Editor’s Page – Yellow Mama Issue #97 (Apr. 15, 2023)

Hi all,

Last issue I opened with tragic news: the passing of Ann Marie Rhiel, Yellow Mama’s Assistant Art Director. We will miss Annie. She was YM’s AAD for six years. We intend to reuse many of her phenomenal art pieces to illustrate stories and poems, and occasionally as a cover for YM and Black Petals.

I’d like to introduce Bernice Holtzman, YM’s new Assistant Art Director! Bernice’s phenomenal paintings and collages have appeared in shows at various venues in Manhattan, including the Back Fence, the Producer’s Club, and the Black Door Gallery. She has been illustrating for YM since Issue #89 (Dec. 2021) and for BP since Issue #98 (Jan. 2022). She also filled in for Ann Marie as YM’s AAD when Ann Marie was ill, finding (and actually doing) illos for numerous stories and poems. Welcome, Bernice!

Fiction-wise, this issue has everything from chocolate lovers, to disappearing species, to flatware coming to life!

In Kenneth James Crist’s tale, time-traveling cowboy John Cook and Madeline are “Moving South” for a new adventure. Flash fiction god Paul Beckman teaches us how “Stunning Redheads Are Trouble.”  

Food allergies figure big in two unlikely stories: In Kevin Hopson’s story, the victim has “A Love for Chocolate,” but that’s not what kills him. Cecilia Bennett’s “The Secret Ingredient” gives us two rival contestants in a cooking contest.  

Noir fare includes C. A. Rowland’s “Night Sight,” in which an almost-blind thief plots a sure-fire heist in the dark. In David Hagerty’s “Ban the Box,” an ex-con learns that going straight is not as easy as it sounds. And in Roy Dorman’s “Just a Small-Town Boy,” corrupt hick-town cops meet up with a hitman. 

Other cool stories include Gay Degani’s “My Special Garden,” which boasts everything a good wife needs to grow; and Brandon Doughty’s “The Loneliness of a Reseller,” about a workaholic’s far-out cry for help.

Our poetry lineup includes a trio of disturbing works by Peter Mladinic and four by Bengali newcomer, Partha Sarkar. Also check out awesome poems by Daniel G. Snethen, Bradford Middleton, YM artist Sophia Wiseman-Rose, Meg Baird, and others.

Full-length and flash fiction stories (and some poems) are individually illustrated by our gifted artists: Kevin Duncan, Darren Blanch, Hillary Lyon, Steve Cartwright, Michael D. Davis, Henry Stanton, Sophia Wiseman-Rose, John Sowder, Sean O’Keefe, Bernice Holtzman, Joseph Richkus, and Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal. 

And DAMN, check out Hillary Lyon’s “Springtime Noir” cover! 

If you want to submit full-length fiction, flash fiction, or poetry, check out our guidelines page.

Also, please sign our guestbook! If you have comments about Yellow Mama or any stories or poems we publish, you may leave comments there.

And check out our revised Archives to catch recent stories or poems by your favorite writers you might’ve missed.