I would be willing to wager good money that everyone thought that the April 2009 monthly challenge would be foolish, or at least foolhardy to attempt.

How little you know your volunteer challenge dictator. No. The challenge this month is to create a story/chapter that examines the impact of the newfound means to create a Mobius strip fashioned from strips of graphene - that's right, a molecule that would have a single surface and only one edge.

Time to dust off the old sense of wonder at the possibilities of new technology and go write!

Remember: Challenges are supposed to be fun, but don't forget to stretch yourself. If you normally write fantasy, try SF. If you've never tried space opera, here's your chance. It doesn't have to be great. It's all about trying new things. There's no word limit, no time limit, no nothin'. Just have fun.

Challenges can be suggested by anyone and suggestions should be sent to Maria (newsletter (at) onlinewritingworkshop.com) or Walter Williams via the discussion list.

Spring Cleaning: Writers' Resources
It's April, and for most of us -- in the northern hemisphere, at least -- that means spring cleaning time!

We're doing some spring cleaning on the workshop too, and we'd like you to help out: for the first two weeks of April, we're sweeping out, refitting, and refreshing the Writers' Resources links. We'll take care of clearing out the dead ones, but what we need is tips on the best, most informative and useful new links to add.

E-mail links you'd like to nominate to support@sff.onlinewritingworkshop.com between April 1st and 14th with the subject line "Writers' Resources Links". Please include a brief explanation of why you think they're good candidates for us to link to. The members who provide the most good new leads -- links that are used -- will be thanked with two months of free membership.

Because what's spring cleaning if you don't get a treat afterwards?

Proposal Package Focus Group
From May 1st through May 22nd, members will be able to post a query letter, synopsis and first five pages for in-depth critique by a focus group. The group will be led by long-time member Jennifer Dawson. Reviewers of these proposals will not only do line nits, but will also give valuable feedback regarding plot hook, the quality of the writing sample, the likeability of the characters, etc.

Registration will begin on April 20th and will be limited to the first eleven people. We will hold a waitlist, though, and those people will be contacted if anyone drops out. They will also have the first chance at the next PPFG, tentatively planned for August. Past participants are welcome to register if they have a new project. So get those proposal packages ready! You will need a query letter, a polished synopsis, and the first five pages of your book ready BEFORE the PPFG starts.

This event will be held on a new ProBoards forum with secure logins so all posts are protected like the workshop. Unlimited space per member, and organized spaces are great perks. For more information, you can visit http://ppfg.proboards.com/ and read the basics without registering -- or contact Jennifer at: dawson001 (at) mac.com

Hope to see you there!

Odyssey Writing Workshop
The 2009 Odyssey workshop for science fiction, fantasy, and horror writers will be held from June 8th to July 17th at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. Odyssey is a great opportunity to improve writing and meet editors and authors. Jeanne Cavelos, Odyssey's director, founder, and primary instructor, is a best-selling author and a former senior editor at Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing, where she won the World Fantasy Award for her work. Being a writer/editor makes Cavelos uniquely suited to provide students with constructive and professional critiques of their work. "I give the same unflinchingly honest, concrete, detailed feedback that I provided as a senior editor," Cavelos said. Her typewritten critiques average around 1,000 words, and her handwritten line edits on manuscripts are extensive. In addition, she guides students through the six weeks, gaining in-depth knowledge of their work, providing detailed assessments of their strengths and weaknesses in private meetings, and helping them target their weaknesses one by one.

Odyssey class time is split between workshopping sessions and lectures. An advanced, comprehensive curriculum covers the elements of fiction writing in depth. Students learn the tools and techniques necessary to strengthen their writing. More information can be found at www.odysseyworkshop.org. Jeanne is always happy to answer questions and discuss the workshop. She can be reached by email at jcavelos@sff.net.

