"Horrorscope", the Australian Dark Fiction weblog, interviews Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, the new editors of Midnight Echo, the Australian Horror Writers Association's (AHWA) new fiction e-zine.
What are you looking for in a 'Midnight Echo' story?Kirstyn McDermott: To put it simply: Very Good Stories. That's what every editor is after, right? Neither Ian nor myself have a particular "wish-list" of the types of stories we want. As long as they keep our interest to the final page, it doesn't matter which part of the genre they fall within. Scare us, disturb us, make us laugh or just creep us out: we are open to just about anything as long as it's well told. Speaking for myself -- with and without my editor's hat on -- I like reading stories that I wish I had written. Make me envious of your work, and there's a good chance I'll arm-wrestle Ian to make sure your story is accepted!
Ian Mond: It's very hard to answer this question without speaking in generalities and clichés. As Kirstyn says, the most important thing is a good story. But we're also finding that we're drawn to the stories that also show some ambition and don't just rely on the tried and true horror tropes. But mostly, it's all about good storytelling.
