The June 2009 update of Silverthought Online features the second chapters of the serials Mr. Head by Michael Gold and The Cowboy Trilogy by Thomas Henry Dylan along with new short fiction from ST's Mark R. Brand, who took time from his recent adventures at the Pilcrow Lit Fest and editing Thank You, Death Robot to write a story that prominently features ham. I'd also like to welcome Leah Erickson, Sasha Janel McBrayer, Jon McRae, Jason D. Moore, Jennifer Shumate, and Cavan Terrill, who make their debuts on Silverthought with short fiction that runs the gamut from travel guides to DOD reports, from junk mail to wooden fish, and from a hole in the ground to, well, the most vomit I've ever found in the slushpile. Prospective submitters take note: the work presented in this update is some of the best we've seen on ST. It embodies the contemplative, challenging, and sometimes downright bizarre material we're looking for.

I'm happy to report that ST's print division is finalizing our Summer 2009 releases, Thank You, Death Robot, edited by Mark R. Brand, Affluenza, by David LaBounty, and Horror House Detective by Michael Gold. Stay tuned for pre-order information and for first looks at excerpts and covers. With just over eight thousand publishing queries since we opened for print submissions again in January, response time has slowed. I'm finding some gems among the hundreds of Twilight clones, and if one of those gems is yours, you'll be hearing from me. But no more vampire novels, please. Just please.

And on a final staff development note, drop by the forum and say hello to Silverthought's summer intern, Intern Andy. What? you say. Silverthought has a summer intern? That's what I said too. This is a cool development for a company whose corporate headquarters contains more woodchucks than human beings.

Check back soon for news about further site improvements, more social networking crap, our shiny new ST Book Club, and maybe even some good old fashioned dead tree reading.

—PEH