Is there such a thing as too much good science fiction?

Of course not. But there were a few late nights since our last issue appeared in April when I almost went there.

This issue is the second in our new quarterly publication schedule, and we received more than 350 submissions during our first reading period in April and May — not even counting poetry submissions. All of the editors here truly learned the meaning of the old saw about an "embarrassment of riches" as we tried valiantly to read and respond to all the subs within our preferred one-month response time. Eventually we realized we couldn't keep up that pace and still do justice to the many excellent stories and poems we'd been offered, so we relaxed a little and put together this issue while working through the rest of the submissions.

We've also closed to submissions for the time being, cancelling the planned July reading period. We have more than enough excellent content for the October (4th Quarter) issue, taking into account the 30 or so submissions still in the queue. Authors and poets, as always, please watch our Submissions page for updates and information on when we will start reading again.

On the obverse of the coin, I believe the change will work out well when the glitches and bumps are smoothed out. We were able to purchase more poetry and longer fiction for this issue, for a very rich and eclectic table of contents. You'll see some of our favorite contributors represented here, as well as several who are new to Abyss & Apex.

More submissions. More stories in our latest issue. The last couple of months have seen the birth of several new e-zines devoted to speculative fiction in all its various forms. Eric Marin, publisher of Lone Star Stories, launched Multiverse to provide reviews of speculative poetry. Reflection's Edge, born in January, is going strong. Several established markets have added staff or content sections, such as science fiction and fantasy poetry.

And speaking of poetry, the Science Fiction Poetry Association has seen its membership jump. The 2005 Rhysling Awards received more nominations than ever before, enough that the 2005 Rhysling Anthology is the first to be perfect-bound, and an independent publisher took a gamble on a hardcover issue that is sure to become a collector's edition. Last but not least, a compendium of the winners of all 28 years' worth of Rhysling Awards, called The Alchemy of Stars, is a bestseller at ProjectPulp.com. If you like SF/F poetry — or if you think you might — check out one or more of these publications.

And watch our About Us page for an announcement after the 2005 Rhysling winners are announced next weekend at Readercon in Burlington, Mass. Three poems first published in A&A are up for Rhyslings. We wish the poets luck.

I hope that you enjoy this issue. As always, please feel free to send us your comments, and let us know if we can pass them along to the authors. And please consider supporting us with a donation to help us pay all these great authors and poets for their work.

Thanks for reading....

—Aleta Daknis, Associate Editor
July 4, 2005