Kazka Press June Issue Released

The June issue of Kazka Press has been released. My editorial introducing the stories (and introducing our themes for the upcoming months) is included below.

I’ve always enjoyed time travel fiction, so I had an especially good time reading the submissions for May’s “Slipping Through Time” theme. Maybe it was because of the theme’s resonance with my own tastes, but I noticed that the submissions this month seemed to be especially good. Even many of the ones which were not ultimately selected for publication were enjoyable to read.

I ended up with five stories for this month’s issue. Alex Gorman brings us a tale of “Wasted Youth.” Next, we visit “1116 Santiago Drive” courtesy of Holliann R. Kim and find out what awaits our time-traveling protagonist there. Michelle Ristuccia, who has many literary bases covered between her activities writing, reviewing, and narrating podcasts, brings us the story of one who realized “I Must Be Dead.” Jeff Stehman’s elegaic “Testament” follows and we close out with “The Bleeding Game” by Natalia Theodoridou, who has won awards for her poetry written in Greek and is coming to us with one of her first English-language short stories.

We have new themes posted for the next three months of contests (June, July, and August). They are: “Life During Wartime,” “Sax and Violins (and Other Tales of Music)” and “Warning Sign.” Some music fans might notice a theme there, but you won’t catch me talking about it.

Finally, if I may close with a plug for one of my own stories, one which could have fit in with this issue’s theme of “Slipping Through Time”, my story “Private Memories” was published in May by Daily Science Fiction. If you’re still in the mood for a bit more time-traveling after reading the five excellent stories our authors have provided this month, I hope you’ll take a few more minutes to check it out.