Our theme in Issue 13 revolves around connections. From twin sisters renewing their sibling bonds on a mysterious world to the difficulties of managing parenthood as a hologram, and on to an alien captive seeking the warmth of connection from its torturers, these tales explore the need to reach out, find approval, achieve understanding, and be loved.

We last enjoyed Susan’s work in her delightfully engaging hopepunk tale “The Joy Fund” in DreamForge Anvil, Issue 10. In her current article, Susan takes us along on her hopepunk journey of discovery. “Hopepunk,” Susan tells us, “declares a wholesale restructuring is necessary not only to avoid the unfolding catastrophes but to re-center human flourishing.”

We’re proud to have published David Hankin’s first story “A Properly Spiced Gingerbread” in DreamForge Anvil, Issue 11. Since then, he has gone on to win Writers of the Future and place a number of increasingly interesting tales in different venues as well as launch his own very successful Kickstarter. In this essay, David encourages every writer to keep going and never give up. Persistence is everything.

In this article, Wulf Moon shows us how much weight the words above the byline must bear in “Title is Your First Hook: A Rose by Any Other Name is Not Just as Sweet.” A well-crafted title can evoke emotions, prompt questions, and entice readers into the author's world. As a reader's initial touchpoint, it can determine whether they delve deeper into the story or bypass it altogether.

Throughout history, sailors have formed profound emotional connections with their ships, viewing them not just as lifeless vessels but as living entities with souls of their own. For a ship's pilot, that special ship isn't merely a tool of travel or a means to an end. Instead, it becomes a trusted partner, a silent confidante that has weathered countless storms, shared sunrises over uncharted vistas, and held firm against the rage of the endless deep.

All the undead necromancers, the evil stepmothers, the Nothings, the Dark Ones, the World-Devourers, the various Whoever-Shall-Not-Be-Named, they all come to call on Guff’s goblin market at one point or another, along with the occasional Chosen One. But the people he sells to are not necessarily the customers he serves.

What does the shrinking of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot have to do interplanetary communications, cephalopod sentience, and a doctoral dissertation at Yale? There’s little time for Karina to find the answer when her results on the Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability Timescales are due by Friday at 5 pm.

Tak and Indra fell in love and started their family while living 200 million kilometers apart. Genetic engineering and neurally synched holograms made their life together possible, except when it came to the challenge of raising their son. For young Pranil, a few ghostly visits never seemed to make a difference, until one day…

As a species, we are reaching the point (and may have passed it already) where no matter what calamity befalls our civilization, elements of our instrumentality may last well beyond our accidents and failures. Will they remain focused on their mission, or shall they reach out to one another and form new connections?

A moving piece of flash fiction exploring the adjustment an alien makes to deal with the abusive and traumatic experience of its capture and abusive examination. It’s a look at a kind of Stockholm Syndrome when the species in question isn’t even human. First published in Nature Futures, Vol. 564, page 296, 2018 by Springer Nature.

What do you do when your twin sister asks you to take a two-year hiatus from your life on Earth to visit her on an alien planet? When your sibling also announces that she has cancer and has no intention of returning home, you go… even when it costs you your job and the love of your life. You go. Of course, the planet Piklor itself may add its own, unimaginable revelations.

We have so many people to thank! Founders, Kickstarter Heroes, Contributors, Friends, Family, and First Line Readers.