Thank you very much for coming to Liquid Imagination’s Speculative Fiction. I’m doing the introduction instead of Fiction Editor Kevin Wallis because he’s swamped with submissions (we love submissions!), and because he’s getting his anthology, “Beneath the Surface of Things,” ready to be published through Lame Goat Press.
I’ve discovered that anthologies and magazines often develop themes all their own, separate from the editors; themes that just happen as if the issue or publication has a mind of its own. It is much like characters from a story. For example, a writer may intend for a certain character to become the epitome of absolute evil, but after a while that character becomes more endearing and 3-dimensional
Publications are often like that. Each anthology or issue tends to come alive with its own flavor and personality. IT’S ALIVE! Like a minor character in a novel that suddenly explodes with power to rock the protagonist, that minor “evil” character suddenly becomes a powerful component of the main plot. We don’t plan these things.
Kevin admitted to me that he was in a curious mood as he read and accepted stories for this issue. The stories he selected include the horror/humor of Graeme Reynolds whose “Mr. Whiskers” heats up this issue, the hilarious uproar that Annemarie Bogart’s “Introducing Botanical,” Stephen Weinstock’s “The Ugliest Bride in New Orleans,” and C.M. Marcum’s “Stink” deliver. You’re going to discover David Dunwoody excellent writing with his “Pandora the Pious,” and Mike Phillips with his haunting “Wolf Skin.” Pay attention as Nicole Lawler unravels her twisted tale in “Watching.” The stories you’re going to read beat out hundreds of others, and each one speaks of its own merit. And there is a little piece of Kevin Wallis in these stories.
Kevin rocks as an editor and as a writer. I know in my heart that I made the right choice, the best choice, to have Kevin edit the speculative fiction of Liquid Imagination.
And you must LISTEN as Bob Eccles reads each story. His voice resonates with depth and meaning, and takes you away from your everyday life. His reading are an important part of each story, an important part of Liquid Imagination.
I hope that you enjoy as much as I do the stories Kevin selected and edited and that Bob help make come alive for us.
JAM
