Editorial: Questions               
Copyright (c) 1995, Joe DeRouen    
All rights reserved


Each month, I get a lot of different questions in a lot of different
places about a lot of different things related to Sunlight Through The
Shadows Magazine.  This month, I'm going to try to answer the top
two questions I seem to get:



1. What's the difference between the Readroom, NeoBook, and ASCII
   versions of STTS? 


Readroom is a terrific program created by Michael Gibbs.  It's been
around for a long time now and is supported by a multitude of electronic
magazines.

Readroom magazines such as STTS can be viewed in two different ways; in
DOS on an IBM compatiable computer or on-line on any BBS that can
support the Readroom On-line reader door.

To run the magazine in DOS, all you need do is unzip it into any
directory you want and type "GO" or "READER".  Voila, you're inside the
magazine!  ANSI, ASCII, and RIP graphics are supported in this nested
menuing system, and this is the best option for those who don't have
much hard drive space/don't have VGA graphics for the NeoBook version.

Viewing a Readroom magazine on-line is a bit different, but not overly
so.  On any BBS that has a Readroom door, you just enter the door and
select from a list of available magazines the one you want to read.
(Hopefully, this one!)  From that point onward, it's more or less like
reading it in DOS; RIP, ANSI, and ASCII are all supported, depending
upon what type of terminal program you're using and what your setting on
the BBS are, and you move through it just like you would in DOS.  You
can also download the magazine from inside the door if you decide you'd
rather be reading it offline than on.

The NeoBook version of STTS is the more impressive, but can't be read
online.  It's also strictly a IBM program.   When using the NeoBook
version, it helps to have a speedy computer, preferrably at least a
386-SX 16mhz with VGA graphics.  (Shawn uses this system; I use a 486
66mhz with SVGA graphics.  We try to make it work with the lowest common
denominator, but it naturally works better on a better machine)  The
NeoBook STTS contains music, GIF-quality graphics, printing options, and
more.  If you have the room and a fairly speedy machine with VGA
graphics, this is the version for you. 

Last but certainly not least is the 100% pure plain brown vanilla ASCII
version.  This can be viewed on any personal computer in existence (IBM,
Mac, UNIX, Amiga, etc.) but contains none of the bells and whistles of
the other two versions.  There are no graphics in the ASCII version save
for some very limited ASCII art, but this version is by far the most
versatile.  It can be viewed on our web site, downloaded, sent in
messages, etc.  If you don't care about any of the frills of Readroom or
NeoBook, and if you have any computer other than an IBM, this is
certainly the version for you. 



2.  I'm a writer and I'd love to contribute to STTS.  What are you
    looking for? 

I used to always answer "good writing" but I've finally realized that
this was too vague.  It happens to be true, of course, even if it is a
bit murky.

To clarify, we look for fiction, poetry, essays, humor, reviews, and
anything else that happens to catch our attention.  I'll expand a little
on what we're looking for in all areas below.

Fiction.  Where fiction is concerned, the genre doesn't matter.  It can
be science fiction, fantasy, horror, western, romance, mainstream, or
any other style or mixture of styles you can come up with.  What matters
is that the ideas are clear, well-written, refreshing, and interesting. 
The idea doesn't have to be a new one, but the way in which you explore
it should be.  It also helps if you spell-check and grammar-check your
own work before sending it to us.  We will do it if necessary; we just
don't want to, because quite frankly we just don't have the time. 


Poetry.  Poetry doesn't have a lot of rules.  Sonnets, limericks,
rhymes, freestyle - it doesn't matter.  What matters is that it's good
and catches our eye.  We tend to look for poetry about subjects other
than love since that kind of poetry is pretty common, but we do accept a
certain amount of "romantic poetry" each issue.  

Essays.  The field is open here.  We're looking for essays on anything
and everything from a comparative piece on Dianetics and Christian
Science to an editorial about nuclear weapons to a trip down nostalgia
lane as you reaccount your experiences as a child in Boston.  Make it
interesting, fresh, and well-written and we'd love to publish it.  Our
only advice would be to write about a subject you know or have
researched well. 

Humor.  We need more humor!  Humorous essays, poems, stories, even more
top-ten lists.  If it's funny, we want it.

Reviews.  Anything that's reviewable, we'll accepts.  In the past,
that's mainly been software, movies, books, CD's, and the occasional
concert or event.  If you want to review a television show, we'd
certainly take a look at it.  The same goes for a play or even a on-line
service such as Prodigy or America On-line.  Your reviews should be as
objective as possible, be very clear, weigh the pros and cons of what
you're reviewing, and be concise and to the point.  Reviewing a product
fairly can be tough.  Give it your best shot and see what you come up
with. 

Anything Else.  Yes, you're more than welcome to submit anything and
everything that doesn't fall into any of the above categories.  In fact,
we'd love it if you did.  We think STTS is a pretty thorough magazine,
but if there's a space you can see that we're not filling, please let us
know.  You might even wind up with a monthly column.  You never can
tell.



There's many more questions that we get here at STTS, but those are the
top two.  In future issues, we'll try to explore the others.  If you
have any questions, comments, or points that you think I didn't clarify
well enough, write!  We'd love to hear from you.


Joe DeRouen
September 7th, 1995



STTS Home Page - HTTP://www.crl.com/~jderouen/stts/index.html
Joe's Personal Home Page - HTTP://www.crl.com/~jderouen/index.html
FTP Site - FTP://glenn.pcc.cccoes.edu/SUNSHINE
Joe's Email - jderouen@crl.com
Shawn's Email - lsaiken@crl.com

