Introduction: the Whimsy issue

by Rose Lemberg

In “Whimsy” we tilt sideways to look at the world askew – and all kinds of things fall out of the pockets. There’s cloud skeins and language and landscape. There’s salt, and portraiture in mushrooms, and a rice cooker. There’s death, and photosynthesizing cats, and a six shooter called Witty Rejoinder. Boundary-crossing is a serious business.

This issue leaves a trail of hazelnuts. I think it leads to a place unafraid of saying strange true things. New things. Brain-popping things. We flail around for a voice and find pomegranates. We speak of happiness and pain and who we are and how we mesh, but we are not a crowd of lookalikes. Some of us love mythpunk, others disavow genre definitions. We argue, and come up with new stuff. Here- however you define it – here, in this sort of speculative, sort of literary, always in-between liminal space we don’t have to be concerned with conforming, complying, fitting in, faithfully following in the steps. These steps are our own steps. I hope you find what we do here meaningful – and fun.

A few editorial announcements:

Issue 4 will be guest-edited by Shweta Narayan and J. C. Runolfson. Please send them stuff!

My future plans include an International Mythic issue (Stone Telling 5), and a Science and Science Fiction Issue (Stone Telling 6). More information soon!

Congratulations to Stone Telling 1 and 2 poets who were nominated for the Rhysling Award:

Mary Alexandra Agner, "Tertiary" (issue 2)
Tara Barnett, "Star Reservation" (issue 1)
Amal El Mohtar, "The Winter Tree" (issue 2)
Samantha Henderson, "The Gabriel Hound" (issue 1)
Sonya Taafe, "Domovoi, I Came Back" (issue 1)

And finally, I’d like to welcome the newest addition to the Stone Telling team. Jennifer Smith is our tireless proofreader and occasional html wrangler.

Happy reading!
Rose Lemberg, editor