Welcome to Issue 5 of DreamForge Anvil.

Our purpose here is to deliver engaging stories while also examining the craft of storytelling. We go behind the scenes to hear from several authors about their work, and even to take a look at the line edits leading to the final draft.

We look forward to delivering 6 issues of DreamForge Anvil this year, one approximately every two months, and we’ll alert you as each new issue goes online.

“Our Kind,” by Crystal Crawford shows how kindness is a kinship all its own. “Unlinked,” by Kelley Stead, takes a prophetic look at a future where we’re all “linked-in,” but not everyone has the connections they need to survive. “Kill Your Darlings,” by A.J. Mietke takes us into the twilight world of our discarded characters. Elaine Cunningham weaves a tale of mermaids and book club one-upmanship. And a delightful reprint from J.J. Litke shows us how to deal with the “Harbinie of Death.”  Wulf Moon returns with more writing advice, and our Hope Notes explore E.T. and the Hope of the Aliens.

Crystal Crawford is a homeschooling mom of four, part-time non-profit Director and writing teacher, and indie author. Her imagination is her happy place! (But a deserted beach is nice, too.) Crystal writes fantasy and YA, with a smattering of other genres, and believes in meticulous creativity--carefully crafted stories that impact and entertain readers. She loves to create deep, enveloping story worlds.

Crystal has been writing her whole life, but first began exploring professional writing in college. That led her to work as a freelance editor for a small publishing company. After taking a break from writing for several years, she took a brief detour to Wattpad, where she dared herself to write something outside of her comfort zone. Her experimental YA romantic comedy went viral, and amassed over 1.5 million reads. There she learned that she loves interacting with readers and not just writing stories, but creating deep worlds. Those experiences gave her the courage to pursue writing as a career. For her, each story is a piece of a deeper world, and her passion is filling those worlds with interesting characters, exciting secrets, and roller coasters (of the emotional variety). You can find more information about some of her ongoing story worlds at ccrawfordwriting.com. She also has a Patreon where she interacts directly with readers and shares early access chapters, sneak peeks, and more.

Crystal’s first published epic fantasy series was The Lex Chronicles, which takes place in the world of Arameth [ Link : https://ccrawfordwriting.com/legendsofarameth]. Now, she is working on a new paranormal folklore-inspired world: The Leyward Stones. “Our Kind” is a side story set in that world, and is her first sale to a professional magazine. 

Elaine Cunningham is a New York Times bestselling fantasy author, best known for her work in licensed settings such as the Forgotten Realms, Star Wars, and Pathfinder Tales. Shadows in the Starlight, the second book in the urban fantasy series Changeling Detective, was included in the 2006 Kirkus list 10 Best SciFi Novels. Her publications include twenty novels, over 50 short stories, and many non-fiction articles. More information about her work can be found at www.ElaineCunningham.com.  

 

A former music and history teacher, Elaine was a full-time writer for twenty-five years before pursuing a third-act career in arts administration. She is the executive director of Providence Singers, a concert choir that performs with the Rhode Island Philharmonic and other area ensembles. These days, writing happens primarily in the early morning hours. When not working or writing, she is busy hiking, gardening, singing, playing strategy board and card games, playing the Celtic harp, and resisting the urge to get more Siamese cats. 

Kelley Stead starting writing stories the moment she could hold a crayon. She wrote her first novel at the age of ten in a series of Lisa Frank notebooks. After deciding writing would never make her money, she quit for years to work and eventually start her own business. She began writing again during the COVID lockdowns and found the spark was still there. 

Kelley is currently focusing on short stories and was awarded a Silver Honorable Mention in the Writers of the Future contest. 

She enjoys long walks and absorbing scientific podcasts she can later create worlds around. She’s also the mother of an interesting little child that never stops moving and sometimes finds his way into her stories

DreamForge Magazine is her first professional sale. 

Wulf Moon

Moon wrote his first science fiction story at fifteen. It won the national Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and became his first professional sale in Science World . He has won over forty writing awards, and thirty in public speaking. His stories have appeared in Writers of the Future Vol. 35, Best of Deep Magic Anthology 2, Future Science Fiction Digest, Best of Third Flatiron , and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 2 by Pocket Books. Moon is a professional voice-over actor and is podcast director at Future Science Fiction Digest .

Wulf Moon's award-winning SUPER SECRETS Writing Resource and Workshops have been attributed by many aspiring writers as the secret to their success in obtaining first professional sales. Two of Moon's books on writing will be published by Mark Leslie of Stark Publishing Solutions in the winter of 2021. Want in on the Secrets? JOIN THE WULF PACK at http://thesupersecrets.com.

We welcome Henry this month as our second editorial assistant. Henry joined us as a First Line Reader early on. He's stepped up at each turn to review the most stories of any FLR, write an outstanding story for us (Flight of the Brolga), and help us get our Discord channel started and engage with our DreamCaster group members.

Henry has had stories published in the anthologies "Dreamworks", “Alternate Apocalypse”, “On Time”, in Australia's Aurealis magazine, and in the SciPhi Journal.  He is a two-time semi-finalist in The Writers of the Future and he won first prize in Positive Writer's "Why I Write" essay contest. He also won the 2018 Sapiens Plurum short story competition, and came third in the 2020 competition.

When he is not writing, he enjoys cycling, kayaking, swimming and playing bridge.