NEWS

The third NATIONAL SMALL PRESS FAIR will take place on Saturday 20 March 1999 at the Waterloo Foyer, Royal Festival Hall, South Bank Centre, London. As well as the chance to browse through and buy publications from many small presses, the fair will be running a series of free workshops about all aspects of running a small press, from production through to distribution. For further information, contact the National Small Press Fair, 308c Camberwell New Road, London SE5 0RW (tel/fax: 0171 274 9009).

Contributions are invited for FIRE IN THE BLOOD, an anthology of writing inspired by and relating to intoxication. No issue has attracted as much hype, controversy, debate and misinformation as that of the use of illegal intoxicants and stimulants. And, conversely, no issue has attracted more apathy than the use of legal or prescribed intoxicants and stimulants. Yet the use of intoxicants and stimulants is not a modern phenomena – they've been used since the beginning of time by mystics, artists and writers as well as people who have just wanted to get out of their faces. Fire in the Blood will look at stimulants and intoxicants through the eyes of junkies, alcoholics, mystics, artists, writers, politicians, the clergy, gurus, community leaders, hedonists, clubbers, historians & anthropologists. The editor is keen to consider intelligent, informed articles dealing with all aspects of drug-taking from every faction in the debate. Novel extracts, short stories, prose, poetry and art inspired by stimulants or dealing with issues around them are also invited. Contributions should be sent to Dee Rimbaud, Fire In The Blood, c/o Acid Angel, 35 Falkland Street (GFL), Glasgow G12 9QZ, UK (e-mail: acidangel@acidity.globalnet.co.uk).

BLEEDING EDGE, a new music magazine with an "across the board" interest in music, seeks materials, tour information, new releases and requests for interviews. The magazine will feature 64 glossy pages (the majority of which will be dedicated to reviews), and include articles on one or two established artists and use the rest of the feature space to cover or introduce underground or up-and-coming artists. Bleeding Edge will be published by CN Publishing, who over the past 6 years have established a circulation of over 15,000 for the dark culture magazine Carpe Noctem. Bleeding Edge will be distributed to most large music and book stores as well as to small independents and a subscriber base. For further information, contact Catia Carnell, Bleeding Edge Media, CN Publishing, 510 E. 17th Street, Suite 105E, Idaho Falls, ID 83404, USA (tel: 208 528-2367; fax: 208 522-8684; e-mail: bleeding@carpenoctem.com).

John Jarrett is planning the next fully revised edition of the POETRY GROUPS REGISTER for publication in September. He seeks details of new and existing groups: name; where they meet; when they meet; contact person's name, address and phone no. Details should be sent to, or further details requested from, John Jarrett, 12 Matthews Road, Taunton, Somerset TA1 4NH (tel/fax: 01823 324423).

A new email e-zine, DARK MATTER CHRONICLES, is looking for people to review websites of fantasy, science fiction and horror (e-zines, fan sites, rpg sites, etc). They'll pay $5 per each 500-750 word review upon publication, buying First World Wide Rights. If you're interested in writing reviews for Dark Matter Chronicles, contact Raechel Henderson, Eggplant Productions, 9220 Jill Lane #2E, Schiller Park, IL 60176, USA (e-mail: dark_matter@eggplant-productions.com), or see their website at http://www.eggplant-productions.com/darkmatter/.

Sophie Masson (smasson@northnet.com.au) writes: "The program and information kit for GRAIL QUEST, Australia's first Arthurian conference/festival, will be available by the end of February. Interested people can contact Cathy Simpson (grailQ@healey.com.au) for details. Grail Quest, though themed around the legend of Arthur, takes in all kinds of other Celtic, medieval and fantasy elements. It will be held from 10-14 June 1999 at Sydney University. Keynote speakers are Caiseal Mor and Haydn Middleton; other speakers include Jack Dann, Sean McMullen, Terry Dowling, Rowena Cory-Lindquist, Sophie Masson, Kate Forsyth, and many other writers. As well as literature, Grail Quest will offer presentations in the art, music, academic, gaming (roleplaying and wargames) and theatre fields. An earlybird discount will be offered to all those who register before 31 March 1999."