The Editors' Choices are chosen from the submissions from the previous month that show the most potential or otherwise earn the admiration of our Resident Editors. Submissions in four categories--science fiction chapters, fantasy chapters, horror, and short stories -- receive a detailed review, meant to be educational for others as well as the author. 

THE KING OF COOKS - CHAPTERS 5, 6, and 7 by Josh Vogt

It should be no surprise to anyone that I like character-driven novels. I want to read about people. And even in a book where events or things are driving the plot, I need those events or things to be reacted to or handled by characters that I can get behind. And if I can't get behind those characters, I have to at least be able to believe them. Their dialog has to sound like conversations; their actions need to be plausible within the construct of the history of the character that the author has shown me, and so on. They have to act like real people.

This still gives you a wide variety to work within; think of how different people like Gordon Ramsey and Rachel Ray are. (if you don't know who they are, search for them online...but beware that Ramsey has quite the temper and foul mouth.) The reason I used people known for their connection to cooking is that Josh Vogt provides a host of believable characters in his cooking-inspired novel, The King of Cooks.

The novel tells the story of Quince (nice food pun, there) an apprentice to the head cook, who has been seen in a world-changing prophecy by the prophet Vinosi. Vinosi wants Quince to drop his silly dream of being a chef and fulfill his prophecy and Quince wants nothing more than to cook. One of the great things in this story is the relationship of these two. The both believe that what the think is the correct path, and they are astonished that the other person cannot see their point of view.

But in both cases, Vogt has done an excellent job of making you feel the conviction of both men. If you look into the chapter, there's a point early on when the headmaster of the guilds shows up to speak to the King and the Prince, who are surveying damage to their property, and Quince and Vinosi have an amazing conversation that's straight out of Restoration period drama like Wycherley or Congreve. The two men are having this conversation, assuming they are all talking about what is important to each man individually, when both men are talking only about what they are interested in. It's the type of thing that renders itself terrible in description, i.e., what I'm doing, but reads brilliantly.

Along those lines, chapter 6 uses a different narrative technique from the other chapters that I think works. The entire chapter is dialog, but no attribution is given. The reader needs to know who is talking by their "voice." I've harped in the past about when you have more than two people in a conversation; you need to attribute each piece so the reader doesn't get lost. Vogt throws this advice out the window, and makes it work. Of course, he throws in parts where the characters refer to each other by name during their conversation, but he does it in such a natural way that it doesn't feel stilted or over-formalized. It sounds like a natural conversation.

Of course, it isn't perfect. There are times when Vinosi sounds like he's speaking in platitudes or clichés, but perhaps that isn't out of line for a prophet. It could be that part of his business, seeing visions, causes him to speak indirectly, or to call upon stock phrases. Still, there were times when I literally rolled my eyes at Vinosi's dialog. Overall, I felt it was effective, but Vogt needs to watch this so that Vinosi doesn't become a parody of himself. A little bit now and then, particularly when Vinosi is working up support for his arguments, works very effectively. Having Vinosi speak like this all the time becomes tedious.

A quick aside about an excellent example of how to have a character speak in stock phrases but still have it sound fresh is the Ascian (meaning "to cast no shadow") in Gene Wolfe's The Citadel of the Autarch (volume four of Wolfe's Book of the New Sun). The Ascian people can only understand language if it something quoted from their government publications, so the entirety of the character's dialog is in the form of propaganda-like drivel. Now, this is done by a master author, so I can't wholeheartedly recommend that people go out and ape this style, but if you get a chance to look at the books, you won't regret it.

For the rest of this review, visit the Editor's Choice area of the OWW site!

