When I was in Boston I bought a copy of the October 2004 issue of Realms of Fantasy, which features strong stories by Ian McDowell and Steven Popkes, and a very solid one by Tim Pratt. It’s a good magazine and Shawna McCarthy deserves credit for putting it together. I do have one quibble though. I found myself embarrassed to be seen reading the magazine in public. I folded it up so the cover wasn’t visible when I took it to the counter to buy it, and seriously considered tearing the cover off rather than be seen reading it on the plane. It’s probably just my own hang-up, but there’s something about being seen reading something with a tacky image of a chick in chain mail with huge breasts that just doesn’t send the right message.