Editor Wars

Yesterday, I was using the spare time I didn't have to thumb through my bookmarks, checking out any blogs I had saved. Totally realized almost every blog I use to stalk has either been neglected or disappeared all together. I probably would have tossed my blogging tendencies long ago if Ghost Stories wasn't doing so well. Yesterday, I visited Janrae Franks' blog, one I haven't read in a while, and discovered something interesting.

A couple of years ago, one of my short stories was published in N.V.H. Magazine. It was fairly new and I fully understood the possible risks. Soon after, editors David "Iron Dave" Byron and Steven Marshall parted ways. It was quite a public, nasty split via Myspace and I was one of the unfortunate authors put in the middle of it...well sort of. To be perfectly fair, Steven acted more professionally than David. I believe I still have the Myspace messages to prove it. However, I'm not posting any of them. After all the chaos died down, Steven established SNM Magazine which has quite flourished and David's online ventures have changed quite often. I think at one point it was New Voices of Fiction. Then I think it was about films, NVH Books and now NVF Horror Cafe. David is pretty much listed under the BEWARE list (see J.A. Aarntzen's encounter) for some authors.

Janrae posted an email he sent her a few weeks ago asking for money. Apparently, he traveled to Edinburgh for a seminar and lost his wallet with all his money, credit cards, etc. He can't use a phone but yet managed to obtain internet privileges. And is asking for someone to send him $2K. Seriously, who does that? If indeed he is having such problems, I'm sorry for his bad predicament. But I'm not buying it. He's actions are a bit too sketchy for me. What do you think?