Electric Velocipede 27
edited by John Klima
Spilt Milk Press
Waukesha, WI
Electric Velocipede 27
Published by Spilt Milk Press
Editor : John Klima
Managing Editor : Anne Zanoni
Associate Editor : Damien Angelica Walters
Assistant Editor : Jamie Lackey Stefko
Cover Artist : Carlos Araujo “Sunset Kiss”
All material contained herein © 2013 by its creators and Spilt Milk Press. No material shall be reproduced without the expressed written consent of the publisher and that material’s creator. All rights revert to the author upon publication.
http://www.electricvelocipede.com
@EV_Mag
ISSN : 1949-2030
Table of Contents
A Remembrance of the Future #27
Seven Ways of Bringing Down the Regime by Daniel Ausema
Cloth Leaves and Wire Vines by Gillian Daniels
The Coronation Bout by Lisa L. Hannett
Ondine’s Curse by Katherine Mankiller
The Beasts We Want to Be by Sam J. Miller
Bones by Helena Bell
sarah by Nancy Hightower
sarah (revisited) by Nancy Hightower
Song of Mary by Geoffrey W. Cole
Dream Vision by Megan Arkenberg
The Girls of the Forest by Margaret Ronald
Eating the Pomegranate by Megan Kurashige
The Fungi That Talk Softly by Harry Markov
The Carnival Was Eaten, All Except the Clown by Caroline M. Yoachim
Contributor Bios
A Remembrance of the Future #27
As many of you already know, issue #27 is going to be the final issue of Electric Velocipede. After a lot of thought—and more stress than I need—I’ve decided it’s time to cease publication.
This was not an easy decision; it was gutting. There were nights where I lay awake wondering if it was the right thing to do. There were days I just wanted to close the door and walk away without finishing it. Finishing this final issue is my way of closing things out mostly on my terms.
There is outstanding money owed me that just isn’t coming. That means money meant for Electric Velocipede’s future needs to be used on the present; we’re unable to make new issues when we still have to pay for old issues. There are limited options for electronic subscriptions; and the largest and most popular, Amazon, stopped taking new magazines right around the time I ran an Electric Velocipede Kickstarter based around the plan of having Amazon subscriptions for future revenue.
I have outstanding debt from running Electric Velocipede—and since the magazine can’t even support itself, it doesn’t make sense to keep it going and continue to spend money without earning any. On top of that are all the responsibilities of my current job and of being a husband and father that make working on Electric Velocipede more and more difficult.
There might be a way to make this work. The current good will and cachet about Electric Velocipede might be able to translate into new subscriptions, new sales, etc. Maybe a short print run could go a long way towards funding each issue. Heck, if there were 100 people each willing to pay $10 for a print copy (plus shipping) you’d cover the cost of a short print run, the shipping, and have a little left over. I’ve also heard of a few new subscription models for electronic distribution that might become fruitful over time. The problem is I just don’t have the time or energy any more to start chasing after these ideas.
If I want to be a good father and husband, I need to spend more time with my family. If I want to do good work at my job, I need to put in the time it requires. That time has extended beyond the workday and into my evenings and weekends. That means that on top not having time during the day where I can steal a moment or two for Electric Velocipede, there isn’t time in the evening or during weekends for Electric Velocipede either.
I’ve spread myself thin for more than a decade now. I need to change that. I need to take that time back.
Now, we could spend time lamenting my decision. But instead of focusing on what’s being lost, I want to celebrate what we’ve achieved. Honestly, there isn’t much more I could hope to accomplish with Electric Velocipede. Twenty-seven issues of a critically acclaimed, well-loved magazine is not a bad run. There are many magazines that ran much fewer issues.
It won a Hugo Award. It received five World Fantasy Award nominations (four for the magazine and one for a story we published). I’ve published many writers whose work I enjoy and respect. I’ve had an outlet for my passion for publishing for twelve years.
I’ve survived this long because I’ve gotten consistently great work from writers and artists. Nearly every issue starts with an email to all the contributors en masse where I tell them this is the best issue yet, and generally that’s true. I feel this last issue really cements what I’ve wanted Electric Velocipede to become for the past twelve years. There are some amazing stories in this issue. To get this good of quality of work for a semipro market is ridiculous.
