As seen on http://www.fudgefactor.org.

It is enough, it will do

by Brett Sanger (editor @ fudgefactor.org)

Too much time has passed, noble reader, since the last installment of collected Fudge works was submitted for your approval. Alas, this scholar was beset by a beast known as Real Life, a terrible scourge upon our kind that I am sure that many of you have encountered. Aided by his nefarious sidekick Other Interests, this monster sought to the keep the material you now have before you from your eager eyes. Happily, a noble servant has stepped forward to intervene -- his dedication and persistence will ensure that this and future collections are delivered to you. Fred Hicks has contributed to this work in the past as a mere writer, now he is elevated to the somewhat quaint title of "Managing Editor", while this one steps down in favor of less strenuous tasks. While this one finds such titles to be an interesting artifact of our culture, we respond with more enthusiasm to the future works Mr. Hicks will be bringing to you.

Do not let your joy overwhelm you, gentle reader, as I have one final request of you before I reliquish these reins. Before you examine the material so graciously offered by our authors, I beg of you pause to consider two points that shall offer you. Two points, seemingly unrelated, but connected in the ephemeral sense, as they are both to be read by you, noble reader, and both written of by myself, your humble servant.

The first of these points (which I will delay no further, brevity being, as so succintly put by a certain flambouyant author and paraphrased by this unworthy one, the spirit of clever repartie) being that over the last two issues, and indeed, over several issues during the life of this electronic publication, I have requested of you, noble reader, the smallest of tasks. Of course, I am always eager to to find our humble 'zine offered the wealth of submissions, but the request I speak of here if a far easier thing for our guests to provide us.

I speak, as you have no doubt guessed, of suggestions, of requests. We poor servants exist to serve your whims, your slightest inclinations. The deepest hell has not the torture equal to that felt by the those who would serve, but are denied the simple knowledge of how to best serve. For indeed, the silence to our pleas has been of a vast proportion.

This is the wounding implied in the title of this piece. Surely the reader is not so callous as to leave this humble writer adrift on this ocean of unfulfilled purpose? Surely the reader, a most noble and wise guest of our publication, will see fit to honor us with a few crumbs of response? Of this we have no doubt, rest assured that I shall speak no more of this, and shall instead wait, ever eager, by the inbox awaiting your words of wisdom.

But then what has become of the second point previously mentioned? For surely the clever reader has noticed that that point had not yet arrived. Indeed, it even now arrives, and here it is: This humble editor has recently discovered the works of Steven Brust, and most recently, his intriguing The Phoenix Guards. This homage to Dumas' classic work is of a caliber hard to equal. Of course, he is not alone in dealing with such material, and not least amongst his peers is Joel Rosenberg, with his Not Exactly the Three Musketeers, set in a series with origins in our hobby.

But why do I bring the reading habits of your now former editor to your attention? For what purpose do I expend the reader's precious time on the literary interests of a mere editor? As the astute reader has no doubt concluded, I do so because of the common purpose we share, that of this hobby, this entertainment, this social activity we engage in.

These authors and works stir an interest in a genre that was otherwise dormant within me. They serve as examples of the difference between our mundane lives and the dashing adventures we seek. They also show how a story can be told and retold without growing weary and worn. All of these lessons are of value, even to our wise readers, and so they are humbly offered for your approval, even as you are left to peruse this month's offerings.