Tuesday, February 23, 2016

"It's Come to Our Attention" - The Editor's Thoughts

Just released our Spring 2016 anthology. So many genres to cross this time. Fantasy. Science Fiction. Horror. Magical Realism. Humor. It's all good.

 For this edition of Third Flatiron Anthologies, we challenged authors to give us stories to fit our theme of "under the radar," for example, things that are happening quietly, without a lot of fanfare, that may still be extremely significant or make a big difference. We thought maybe a little "Tragedy of the Commons" would work under this theme. We also were interested in speculative fiction that upon "scratching the surface"—reveals something deeper hidden beneath. Hence, the title, It's Come to Our Attention.
Leading off, Pauline J. Alama's fantasy, "Surplus Army" speculates about what may be happening unnoticed in our landfills.
We greatly enjoyed Wendy Nikel's mystery, "Midnight on Addison Street," as a man seeks a mysterious librarian to see if she can reveal who’s trying to kill him. (And as we all know, librarians know everything).
Think you know how the French Revolution came about? What if there’s more to it than meets the eye? Philip Brian Hall's steampunk/alternate history tale, "Time's Winged Chariot," asks and answers this very question.
Magical realism often begins in a world that resembles reality, yet leads us into a fantastic or mythical adventure. We feature three such fabulous tales this time: "Spirit Cat" by Hunter Liguore, in which a famed artist who paints after-life paintings of the dead is haunted by an extinct Asian cat that wants its portrait painted. In "The Argentine Radio" by Joel Richards, a piece of Jorge Luis Borges's Zahir finds its way into everyone's pocket. Get out your handkerchiefs for "Something in Forever" by E. M. Eastick. As the world around them drifts through the inevitable changes of time, a teenage girl and her mother discover their own versions of peace through immortality.
Our "Grins and Gurgles" (flash humor) offering this time is "Chocolat" by James Dorr, in which an elderly Parisian bemoans the recent decline in standards. It's a great little reminder of all that we owe to French culture.
Well, sometimes things lurking beneath the surface are just plain horrible. So, never forget to throw a few coins in "The Wishing Well" by Terri Bruce, and don't go downstairs, because "The Thing Is, the Basement" by Greg Beatty.
We're inclined to favor hard science fiction in our collections—when we can find it. With James H. Zorn's oddball galactic agent in "Agents of the Volurian Empire, Help Is on the Way!" we’re never sure whether he is really just a human who’s gone around the bend. Is the climate misbehaving, or is it all in our minds? Find out in "Ice-Cold" by Nyki Blatchley. Those outlandish claims in the tabloids just might be "All True," according to Marie DesJardin. What would it be like if you could understand what people were really thinking? "The Translator" by Arthur M. Doweyko gives us a glimpse. We close with a bit of illegal but highly satisfying genetic tinkering in "Déjà Vu" by Lisa Timpf.
We were pleased to be able to include a larger percentage of female authors in this issue and hope you'll enjoy this wide-ranging collection by a group of international authors as much as we did putting it together.
It's Come to Our Attention is now available on Amazon and Smashwords and other online distributors. Paperbacks will be available shortly.