I'm particularly proud of this issue, and by proud, I mean I'd like to give special recognition to all of the people who worked hard on it to make it one of our best issues ever.
Guest poetry editor Pam Gemin, along with my lovely wife Julie King and our assistant poetry editors, Mitchell Metz and Tara Gilbert-Brever, have put together an amazing presentation of poets and poetry. Spotlight author John Reinhard is one of several poets in this issue deserving of featured author status, including Kate Sontag, Paula Sergi, and the remarkable Lisa Lewis.
Not to be outdone, the fiction, nonfiction, and miscellany sections in this issue are packed with the kind of off-beat, right-on material that by some miracle keeps finding its way to Eclectica every issue. From Theresa Boyar's unflinching story "Random Girl" to Ptim Callan's odd nod to Eminem, this issue cuts a wide swath.
Meanwhile, our new review editor, Kevin McGowin, has completely re-vamped our review section, brought back the movie review, and put us on the road to being one of the premiere places on the web to find out about what's really hot in the print world.
Tara Gilbert-Brever, between dealing with the computer woes that it seems are afflicting all of us in this age of pop-ups, spam, and worm viruses, produced the unique photo-art that accompanies most of the fiction, poetry, and nonfiction pieces in this issue.
Paul Sampson, in addition to writing the foreword to our long-awaited Best Fiction Anthology (which will be available for ordering this October) and providing yet another scathing editorial in the Salon section, also found time to write an enjoyably morbid book review.
Don Mager and CE Chaffin continue to provide a measure of class and wit, the former exploring the world of classical music, the latter the world of an American expatriate in Mexico.
New authors have come to us, and at the same time, some who have been with us for years continue to make contributions. In all, this issue is what all issues of Eclectica have been for me: a labor of love that exceeded all expectations.
