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Hardluck Thoughts |
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As many of you know this is the final issue of Hardluck Stories. End of the line. Done. Sayonara sister. The fat lady has sung. Gone, baby, gone. Splitsville, and any other cliché that says we're finished. I published the first issue of Hardluck back in 2002, and I was proud of that issue and each successive one. I've also been proud of the job my guest editors have done. I know from communications I had with them that they made their selections based on what they considered the best stories submitted and no other factors. In a lot of ways, Hardluck started off as an experiment, especially with the use of different guest editors for each issue. I don't know if any fiction magazine ever did that before, and it presented more than its share of challenges. With guest editors each selecting their own stories, I couldn't build a backlog, and each issue--especially the early ones--became kind of a mad rush to get enough quality submissions to put out a publication. Early on I felt like Mickey Rooney in a Busby Berkeley movie, where somehow at the last minute everything magically comes together. And the whole thing with themed issues was a fluke--I thought most issues would be open and themes would only be used occasionally, but each editor had their own ideas, things I wouldn't have thought of, and it all somehow worked. I was lucky with my guest editors--not only were they a talented group, but they took it seriously, and while I may not have always picked the same stories they ended up with, the ones they picked were strong stories that fit their vision, and it all helped to give each issue of Hardluck a unique favor. More than that, it helped give Hardluck a level of fairness with writers that's hard to obtain when you have a single editor who's naturally going to have his or her own biases. When writers appeared in multiple issue, it wasn't because I was choosing them, it was because each guest editor was choosing them. And I think this fairness was apparent to writers, which helped us later with our submissions, and ended up contributing greatly to the quality of what we published. Here we are almost six years later and with the 30s Pulp Noir issue I'm still publishing what I consider some of the best short noir and hardboiled fiction available in either print or on the web. So why end it? Well, the simplest reason is I'm just worn out by it. Even when I'm not acting as my own "guest editor" each issue chews up a lot of time--line editing, formatting, and all the other stuff I have to do to get an issue out the door, and with the book sales I've had recently I don't have the time for that anymore. But even beyond that, it just feels like it's a good time to end it. The quality is as good as it's ever been, so this allows me to take Hardluck out on a high note. And I don't think I'm up to putting out another issue past this one. But what an issue to go out on. As far as the future of Hardluck's archives, I'm going to keep this issue and the archives online until October. With Small Crimes coming out in the US this October and Pariah in the UK shortly afterwards, I'm going to be transitioning Hardluck to my author's website at that point, and I don't think it would be right to keep the archives going then. I have a lot of people I want to thank for Hardluck's success: Pat Lambe who created the slicker, more professional look of Hardluck, as well as terrific illustrations for the earlier issues. Steve Cartwright who did a masterful job illustrating the Five Star issue Jean-Pierre Jacquet whose wonderful and brilliant noirish illustrations have decorated so many Hardluck pages, including these final ones. Laurie Pzena who created the highly appropriate Hardluck logo. Kevin Tipple who early on helped me out with interviews and book reviews, and a did a terrific job at it. All of my guest editors. You guys were great--all of you took it seriously, and you guys made Hardluck what it is. I have to single out two of you, though: Philip Tomasso III, who guest edited my first issue, and Ed Gorman. To say the first issue was touch and go is putting it lightly, but Philip stuck with it and somehow we ended up putting out a damn good first issue. Ed needs special mention. The western noir issue we did was really something extraordinary, and thanks to Ed we ended up getting writers like Bentley Little, Bill Crider, Jeremiah Healy, Norman Partridge, Jon Breen, Steve Hockensmith, and many other excellent writers submitting. And further thanks to Ed's efforts we'll be having this issue anthologized (along with other stories and an introduction by James Sallis) by Cemetery Dance Publications. I'm not sure when the publication date is yet, but the title is going to be "On Dangerous Ground". Also, if it wasn't for Ed, I would've slipped into the night and made the Five Star issue the final issue, but Ed convinced me to do this one, and like our western noir issue, this one is also something special. All of my writers. There's so much talent displayed on the pages of Hardluck, and you guys and gals have been generous enough to let me publish some of the best short crime fiction I've seen anywhere over the last 20 years. I particularly have to thank pro writers like Ken Bruen, Ed Gorman, Jeremiah Healy, Adrian McKinty, Bill Crider, James Reasoner, Bentley Little, Iain Rowan and all of you others could've easily sold the same stories that you let me publish for good money elsewhere, but instead chose to support us. And of course, our readers and all of you out of there who have supported Hardluck over the years. It's been fun. I've made some good friends, put out something I could be proud of, and best of all, something that has helped newer writers, as well as contributing to the crime fiction genre. Not bad for something that started off as a wing and a prayer. --Dave Zeltserman
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