Hey, Dudes and Dude-ettes! Welcome to issue #87 of Black Petals. In this, our twenty-second year of publication, we’re pretty sure we’ve been around about as long as anyone in the “hobby magazine” business.

Over the years we have given many a writer their first publication and helped out a lot of guys and gals who were getting discouraged with writing and were ready to throw in the towel and find something else to do with their time. Something more rewarding, maybe. Tight-rope walking. Sword swallowing. Raising goats.

We know of at least one west coast novelist we gave a couple publications to early on in his career and we like to think we helped him out a bit. It’s nice to be able to say, “Hell, we knew that guy when—” Well, you get the idea.

Right now, Black Petals needs writers. A lot have moved on, and of course we always get those who are just building a résumé and once we have notched their belt, we never see them again. But what we really need is a cadre of good, steady writers who want a working association with an old-timer mag, where they can showcase their work.

If you fit into this category, or perhaps know a writer who needs a good platform for their Scifi or horror stories, we need you guys to step up.

On another note, as many of you readers and writers know, we got locked up by ICANN, an outfit that inspects and verifies domains on the web. Unfortunately, I had neglected to update my email address and the one that was on file was no longer valid. The good news is, that has been fixed and our domain is again working like it should.

Anyway, take a look at our guidelines and if you want to give us a try, send an email to Ann and paste your story into the body of the email. We’re hoping to be around at least another 20 years, but we can’t do it without you, the writers.

From Wichita, (Doo-Dah) Kansas, this is old Kenny, signing off. Have a great Easter, too!