The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction

I love magazines, and when it comes to fiction, I love the short forms. I often wish we could return to those days when writers were able to make a living writing short fiction and there were tons of magazines out there devoted solely to publishing fiction. Those days became a part of the past before I was born, and with each passing year, we lose more and more of "the pulps".

There are still a few around, and fortunately, there are still plenty of literary and small press magazines, but those with the pulp tradition are nearly gone. Off the top of my head I could name maybe five and I'd be hard pressed to name ten. That's why I try my best to support those traditional pulp magazines, like "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction". The best way to do that, of course, is to subscribe, and as embarrassing as it is to admit, especially on this blog, I had let my subscription expire years ago. So once I let some other glossy magazine subscriptions expire, I remedied this by picking up F&SF again.

I'd love to support more. "Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine" and "Ellery Queen Magazine" are two that come to mind and ones I previously subscribed to. "Analog Science Fiction and Fact" was one I bought off the rack from time to time, but I didn't subscribe since I already had the F&SF subscription.

When I subscribed to F&SF again after all these years, I couldn't wait for the first issue to arrive, but when they said that I could expect my first issue to arrive in July, I was so disappointed I downloaded a free sample to my Kindle to hold me over.

Then today, alas, yes, today, my first issue arrived. My excitement was a testament as to how much a geek/nerd I am. As soon as I'm done with this post, I'm going to open it up and read with a joy I used to get when I was a kid - running off to a quiet room in the house, staking out my little corner, and read the night away.

In the meantime, if you truly love short fiction, and wish to support the industry and the magazines who fight hard each year to stay in business, find yourself a nice pulp magazine and subscribe.

Until Next Time...
Pulply Yours,
Michael