Thinking back over the years, I thought it would be fun to list all the people* that have seen their work appear in Electric Velocipede:
Tim Akers
Heather Albano
Bart Allen
Nina Alvarez
Olivia Ambrogio
Carlos Araujo (cover; issue 26)
Megan Arkenberg
Daniel Ausema
Neil Ayres
Mishell Baker
Peter M. Ball
Jacques Barcia
Tara Barnett
Neal Barrett, Jr. (reprint)
Elizabeth Barrette
Lyn Battersby
Jennifer Rachel Baumer
Helena Bell
Tracy Berg
KJ Bishop
Jayme Lynn Blaschke
Bruce Boston
Richard Bowes
K. Tempest Bradford
Darin C. Bradley
Terry Bramlett
Jonathan Brandt
Daniel Braum
Bill Braun
Jessica Breheny
Marie Brennan
Lida Broadhurst
Corey Brown
Tobias Buckell
Karl Bunker
Richard Butner
Monica Byrne
Frank Byrns
J. R. Cain
Carole Carmen
Scott W. Carter
Jay Caselberg
Stepan Chapman
Matthew Cheney
B. A. Chepaitis
Andrew Cohen
Lucy Cohen Schmeidler
Alicia Cole
Geoffrey W. Cole
Brendan Connell
Cris Cox
Sheila Crosby
Gillian Daniels
Dennis Danvers
Thom Davidsohn (covers; issues 9-12, 15/16-24, and 27)
Daniel W. Davis
Julie C. Day
Aliette de Bodard
Nina De Graff
Alan De Niro
Paul Di Filippo
Kevin L. Donihe
Rudi Dornemann
Hal Duncan
Catherine Dybiec Holm
Catherine Edmunds
Eli Effinger-Weintraub
Charles Coleman Finlay
Toiya Kristen Finley
Deborah Fitchett
Jeffrey Ford
James Alan Gardner
John Grey
Harold Gross
Yoon Ha Lee
Lisa L. Hannett
Jon Hansen
James Hartley
Merrie Haskell
Jason Henderson
Loreen Heneghan
Lauren Henley
Tania Hershman
Nancy Hightower
Christopher Hivner
Erin Hoffman
Jonathan William Hodges
Chuck Hogle
Ren Holton
Richard Howard
Robert J. Howe
Alexander Irvine
Luke Jackson
Michael Jasper
A. H. Jennings
Paul M. Jessup
Erik T. Johnson
Dave Justus
Michael Kanaly
Damon Kaswell
Andrew Kaye
Marie Kazalia
Keffy R. M. Kehrli
Michael Kelly
Jamie Killen
Nikki Kimberling
Rick Klaw
William Knight
David C. Kopaska-Merkel
Ash Krafton
Barbara Krasnoff
Matthew Kressel
Megan Kurashige
Jonathan Laden
Jay Lake
Claude Lalumière
Geoffrey A. Landis
Richard Larson
Gene P. Lass
Ann Leckie
Philip J. Lees
Mike Lewis
Shira Lipkin
Ken Liu
Beth Adele Long
Aurelio Rico Lopez III
Jason Erik Lundberg
Sandra McDonald
Alex Dally MacFarlane
Amy Mackiewicz
Stefanie Maclin
Samuel Mae
Elissa Malcohn
Katherine Mankiller
Lisa Mantchev
John Mantooth
L. Michael Markham
Harry Markov
Celia Marsh
Heather Martin
Tracie McBride
Michael Constantine McConnell
Melissa Mead
Sean Melican
Megan Messinger
Christoph Meyer
Sam J. Miller
Rochelle Mitchell
Michael Neal Morris
Michelle Muenzler
Timothy Mulcahy
Kristine Ong Muslim
Steven Nagy
Val Nolan
Penelope O’Shea
Patrick O’Leary
Katya Oliva-Llego
Rachel V. Olivier
Andre Oosterman
John Ottinger III
Shannon Page
M. E. Parker
Norman Partridge
Jennifer Pelland
Michael Penncavage
Ezra Pines
Erin Pringle
Terrie Leigh Relf
Alistair Rennie
Mark Rich
John W. Risinger
Mercurio D. Riveria
Chris Roberson
Michaela Roessner
Bruce Holland Rogers
Margaret Ronald
John B. Rosenman
Josh Rountree
Christopher Rowe
Jodee Rubins
John Rubins
J. C. Runolfson
Ki Russell
Patricia Russo
Sara Saab
Vincent W. Sakowski
J. R. Salling
Steve Sawicki
Lawrence M. Schoen (reprint)
Ken Scholes
Michelle Scott
Alexandra Seidel
Rena Sherwood
Ian Shoebridge
William Shunn
Michael Simanoff
Cyril Simsa
Cislyn Smith
Lisa Snellings-Clark (cover; issue 14)
Christina Sng
Darren Speegle
Jason J. Stevenson
Brenda Stokes
Linda Ann Strang
Kiel Stuart
Rachel Swirsky
Sonya Taaffe
David Tallerman
Anna Tambour
Steve Rasnic Tem
Mark Teppo
Lavie Tidhar
Mark W. Tiedemann
E. Catherine Tobler
Pat Tompkins
Shane Tourtellotte
Brian Trent
Mikal Trimm
Kristy L. Truax-Nichols
Mary Turzillo
Catherynne M. Valente
Genevieve Valentine
Jeff VanderMeer
Edd Vick
Leslie Claire Walker
Damien G. Walter
Damien Angelica Walters (Grintalis)
Trent Walters
Matthew Wanniski
D. E. Wasden
Jennifer Waterford
Gary West
Robert Freeman Wexler
Leslie What
Kjell Williams
Liz Williams
Neil Williamson
Steven Wilson (cover; issue 13)
A. C. Wise
Brooke Wonders
Jonathan Wood
Sharon E. Woods
Erzebet YellowBoy
Caroline M. Yoachim
Marly Youmans
Tyson Young
E. Lily Yu
Jeremy Zerfoss (cover; issue 25)
Derek Zumsteg
That’s just over 250 unique authors/artists over the years. There are 70 authors who had more than one piece published in Electric Velocipede (that includes poets who have multiple poems in a single issue). I look over that list of authors and I want to pinch myself.
