Welcome to Black Cat Weekly #15âenjoy our holiday cat cover!
The magazine is coming more sharply into focus, as our acquiring editors spread out through the mystery and science fiction fields and bring new stories to our lineup. This issue, we officially welcome Cynthia M. Ward to the editorial staff. She comes bearing a giftâNancy Kressâs excellent science fiction story, âThe Art of War.â
Darrell Schweitzer was supposed to be back with his second acquisition this week (a comical Esther Friesner tale) but there were problems with the text and Iâve made a last-minute executive decision to push it back an issue or two, while itâs being fixed. Iâll slip in a replacement from my own backlist, another entry in my âSlabâs Tavernâ series of fantasy bar stories.
Barb Goffman and Michael Bracken have acquired a pair of original tales for us. First, Barb presents âThe Importance of Being Urnest,â by Eleanor Cawood Jones. Then Michael selects âRomeo and Isabellaâ by John M. Floyd. Great stories, both. Thanks, everyone!
Hereâs the complete lineup:
Mysteries / Suspense / Westerns
âThe Writing Workshop,â by Janice Law [short story]
âRomeo and Isabelle,â by John M. Floyd [short story]
âSecret Santa,â by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself mystery]
West of Quarantine, by Todhunter Ballard [novel]
âThe Importance of Being Urnest,â by Eleanor Cawood Jones [short story]
âDr. Kreenerâs Last Experiment,â by Sax Rohmer [short story]
Science Fiction & Fantasy
âSerendipity,â by Larry Tritten [short story]
âThe Art of War,â by Nancy Kress [short story]
âWell Bottled at Slabâs,â by John Gregory Betancourt [short story]
Forever We Die! by Stephen Marlowe [short novel]