Deep Magic June 2016

by Jeff Wheeler (Editor, Contributor), Charlie N. Holmberg, Carrie Anne Noble

If you want to read a gripping story that doesn’t rely on sex, swearing, and graphic violence—you’ve come to the right place!

DEEP MAGIC is a bi-monthly electronic magazine that publishes clean short fiction in the fantasy and science fiction genres (epic, paranormal, steampunk, etc). Our issues are also filled with author interviews, art features, book reviews and tips for writers.

This month, we feature an exclusive interview with Brandon Sanderson on his latest journey to the United Arab Emirates. We also include short stories from Wall Street Journal bestselling author Jeff Wheeler* ("The Beesinger's Daughter"), Amazon bestselling Carrie Anne Noble ("The Perfect Specimen"), and Cecilia Dart-Thornton who came out of hiding to let us publish her latest ("The Churchyard Yarrow"). We also feature stories this month by Steve Yeager ("Rain Dance") and Brendon Taylor ("The Apothecant"). You'll also get two articles, one written by NYT bestselling author Anthony Ryan and the other by David Pomerico, Harper Voyager US's Executive Editor. Still not convinced to give it a try? We'll also be publishing an extended sample of Wall Street Journal bestselling author Charlie N Holmberg's** latest novel ("Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet").


* Wall Street Journal, June 2016
** Wall Street Journal, June 2015

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Anthologies

195 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 14, 2016

About the author

Wall Street Journal bestselling author Jeff Wheeler took an early retirement from his career at Intel in 2014 to write full-time. He is a husband, father of five, and a devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jeff lives in the Rocky Mountains.

Learn about Jeff’s many worlds at www.jeff-wheeler.com, or participate in one of his online writing classes through Writer’s Block (www.writersblock.biz).

Reviews

[Charlie Holmberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I -am- on the board for this ezine, so this is a little tooting-my-own-horn, but this issue has great short stories and articles. I personally did the interview with Brandon Sanderson and aimed to ask him questions he doesn't get asked every day. If any of you are a fan of the Muirwood series, Jeff Wheeler has a piece in this, as does David Pomerico, who is not only the exec editor at Harper Collins, but is the guy who made The Paper Magician happen (therefore I love him). Worth a read!

[Jeff Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the reasons I resurrected Deep Magic after a 10-year hiatus was because I liked promoting authors and stories that touched me. It also creates a way to publish some of my shorter fiction too. So for this inaugural issue, I contributed a short story called "The Beesinger's Daughter" which is based on some people who are very close to me. It's a story I've had in my head for a long time but didn't have the right medium to tell it in as it was much shorter than a novel. One of my other favorite stories from this issue was "The Apothecant". It was one of the submissions that made it past our crew of First Readers and up to the Board where it was unanimously raved about. Only to find out that it had been submitted under a fake name by one of my best friends and a member of the Board, Brendon Taylor! He never hinted it was his until after we'd all weighed in. It was a great moment and a wonderful story. Each story in the issue is great, but I think it was cool that we got Cecilia Dart-Thornton writing again (I love her Bitterbynde trilogy) and nabbed a sci-fi story by author Carrie Anne Noble (liked her novel 'The Mermaid's Sister' very much) and Steve Yeager's 'Rance Dance'. And not only stories but an interview with Brandon Sanderson, an article by the editor at Harper Voyager who originally signed me up at Amazon Publishing, and an excerpt of Charlie Holmberg's newest novel, 'Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet'. If you like fantasy, you should give the first issue of Deep Magic a try.

[Andy Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deep Magic is (was) a magazine of 'clean' fiction in the fantasy genre from 2002 to 2006. It shut down after 49 issues but now, 10 years later, it is back in electronic form with a bumper 50th issue.

Just to clarify here, 'clean' fiction is stories without sex, gratuitous violence or strong language. This does not affect the quality of the stories here though. The lack of the aforementioned sex, violence and strong language does not detract from the quality of the stories provided for your entertainment (in fact, if anything, it felt quite refreshing at times). The whole description of 'clean' may make you think 'Young Adult' but Deep Magic is not a 'YA' magazine (not that I'm saying there is anything wrong with 'YA')

So, what do you get in Deep Magic? Five short stories, all of which I enjoyed and by authors I will be looking out for again. They cover fantasy/ magic settings in the main but there is also the SF tinged 'The Perfect Specimen' (which, although not a bad story was probably my least favourite). Added to this, you get the first 6 chapters of Charlie N. Holmberg's new novel, 'Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet' (which is certainly going on my 'To Read' list)

That is not all though.........within these pages there is an article by bestselling author Anthony Ryan ('How I Edit a Novel' - as someone quite new to the editing scene I found this both useful and interesting), Harper Voyager US Executive Editor David Pomerico (Returning To The Light) and interviews with cover artist Eamon O'Donoghue (who did the absolutely gorgeous cover for this edition, trust me, have a look, it is stunning), and a chap you may have heard of......



