
Dear Reader,
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Where do you go from Andromeda? Volume 1 of the Santa Barbara Literary Journal, titled “Andromeda,” was only the beginning of what I hope will be a long run for this journal, which aims to show the best of Santa Barbara’s writers, musicians, and artists. And our community extends further afield, to those who attend the Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference or come into town regularly to play music, or simply those who are part of our nebulous trible of creative minds, spread all over the world. A family, if you will, of pens and guitar strings and paint brushes. These are the things my father taught me to value (along with a good coleslaw recipe and a pitcher of Budweiser).
To represent this interconnected family, I’ve decided to name each volume after a constellation. As Moby says, “We are all made of stars,” and the constellation of the Santa Barbara Literary Journal is nothing if not a family of bright lights, people who have chosen to make creative expression their priority. Without such communities, the world would be a dim place, indeed.
But what constellation for Volume 2? When I was doing what all good researchers do (i.e., looking at Wikipedia) and pondering the different names for constellations, one jumped out at me in particular. The Serpens Constellation, or the snake constellation. This snake, in star form, is held in the hands of Asclepius, the son of a Greek God, who learned how to heal by watching a snake regenerate. I could simply say that all writers and artists and musicians are snakelike, shedding their skin and constantly reinventing themselves, telling new stories, writing new songs. Well, the good ones do, anyway. But in that particular instant, I had snakes on my mind for another reason. And to discover what that is, you will need to read my interview of our featured author, Stephen T. Vessels, in the “Down the Rabbit Hole” section. I promise you that a snake will make an appearance there! Stephen’s artwork also graces the pages of this volume, for which I thank him profusely.
Look carefully and you will see flickers of tongue and shiny scales all through the book. Medusa and her sisters appear in Poetry, something deadly lurks in Fiction. If you find yourself in church in one of our stories, you may just be hissed at. The cover art features a winsome snake (“Shadow in the Vines”) that was painted specifically for this issue by the talented and prolific Robin Gowen, a woman who is just as generous with her paintbrushes as she is with her homemade bread and literary critique.
I hope you will enjoy these offerings as much as I do. Please visit our bookstore to purchase Volume 2 Cor Serpentis.
Best,
Silver Webb
Editrix
Volume 2
Cor Serpentis
November 2018
Le Menu
Fiction
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Blow, Winds, and Crack Your Cheeks by Shelly Lowenkopf
Blood Moon by Chella Courington
Dry Run for Doomsday by Max Talley
Night Must Wait by Robin Winter
The Rune Maker and the River Python by Cyrus Cromwell
Roundabout Protection by Yvette Keller
The Weather on Mars * Three Simple Rules
by Nate Streeper
Behold, I Give You the Power by Ted Chiles
The Rift by Nicholas Deitch
The Demon Lover by M.K. Knight
Trunk Road by Tom Layou
Peshmerga by Gwen Dandridge
Clean-Up on Aisle Three by Jordan O’Halloran
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From Dust Returned by Stephen T. Vessels
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Poems
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Luminary * The Scarecrow Bride
by Terry Wolverton
Mommy as Snake I * Mommy as Snake II
by Nina Clements
The Wisdom * Back to the Garden
by Yvonne M. Estrada
Still Life * Yoga for the Too Much Alone
by Lisa Cheby
Late September by Kim Dower
The Singing Body by Sharon Venezio
Medusa by Chella Courington
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Lyrics
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Beauty Queen & The Love Still Shows
by Donna Lynn Caskey
Timbuktu & Eyes to See the Wind
by Ian McCartor
August * Only Love
by Cathryn Beeks
Strange Summer Snow * Made for Something More
by Gabrielle Louise
Greenland * West of Sky
by Annika Fehling