CHANGES OF ADDRESS

ABADDON #1, 204x255mm, 56pp, Aus$6:20 (2/Aus$11; outside Australia 2/Aus$20:60) from Saturn Press, P.O. Box 419, Church Point, NSW 2105, Australia (e-mail: saturn_press@hotmail.com; http://saturnpress.hypermart.net). Abaddon is a fresh and smart-looking new magazine that seeks to use the fantastic to illuminate aspects of our contemporary experience. Leaning towards the fringe and the experimental, it backs up its range of fiction and non-fiction with a clean modern design. This inaugural issue has stories by Reno Nevada, Symon Brando, Graeme Ussher, and Annik Hovac, plus Borges on Bradbury's Martian Chronicles, Hamish Ford on parallels between Star Trek and Homer's Odyssey, Elisabeth Powell on Milan Kundera's Identity, and Ann Finegan on the computer art of David Haines.

BLANKSPACE Feb 99, A4, 12pp, IR£1 (free to SFI members) from David Stewart, 43 Eglinton Road, Dublin 4, Ireland (e-mail: dstewart@iol.ie). The newsletter of Science Fiction Ireland, with reviews, news and developments with a particular emphasis on film- and TV-related SF, plus a Presidential Address from the new Honorary President of SFI, James White.

BLOOD FROM 'STONES, A5, 32pp, free for A5 SAE from Matt Leyshon, Horror Dept, Waterstone's Booksellers, 91 Deansgate, Manchester M3 2BW. Complementing the Deansgate SF department's The Alien Has Landed, Blood From 'Stones brings news, gossip and reviews in the horror field. This new issue has fiction by Simon Bestwick, and D.F. Lewis & Tim Lebbon, an interview with Michael Marshall Smith, and a personal standpoint on quality in horror from D.M. Mitchell of Oneiros Books.

THE BORDERLAND #1, A4, 14pp corner stapled, free for large SAE/2 IRCs, or trade for other zines, tapes or CDs, from John M. Peters, 299 Southway Drive, Southway, Plymouth, Devon PL6 6QN. After calling it a day for Flickers'n'Frames, John Peters has turned his hand to The Borderland, a more personal and informal magazine that caters for his voracious appetite for popular music in all its flavours – if you're familiar with the music content of Flickers'n'Frames you'll know that unbridled enthusiasm for the medium is the order of the day. This prototype issue covers rock guitar greats, film music soundtracks, the lack of musical choice on British radio, and the history of indie label Acid Tapes, plus a bucket load of reviews.

DARK REGIONS AND HORROR MAGAZINE #11, A4, 116pp, $6:20 (4/$15; outside USA 4/$25) from Dark Regions Press, P.O. Box 6301, Concord, CA 94524, USA. A long-running participant in the US small press scene, Dark Regions/Horror is a pro-quality '2-in-1' magazine of horror, fantasy, dark fantasy, and SF. About a third of the magazine – the Horror portion – is devoted to non-fiction, which in this issue comprises interviews with Ed Bryant and Charlee Jacob and a host of film, video and book reviews. In the Dark Regions portion, meanwhile, you'll find stories by Shikhar Dixit, Ken Wisman, Steve Eller, Jeffrey Thomas, C.S. Fuqua, James S. Dorr, Peter Crowther, and P.D. Cacek, plus poetry by Nancy Bennett, Wayne Edwards, Ann K. Schwader, Linda D. Addison, Kendall Evans, and Bruce Boston.

DRAGON'S BREATH #56, A4, 4pp, available for one SAE per issue (12/£2:50; Europe 12/£4; r.o.w. 12/£5:50) from Tony Lee, Pigasus Press, 13 Hazely Combe, Arreton, Isle of Wight PO30 3AJ. Capsule reviews of SF/F/H small press and media-related publications from all over the world.

THE GILA QUEEN'S GUIDE TO MARKETS #99, A4, 32pp, $6 (12/$34; Canada 12/$38; r.o.w. 12/$50) from Kathryn Ptacek, P.O. Box 97, Newton, NJ 07860, USA (e-mail: gilaqueen@worldnet.att.net; http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/7844/gila/index.html). Six-weekly writer's and artist's market magazine covering fiction, non-fiction, poetry, comics, magazines, trade journals, book publishers, small press, greetings cards and many other markets, with an emphasis on those that pay. This issue focuses on Mystery and Suspense, plus non-fiction markets, and an SF/F/H market update.

