Editor’s Page for Yellow
Mama Issue #83
– Dec. 15, 2020
Merry Christmas, and Happy
Holidays, all!
If I don’t sound cheery, maybe
it’s ‘cos this is the FIFTH issue I’m introducing, while the pandemic rages on.
Another lockdown is looming. And too many deaths.
Aside from COVID crises, Yellow
Mama recently experienced a personal tragedy: On November 25, veteran poet
Paul Spicer passed away. An amazing poet and great guy, Paul was a beloved member
of the YM family, and we will miss him terribly.
Because of this, Issue #83 is
dedicated to Paul Spicer. Please check out our tribute to him, on the
navigation page.
At Yellow Mama we do our
best to provide escapism from the sorrows and real-life horrors we face every
day. This issue even features some Christmas-themed stories.
In Roy Dorman’s “Dead Bodies
Everywhere,” a mad scientist girl in an elf cap tries to reanimate “stray”
corpses. In Kenneth James Crist’s “Billy at One o’clock,” Billy dies on
Christmas but visits his friend via an antique clock. Jeremiah Minihan’s “Ghost
in the Factory” has a Dickensian feel, but without chains rattling. “In a
Nearby Church,” by Bethany Cody, features an “accidental” poisoning at a yuletide
gravesite. Gay Degani’s “It’s Xmas and Maureen Feels Like Death Warmed Over”
gives us a street-smart child, longing for a special gift. And Jacqueline Doyle’s
“Prospero’s Last Party” is a modern-day holiday takeoff on Poe’s “Red Death” festivities.
Other fine stories include Zach
Wilhide’s “Gravedigger Sunrise,” in which two “clean-up” boys muse about being
buried alive and Joe Surkiewicz’s nostalgic
“Communication Breakdown,” in which a coveted Zeppelin album is the best excuse to kill.
And, for something completely
different, check out Michael Dioguardi’s “What Happened After His Head Oozed.”
At YM we rarely get political, but this flash story should give both sides a
good laugh.
Our holiday “Poetry
Extravaganza” includes twenty-two poems, featuring the last two from the late David
Spicer, as well as fine poems from Meg Baird, John D. Robinson, John Short, the
Nielsens (ayaz daryl and his wife Judith Partin), and others.
Full-length and flash fiction
stories (and some poems) are individually illustrated by our gifted artists: Kevin
Duncan, Hillary Lyon, Noelle Richardson, Steve Cartwright, Ann Marie Rhiel, Henry
Stanton, Michael D. Davis, A. F. Knott, Keith Coates Walker, Darren Blanch, Sean
O’Keefe, Cynthia Fawcett, Londyyn Thomas, John Thompson, Terry Butler, W. Jack
Savage, and Lonni Lees (Welcome back, Lonni!).
And let’s hear it for Mike
Kerins’ freaky yuletide 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.
Most of all, thanks for
reading!