I don't know that I could have asked for a better line-up. I am pleased and proud to present every one of these stories. We have old pros, rising stars, and relative newcomers, and every one of them delivers the kind of action tale you come here to read. I think you'd be hard pressed to find many other venues that deliver this level of quality for free.

I've heard people kvetching for years that sword and sorcery was dying and that there were no new markets for it. Well, here we are; Pitch-Black (the sponsors of Flashing Swords), Carnifex Press, Black Gate, and a few other small publishers are dedicated to providing honest-to-God sword and sorcery, the kind grandpa used to write. If you like what you see, then we need your support. If you like what's been produced on our shoestring budgets, just wait to find out what we can do given more capital.

Strike that--don't wait. You see, it takes money to pay these authors, and we're not even close to rewarding them with what they're worth--not to mention getting much compensation for our own tireless efforts. Right now our staff is surviving on the satisfaction of working for the genre we love; that's right, Dave Felts' site design, the phenomenal and informative essays produced by Andy Beau, Ryan Harvey, and other talented columnists, and my own occasional musings, essays, and manuscript reading and preparation are all done out of love. None of us are expecting sword and sorcery to get our kids through college, but we do want to see Pitch-Black keep producing new volumes of Lords of Swords and other collections, and we want to be able to publish Flashing Swords every quarter. As a matter of fact, I have been receiving such quality submissions that, had I the budget, I could double the size of the issues or publish Flashing Swords six times a year! Think of that--quality sword and sorcery delivered six times a year!

Now I'm not asking for much. If you're a regular to the Sfreader forum or this site then you've probably already seen Lords of Swords described--this is a professional effort, with fabulous cover art, chock full of thirteen sword-slinging tales. Pros like Tanith Lee, E.E. Knight, Vera Nazarian, Nancy Varian, and John Hocking have crafted some great stuff, and they're backed up by some powerhouse pieces from writers you might not recognize. It's a good read. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy. Every cent goes to power Pitch-Black, and helps power Flashing Swords.

What's that, you've already purchased Lords of Swords? Then I thank you! We can still use your help--spread the word, true believers. And consider a donation, every cent of which goes to pay our authors. Just think--each penny donated pays for one word. If two hundred visitors were each to give Flashing Swords two dollars for this issue, then we'd have four hundred dollars--enough for forty thousand words of high-energy fiction!

More good things are in store here at Sword and Sorcery. S.C. Bryce is finalizing the structure of a unique critique group devoted exclusively to sword and sorcery, sword and planet, and swashbuckling historicals. That's right, no longer need you struggle through critiques composed by well-meaning but misguided writers who don't understand the conventions of our favorite genres: all those within the critique groups will be writing the same sorts of fiction. Only sword and sorcery, sword and planet, and swashbuckling historical writers need apply. We've another program in the works that we hope to unveil in the next few months--a unique kind of book discussion group. But we'll have more details about that venture as we get closer to its launch date.

I hope you like what you find here. If you do (and even if you don't!) drop us a line on the Flashing Swords forum at Sfreader. We've made it simple to do by providing a link to the forum on every page of Flashing Swords. Is there something more you'd like to see? A sequel you'd like an author to write? A question, suggestion, or proposal? Let us know. If you just want to talk about your favorite genres, drop by and do so.

And now, the fiction. Enjoy!

--Howard Andrew Jones

March, 2005