WHETSTONE is an amateur magazine that seeks to discover, inspire, and publish emerging authors who are enthusiastic about the tradition of "pulp sword and sorcery." Writers in this tradition include (but are not limited to) the following: Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, Michael Moorcock, Karl Edward Wagner, and many more. "Pulp sword and sorcery" emphasizes active protagonists, supernatural menaces, and preindustrial (mostly ancient and medieval) settings. Some "pulp sword and sorcery" straddles the line between historical and fantasy fiction; at Whetstone, however, we prefer "secondary world settings" and other worlds liberated from the necessity of historical accuracy.
Jason Ray Carney, Ph.D. is a lecturer in popular literature and creative writing at Christopher Newport University; he is the author of the academic book, *Weird Tales of Modernity: The Ephemerality of the Ordinary in the Stories of Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, and H.P. Lovecraft* (McFarland 2019) and the sword and sorcery collection, *Rakefire and Other Stories* (Pulp Hero Press 2020). He co-edits the academic journal, *The Dark Man: The Journal of Robert E. Howard and Pulp Studies* and is the editor of *Whetstone: Amateur Magazine of Pulp Sword and Sorcery.* He is the area chair of the "Pulp Studies" section of the Popular Culture Association.
Another good issue with a wide variety of styles. Once again, B Harlan Crawford’s tale was probably the best. Several stories had a lot to offer. Jason M. Waltz’s story was unique with quite an ending. Good job by everyone.