Our upcoming issue has been delayed until June 2010. In the meantime, please check out this issue or read the archive for other great stories.

Our theme this issue is -Pirates vs. Ninjas- or -A New Beginning-. (Next issue’s theme is -Visions- or -The Natural World-. We can’t wait to see what you come up with.) We received so many poems and stories about new beginnings we couldn’t begin to include them all, and one about pirates, ninjas, and beginnings, which of course we couldn’t leave out (see “Blood Vessels” in Flash Fiction). Be sure to check out the spotlights this issue. Kealan Patrick Burke is a very interesting author, and Verb Noire is the new publisher to watch. Scroll on down and take a look, then say hello in the comments and let us know if you like the new design.

Image-left: Ninja Frogs, composite/detail, by Ursula Vernon. Ursula Vernon is the author/illustrator of the Eisner-nominated webcomic Digger and the children’s books “Nurk” and “Dragonbreath” from Harcourt-Brace and Penguin Dial. See more of her work on her website.