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IN THIS ISSUE:

MAIN PAGE

  "Allegory - 10 Years and Counting:"
    The What, When and WHY behind one
    man's experiment in e-publishing
          by Ty Drago

  "The OTHER Writngs of Ty Drago"
    Or ... "When's the Sequel Coming
    Out? Ask at Your Peril
          by Ty Drago
 
ORIGINAL FICTION
  "The New Jacket"
      by Mary J. Daiey
  "Cataclysm"
      by Patricia Denehy
  "Shadowself"
      by Ty Drago
  "The Magenta Equations "
       by J Alan Erwine
  "The Loaner Son"
      by Mike Fincher

  "The Sparrow"
      by Patrick Hurley

  "The Widow and the Stranger"
      by Erin Kinch

  "Icarus Breathes Fire "
      by Erynn Aiello
  "The Way Home"
      by Gary Cuba

HONORABLE MENTIONS
LINKS
  Resources for Writers
  Associations for Writers
  Writers' Sites
COVER ART
THE WRITINGS OF TY DRAGO
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
NAME IN LIGHTS AWARD


COVER ART:

This issue once again features original artwork by Dan Skinner of Cerberus, Inc. This image, entitled "Egyptian Princess" is only one example of this talented artist's work in the SF/Fantasy genre. See more of his art HERE.


THE WRITINGS OF TY DRAGO:

"The House That Jack Built"
Amazon Shorts, 2007

5400 words
Jack's lonely life has been livened up by a mysterious family of ghosts that has invaded his house. Or has it?

;

"The Genesis Torch"
Amazon Shorts, 2007

10000 words
A tale of action, desperation and hope set on the Mars of "Phobos."

;

"Parole"
Amazon Shorts, 2006

7500 words
A dark fantasy tale of a bad man in a dark prison who is offered a chance at the light.

"An Hour on the Marble"
Amazon Shorts, 2006

15000 words
An SF morality tale about a dead world turned into a memorial, and about the young soldier who goes there and meets "the enemy."

"PHOBOS"
Tor Books, 2003/2004

Novel
A critically-acclaimed SF "whodunit" about murder, mayhem, and a mysterious monster on Mars' largest moon.

"THE FRANKLIN AFFAIR"
Regency Press, 2001

Novel
An historical mystery centered around Ben Franklin's 1776 visit to Paris - a tale of intrique, betrayal and friendship.


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:

Dear Mr. Drago,

I wanted to thank you and Ms. Ferjutz for the story about John De Lancie. I showed it to a teacher friend of mine, and she said that she's taught dyslexic children in the past, and his method of working through it was inspiring.

And of course, thanks again for providing such a wonderful ezine.

- Jane K.

Jane -

That one was a coup, I admit. I'm hoping to try for further interviews with other genre celebrities in the near future.

Best,

- Ty Drago
- Editor
- Allegory


NAME IN LIGHTS:

This issue's Name in Lights Award goes to fellow editor and publisher Hildy Silverman of Space and Time Magazine. Running a print magazine is a hard road to take - a genre magazine even more so - but Hildy has assumed the mantle with courage and aplomb.

Hildy, it was a pleasure to see you again at Lunacon this year. Your efforts and determination are inspiring! Good luck with the magazine, best to your family, and I hope our paths cross again soon!

- Ty Drago

Allegory: 10 Years and Counting:
 
The What, When and WHY behind
one man's experiment in e-publishing

Ten years.

The first issue of Peridot Books — which, for those who don't know, was Allegory's original name — appeared on the Internet on June 1, 1998. I barely received enough stories to fill the issue, and the look and feel of the site was amateurish and rather silly. But, sayeth the wise man, "It's a start."

That was thirty-three issues ago. Since then, I've published nearly three hundred stories from eleven countries, and the current record for submissions received in a single month is just over a hundred and seventy. Allegory is listed in the Writers Digest Novel and Short Stories Markets, has received favorable reviews from pretty much every public and private site that does that sort of thing, and was ranked thirteenth in Writers Digest's "100 Best Places To Get Published Online."

As a result of my efforts, I've been invited to speak at genre conventions and writers conferences all over the country and, ironically enough, am far better known as an editor/publisher than I am as a writer. I cite the irony because it was the writing that got me into this business in the first place. I wanted to get my name known, to promote myself, and to get published. So I started an e-zine in the hopes of getting noticed. And I did. As a direct result of Allegory (then Peridot Books), I won first a book sale, then an agent, and then a second book sale. Everything I'd wished for happened. Well, almost.

And yet, here I am, a man in his late forties with a full-time job, a family and a struggling career as an author, devoting considerable amounts of his spurious free time to reading submissions, doing paperwork, writing checks and building web pages — all of which are needed to keep Allegory coming out regularly every four months.

