Welcome to the Big, NEW YEAR edition of "The World of Myth." We are starting the year off with a Bang and a huge new issue for your entertainment and reading enjoyment. First of all, the staff and contributors of TWoM want to wish all of our readers and sponsors a very Happy New Year! There is a lot we intend to accomplish this year, and we have a number of surprises for you in the coming months, so stick around or you might miss something.
There is a great selection of reading material this month, with Steve Bolin and Sarah Wilson returning with new and thought provoking stories, plus a new contributor, Joshua Dyer presents a short fantasy story, introducing characters from his soon to be released novel. On the serial story front, David K. Montoya continues his quest for "The End," and I offer up chapter two of "Queen of the Westerlands." And a special note: After almost a year of episodes, L.M. Mercer has announced that "The Greenhouse Murders" will come to a conclusion in our February issue. To achieve this end, however, Ms. Mercer is presenting TWO parts of "The Greenhouse Murders" in this month's magazine. Part 10 is available now, and Part 11 will be posted in about two weeks, with the final, 'tell-all' episode next month. So, be sure to stop back by in a couple of weeks to read the next to the last chapter, before the big climax in February.
Our Member of the Month poll for December was another close race, with Sarah Wilson's story, "The Testament" taking top honors in a narrow win, just edging out both Steve Bolin and Shaddow. Congratulations, Sarah!
The poetry corner is full once again, with contributions from Rebecca, Shaddow, L.M. Mercer and Kevin, as well as the return of Majikaa and Poppy.
In our Art Gallery, David K. Montoya returns with new work, and as a special treat, we are featuring the cover art for "Dreams of Darkness, Dreams of Night," by artist Johnny Joe Salaiz. Also join me in welcoming another new contributor by the name of Jessica Rinaldo, with her piece entitled "Arturus". Periodically, we will feature a special artist in the Art Gallery, and this month we are sharing with you a couple of engravings by the 16th century artist, Albrecht Durer. There is also a short biography of the artist, to go along with the prints.
Balcony Betty holds down the Movie Reviews by herself, this month, as Reaper Rick had to take some time off for his 'mental health.' Good luck, Rick. And, the Month in Myth looks at, what else: the month in myth.
This month in the Myth Mart, if you haven't already done so, you will now be able to purchase the book of collected short stories and poetry, "Dreams of Darkness, Dreams of Night" by Terry D. Scheerer, directly from this web site. Also available for preorder, is the new, Special Edition SMASH comic, by David K. Montoya and L. Allan Russo, which is scheduled for release this month. Now, we must, unfortunately, make an apology. For anyone who has already ordered a copy of "The World of Myth" 2006 calendar, and has not yet received it, we apologize. The company who was printing the calendar, 'Lulu,' has turned out to be sadly unprofessional. While our (prepaid) order was promised to be delivered to us before Christmas, it was reportedly "Lost" in the holiday mail crunch. All right, so Lulu, again reportedly, ran an entire second printing of the calendar and supposedly sent it out to us via UPS. It should have arrived the first week in January, but guess what? It didn't. But, we are pleased to announce that the wayward calendars finally did arrive, just before this issue launched. So they are now available for ordering, and may be purchased through the 'Myth Mart' section. Just to refresh your memory, this 2006 calendar contains 12 original drawings from the past pages of "The World of Myth" (four drawings each from Rebecca Logren, David K. Montoya, MOK and myself) and all four artists will sign the cover of each calendar. I should also mention that this will be a limited edition printing, so when these few copies are gone, that's it. Again, if you have already ordered a calendar and have not received it, please contact David K. Montoya, at the address in the lower left hand corner of this page, and he will let you know how we are handling this situation.
In conclusion, you may have noticed that this issue is a bit "late" in being posted. You may also have noticed that the past few issues of TWoM have been somewhat larger than they were, say, a year ago. That's because they are larger, and have been growing bigger, with new contributors, on a regular basis. All this new material means it takes longer, and requires more work and even more hours to prepare each issue. Not to mention the fact that we all have real lives that require our occasional attention, including Jobs, Family Problems and Health Issues. So, we are no longer even attempting to have a new posting out by a specific date and time, other than to say a new issue 'should' be out within the first couple of weeks of each month. Under the circumstances, we trust you all understand. That being said, we hope our readers find some pleasure and entertainment in this issue of "The World of Myth," and we look forward to bringing you more stories, poetry and art work throughout this new year, along with those special "Surprises" I mentioned earlier. So, sit back, relax and Enjoy!
Terry D. Scheerer
Editor in Chief