--John Klima, Editor, Electric Velocipede

THE WESTING MOON, Chapter 1 by Bob Dennis

This month's EC is an entertaining read that doesn't sacrifice a real grasp of sound storytelling. From the intriguing opening line -- "Astley David Cooper was contemplating murder with a palette knife when the Moon Man entered the Seventh Hill" -- to the well-timed last sentence of the chapter, we're given a brisk but good overview of this new and strange alternate 19th century, where a Moon Man has met Samuel Clemens and "stacked" realities exist. By the end of the second paragrah we're firmly grounded in time and have a sense of the players (the names are fantastic: Buttershin!) By the end of the first page we know that Cooper is an artist, formerly a soldier; he has a past with a mysterious woman named Dora, and we've been generally told how the rest of the United States views the strange Moon creature. The dialogue has just enough touch of the "old" so as not to pull the reader out of the setting, and the humor is subtle and adds to the voice of the character. The Moon Man, who has the potential of being the most problematic characterization because of his alienness, in fact comes across entirely believable both in description and interaction. I also found myself laughing out loud at Cooper's address of the Moon Man as "my lunar brother." There is much to delight in this fresh-sounding story.

The simple but effective descriptions jump off the page, such as:

Cooper was surprised that for such a large fellow the voice was high pitched and tinny. He looked up into almond shaped eyes the size of a man's palm. He'd heard them described as black as coal, black as night, black as a tomb, inky black, black, black, black, black.

They weren't black at all. The color was a dark eggplant. It was a lovely shade, but he did feel the distress others had described as gazing into death's cowl.

Using references that would be familiar to the characters of that time period work beautifully to keep the reader embedded in this milieu and avoid anachronisms (even for a story that involves dimensional travel and moon men). This is a technique that can work in any science fiction novel: as time advances, so do the paradigms in which people live, obviously, so a writer can play on metaphor and simile by referencing concepts that would be in keeping with the future culture, thus enhancing that future culture to the benefit of the reader's belief in the new world.

The main point about this chapter is the (albeit) brief insertion of plot detail about Dora near the beginning. While it's essential information, it breaks up the flow of the arrival of the Moon Man. If the references to the Battle of Icy Creek and Dora could be somehow worked, or threaded, into the chapter later on it might be more effective. But this is certainly not a make-or-break criticism, as the chapter still works even with a small hurdle.

Another thing to watch is the punctuation. This is an early draft, presumably, but it's something to note. For example:

Cooper joined him setting his palette and brush down on the bar.

That needs a comma between ‘him' and ‘setting'. There were a few other spots throughout that would make a reader (ie: an editor) pause a little because of punctuation. The general readability is fantastic, though there were a couple places where sentences could be smoother:

The legs moved through the tavern with a horse-hocked gait that stabbed the floor leaving gouges in the oak planking.

A comma could be utilized between "floor" and "leaving", or consider saying "...a horse-hocked gait that stabbed the floor and left gouges in the oak planking." These are, of course, very minute details but the draft is so smooth that the author can afford to nitpick even at this stage.

The ability to explain the stacked realities with such a visual, appropriate image contributed to the breezy pace of the chapter. Even if there wasn't a ton of time spent on description of the setting, I didn't feel I was missing too much. That being said, a few more set details added around the fantastic dialogue could still flesh it all out a bit better and make it read less scant without bogging the prose. As it is, I'm hooked. If this were an entire novel I would want to read it all based on this opening, which goes to show how effective it is as a first chapter. Keep going!

--Karin Lowachee
Author of THE GASLIGHT DOGS, BURNDIVE and CAGEBIRD 

"Three Pebbles" by Chance M

"Three Pebbles" is lovely and tragic, a hero's journey that travels cross-culturally between mythology and fairy tale. There are elements of Orpheus in here, but also of The Snow Queen, echoes of Cinderella and Hercules and more. This is not a retelling, however; it's an original creation that integrates a variety of classic narratives. Much of the pleasure in reading it comes from discovering how naturally they can blend together.

