New Voices

Here in northern Virginia, the jack-o’-lanterns are turning black on the inside, the weather is cooler (finally!), and things at On The Premises are winding down after a very busy October. What a great contest! A record 98 authors entered stories that surprised and intrigued us, using the Disguised premise in ways we hadn’t imagined (and not using it in ways we had).

Almost as surprising as the stories was the diversity of authors who responded to our challenge. For the first time ever we received entries from countries on four continents. Authors sent us their first-ever short stories, their first-ever stories in English, or even their first-ever fiction efforts. On The Premises strives to be a good place to start. Apparently our authors agree.

Bottom line? The competition was tough. Our winning authors told complete stories that used the premise well, grabbed our attention immediately, and held it all the way through. All six winning stories do that, whether they come from established authors like our second place winner, or someone making his first fiction sale, like our first place winner.

Adding to the diversity of our third issue, we bring you two special guests. One is writer Blanche Kapustin, a prize judge who uses her intimate knowledge of college mascot life to imagine what might happen if a school’s mascot were a lazy slacker. The other is cartoonist Erika Moen, who shows us six Halloween costumes for the pathetically unmotivated.

(As Tarl says, none of the entries we received focused on slackers. We saw a gap, and filled it.)

Keep writing and keep reading!


Bethany Granger,
co-publisher of On The Premises magazine