First Fiction Stories from 10 New Writers

“I joined McSwys around 2003, back when I was young and didn’t know anything. Now I am middle-aged and have forgotten whatever I did know then. But finding and working with new writers was always the best part of the job, and so that’s what we’ve tried to do again. Twenty years ago they arrived in manila envelopes, sorted via an arcane system on a baker’s rack in our office on Valencia Street; now it’s all email and files, attachments and forgotten passwords. But at its heart, the work is the same: pawing through giant stacks of unknown stories, hoping to be surprised. In the one month of open submissions, we received well over a thousand, from across the country and around the world. We emerged with the ten pieces you’ll find tucked within these pockets—each one the first published story from its very talented author. I’m not sure what set of circumstances allowed these wizards to escape previous publication—youth? shyness? vast conspiracies?—but the wait is over: they have arrived.”–Eli Horowitz, inside accordion box lid.