Fayola is a young woman whose village has struck a bargain with the Queen of the Underworld: when children turn eighteen, they must go to the river and choose three pebbles, the colors of which will determine that person's fate. Two years ago, Fayola lost her lover when he chose a pebble that doomed him to death. Now it is her turn to choose, and when she picks stones of both life and death, she is able to enter the underworld without dying, in order to win his freedom. This means singing to Persphon, the Queen, but she'll need a musical instrument, so Fayola goes about building one there in the realm of the dead. Lacking proper materials, Fayola forms the parts out of the stuff of her own memories, pouring them all into its creation. By the time she's done making the instrument, she can barely remember what it's for, but she manages to rescue Kayode, only to end up sacrificing her pebble of life to restore him.

The writing is strong, powerful and unsentimental, the language well suited to the mythic tone of the story. At times, the emotional restraint verges on bare-bones: A happens, B happens, then C happens, and we don't see much reaction from Fayola to warm up the narrative and make the pieces flow together. For example:

He kicked the coin back and forth between his feet, his pole held tight in his hands, grey knuckles turning white. He spit on my foot.

After minutes seeming of this stalemate, he bent and snatched up the coin. He shoved it into his pouch, nearly jerking it from his belt. He poled quickly, as if to forget this transaction, and the waters stilled as we crossed the lake.

I like the dramatic minimalism of this style and it is effective in the underworld scenes, but it comes across a little starkly in places, especially at the beginning when I'm looking for the story to engage my senses, to pull me in to Fayola's world. More sensory details would make it come alive: what does the narrator notice around her, and how does she respond to it?

The storyline hits its stride in the second section and from then on the plot moves forward smoothly, but I struggled to understand what was happening in the first scene: is Fayola pulling all three pebbles at once, or does her pebble ritual take place over an extended period of time? I think what's jarring in that sequence is that when Fayola contemplates the second pebble, the story diverts off into memories of previous events before it's established us in the now. It took a few read-throughs before I was certain that Kayode's leaving and the other events described were in the past, not occuring between Fayola's choosing of her second and third pebbles. To tighten the scene, some of that reminiscing could be moved to a point later on, to maintain the sense of immediacy in those opening moments and keep us immersed in what's happening right then and there.

A small detail, but part of what makes the initial scene confusing for me: I was unfamiliar with the word "kissar", so it would help to have a touch more description around the instrument when it's introduced, especially since it's going to play such a significant role in the story.

I'm wondering where this story is set? A little research reveals the names Kayode and Fayola are West African, while the kissar seems to be a North/East African version of a lyre. I'm not sure where "the River Odeon" places us, but the mythic figures are clearly Greek, at least in name. Later on, Fayola encounters a talking cat and mouse called Mittens and Snowdrop, who seem to be drawn not only from another region of the world (Fayola doesn't even know what mittens are, and has never heard of snow!) but from another fiction genre entirely. I very much enjoy the mix of disparate story elements brought together against the mythological backdrop, but the danger in mixing them is that they can become muddled if they lose their own flavors. Does this story begin in a generic fantasy village, or somewhere specific? I'm curious to know what kind of landscape Fayola is coming from; what kinds of trees and buildings and wildlife are around? What do people wear, eat, look like? Not all of those questions need to be answered, of course, but it would sharpen the enjoyable sense of strangeness we get as the story goes onward, if we were already well grounded in a distinct sense of having begun someplace else.

For the rest of this review, visit the Editor's Choice area of the OWW site!

--Karen Meisner, Editor, Strange Horizons

"Heavenly Host" by Tim W. Burke

Many horror stories have involved hitchhikers, but none quite like this. There is something strange about Ree, who is picked up by a father and son. The son soon notices this and realizes the danger they are in. The son negotiates to save himself and sacrifice his father, who is an angry, abusive man. Ree agrees, and the father ends up being her next victim.

The "novum" of a story is the novelty or innovation introduced by the author. In this case, the novum is Ree, a prostitute-turned-host for small flying creatures that may be angels or may be mutant insects. The novum is the greatest strength of this story. It's fresh and creepy, and Tim, you do a wonderful job of revealing it slowly over the course of the story, creating a mystery for the reader to solve and a strong sense of suspense. I really enjoyed seeing the angels come out at the end.

