What kind of stories can you expect to find in this magazine? Here’s what the magazine’s editor has to say:
- High Quality – we are looking for well written speculative fiction. In other words we are looking for a great story.
- Entertaining – We want the readers to enjoy your stories. They should be taken on a journey to places they have never imagined and return to reality filled with satisfaction.
- Thought-Provoking – Last, but not least, we are also looking to publish stories that give a different perspective on various aspects of life, stories that make the readers raise a brow and go ‘Hmmm… that’s an interesting thought.‘
I am a programmer turned accountant, turned writer, and, more recently, turned editor. Programming has always been a passion of mine and has intertwined with all my career on one level or another. My accounting and finance background is what paid my bills for many, many years, and it was a good place for me to use my programming skills.My writing came much later in my life, re-kindling a spark that has been dormant inside me for a long time, and my editing came naturally out of that. During this whole time, I’ve managed to somehow get married, settle down, and have two children. We all live in a suburb of New Jersey, even though sometimes I do live in some imaginary worlds inside my head. Quite often I take a break and describe those worlds on paper.How did you get the idea of starting this magazine?
In any writer’s career there’s one thing that is always a constant and that is the ‘rejection.’ The more I got my share of it, sprinkled with the various acceptances that came as a seldom, but so welcome, blessing, the more I asked myself: what exactly goes on inside a magazine. How do all the parts move? What happens with my story? The more I thought about it, and the more I read other magazines, the more I thought to myself: I should be able to do this. And that “should” soon became “want,” and “want” turned into “love.”
That spark of an idea then grew bigger and bigger, until it formulated itself into a mission statement: I wanted to publish high-quality, entertaining, and thought-provoking stories from known and new authors, emphasis on the new. Being a beginning writer myself, I could see the need for more avenues for new writers, new places where they can send their stories. So, the idea became reality and in late 2013 it materialized in Fantasy Scroll Magazine.
Are you a writer yourself? What can you tell us about your stories?
My first written story came to life when I was about four years old. It was also the very first story that I both “edited” and “published,” and what I mean by that is I actually cut pieces of paper and a piece of carton and made my story into a “book,” using staples and glue. Then, I added illustrations and even a table of contents. Years later, remembering that self-made book, I realized I was meant to tell stories.
Unfortunately for my writing, my career got in the way for the better part of my life, followed by the next disruption, which was immigrating to the US. Here, I had to put everything in the backburner, until I got myself on my feet. But sometime in 2009 I decided to resume my dream of being a writer. Four years later, I have about 20 stories either published or awaiting publication, and three novels in the works.
My stories are almost all speculative. I love to write science fiction and paranormal stories. I enjoy fantasy too, but not as much. Horror—I’ve never been really good at it, although I did give it a shot with some of my stories. A lot of my ideas spawn from a real life event, or something that I’ve seen during my travels. I take that event or thing, I let my imagination run free, and build it from there.
When do you expect to release the first issue, and where do you see this going 2-3 years from now?
The first issue of the magazine is planned for mid-April, probably by April 15th. We already issued one teaser issue to help with our Kickstarter campaign. The first issue will be packed with 12 stories from well-known writers (such as Ken Liu, KJ Kabza, or Alex Shvartsman) and new authors, some of them publishing for the first time.
In the first year, we’ll started with a quarterly issue, paying semi-pro rates to our writers. My goal for the next 2-3 years is to take this magazine to the next level, which in my book means becoming a monthly publication that pays professional rates to writers.
Who are some of the best known authors represented in the Fantasy Scroll Magazine?
I am only going to list a few, and I encourage everyone to check our authors page for more names and bios
Ken Liu is a writer, poet, lawyer, and programmer, whose story “The Paper Menagerie” is the first work of fiction, of any length, to have swept the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy Awards. More recently, Ken’s story “Mono no aware” has won the 2013 Hugo.
Mike Resnick has won 5 Hugos, from a record 36 nominations, and he was the first on the Locus list of all-time award winners, living or dead, for short fiction, and 4th on the list of science fiction’s all-time top award winners in all fiction categories.
Piers Anthony is best known for his long-running series set in the Xanth Universe. He had more than twenty-one novels hit the best-seller list and he is the author of well over 100 books in such varied categories as science fiction and fantasy, horror, and historical fiction.
We’d like to wish lots of success to the Fantasy Scroll Magazine, its editor and authors, and hope to see it on a newsstand soon! But don’t forget that a start-up project like this needs funding, so if you’re into Sci-Fi and Fantasy please help their Kickstarter campaign!
If you’re looking to rent a house at the shore, check out ShoreVacations.com, Jersey Shore’s biggest vacation rentals resource. It lists hundreds of rental homes and condos from Sandy Hook all the way down to Cape May (including Belmar, Point Pleasant, Seaside Heights, Ocean City, Long Beach Island, Atlantic City or the Wildwoods). It’s a one-stop website for planning your Jersey Shore vacation, featuring beach information, weather updates and more! And of course, it has a full list of all the Jersey Shore events this year.
Jersey Shore Vacations 
0 comments on “Welcoming the Fantasy Scroll Magazine, New Jersey’s Premiere Sci-Fi & Fantasy Magazine”