The Obligatory Article

Otherwise known as “Editor’s Note”

Or, “News and Updates”

Gack. My classes have started. You may all tease me now—I deserve it.

Who cares about me, though…let’s get down to the goodness of the month—the football, the basketball preseason, the end (YES!) of baseball, the—oh, sorry. I mean, of course, the articles in this issue of Yn Nor. Yes, of course.

We’ve got two covers this month, one being the official cover and the other still available for the public to view…here, actually, and it’s by one Ben Miff. (Notice, those who participate in the Nonsense forum, what the picture actually is.) Please, readers of the ‘zine, contribute to the cover section. I really really really really don’t want to have to do one most months, as my artistic talent is way below limited. However, if you do not submit an appropriate picture by a few days before the start of the next month, I will be using my own picture as the cover, and yours will be relegated to the “secondary cover”. (Sorry, Mr. Miff…you’re the first to suffer the consquences of this rule. It’s just too much of a hassle for me to either wait to the last minute and have to make a rushed cover then, or to make one at the last minute and then have it wasted by someone else submitting late. Soggy.)

Fiction is a little low this month, as my creative inspiration is still gone and no one else seemed to be in a short story mood. That said, however, let us applaud the return of a long-lost feature…SolegaleMoon’s previously untitled fan-fic, now known as South Wind! The author would like to let the readers know that these two chapters are “filler”, and that next month’s submission will start to delve deeper into the plot. You can also read the descriptive essay (it’s fictional, actually) The Market, by Vitora.

There are a couple of poems; one is Northwind’s The White Stag, and the other is Vitora’s Here. (Just so you know, look at Here sideways so you can see the wave effect.) Of course, Fidget gives us yet another wonderful SPAG poem, the title of which should be familiar to most (it’s a Christmas song, sorta). There’s also a goodly supply of humor—Spring’s crowd-favorite What’s In a Name, focusing on foreign words this month; her Halloween story, about what happens when you mix dear ol’ BJ’s world with that of the trick-or-treaters; and Ben Miff’s excellent guide on how to survive our forums.

Once more, Yn Nor is featuring a book review, on Erin Hunter’s Into the Wild; and a Redwall-related guest article (though maybe Daquira is here to stay…) about the pros and cons of dueling.

And finally, the icing on the ‘zine’s cake: the writing articles. Geo Holmes once more brings us a way to get past writer’s block, that of the character interview, and Vitora gives some pointers on what makes humor humorous. Another installment of Character Design is here, this time heading back to the basics of character creation. Northwind talks about the short story in her article, about the ins and outs of writing short prose. Finally, we have our second Yn Nor Workshop, on freewriting this month.

I think I’ve about typed my fingers off now—you may all kill me, for I did my articles the day before. All of them. Except for the essay. And so don’t feel bad if you procrastinate…even your beloved (eh?) editor does it.

Happy Halloween… OooooohooOoooohOoohoh…