It’s always easier to write an editorial when there’s interesting news to share. But sometimes there’s such a wealth of news that it’s a challenge to keep the editorial from taking up more space than the stories. Fortunately for you, this month’s issue is already packed with great fiction, so I’ll have to be brief, even though there’s a lot of news to share.
The first item is that we recently returned from this year’s DargonZine Writers’ Summit, which took place in exciting Las Vegas, Nevada at the end of March.
As always, the nine people who attended split our time between working sessions, sightseeing, and eating, with very little time left over for sleep. Our expeditions included touring the immense Hoover Dam, crawling around the massive canyons of the Valley of Fire, and hiking up and around Mount Charleston, where there was still snow on the ground despite the 80-degree weather in town. Food included Ethiopian and a Japanese teppanyaki “performance”, as well as Vegas’ signature native cuisine: the casino buffet. We did visit the Strip and enjoyed the downs and ups at the gaming tables, but no one got married while we were there.
In the working sessions we explored where story ideas come from, and what it means to be an aspiring writer. We also spent a lot of time writing and coordinating a series of stories that will show many of Dargon’s key people and locations. If you’re new to DargonZine, these stories should help you get an overview of the city and the characters who live there. Look for them to start appearing in DargonZine issues around the end of the year.
The Summit is always a great experience. We accomplished a lot and came away energized, and got to spend time with great people and see the sights in another cool location, all thanks to Dafydd’s diligent planning and gracious hosting.
As usual, we’ve selected several photos and added a write-up that will help you get to know us a little better and get a feeling for what this year’s Summit was like. You can find those at http://www.dargonzine.org/summit07.shtml
In other news, we’ve made a couple noteworthy improvements to our web site recently. We have completely rewritten our Online Glossary’s search page, which should now be easier to use and produce better results. There are additional search enhancements planned, but we decided to publish what we’ve done with it so far, rather than hold it back until all the little tweaks are done. The Glossary page can be found at http://www.dargonzine.org/glossary.shtml
In addition, Carlo’s been busy updating our set of maps to reflect all the changes we’ve made in the past few years. Be sure to use DargonZine’s map page as a reference when trying to figure out what’s where, whether you need a street-level view of Dargon or a description of all the neighboring kingdoms on the continent of Cherisk. They can all be found at http://www.dargonzine.org/maproom.shtml
So that’s a little bit of what’s been up with DargonZine. Now let me take a moment to introduce the two stories that appear in this issue. First, Jim Owens, one of DargonZine’s founders, returns to print with a short story called “The Sea Hag’s Daughter”. Then, as has been our practice for the past few months, we round out the issue with the newest installment of Nick Wansbutter’s “Great Houses War” serial, which will continue for several more issues.
I hope you enjoy them, and thanks for your continued interest in the fiction we offer.
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