Letter from the Editor

by Tristan Evarts

Dear Reader,

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As the first issue of 2020, dear reader, let me wish you a Happy New Year!  The journey so far has been tremendous and every issue brings with it delights and challenges. Our December issue was poorly read, which is unfortunate because we had some of our best writing (so far as science-fiction adventure stories are concerned) yet. Still available, I highly recommend you pick up a copy as to not miss out.

The February issue itself is filled with an excellent variety of work. Its focus in part is on that of environmental issues, which seem more than pressing in the wake of the fires ravaging Australia (which have estimably burned through 10 million hectacres or roughly the size of England and killed off more than a billion animals) and one of the hottest Januaries in New England on record. In my lovely home state of Connecticut it reached a whole 70 degrees Fahrenheit one day. These are best captured by our stories Wicked Problems, One Man’s Trash, and Awakening and can also be reflected in some of our poetry.

Sprinkled throughout the issue are other gems, such as the ponderous Numerous Enumerations of Nurah or the cute genetically engineered animals in Margaret Kamazin’s My Familiar. The other stories, What the Good Must Remember, by David Barber and The Goodness Bug by Ahmed Kahn are both strong and delightful reads and for the best way to start and end our short story section.

The poems are as they always are –an amazing representation of the talent out there. Of particular interest in this issue are the bilingual poems of Carmen Lucia Alvarado and the long poem Jungle Secrets by CJ Carter-Stephenson. But each poem carries with it strength of voice and charm and are all worthy of their place in Utopia Science Fiction.

As we head into the rest of the year and the (hopefully) many more editions of out magazine, I remind readers that though a mostly digital magazine we do have a Merchandise Store featuring the cover art of all of our issues. It provides the perfect chance for you to bring a piece of this wonderful publication into the real world. You can find posters, notebooks, cell phone cases and a lot more all featuring the various cover art.  Purchases there are greatly appreciated. Having bought a few notebooks myself, I can personally attest to the quality of the work. Not only do they look really awesome, but they’re useful too!

As always we deeply enjoy hearing from you about what you think about our magazines. What you think is important. It helps us to craft our magazine and improve ourselves. Please let us know what do you like about the stories and the artists? What do you not like? What do you want to see more of? Together we can make this the best science fiction magazine in publication. We are always in need of poems and science articles so if you know a writer (or are a writer yourself) we encourage sending in a few pieces of your finest work for us to consider for publication.

One last bit of exciting news before I sign off, we are in the process of creating a small podcast which will hopefully be released soon. In it we will read a story from one of the issues and discuss various points of science and writing interest. When it’s available, we highly encourage you to listen in. Follow along with us on Facebook or Twitter to keep up with the latest news.

Expressing deep gratitude for your continued support, I am very happy to introduce our first issue of 2020. Let us go boldly onward. Forward through the marvelous, the wonderful, the awe-inducing!

Sincerely,

Tristan Evarts

Chief Editor

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