The problem is that the story is written with a nearly exclusive focus on the novum, as if the novum on its own can carry the story. While a novum can sometimes carry a story, most stories require multiple strong elements to succeed. In this case, the element that needs more attention is the characterization. I never truly believed any of the characters were real, and I never cared about them. Without emotional involvement from the reader, the novum falls flat. I'll discuss each of the three characters:

*Ree: She is the main character and protagonist, yet she doesn't have a strong character arc. She shows mild concern at the presence of a boy in the car, but gets in anyway. She exerts some will power to avoid killing both father and son, but it's not a big deal; that's not the focus of the story. At the end of the story, she decides to move out of the area, but she's basically the same as she was at the beginning of the story and is going to continue killing people. She has not changed.

For this story to work, Ree needs to have a stronger arc. If this were the story of her first kill, where she discovers her new nature and new powers, feels her first connection to God, and makes a decision to follow God's will, that could show a strong change in the character. Or if this were the story of her first murder of a child, and her renunciation of God and commitment to work against his will, that could show a strong change of character. But as is, this is the story of one of many kills, which has no strong impact. It doesn't seem like the most interesting story you could tell us about this character, and it should.

I also had minor problems in that Ree seemed to have a lot of biblical knowledge and I didn't know where it came from, and then on occasion she'd sound like a prostitute, and at times she'd sound like an average middle-class woman. All of these elements didn't seem blended together in one consistent character.

*The father, Richard: In a way, this is basically a "comeuppance" plot, in which a bad character, Richard, gets his comeuppance. Some other examples are Stephen King's "The Boogeyman" and George R. R. Martin's "Sandkings." For this type of plot to work, the bad character needs to do some really, really bad things, so we're happy when he gets it. This plot doesn't work well here, because Richard seems destined to get killed from the beginning--his presence in the car seems a set-up by the author, and everything he says seems too clearly designed to make us dislike him (so we'll like Ree when she kills him). He seems a bit too much of a standard bad guy. I guess we're supposed to think this is a set-up from God, that God has put her in the car with him because he needs killing, but I don't believe God has anything to do with what's happening, so that leaves the author responsible. Richard doesn't do much that's bad until the climax, so I'm not clamoring for his death. If you take a look at "Sandkings," another story with a strong novum that is revealed over the course of the story, you'll see that the main character horribly abuses the sandkings, so the reader is very happy when the sandkings get their revenge on the main character. I don't think the comeuppance plot works well with your other elements, so my suggestion would be to cut it. Ree would have more of an internal struggle if she had to kill someone good, which I think would probably make a stronger story. The alternative would be to expand and develop this story much more, so it's not just a single scene but has several scenes building the conflict between Ree and Richard.

*The son, Scott: I was a bit sympathetic with Scott at first, but when he started expressing admiration and wonder over Ree, I didn't know why he felt that way and couldn't share those feelings, so I grew apart from him. I was slightly worried for Scott's safety, though that worry ended on p. 6, which is not good when the story goes until p. 9. Once Scott is safe, I really have nothing to worry about. I'm not worried for Ree; she seems to have a superpower, and I'm not worried for Richard, because I don't care about him. Revealing that Scott got Ree's autograph at the end is an anticlimax. It doesn't carry as much impact as Richard's death, and it makes me dislike Scott even more. He seems to think Ree is a monster trying to do good, while I think Ree is drifting where life takes her and killing along the way.

Instead of designing the story simply to reveal the novum, see if you can design it to show a major change in Ree. If you show her seriously struggling, provide the climax of her struggle at the climax of the action, and show her permanently changed at the end, then you will have a story with both a great novum and a great character.

For the rest of this review, visit the Editor's Choice area of the OWW site!

We thought we'd try something different this month. Instead of giving you a traditional author interview, we are interviewing a character from C. C. Finlay's latest book, THE PATRIOT WITCH from Del Rey.

