Dark Valentine is coming

The premiere issue of Dark Valentine Magazine publishes tomorrow. A quarterly magazine of dark fiction, the project is a collaboration born over a meal of pear cider and Cornish pasties at an Irish pub in Pasadena. Editor Joy Sillesen and Art Director Joanne Renaud and I liked working with each other at Astonishing Adventures Magazine so much that we decided we didn't want the fun to end.

The first issue is stuffed with dark tales and wicked words, all illustrated by artists like Joanne, Pamela Jaworska, Larry Nadolsky, Rena Ez, Jane Burson, Eleni Trigatz, Michael Lauritano, Jennifer Caro and Molly Brewer and more.... The cover image, created by Joanne Renaud, was inspired by Stephanie Dray's story, "The Threshing Floor."

The table of contents is stuffed with goodies--flash fiction from Cormac Brown, Sandra Seamans, Carol Kilgore, and Blue Jackson. There's a paranormal noir from Agatha-nominated novelist Elizabeth Zelvin and Paul D. Brazill's innovative twist on an old monster. (Paul:s "Drunk on the Moon" is one of two stories from Poland-based writers in this issue, with Frank Duffy's evocative "The Fog House" being the other.)

There's a definite international feel to the fiction which comes from the UK (Peter Mark May's "Lurkers"), Canada (Julia Madeine's "Smashed")and points west. The artists hail from all over--Poland, Thailand, Greece, the UK.

And last but certainly not least, the premiere issue contains stories by Chad Rohrbacher, C.M. Saunders, Christine Pope, Sidney Harrison, James Hartley, Gerry Johnson and me. There's something for everyone in the first issue. (And if there's not, we'll be back in the fall with issue #2.)

Available on Friday, June 11 at Dark Valentine.