The last few months have flown. And here we are at Issue 4. Since the previous edition of Scape, we’ve farewelled long-serving slush reader Erika Holt. Erika has gone on to bigger and better things (among them an editorial role at Nightmare Magazine, the latest from the awesome John Joseph Adams). I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Erika for all her input over the past few years. Like our Assistant Editor, Morgan, Erika was on board with Scape from the start, dedicating her time and energy for no other reward than getting great YA speculative fiction out to our readers. We wish her all the best for the future. We all know the adage about doors closing and opening and all that. On the back of Erika’s departure, we welcome Chris Stabback as the latest edition to the Scape team. Chris is a Clarion graduate and has had fiction appear in Clarkesworld among other places. Most importantly, he has a keen eye for great YA, so we’re excited to have him on board. I’m also happy to report that earlier this year, our Art Editor, Rebecca Ing, received a Chronos Award for her illustration of Wendy Wagner’s ‘Blue Locks’ in Issue 2. Congratulations Bec! Now the stuff we’re all here for: the stories. When I was first putting Issue 4 together, I thought I was going to feel like a parent struggling to not favour one offspring over another–’Chrysalides’ by Liz Hahn floored me on first reading and still lingers months later. Loss of innocence is a common theme in YA literature, but ‘Chrysalides’ captures one girl’s journey with grit and refreshing honesty. Thanks must go out to the incredibly talented Galen Dara for illustrating this one with an image as striking as Liz’s words. Thankfully, after deciding on ‘Chrysalides’ for Issue 4, a puff of whimsy breezed onto my desk in the form of D.F. McCourt’s ‘Pye’. There’s a note of melancholy underneath the glitter of snowflakes–another loss of innocence—but a warm, almost comforting one. When I started Scape, I never imagined publishing a vampire or werewolf story. But ‘This Serious Moonlight’ changed my mind—a brooding tale that asks more questions than it answers about identity and denial. Rounding out the issue, ‘To Be Selfish’ from Kat Otis is a fun contemporary tale about family dynamics and finding our own place within them. ‘Til next time, Peta Freestone Editor
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