What Quarter!

Keeping Julie in Our Thoughts

Before I get to anything else, and update on Julie -- things are still rough for her but she's on the mend. Though she is still reading and reviewing, it's not all that easy to get it into her computer and out to us.
But Julie is an important memnber of the M-E family and we'll wait 'till hell freezes over for her to get better and back into our pages.
Keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Time Between Issues

Lots of things happen between issues.

A trip to New York . A trip to Florida – by train, no less. A case of Sciatica. A trip to Chicago . Let's see what else? Oh yeah, Christmas, New Year's Day, Groundhog Day… And a lot of bills to be paid.

Just a normal three months.

The More Information Than You Wanted Department issues this bulletin: the Sciatica continues… it abated for a bit. Just two or three weeks. Lulled me into a false sense of security, made me feel that I could relax, get into and out of cars like a teenager, play, run, all those things. Then it returned with a vengeance. But I can't complain. Lots of people have far bigger problems. What's a pain in the ass now and then compared to… well, almost anything? It's nothing.

I enjoyed the friendly, sun-drenched warmth of Ft. Lauderdale – lolling around the pool trying to finish a good David Wishart mystery (which between swims, conversations with other guests, and just plain not feeling like doing much, took me a lot longer to finish than I expected. But it was damned good).

Then it was back home for three weeks while I contemplated having to fly to Chicago . I'm no fan of cold weather and I questioned my sanity daily for deciding to accept the gracious invitation of Todd Stone (author of Novelist's Boot Camp) and the Love Is Murder folk to appear on several panels at the Midwest confab. Best friend Jason drove me to the airport one chilly Philly morning and I flew off to the Windy City .

It was gray, COLD, and snowy when I stepped out onto a drab walkway to wait for the hotel shuttle to pick me up. After being cramped in a coach-class seat for hours and breathing the stuffy air of the airline cabin, I stood out in the cold, gulping in the frozen air, not caring about the temperature. Just glad to be on solid ground and not sandwiched between other passengers and sucking in recycled air laden with who-knows-what.

Eventually the shuttle arrived – only my left ear was frostbitten and the doctor said the right ear was almost there. Just kidding. The nice Italian shuttle driver and I were the only two on the mini-bus. And he regaled me with tales of his family's coming to America . He's about the age of some of my aunts and uncles so it was familiar territory.

The day after I arrived, Love is Murder began in earnest and I was treated to a most wonderful conference. The people were warm and welcoming, the panels were interesting and informative, and the program overall was super.

I met a lot of fabulous people from here and there – and in future issues, you'll be hearing from some of them in special spotlights, stories, and more.

Morgan Mandel, author of Two Wrongs, took lots of video at LIM and if you go to her blog (on our blogs page) you'll see them. But to whet your appetite, here's one of them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR2S7l05HtU

This issue of Mysterical-E has lots to offer – though Julie is still recovering from her ills and so her work won't appear in this issue, Lance is moving this very weekend and didn't have time to get his column in, and Nick's column will be in as soon as it arrives. All of them are worth waiting for. But Ed's fantastic column is here. (I did get to meet him face to face at LIM and that was great!) And Tim's Tangents, Chris's Author Snapshot, and Byron's Hell You say are all present and accounted for and ready for you to enjoy.

And let's not forget the stories – we have lots of treats in store – especially some groundhog treats.

Enjoy the issue.

And don't forget...

RAZAR Magazine

http://www.razarmagazine.com
go to the Forum section and you'll find us

Mysterical-E has a forum all its own at Razar's site. Take a look -- sign up, and chat with the staff, writers, artists, and other subscribers as they sign onto this new venture. There are other publications taking part and you may find even more reading material to add to your already growing stack of things to read.