HANDSHAKE #34, A4, 2pp, free for SAE from J.F. Haines, 5 Cross Farm, Station Road, Padgate, Warrington WA2 0QG. Market information and news of SF-poetry-related events, plus poetry from Richard Lung, T. Kretz, Brian Maycock, Sian Ross, D.F. Lewis, Peter Day, and K.V. Bailey.

ON SPEC #35: Winter 1998, A5, 116pp p/b, Can$4:95 (4/Can$19:95; USA 4/US$18; r.o.w. 4/US$25) from On Spec, Box 4727, Edmonton, AB T6E 5G6, Canada (e-mail: onspec@earthling.net; http://www.icomm.ca/onspec). Award-winning SF and fantasy magazine with fiction by Jan Lars Jensen, Keith Scott, Robert Boyczuk, Babara Galler-Smith, Leslie Lupien, Wayne Harrison, Wes Smiderle, Robert Ford, and Gary George.

PEEPING TOM #32, A5, 52pp, £2:25 (4/£8) from Peeping Tom, 4 Pottery Close, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 0HU (e-mail: stuart@peepingtom.freeserve.co.uk). A move to DTP production sees the seminal horror magazine undergo a subtle makeover, while the fiction this issue comes from Nicholas Royle, D.F. Lewis, Chico Kidd, Terry Grimwood, Philip Robinson, and P.C. Attaway.

ROADWORKS #3, A4, 64pp, £2:50 (4/£9:50; USA 4/$18; r.o.w. 4/£12:50) from Trevor Denyer, 7 Mountview, Church Lane West, Aldershot, Hampshire GU11 3LN (e-mail: roadworks@net.ntl.com; http://websites.ntl.com/~tdenyer). The latest issue of this horror, dark fantasy and slipstream magazine has Allen Ashley as featured writer, plus stories from Mark McLaughlin, Cheryl Jessop, Lauren Halkon, David Ratcliffe, Paul Williams, Andrew Hook, Ash Miller, Rhys Hughes, Clinton Wastling, Peter Tennant, Ben Counter, Mark Leon Collins, Paul Finch, Steve Lockley, Martin Owton, Valerie Thame, Robert Adamovich, and John B. Ford.

SCAVENGER'S NEWSLETTER #180, A5, 24pp, $2:50 (12/$17; Canada 12/$20; r.o.w. air 12/$26; r.o.w. surface 12/$17) from Janet Fox, 519 Ellinwood, Osage City, KS 66523-1329, USA (e-mail: foxscav1@jc.net; http://www.cza.com/scav/index.htm). Monthly newsletter for SF/F/H/mystery writers and artists with an interest in the small press. Market news, letters and reviews from USA, UK and elsewhere, plus an article on the importance of checking manuscripts when they come back from editors.

SCAVENGER'S SCRAPBOOK January 1999, A5, 28pp, $4 (4/$13; Canada 4/$13; r.o.w. 4/$16) from Janet Fox, 519 Ellinwood, Osage City, KS 66523-1329, USA (e-mail: foxscav1@jc.net; http://www.cza.com/scav/index.htm). Twice-a-year round-up of market information in the genres of SF, fantasy, horror and mystery from Scavenger's Newsletter, with capsule listings providing an overview of the field and making this a useful small press directory.

SPACE AND TIME #89, A4, 52pp, $5 (2/$10; outside USA 2/$11) from Space and Time, 138 W. 70th Street (4B), New York, NY 10023-4468, USA (http://www.bway.net/~natalia/space&time.html). A rich mixture of fiction and poetry covering all aspects of the fantasy genre – science fiction, supernatural horror, swords and sorcery, and the unclassifiable – from Michael Scott, Stephan Dedman, Rhonda Eikamp, Raud Allen Kennedy, Katherine Woodbury, Laurel Anne Hill, D.K. Latta, Jeff Grimshaw, and Dirk van Nouhuys.

THE THIRD ALTERNATIVE #19, A4, 60pp, £3 (4/£11; Europe 4/£13; USA 4/$22; r.o.w. 4/£15) from TTA Press, 5 Martins Lane, Witcham, Ely, Cambs CB6 2LB (e-mail: ttapress@aol.com; http://purl.oclc.org/NET/TTAonline/index.html). "Extraordinary new fiction" from Barry Fishler, Michael Marshall Smith, Jason Gould, Jason Frowley, Clifford Thurlow, Lynda E. Rucker, and Sten Westgard, plus interviews with Michael Marshall Smith and Alasdair Gray, and a feature on Roman Polanski.