Why?

Well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't like the attention. I do. But it would equally dishonest, not to mention a bit cynical, of me to say that was the only reason. Part of it is simple habit. I've been doing this site for so long that I can't really imagine not doing it. Part of it is dogged pride. I'm proud of Allegory, proud of what it's accomplished, proud of what I hope it someday will accomplish. But even that isn't all of it.

I carry a slip of paper in my wallet. It's yellowed now, but still readable — a printout of an email that I received about five years ago. I won't tell you the author's name because you might know it and I won't wish to embarrass her. I'll simply convey its message:

Dear Ty,

I can't thank you enough of accepting my story for the next issue of Peridot Books. I'd been just about ready to give up, having worked on short fiction for years without a sale. Maybe, I thought, I'm just no good! But then came your email, with its congratulations and words of encouragement, and now I know I can keep going.

You made somebody's dream come true today.

And that, friends and fellows, is why I still do it and why I'll continue to do it, even if (when) I finally sell another book, and then another. We face an ever dwindling publishing world, with fewer and fewer markets to which a hard-working author may peddle his wares.
But, for as long as I'm able to do it, Allegory will remain one of them.

Of course, at $15.00 a sale, that may not be saying too much.

Oh well. As sayeth the wise man, "It's a start."

The OTHER Writings of Ty Drago

- OR -

When's the Sequel Coming Out?
Ask at Your Peril!

In 2001, my first published novel The Franklin Affair was released by Regency Press. Only five hundred copies were ever printed. It tells the story of sixteen year old Henri Gruel, a young man living in France during the winter of 1776, who becomes involved with visiting patriot Benjamin Franklin. It's a "coming of age" tale — full of intrigue, adventure and friendship. Sadly, it's out of print now, though you can currently find it on Amazon for a whopping fifty bucks, more than twice the cover price! Weird.

My second novel, Phobos, is a science fiction/mystery cross-over, published by Tor in 2003/2004. When I wrote it, I wanted to take some of the most beloved mystery clichés: the assortment of suspects; the clever detective who outwits and unmasks the killer; even that wonderful moment when he deliberately turns out the lights so that the villain can make his (or her) move, and wrap them up in a science fiction story. The book, I'm happy to say, was a critical success. Publisher's Weekly called it a "strong contender for SF debut of the year.” Unfortunately, the sales didn't match the reviews.

I was halfway through the sequel, dubbed Red Queen, when my editor at Tor informed me that they wouldn't be buying the next book. It was perhaps the darkest day in my writing career, and a setback from which — after almost five years — I've yet to recover. Sucks, don't it?

But what really sucks though, is when well-meaning fans come up to me at conventions or conferences, praise one or the other of these two books, and eagerly ask me my why I haven't yet written a sequel!

Then I have to hurt them.

The fact is: I've never stopped writing. Just ask my agent, or my wife. Since Phobos, I've finished a total of six novels. And, out of a desire to satisfy my small (very small) plethora of fans — and, of course, out of a shameless desire to self-promote, I'm listing each of these works below. They're in no particular order and, as you will see, I'm not glued to a specific genre.

Angelfire
This is a retelling of the Orpheus tale. It's the story of the angel Aeros, an assistant gatekeeper, whose wife Lira is sent on a routine mission to Earth in mortal form — only to be damned to Hell on a technicality. Heartbroken, Aeros seeks out the Archangel Gabriel, a self-imposed hermit and prophet of Celestial doom and, together, the two of them hatch a desperate plan: to sneak into Hell, rescue Lira, and bring her home.

Zephyr's Wake
New York reporter Ashley Wills goes in search of a mysterious "Good Samaritan" who keeps appearing at disaster sites with exactly the tools he needs to rescue those in danger. What she finds isn't the crackpot she expects, but instead a handsome, wandering hero with a bizarre companion — an unseen entity called the "Zephyr," which seem able to bend coincidence to suit its benevolent purposes. This is a romantic fantasy with a very unusual matchmaker.

Quantum
World-renowned physicist, Professor Reed Finch, is lured from his Princeton home to a remote Arizona research station. There he is introduced to a shocking project to shrink a craft to sub-atomic size for the purposes of capturing and retrieving electrons as a new source of limitless power. But when Reed becomes stranded in the strange "nanospace" between atoms, he discovers something even more shocking — and the world will never be the same. This one, as you can imagine, is hard science fiction.

Chivalry – Book One
The first in a trilogy, Chivalry tells the tale of Dana McTavish, a Philadelphia prostitute whose life is saved by a stranger named Owen Glendower, a handsome Welshman who soon takes to calling her "milady.” As romance blossoms, it soon becomes evident that each of these people is more than they seem. For Dana has power she is only barely aware of, power that is coveted by a dark and ancient evil. And Owen — tall, strong, capable and supremely heroic — will do anything he must to save her. Urban fantasy.

