2013 edition. There’s been so much wonderful feedback from our contributors who have received the books, and for a limited time, you can get Star Quake 1 and 2 in a special two-for-one deal. Awesome! Please help support us by getting the word out.
It’s that time of year where we also start talking about our special edition for May 2015. This year we’re looking for new spins on fables and fairytales; legends of a new age. What will catch our eye are stories that haven’t been told, or fables that aren’t Eurocentric, like Grimm or Christian-Anderson. Details will be forthcoming soon after the publication of this issue.
Edition 15: Notes From the Editor
Welcome back again, speculative fiction fans.
Backing up from another tremendously successful Special Edition, it’s been great to see the discussions happening around Australian spec-fic authors and settings, and what they have to offer readers. It was gratifying to have some stellar names of the Australian scene on board, and such a pleasure to work with them.
Being nominated for the Australian Shadows Awards created a huge deal of excitement behind the scenes at SQ Mag, and we were so honoured to even be nominated. It was great to see so many wonderful authors lauded, and we’re thrilled to have those we know and respect take home some of these awards (despite rigorous competition). Congratulations to Kaaron Warren (who headlined as part of our last special edition here) for her long fiction, and Dan Rabarts and Lee Murray, finalists in our Story Quest competition for 2013, for a win for their editing the short story collection, Baby Teeth.
On that note, next month the 2014 Story Quest competition opens for submissions. This will be the first year that the competition is run through SQ Mag, which was a move that made sense for us when the winners are published through the ezine. The theme is ‘Punkin’ the Train’, and we’d love to see some wonderful world building around a train-related story. We’re looking forward to see what our ingenious submitters come up with.
SQ Mag 