Well, as you can see, Sword's Edge has moved to its own domain. Everyone's pretty excited about that. I called in a few markers and got a bit of help setting everything up, but it's going to continue to change and grow, as all things must. This is the first issue in the new format. I don't have Ed Lazor, the owner/webmaster of AtFantasy to hold my hand and take care of my tech problems for me, so we may be in for a bumpy ride.

Just as I was preparing for the big move, I had a chance to interview Eric S. Brown, who is the force behind the new terror magazine Night Shopping. If I thought running an e-zine was taking the plunge, Eric's going for an unassisted dive in the ocean. It takes effort to get this e-zine out, but it'll take more than effort to get a new print magazine off the ground. I can only wish Eric the best and stand amazed at his courage.

So, I'm not going to groan about the time and difficulties of creating this improved e-zine. I'm not going to regale you with stories of long nights, going to work with bloodshot eyes and a lack of concentration. No, you can guess that already. I will tell you that I'm excited. This issue should give you some idea of why I'm excited. Great stories, lots of reviews, and a whole whale-full of potential.

I'd also like to take this chance to apologise for August. Everyone needs to get away. My wife and I did (sort of). We drove from our home in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and back, hitting a few of the major Canadian cities on the way back. 10 000 kilometres of pure fun (well almost). We got rained on--rather consistently--and even got hailed on in Johnson Canyon in Banff National Park. Some of the nights and most of the mornings were cold, but that didn't dampen my wife's enthusiasm (did a little to dampen mine, but I'm a wimp). I'm glad we did it, but it didn't leave me any time to get an August issue out. So here's a double issue by way of apology.

And if you've read this far, I'd call you a dedicated reader, and I'd like to make one request of you. If you read a story and you enjoy it, please take the time to drop the author a line letting him/her know that. I'm afraid there's not money to share, so the only payment these poor writers can hope for is the payment of praise. Please be generous. I think they are all great (or I wouldn't showcase them here), but it'd mean a lot to them to hear it from some others.

See you next month, when I'll be writing to you from Toronto, where my job has taken me and my wife for the next seven months.

Fraser