HEROIC FANTASY QUARTERLY — Q18

And boom!  It’s November again!

Welcome to Heroic Fantasy Quarterly Issue 18, our second on the new publication schedule.  The disastrous weather took pity on us and, free from worrying about death and destruction from the skies, we’ve assembled a great issue for you.  But being Okies we’d be remiss in failing to mention there is a good sort of storm rolling into town this evening: Yep, the Oklahoma City Thunder plays its NBA 2013-14 homeopener tonight — Russell Westbrook included!

But back to the reading heroics. In HFQ Issue 18 we’re happy to report that all three fictions are from authors we’ve not published before, while poetry and art come from contributors we’ve published in the past.  As in sports, new blood alongside established blood promises one thing: excitement! And in assembling the team for HFQ Issue 18 we’ve taken a winding route — WorldCon in San Antonio, FenCon in Dallas, and trips through the American southwest and through the backwoods of Arkansas.  And those are merely our physical journeys; you’ll experience our other trips by reading this issue:

 

Fiction Contents

A Lonely Grave on the Hill, by Cesar Alcazar
Simply put, the best Celt/Viking story you’ll read by a Brazilian author, ever.

Taking the Bait, by Jon Byrne
Thieves in the house? Surely!

Corinth, by G.J. Henson
Kingdoms rise, they fall, and gods are born in this short but powerful story.

 

Poetry Contents

The Ship in the Clouds, by James Hutchings
Our first buccaneer poem, but not James’ first piece at HFQ.  Man, a walk on the beach never sounded so good!

The Region Linuis, by Lorna Smithers
A heady and strong poem involving Arthurian lore, and Lorna’s second piece to be published here at HFQ.  When we say our tastes involve some old-school stuff, Lorna gets it — in fact she’s downright bardic.

Artwork

This issue’s awesome art — SONG OF BATTLEFIELD — was created by Norimichi Tanka, aka Norry, who first graced our banner way back in HFQ Issue 2!  Norry lives in Japan.  You can learn more about him and his work at his website: http://www.littlemistake.com/

 

Goings On

Behind the scenes at Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, we’ve been busy at the forges hammering out the first!  Ever!  HFQ Best-of anthology!  This . . . this you can trust. (Although we’ve not yet set a date for publication.)

Bill Ledbetter is publishing like crazy, with two recently accepted stories, the novella “Stealing Arturo” coming out from Baen.com in spring 2014, and “Meat 2.0” at Stupefying Stories.  He has also become the grandfather of twins!

Adrian Simmons rode the rails to and from WorldCon, spreading the news of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly all the way!  He also managed to nearly get himself mugged in San Antonio and is now well versed in pick-pocketing technique.

David Farney’s fantasy football team is terrible.  When David Farney has nothing interesting to report, he writes about himself in the third person.

So, enough about us — get to the good stuff that is HFQ Issue 18! We hope you enjoy it and, as always, thanks for stopping by.