Whetting the Blade

Big changes are afoot at Flashing Swords E-zine as we proudly launch issue #7. Talent, it seems, is in very high demand in the field of short fantasy fiction, and after only one and one-half years online, Flashing Swords E-zine must reluctantly bid farewell to our founding editor, Howard Andrew Jones, who will take up a position as Associate Editor at Black Gate magazine.

We wish Howard all success with his new role and offer, on behalf of the hundreds of loyal readers and supporters of Flashing Swords E-zine, our heartfelt gratitude and respect for his excellent work in leading the charge for both the Sword and Sorcery.org and Flashing Swords E-zine sides of this website. His creative energy, professionalism, and critical discrimination will be sorely missed.

Meanwhile, Howard's superlative editorial skills have resulted in a "farewell" project of sorts. Pitch-Black is happy to announce plans for a forthcoming Flashing Swords E-anthology which will feature stories selected by Howard Andrew Jones, with proceeds from sales of the anthology being channeled directly into the operating funds for this website.

Joe McCullough will remain on staff as flash-fiction editor. Flashing Swords E-zine is now actively seeking heroic fantasy fiction under 1,000 wds. Each quarterly issue will feature up to 4 works of flash-fiction to augment the longer stories not replace them.

Beginning with this issue #7, Carnifex Press will officially become a co-sponsor of Flashing Swords E-zine. This means even more great sword and sorcery fiction free of charge for our readers! Carnifex will not be taking submissions for Flashing Swords E-zine. However, high-quality stories selected for Carnifex Press' "Clash of Steel" series will be considered for electronic publication at Flashing Swords E-zine.

The co-sponsorship of Flashing Swords E-zine will allow this rapidly expanding and ever-more-visited destination for sword and sorcery fiction to step into full stride!!! Pitch-Black LLC and Carnifex Press have big plans in the works for writers and fans of heroic fantasy fiction.

As always, we depend upon your support to keep the content of this site fresh and clean.

It is Pitch-Black's goal to double the author pay-rate at Flashing Swords E-zine. But we can only do this with your help! Please consider making a donation to the site via one of the handy pay-pal buttons you'll find here or consider purchasing one of Pitch-Black's popular and critically acclaimed heroic fantasy fiction trade-paperback anthologies Lords of Swords or Sages and Swords.

If you don't want to spend money to help with the pay-rate drive then help us spread the word about Flashing Swords E-zine. Right now, the site needs incoming links, it needs to be blogged about and reviewed. There is a ton of high-quality content here that is free of charge but it will only remain free of charge so long as we have support. So please help us out by giving us a shout-out or three.

And please extend your heart thanks to Armand Rosamilia and Carnifex Press for their generous sponsorship. It is due to Armand's support, that we've immediately raised the maximum pay rate for fiction at Flashing Swords E-zine to two-cents per word. With your continued purchases and donations, we'd like to make two cents the minimum pay-rate and we'd like to announce that this is a fact by issue #8.

So, what will the changes mean to you the faithful reader or hopeful contributor to Flashing Swords E-zine? Only good things!

In addition to the increased pay-rate for fiction, our special call for flash-fiction (and new flash-fiction editor), the Flashing Swords E-antholgy, and our new co-sponsor, Carnifex Press -- Pitch-Black is thrilled to announce the release of a very special prestige publication of Steven Shrewsbury's novella "The Whore of Jericho." Proving yet again that we're the most fearless of sword and sorcery publishers, we've published a sword and sorcery novella no other publisher would dare to touch!

Teeming with sex-magick, swordplay, and erotic deception in the ancient world, "The Whore of Jericho" is our special treat for those men out there who crave balls to the wall adventure and don't mind a little sex with their sword and sorcery. This novella is not for the faint of heart or the prudish, so we advise only those with manly hearts and a taste for strong sword and sorcery fiction to order this one-of-a-kind book.

This editorial space has a reputation for sparking controversy. And the announcement of this novella, "The Whore of Jericho," is my contribution to this tradition. I defy the nay-sayers of sword and sorcery fiction, the doubters, the out-of-touch reviewers, and "mad" bloggers to read this novella, for it is not for the feeble-hearted, nor the weary.

In the end, however, we should regard the alliance between Pitch-Black and Carnifex Press, the announcement of the new anthology and the increased pay-rates for contributing authors to Flashing Swords E-zine, and all of the other wonderful news of this quarter as a stab right into the heart of those who have raised their voices against our charge. That we will trample down the nay-sayers with our ever-swelling ranks of loyal supporters is inevitable. That those who have joined our ranks will reap the spoils of our "war," which is, of course, excellent sword and sorcery and fantasy fiction, is indisputable, when one simply turns to the contents of this quarter's issue -- which I now proudly present without further delay.

Daniel E. Blackston
Editor-in-Chief,Flashing Swords E-zine