Each Day Is Valentine's Day

Sea Minor would like to welcome into this world the mighty fine new online collection from Dark Valentine.

Downloadable in seconds, you can get yourself a copy at:

http://darkvalentine.net/

In her note from the editor, Katherine Tomlinson sets the ball rolling nicely.

"Welcome to the first issue of Dark Valentine
Magazine, where dark fiction rules. There are
19 dark dreams spilled across these pages, every
one of them a nightmare you’ll find hard to
shake—every one of them a journey to a place
that might not let you leave. But you have to go
there, don’t you? Because you…need to know
what’s at the end of the road."

Though I've only managed to take a couple of journeys with them so far, it's clear already that although there is a core theme working here, that 'dark dreams' element, we are in for a rich, varied and well written collection where everyone is going to find many more than one piece to their liking.

I was also immediately struck by the quality of the illustrations. It's like a two for one deal. Not only are you going to be royally entertained by the writers, the artists are going to move parts inside you that you may even have forgotten existed. They work together almost as a fusion, complementing each other wonderfully and existing in symbiosis.

With an issue like this to get the ball rolling, you just know this is going take off.

Go take a look.

Next mention must go to the Crimefactory. In their new incarnation, their third issue has just hit the wire. It's yours to download in three different formats, so there's no real excuse not to go along and pick it up:

http://www.crimefactoryzine.com/main/HOME.html

It boasts new fiction from Dennis Taffoya, Jedidiah Ayres, Greg Bardsley, Kieran Shea, Sandra Seamans and Daniel O'Shea. I'm not familiar with all of those names and for me that's part of the beauty of the exploration.

Crimefactory made a mark with two powerful and gritty issues to re-launch and there's every reason to expect that they'll continue from strengh to strength. At it's heart there's a hardboiled/noir core, but they'll also work with other genres as long as they're written well.

I wrote a short while ago about my five years of running a small press magazine. It's a hell of a job collating, creating, distrubuting and advertising, but I always got a kick from it that had more power than one from three donkeys and a wooden leg.

It's wonderful to offer a platform to writing talent, whether it be established or just emerging. It's also wonderful that, through the hard work of people at places such as Dark Valentine and Crimefactory, there are homes for writers and readers alike to find occasional shelter and to get a hell of a buzz from when they come out.

Many thanks to all involved.