Editorial matters

Recently my beloved and I had the opportunity to judge the Katharine Susannah Pritchard Science Fiction/Fantasy Awards. This meant reading 90 stories for the Open Section and 21 for the Juniors. Lee and I, for once, decided to approach the five lever arch files with logic in mind. He took half the Open and half the Juniors. I took the rest. Then we formed two piles, the Discards and the Read Agains. I think they’re self-explanatory.

I was the first person to put a story in the ‘read-again’ pile. It was a story that, from the first paragraph, reached out and grabbed me. The voice was strong, the plot original. It became the story that I judged all others by.

In the end, it didn’t win, but something about the story resonated with me. I knew I wanted it for this edition of TiconderogaOnline. As soon as the names were released, I approached the author and asked if I could buy his story. Shane, bless his little cotton socks, responded with a quick “hell, yes.”

Cat Sparks’ “Macchiato Lane” comes with a slightly different story. It came through the slush pile. I read it, turned to Lee and announced, “I found my other story.”

Here, at TiconderogaOnline, we have a system. We all read the stories we receive. The majority then decides whether they’re in or out. I read the two stories, put them forward and waited for the opinions to come back.

I’m just glad the other three agreed with me.

I hope you enjoy them, too.

Also featured in this issue is a review by P.E. Niski.

Pat comes from Goomalling, a country town an hour and a half out of Perth. She loves books about as much as I do. In fact, she taught me to read. She has an opinion on all things written, so recently I threw a copy of Karen Miller’s Kingmaker, Kingbreaker: The Innocent Mage her way with instructions to “read, enjoy, review.”

She has. If it’s any indication, she recently wrote to me with the request, “May I keep it? Please?”

Read her review and see what she has to say.

Lyn Battersby

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