Many of you remember Charles Coleman Finlay, aka Charlie, as the support wizard of OWW from 2000 to 2007. Today, he is the author of THE PATRIOT WITCH, A SPELL FOR THE REVOLUTION and THE DEMON REDCOAT. If you go to his web site, you can still get a free download of THE PATRIOT WITCH before it hits bookstores.

Please welcome C. C. Finlay and his main character of THE PATRIOT WITCH, Proctor Brown.

OWW: You are a witch, Proctor Brown. How long have you known about your magic?

Proctor Brown: Please don't use the word "witch." We're good Christian people. God gave us a talent. He expects us to use it, not bury it in the ground. I learned that I had a talent when I was thirteen or fourteen. One of my friends had gone to Boston to be an apprentice, and he was shot by the British when they massacred the protesters. I saw it before it happened, even though I was all the way up near Concord. That's when my mother told me about our family's history.

OWW: In your time, witchcraft is punishable by death. How do you hide your talent?

Proctor Brown: No one has been killed for being a witch in about eighty years, but that's because we keep our talents a secret. If anyone is accused of witchcraft, we try to move them to safety along the Quaker Highway. It's not really a highway, just a group of people who hide witches and keep them safe. I say "we" but really it's Deborah Walcott and her family. I just learned about it....

OWW: Because of what happened at the Battle of Lexington, when your talents as a witch were revealed. How did you recognize that British Major Pitcairn is a witch?

Proctor Brown: I'm not sure he is! But he's using a protective charm created by a witch, someone called Nance. Nance belongs to the Covenant, a group of witches from many different countries. They're the real enemy.

OWW: Why are you siding with the rebels? Don't you hold any loyalty to the King?

Proctor Brown: Now you're starting to sound like Emily's father, Mr. Thomas Rucke. Emily's my fiancee. Her father's a sugar merchant who trades in the West Indies. He thinks that the rebels are foolish. But they're my friends and neighbors. We just want the King to respect our rights, and if he doesn't, then we have to protect them. But the real problem is the Covenant. They'll do anything to make the Revolution fail, but we don't know why... yet.

OWW: Are you afraid of the Covenant?

Proctor Brown: If you'd seen some of the things they've done--horrible, unspeakable things--you'd be afraid too. But I'll do what I need to do to stop them. Deborah will too. She's suffered more than most.

OWW: Deborah's a witch, too?

Proctor Brown: She has a talent, just like mine. She's... something else. I've never met anyone quite like her.

OWW: It's sounds like there might be something between the two of you.

Proctor Brown: Are you trying to get me in trouble with Emily? Deborah and I are working together to stop the Covenant's plans. It's just...Deborah understands magic because she grew up with it, without having to hide her talents. Her parents were guides on the Quaker Highway.

But I've been a minuteman, so I understand soldiers and the war. It's going to take both of us to stop the Covenant before a lot more people die.

OWW: Which people are likely to die?

Proctor Brown: All kinds of people. Ordinary folks you've never heard of, like my mother or our neighbor Arthur Simes, or people who help the Quaker Highway like Paul Revere. Or leaders like Dr. Joseph Warren and General Washington. The Covenant doesn't care who they kill, or what kinds of horrible things they do.

OWW: Your talent is seeing the future, isn't it? Why can't you see what happens?

Proctor Brown: It's called scrying and it doesn't work that way. A lot of times the images are ambiguous, like a map that can take you to several destinations instead of a road sign that points you to a specific place. For example, I once had a glimpse of hundreds of people, spread across the globe, communicating their thoughts instantly to one another through strange boxes that glowed in the dark. It was uncanny, almost frightening. But I have no idea what it means.

OWW: Neither do we, Mr. Brown. Neither do we. Thank you very much for your time. And good luck.

Proctor Brown: I'll take all the luck you have to spare. I have a feeling we're going to need it.

