One of the coolest things about Shimmer is the variety of stories we see in our submissions. While we see a steady stream of the usual tropes (vampires, fairies, and mermaids, oh my), our attention is best caught by something that turns a standard trope on its ear, or something that’s completely out of left field.
Issue #20 is a great reflection of the beautifully unexpected things we discover in our submissions, and the surprising things we end up loving as editors and readers both. Shimmer leans toward stories that cover new ground, and these four do that. They also feature authors making their Shimmer debuts–I love when that happens.
Jenn Grunigen on “The Seaweed and the Wormhole”: When I think of “The Seaweed and the Wormhole” I think of two things: progressive metal, and consumption.
Eden Robins on “Ellie and Jim vs. Tony the Nose”: I have it on good authority that the afterlife is, indeed, an automat.
Sam J. Miller on “Allosaurus Burgers”: dinosaurs make every dramatic fact about the human condition more dramatic.
Laura J. Pearlman on “Why I Hate Zombie Unicorns”: A zombie Tooth Fairy would be the most devastating, and the creepiest. Actually, the Tooth Fairy is pretty creepy even without being a zombie. She buys children’s body parts!
…twenty issues of Shimmer. Good gracious, that’s something, isn’t it? I hope you’ll be with us for twenty more!