Editorial

Welcome to the fourteenth issue of Baffling Magazine.

The stories herein have been curated by our editorial team on the theme of “performance.” We open with two stories that take the theme more literally, looking at grief in a minor key, though in wildly different settings. The others move from contemporary performance of the self—either in this world or ones not too far off—towards more alien explorations of the same.

This issue comes out on December 31st, New Year’s Eve, making the official publication year of the stories 2023. We do this to avoid any confusion between the official publication date and their initial appearance on our Patreon, where we would be delighted to have your support. That support would go directly to paying Baffling writers. Our initial tier is just $3/month, and joining allows us to continue pay SFWA pro-rates to those we publish.

Our beautiful cover is by Mart Lett and inspired by D.K. Lawhorn’s “Steinway & Sons.” Learn more about Mart’s process here.

We have also ushered the print anthology of Baffling Year Two out into the world before the bell. The first wave of shipments went out before the holidays and the second are on their way. Pick up your copy directly from us, from Amazon, or your local bookstore.

Thanks for all your support in 2023. Looking forward to whatever comes next for all of us in 2024.

Enjoy the issue!

dave ring
Co-Editor, Baffling Magazine