Brandon Bell tells us, "I just got an acceptance for 'Abraham Discovers an Artifact Impenetrable to all Harm' from M-Brane SF. I workshopped it a while back and did quite an overhaul on the story based on the crits. This is a small zine and I've formed a relationship with the editor, so I actually held back from submitting anything, and when I did I asked him to please reject my story if he had the slightest doubts in it: I don't want even a small market credit that I don't deserve.

Maria Deira wrote to tell us, "My story 'The First Time We Met' was published in the February 16th issue of Strange Horizons. This was workshopped at OWW a while ago and, unfortunately, I don't have the names of everyone who critiqued the story. Still I'd like to thank them for all their helpful advice and critiques! Also in February, I had a flash fiction piece, 'My Son the Dragon,' published at pequin.org."

Vylar Kaftan blogged recently: Just signed the contract for "Fulgurite" to be printed in Sybil's Garage 6. I love the magazine and I'm happy to be there again. My flash fiction story "Sky and Sea" will be up at Brain Harvest on Sunday. New flash fiction market, pays 5 cents a word for stories between 100-750 words. Attention all ye writerly ones. Send them a story. Sit down tonight and write something. 750 words is very doable.

Raven Matthews's story "Impurity" appears in the March 2009 issue of Moon Drenched Fables.

Tom Marcinko says "My story 'A Close Personal Relationship' was published in New Writings in the Fantastic, ed. John Grant, from Pendragon Press in the UK, I wrote it in 1992, sold it the following year, waited to see it in print, learned that the magazine publisher had overruled the editor and was refusing to publish it, kept it on the market for awhile, and retired it till John Grant put out a call for stories that writers had had a difficult time placing. I thought my story qualified, and it looks like John agreed. Persistence furthers. On the other hand, when you write a story that goes looking for trouble, don't be surprised when you find it."

Maura McHugh has been a member of the OWW or a number of years. "I haven't been active on the board in some time, but still consider the workshop as a turning point in my writing career. I thought I'd mention the following news: I've just sold 'The Tamga' to Shroud Magazine, which is my second sale to the publication. The story was first critted on the workshop about five years ago. At the time the following people gave me feedback: Sarah Audrey, Laura Ferries, Richard Dean Starr, Terri Trimble, Rob Campbell, Adrian Peter Firth, Elizabeth Anne Ensley, Wade White, and Lawrence Payne. The story has been re-written many times since, but several of the pointers I received on the early incarnation of the story started it on the road to recovery, and thus this sale."

Lynette Mejia's story "The Homecoming" was published last month in Niteblade Magazine.

Abra Staffin Wiebe's story "Periwinkle Eyes" appeared in Art Times in March.

THE PATRIOT WITCH by Charles Coleman Finlay (Del Rey Books, April 2009)

The year is 1775. On the surface, Proctor Brown appears to be an ordinary young man working the family farm in New England. He is a minuteman, a member of the local militia, determined to defend the rights of the colonies. Yet Proctor is so much more. Magic is in his blood, a dark secret passed down from generation to generation. But Proctor's mother has taught him to hide his talents, lest he be labeled a witch and find himself dangling at the end of a rope.

A chance encounter with an arrogant British officer bearing magic of his own catapults Proctor out of his comfortable existence and into the adventure of a lifetime, as resistance sparks rebellion and rebellion becomes revolution. Now, even as he fights alongside his fellow patriots from Lexington to Bunker Hill, Proctor finds himself enmeshed in a war of a different sort--a secret war of magic against magic, witch against witch, with the stakes not only the independence of a young nation but the future of humanity itself.

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Got a helpful tip for your fellow members? A trick or hint for submitting or reviewing, for what to put in your author's comments, for getting good reviews, or for formatting or titling your submission? Share it with us and we'll publish it in the next newsletter. Just send it to support (at) sff.onlinewritingworkshop.com and we'll do the rest.