TRAILS: INTRIGUING STORIES OF THE OLD WEST #6, A4, 28pp side stapled, $3:50 (outside USA $4:50) from David Riley, 516 Shalimar Dr, Prescott, AZ 86303, USA (e-mail: piratedog@juno.com). Trails is an annual magazine of non-traditional westerns and related non-fiction, and this is its first all horror issue – that's not as far-fetched as it may sound, given that stories about outlaws have always been interwoven with bits of fantasy. The fiction is courtesy of Steve Eller, R.T. Lawson, and Aaron B. Larson, who provides two stories. And don't let the side-stapled binding put you off, as the interior production is clean, clear and well laid out.

ZENE #18, A5, 36pp, 6/£12 (Europe 6/£15; USA 6/$24; r.o.w. 6/£18) from TTA Press, 5 Martins Lane, Witcham, Ely, Cambs CB6 2LB (e-mail: ttapress@aol.com; http://purl.oclc.org/NET/TTAonline/index.html). A comprehensive listings magazine for prospective contributors to the independent press. This issue features guidelines from the UK, Italy, India, Canada, Australia, and the USA, plus poetry, book and small press news and reviews, and Andrew Hook on writing and virtual sex.

THE ZONE #7, A4, 56pp, £3:20 (4/£12; Europe 4/£18; r.o.w. 4/£22) from Tony Lee, Pigasus Press, 13 Hazely Combe, Arreton, Isle of Wight PO30 3AJ. Well-rounded magazine of SF fiction, poetry, essays and reviews, this issue featuring stories by Robert Bagnall, Lloyd Michael Lohr & M.S. Raper, Isabella Ripota, and Steve Sneyd, plus interviews with Ray Bradbury and William F. Nolan, and features on Mars, Superman, and Greg Egan.

WHAT TIME HAS USE FOR by Steve Sneyd, A5, 64pp p/b, £5:50 (outside UK £8 or US$15) from K.T. Publications, 16 Fane Close, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 2BL. Updated third edition of this collection of Arthurian verse by Steve Sneyd, with revised notes and bibliography and the important addition of a new long poem, "A Time of Buried Questioning".

CREATIVE ARTS COURSES 1999, A5, 20pp, enquire to Creative Arts Courses, The Indian King Arts Centre, Fore Street, Camelford, Cornwall PL32 9PG (tel: 01840 212111; e-mail: indiking@btinternet.com; http://www.cornwall-online.co.uk/indian-king). Latest catalogue of residential courses for writers of all levels and persuasions, including getting started, poetry, historical/romantic fiction, and novels, as well as related topics such as enhancing creativity through self-hypnosis. Groups are strictly limited to eight people to ensure full participation and individual attention.

FRONT&CENTRE MAGAZINE
Front&Centre Magazine – the new trans-Atlantic fiction review published jointly in the UK and Canada – welcomes new short fiction submissions for consideration for issue #3. Edgy, intelligent, earnest, meaningful, provocative, contemporary, bold, realistic – this is the sort of quality new fiction that is published in Front&Centre. Stories between 50-4000 words will be considered. The deadline for #3 is 30 June, 1999.
   Please include the following with your submission: a hardcopy in standard manuscript format, with an accurate word count; a short biographical note on the author; an SAE with adequate BRITISH or CANADIAN postage for our reply.
   Each issue of Front&Centre contains new literary fiction from all across the globe, plus book reviews, independent press information and author features. Front&Centre #2, due out in May 1999, will feature British crime/erotica writer Maxim Jakubowski.
   In the UK/Europe, send fiction to: Matthew Firth, UK Editor, Front&Centre, 4-C Alexandra Place, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9XD, UK (e-mail: af11@st-andrews.ac.uk)
   In Canada/US, send fiction to: Jason Copple & Leona MacCharles, Canadian Editors, Front&Centre, 25 Avalon Place, Hamilton, Ontario L8M 1R2, Canada (e-mail: jcopple@cujo2.icom.ca)
   No electronic submissions. Queries only please.