September 2021

We were thrilled to learn last month that one of the stories we published in 2020 is a finalist for the Washington Science Fiction Association Small Press Award for Short Fiction. "Reformed", by Caias Ward, tells the story of an ex-supervillain trying to leave the past behind and make his way forward into a normal life. 

The winner will be announced at Capclave, a small literary convention in the DC suburbs, first weekend in October. So... it looks as if Capclave will mark our return to post-pre-pandemic in-person science fiction convention attendance. (They will be requiring both proof of vaccination, and masks.) We're looking forward to it! There are a lot of science fiction conventions each year, and it's not realistic for us to travel to most of them. But Capclave has always sounded interesting, with its emphasis on short fiction, and we're glad to have a good reason to check it out.

Congratulations to Caias and all the other finalists!

Recent and Upcoming Stories

August's story, from Jessica Snell, is a post-singularity tale of libraries, books, and the meaning of home: be sure to check out "Vocation" if you haven't already!

Later this month, Marshall J. Moore brings us "Kirishitan", set in 16th century Japan. It isn't the first time Okabe Yukiko has dealt with unfriendly spirits, but the one she's been hired to remove from this shrine may be more deadly than she could have imagined.

In October, we're pleased to have another story by David Tallerman. David's missionary story "Golgotha" appeared in the first Mysterion anthology. Now, in "An Exchange of Values, Conducted in Good Faith", a young priest strives to explain his faith to the strangest possible congregation, in a mission field he could never have imagined. He knows he's being tested; but how, and by whom? 

We publish fiction on the 4th Monday of each month, so "Kirishitan" will appear on September 27th and "An Exchange of Values, Conducted in Good Faith" on October 25th.

Patreon

If you like what we're doing as publishers, the best way to support us is to read the stories we publish, buy our books, and tell others about Mysterion. But if you're looking for a way to support us on an ongoing basis, we're also on Patreon.

Not only does all the money we receive through Patreon go toward paying our authors and artists, subscribers get additional benefits: the opportunity to participate in monthly chats with Mysterion editors and authors on Discord, exclusive content focused on the gritty details of publishing an online fiction magazine (somehow this includes a lot of cat pictures), and early access to all the stories we publish. In fact, supporters at the $3+/month levels can read Marshall Moore's story now, and supporters at $10+ already have access to both the September and October stories.

We currently have 21 Patrons contributing a total of $216/month. Once we reach the $275/month level, we plan to publish 2 additional stories each year, going from 14 to 16. So please consider signing up if you're not already a supporter, to help us reach our next goal!

Meow

Marie and Maxwell are starting to look less like kittens and more like small cats. They'll be 5 months old tomorrow. Maxwell has been trying to climb up the bannister along the stairs to the second floor, though it's too steep and slippery for his claws to find purchase. Marie's enthusiasm for sneaking outside without her leash and climbing trees (with or without the leash) makes us think we may have been too hasty in assuming Maxwell was the ringleader in their last outdoor adventure. Both cats have developed a fondness for eating flakes of old paint from where it peels off the walls (hopefully not so old as to be lead-based). We had to put a large, flattened cardboard box in front of the worst spot to keep them away.  

If they ever do graduate from being strictly indoor cats, we hope they can at least help address our squirrel problem!

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