The Runaways
This young adult fantasy begins when twelve-year-old Will Ritter steps out of his house on an ordinary day to discover that many of the adults around him have somehow turned into hideous monsters. Terrified, he is rescued by a classmate, who escorts him secretly to the lair of the Runaways, a rag-tag army of children who have all fled from their homes. Led by a charismatic and courageous seventeen-year-old street youth named Tom Jefferson, the Runaways are dedicated to two things: staying alive; and fighting the invasion that only they know about.

Dragon Derbies
Set in a world where dragon racing is the sport of kings, young Andy Drago is one of the best there is. It doesn’t hurt, of course, that his dragon Sid is one of the rare "primes" — dragons born with high intelligence and the ability to speak. It's a secret that Andy and his friends jealously guard, until one of his fellow racers is suddenly abducted and it's up to Sid and himself to affect her rescue. My first attempt at middle grade fiction.

There. That's the list, and it's far from complete. I have two more works-in-progress that are currently occupying my attention, with further ideas waiting in the wings. I'm also looking into a Facebook page that would allow me to post further details and — maybe — sample chapters of some of these books.

I suppose it's possible that I might finally give up this often heartbreaking struggle. Eventually, I may "face reality" and satisfy myself with the modest success I've already enjoyed. Someday, I may get too old to tell a good story, or too lazy to write it down. Someday.

But not today.

Keep writing!

Original Fiction

These stories may be viewed:

(1) By clicking on the title and displaying the text in a browser window;

(2) Or by clicking the "Download as PDF" button and viewing the text in Adobe Reader (you will need a browser "plug-in" for this);

(3) or by right-clicking on the "Download as PDF" button and saving the PDF file to your local drive. You may then view the file using Adobe Reader.

If you don't have Adobe Reader, you can get it free by clicking below.

"The New Jacket"
by Mary J. Daley

Donna suffers from a dark addiction - to the new jacket
that hangs in the local shop window. For, in this glimpse of the future,
jackets are a bit more than merely fetching outerwear.

"Cataclysm"
by Patricia Denehy

Are you a cat person? What if that cat was a strange stray that
came into your home, took over your life, and
kept you prisoner. How far would you go to save yourself?

"Shadowself"
by Ty Drago

Liam Reece is a man afraid of his own shadow, and with
good reason. His shadow is after him, and
he's running for his life.



"The Magenta Equations"
by J Alan Erwine

In a future where space travel often means madness, one scientist
learns an incredible truth, and may just pay for that
knowledge with this life.

"The Loaner Son"
by Mike Fincher

On a typical day in a typical home, a little boy named
Johnnie is about to discover the tragic truth about his
birth, his life, and his destiny.

"The Sparrow "
by Patrick Hurley

A mysterious shipwreck, a missing crew and a captain's
log all tell a horrific tale of undead terror.

"The Widow and the Stranger"
by Erin Kinch

A story of romance between a lonely shopkeeper and
her mysterious customer. Life is short for some, long for others,
but ever-changing.

"Icarus Breathes Fire"
by Erynn Aiello

Your classic "a boy and his dragon story" - and
how, even as we grow up, our best friends can
remain the ones from our youth.

"The Way Home"
by Gary Cuba

An astronaut on a solitary trek amongst the planets is
befriended by the impossible apparition of a dog, who
might just be more than she seems.

Honorable Mentions

Allegory deals with submissions in the way that, as far as I know, remains fairly unique in the publishign world. Each story is individually reviewed and, if considered publishable, is placed in our "Maybe" pile. At the end of each submission period, these "Maybes" are reviewed, and the best eight chosen to appear in the next issue. This final cut is made on the basis of issue balance, and does NOT reflect the overall quality of these stories.

That said, here - in no particular order - are the "Maybes" who just missed publication in Allegory. Each one is a fine tale that we would have been proud to publish. Remember these names, friends and fellows. You'll be hearing from them in the future. I guarantee it!

"The Coffee Experience" by Kaydeon Moore
"The Shot Heard Round The World" by Heather Albano Jackson
"Oracle" by Robert T. Meadows
"The Nigerian Princess and the Nerd" by Larry Hodges
"The End of the World" by Sabrina West
"Red" by Alan Delaney
"The Fruits of Piracy" by Stephen Thompson
"Remember" by Lindsey Duncan
"The Wishing Fountain" by Carol D. Green
"Rendezvous" by Donna M. Recktenwalt
"Necessary Death" by Jonathan Schlosser
"The Problem of Meat" by Matthew Kressel
"Lethe and Love" by Michelle Muenzler
"Big Muddy" by Kevin Doyle