A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR...
Weaponizer went dark in December 2011, and we've been pretty quiet since then. This move was pretty unexpected - sometimes life just takes you unawares. I started a Masters course in Creative Writing in August last year, and it has been absolutely brilliant, really helping my development as a writer and giving me lots to read, write and think about. Unfortunately, it turned out that running a website full time as well as studying was something of a tall order. I failed to keep up with submissions and uploads, and the site went dark. So before we all start celebrating Weaponizer's return, I feel I should apologise to both the site's writers and its readers, particularly those of you who faithfully checked the site every day when we were at full speed, and those writers whose serialised stories were interrupted.
The good news is, neither I, nor the idea of the site have been entirely dormant. As you'll see in an upcoming announcement on this blog, we are re-launching last year's print project
Weaponizer Quarterly as the ongoing
Weaponizer Magazine. The relaunched issue #1 goes on sale at the end of this week.
Featuring an exclusive interview with fan-favourite author
China Mieville, and with an incredible cover by
Mike Rooth, the magazine features exclusive content only available in print, including comics by
Stref',
Hey Apathy! and
Darkam, new fiction by Weaponizer favourites such as
C. Brian Hickey,
Aaron Jacobs, and
Will Couper, artwork from
Veronika Von Volkova, Emmanuel Hernaez aka
MojoKingBee and Dmitri Arbacauskus of
Tormented Artifacts, and much, much more. My plan for Weaponizer was always to establish a paying market for fiction writers and artists - the magazine brings us one step closer to making that a reality. We don't pay much at the moment, but I hope that will change as the magazine begins to sell!
Another big change to the site: as you may or may not know, Weaponizer has been something of a two-man show since the launch in 2007. Our web designer Cook handles the back end, curates our comics section, and helps out with uploading content, while the main editorial duties have been handled by either myself, or Tom Sewel. All that is about to change. Allow me to introduce our brand new editorial team!
MEET THE TEAM!
COOK will be uploading
COMICS and helping me run
SERIALS. Being that he's the site architect, no-one knows Weaponizer better than Cook. You can check out some of his music and web design over at
Monkeytribe.net. If we're lucky, he might even do some blog posts for us - he is the Master of Memes, and very knowledgeable about esoteric subjects.
TOM SEWEL is our
FLASH FICTION editor.
He has previously run submissions for the whole site, managing to keep
my arse out of the fire quite spectacularly. Given that Tom ran the site
alone for several months, I'm extremely grateful that he's coming back
on board for more, rather than stabbing me in the neck with a fork or
something. Tom is
@illexical on Twitter.
PAUL S. GRIMSLEY is the new co-
editor of the
FLASH FICTION category. He has previously written loads for the site,
including the ongoing serial
WEAPON EYES, SIR. He publishes more of his superb fiction
via Lulu. Paul is
@musehick on Twitter.
C. BRIAN HICKEY is the new co-
editor
of the
FICTION category. The creator of the
JASON DECEMBER
universe, several serials for the site, and the recent Kindle collection
THAT WEIRD CITY with Aaron Jacobs, Chris is
@Fauxhammer on Twitter.
We have a new regular blogger of all
things weird and wonderful:
STEVE WORSETHANDETROIT. Steve's
awesome Tumblr is
just about the best, most informative thing in our corner of the internet - he'll be
posting links, clips, pictures and whatever else he feels like,
intermittently, on the Weaponizer blog. Steve is
@Sneak046 onTwitter.
Lastly, there's
me. I started the site back in 2007 as a way to motivate myself to write more. Five years on, I've written a bunch, and I've worked with 94 writers and counting on the Weaponizer site and the magazine. It's been a hell of a ride, and I can't wait to see where it takes me next! I will be overseeing the editorial team, editing
FICTION and
NONFICTION, plus looking after
SERIALS. I am
@t3xtur3 on Twitter.
In short, we now have a strong team of talented, committed, passionate editors adding content to the site. I hope this will mean fewer delays and breaks in scheduling of content, faster turnaround on new submissions, and more of a community feel on the blog. If you submit something to the site now, you will hear back from one of the gents listed above, so watch out for their emails! You can chat to the whole team online via the
@weaponizer twitter as well. If checking the blog regularly isn't your thing, sign up for the
FRIENDLY FIRE newsletter, which will feature links to all of the content from the site week-by-week, plus rants and hijinks from our editors!
In the coming days and weeks, I hope all of the new team will be able to write a blog post introducing themselves and talking about their interests and accomplishments, so you can get to know them better. In the meantime... find a comfy spot, sit back, and enjoy the show.
I'll be back later today with the long-awaited, thrilling conclusion of
C. Brian Hickey's WORKING CLASS PALADIN!
As Gza used to say,
P.E.A.C.E.
-
Bram E. Gieben aka
Texture, Editor-in-chief
