From the Editor's Desk
Of Quests and Companions
Randy Streu

Quest. 

For fantasists, the very word conjures images of swordplay, of elf-maidens and dragons, and bands of heroes.  But, though the Quest is a defining attribute of fantasy fiction, it does not reside only inside that particular realm.  Indeed, most stories, if the reader is to have any sort of vested interest in how they end, revolve around a singular task or goal.  A quest.

Real life, itself, is made up of both smaller and larger quests.  Tasks to complete; obstacles to overcome.  Sometimes, we are able to complete the simpler tasks on our own.  But most often, thank God, we find we must look to others to aid us on our way.

Such is the case, more than occasionally, in the publishing of this very magazine.  As our little band moves through the forest of life, each of us bearing his or her own burdens, we find we must also be at the ready to lend a steadying arm for a stumbling companion – and sometimes, to bear another’s burden for a time.

While, in the publishing of Digital Dragon, I find myself Samwise to T.W.’s Frodo, it is his wife, Jen, who has been mine.  In recent months, with the creation of a new magazine and the sudden near-death of my home computer, I’ve found myself having to pull back, for a time, from my responsibilities at DDM.  While I worried and fussed over the possibility of leaving my friends in a lurch, circumstances were what they were.  I needn’t have worried.  Jen Ambrose has done more than a wonderful job carrying my ring, all while shouldering her own pack as well.  And like Samwise, whistling and singing down the road, all the while.

We are thrilled to have Jen Ambrose stepping into a larger editorial role here at the magazine, even as I reach to accept back the Ring from around her neck.  We trust that, as our fellowship grows in size and bond, our quest, our Digital Dragon, will prove itself a worthwhile goal indeed.

If fantasy fiction has taught me anything over the years, it is this: it is the quest that makes us; and any quest worth taking is worth taking with trusted companions.

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