Kristin Janz

My story “The Observation Deck” came out not too long ago in On Spec, “the Canadian magazine of the fantastic”, and I recently finished reading the issue that has my story in it (Fall 2011, though I didn’t receive it until 2012).  My favorite story in the magazine was Megan Fennell’s “Hexenhaus”, which picks up the story of Hansel and Gretel after they’ve defeated the witch.  I also liked a story by Scott H. Andrews (the editor of Beneath Ceaseless Skies), “The Halberdier, by Moonlight”.

The cover is very pretty, a sort of Asian-inspired steampunk illustration by featured artist James Ng.  There’s more of Ng’s art inside, also very cool, especially “Imperial Sheriff”.  Though I wondered if the originals of the interior pictures, reproduced in the magazine in black and white, are actually color paintings (like the cover), as they seemed quite dark, and often lacking in contrast.

On Spec tends to publish a pretty diverse selection of fiction:  this issue had more fantasy, but 3 of the 9 stories (including mine) could be considered science fiction (two futuristic, one steampunk).  The fantasy stories ranged from magic realism to high fantasy to historical fantasy.

The only negative note:  although they did get it right inside the magazine, my name is spelled wrong on the cover.

I recently finished reading my contributor’s copy of Aoife’s Kiss, which features my story “The Kiss of the Blood-Red Pomegranate”.  My favorite story was Rachel Zakuta’s “Memory of Snow”, an urban fantasy retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “The Snow Queen”.  I’ve always found “The Snow Queen” the most compelling of Andersen’s stories, and I thought Zakuta’s version worked both as an homage and as its own story, with Gerda having to rescue her younger brother from under the spell of their magically-gifted mother in Canada.

Aoife’s Kiss also published poetry.  I’m not sure I read enough poetry to be a good judge, but I loved V. Shirley Valencia’s poem “The Stray They Brought Inside”, printed on the back cover of the magazine.  It’s a beautifully written poem, the speculative element both subtle and integral to the piece.

I also enjoyed  ”Wolves”, by Laura DeHaan, a retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood” with a clever twist; and Chris Ward’s “Happy Shopping”, a satirical science fiction piece about the future of consumerism (you can read Chris Ward’s story and V. Shirley Valencia’s poem for free at the Aoife’s Kiss website).

I really like the diversity of fiction Aoife’s Kiss publishes, everything from steampunk to historical romantic fantasy, to hard science fiction.  They have great cover art, too, this month’s by April Bullard.

Aoife’s Kiss is also the only magazine that both Donald and I have appeared in, so far.  Donald’s story “A Stranger in the Library” appeared back in Issue 23, December 2007.

The magazine comes out in print four times a year, in March, June, September, and December.