Good morning, folks.

Here's what we've been up to this week:

On Monday we published Grace Novarr's review of Lonesome Ballroom  by Madeline McDonnell (Rescue Press). Earlier this year, Grace reviewed Cascade by Julia Hannafin and True Failure by Alex Higley, and we're glad to have her back in our pages.

Then on Wednesday we kicked off our annual October series of spooky stories with  "Rainmaker" by Daisy Ravenel, whose writing we're honored to share for the first time.

And here are few new and soon to arrive books by our contributors:

Leaf Town Forever, a children's book by Beth Rooney and Kathleen Rooney, illustrated by Betsy Bowen and published by University of Minnesota Press.

Happy People Don't Live Here, a novel by Amber Sparks, a contributor who goes way back in our pages. And if you're in the Boston area, I will be in conversation with Amber about her novel at Harvard Books on October 16 — please join us!

And Guardians & Saints by our own reviews editor Diane Josefowicz is coming soon from Cornerstone Press.

Finally, submissions won't open until Monday but contributor DeMisty D. Bellinger will be reading and selecting some stories as a guest editor. Here's a preview of what she's looking for:

Whimsy: What is whimsical in our ordinary worlds? I don't want to be too prescriptive, but I'd like your characters to find whimsy in the mundane, something unexpected and consequential. Don't think of the topic as a fantasy piece, but something closer to slipstream or magical realism. 

Also, I am a sucker for good dialog. Good dialog doesn't have to be realistic, but it has to fit in the story. Make me think, "there's nothing else they could say at this point."

Thanks for reading,

Steve Himmer