Brandon Sanderson.


This e-magazine has been sat on my kindle as bedtime reading for the last couple of weeks and I must say I have got a lot of enjoyment out of it. It is just the thing for that end of the day wind down. Will I be reading further editions - most certainly.

A high quality return for Deep Magic and if the standard remains this high I can see only good times ahead for them

[Joanne Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

This mag has a good mix of behind the scenes and fiction. Thrilled the editors included an illustrator interview. They really "get" their readers, or at least me. The short fiction was a mixed bag. One of the stories was 5 star, one 2 star, but the rest were above average. The concept of clean fantasy is so needed and so appealing. Nothing crude. Nothing graphically violent, but definite moments of chilling horror here. Includes 6 chapters of Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet, which I've been dying to read.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed some of the stories in this book more than others. I really disliked the stories that were excerpts though because, what's the point if it's not a full story... All in all there were some creepy tales that were worth it.

[Michele Hermansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quality sci-fi/fantasy as always, and great book excerpts that give you a taste of the fun that awaits should you decide to read. Pick it up!

[JS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable stories.
Wished there was more to Churchyard Yarrow, as it felt like there was more to the story.
Really enjoyed The Apothecant.

[vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Storyline that's not active

Strange settings that have only minimal characters with no active plot and only description of the surroundings where th story takes place

[Bruce Dinsman · Rating 5 out of 5]

So addictive

Here we go again Jeff. I find another thing of yours I want to sit and read when I should be going something else. Good edition. Somebody tell me about editions 1-49?

[R. C.]

A mixture of stories, interviews and excerpts. I loved the range of stories and the focus on "clean" fantasy. Some powerful imagery.

[George Polansky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good assortment of topics. Stories are entertaining.

[Lora Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adored Cecilia Dart-Thornton's short story in this one. She captures the faerie folkloric feel so well. Missed seeing it, glad to find her again.

[Jessica Donegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to review a collection of short stories and interviews. Overall my interactions with this installment was positive. I enjoyed the exposure to new authors as well as reading some of my personal favorites. Deep Magic is a publication dedicated to fantasy without the gore and sex sometimes found in the genre. I'm personally committed to the transformative and alternative properties fantasy can explore. Always love when a writer chooses to explore a logic puzzle rather than another thousand person battle.

I love dark work too, but it's refreshing to see fantasy written for adults that has wonder and just plain breathe taking magic, environments, and characters.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I won this magazine in a contest held by the publisher. There was no expectation of a review.

I first heard about this e-Zine from the twitter feed of a favorite author who is one of the collaborators.

By “clean” they mean no cussing, excessive violence or sex. I have to say that is refreshing. I love books like Game of Thrones but it can also be a little exhausting at times. This is a nice respite from that and I like their approach to fiction. I’m not much of a fan of short stories or anthologies so I wasn’t sure what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised. There were a couple of stories that stood out as favorites. They had particularly strong sci-fi story opening the magazine and even though I don’t like that genre near as much as fantasy, it drew me in right away. After the short stories they also included an extended preview of an upcoming novel, which will be going on my TBR. I also enjoyed some short essays some authors wrote about their writing process.

I hope that reading this magazine will help me to find new writers to enjoy, as well as providing some light entertainment. Hard to beat it at a $2.99 sticker price per issue (free – if you’re on Kindle Unlimited)! I really enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to getting the next issue. I hope you’ll all look into it, it’s a good buy for fantasy/sci-fi fans.

[Charlene Pratt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating

I wasn't sure what to expect when I ordered this but must say I am glad I did. Thank you to all who participated in publishing this. It's hard to find authors who actually understand what the word "clean" really means. The opportunity to find authors and stories I'm happy to recommend to others.

[Steve Yeager · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the advantages of being a part of this project was getting to read the stories of the other great authors who participated before the official release date. I won't give anything away, but I can say that there wasn't a story or article I didn't enjoy.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely

This publication offers enjoyable forays into the different worlds of some of the most (Imho) talented fantasy writers currently working. I am grateful for it and advise fantasy/science fiction lovers to avail themselves of it and the excellence provided.

[Andrea HumbirdStout · Rating 5 out of 5]

A few stories

One of the best collections of short stories I've read in a magazine in a long time. Well written and varied in fantasy subjects. Yes, I've already purchased the next two and preordered the December edition.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want more!!

I love all the writers stories! I usually never buy anthologies, but I am so glad I did this one. It was very fun to read and very satisfying.

[Esther · Rating 3 out of 5]

Promising ethos but this edition's stories were a bit too similar in length, tone, sub-genre and protoganist type.