What happens next? I’m taking a break from editing to focus on writing. I also want to expand my freelance editorial services work for writers, but I’d like to make sure that the editorial work I do is finite. I’m in no rush to get back into a magazine situation, i.e., the constant ongoing deadline that never gets met because the project never ends.
Recently I’ve sent stories out on submission and sent stories to beta readers. I’ve made a point of doing this before I think too long and talk myself out of it. This has left me in the position of wanting to send more stuff out, but most of writing is currently unfinished stories and novels. I’ve got the motivation to write; I just need to change my Electric Velocipede time to writing time.
Most importantly, I need to focus on my wife and children. They are what matters. If at any point over the years they had needed me, all this publishing stuff would have been dropped. There’s been too many times when someone’s asked for my time and I’ve said “In a minute, just let me finish this thing” and a half hour later I’ve missed my opportunity.
Let’s close with this: A thousand thousand times thank you. Electric Velocipede doesn’t work without incredible writers, artists, and fans.
This all happened with your help and support.
Thank you.
John Klima
October 2013
WI
* This list includes columnists but does not include Blindfold Taste Test respondents. Reprint authors are marked as such (there were two story reprints, total in twelve years), and I’ve added a brief note to artists’ names to indicate which cover they did. I did the covers for the first eight issues, that’s why they were so bad low-tech.
Seven Ways of Bringing Down the Regime
by Daniel Ausema
I started with traditional paint. Between a certain level of skill on my part and the long-time friendship of a gallery owner, I worked with the promise of gallery space, no small thing in the struggle against the regime. I gave the soldiers bright, cheery colors, their swords a glittering shade of irony. The children they slaughtered that day looked like monsters at first glance. I gave the nearest victims terrifying masks. Behind the masks, they were scared, though. They peeked out, knowing they weren’t the ones who put the masks in place. The plaza was shadowed but recognizable, the well-known facades of the buildings outlined within the dark shades.
I meant it to be clear where the sympathies lay, but it’s a tight trick, convincing viewers to side with monsters over
the cartoonish protectors of society. I fear I failed at first. The painting was scarcely noticed. No one called for my head.
I took the painting back to my studio beneath the bridge. With just a few strokes, I changed the face of one of the soldiers to that of our illustrious leader. I added one more child, her mask broken at our leader’s feet while she begged for mercy.
The gallery is closed, now. Soldiers guard the doors, and the sale of artists’ paints is restricted. Canvas has become as precious and illicit as opium.
#
When the furor over the painting faded too much for my liking, I decided to try songwriting. My voice is a rough growl, but I know something of chord changes and can string words together. I wrote a song and sang it in the streets. A song about children and death, like all good songs. I improvised the verses, trying to vary which of our leaders I implicated in our communal suffering. For my grand scheme, I posted handbills all over the city, mentioning the song, inviting people back to that same infamous plaza for a performance.
For the event I wore my most revolutionary clothing, a bohemian hodgepodge of anger and hostility. I snarled the words out; I raved in full public view. The few people who showed up for the performance booed me out of the plaza.
So I brought the song to a friend, and she sang it as a sweet lullaby, making each note pure and each word perfectly articulated. I wondered where the anger was. But it was there, of course. My friend didn’t need to put it in her singing, because the anger was all around, throughout the city. She sang in the plaza itself and among the nearby shops and diners, her sweet voice piercing the noises of the crowds. Everyone who heard the song brought to it their own anger.
A mob formed and fought and added their numbers to the massacred, because the soldiers and politicos possessed anger, too, and couldn’t let someone else’s anger take command.
My friend is now imprisoned. Without me.
#
The night after her arrest I made my way into the plaza, smuggling in a bag of tools. There are two massive pillars there, monuments to some history I can’t recall. Bare stone, though, that was what drew me to them. The first night I cut many tentative lines into the face of each, though I daresay the lines resembled nothing by morning.