Our new issue, “Frost Mountain Picnic Massacre,” was pulled from the slush pile by our associate managing editor, the intrepid Pei-Ling Lue. Pei-Ling became ”Frost Mountain’s”  issue editor, shepherding it through the entire publication process, and so I’m turning the reins over to her to introduce you all to a great new writer: Seth Fried. —HT

I first encountered Seth Fried’s work from the slush pile, but by the time I replied to him about that particular story, it had already been accepted by another magazine. I thought that he had a unique voice which is funny and creepy and yet sympathetic—a true One Story voice.

When I first read “Frost Mountain Picnic Massacre,”I knew that it was the sort of story that would appeal to our readers. It’s about a community of people who are drawn to the mysterious Frost Mountain Picnic. Although a massacre occurs every year, the community feels compelled to attend for the sake of their children. As I read this, I found myself laughing at some of the ridiculous way people die, but there was a very human element in the way the townspeople are led by their desire to give their children every advantage, a trait that clouds their judgment, something that happens in our own lives.

When I shared this story with our One Story interns, each one of them approached me individually to talk about how much they liked the story. I know that this is one issue that will get passed around and discussed.

If you live on the Upper West Side of New York City and want to receive a free copy of “Frost Mountain Picnic Massacre,” my dad will be including an issue with every dining and take-out order at his restaurant Obento Delight as a gift to his customers for the first few weeks in September. Obento Delight is located at 210 W. 94th street.

Go here to read Seth’s Q&A with us and find out more about “Frost Mountain Picnic Massacre.”—Pei-Ling Lue

Tanya Rey, our managing editor here at One Story, stepped in as issue editor for #123, “Rocky Point, Mexico,” and so I am turning the introductions over to her capable hands for this wonderful new story. Enjoy! -Hannah Tinti

Many years ago—before email and online social networking—I met my future ex-boyfriend on the phone. I was working as a switchboard operator; he was calling about a bill he’d received. He read me the joke from his Laffy Taffy wrapper and we got to talking. Soon he was calling my toll-free number everyday, we were exchanging letters and our short life stories. By the time we actually met a year later we were nervous and shaky, despite knowing almost everything about each other.

So you can imagine my delight when I first read Caedra Scott-Flaherty’s “Rocky Point, Mexico,” a story about a woman’s initial encounter with the man she’s been dating online. When we (along with the man) first meet the narrator, she is “flesh and bones wrapped in rice paper,” her “kneecaps bobbing up and down in an uncontrollable quiver.” She is frightened and candid, and we know from the onset that we are going to be told a story that goes much deeper than this mere encounter. Not only was I immediately drawn in by the narrative’s unique structure, but I also found comfort in the unflinching honesty and universality related by lines like “Even after so much writing, of trying to squeeze warm flesh from email subject lines, from a quirky lack of punctuation, and one small photo, the things you just can’t know.” The narrator is desperately trying to know something, to absorb enough about one person so that she might meet herself along the way. We slowly learn that she has lost her mother, and that although she is unaware of it, this trip to Mexico is one she must take in order to say goodbye.

At a time when daily exchanges more often involve emoticons than actual displays of emotion, when the shores of our lives are growing closer yet less intimate through email, Facebook and Twitter, it is refreshing to read a story about crossing those barriers into real human experience. For this reason, I thank Caedra for writing “Rocky Point, Mexico,” and I feel confident that she will be telling us stories for years to come.

To read an interview with Caedra Scott-Flaherty about “Rocky Point, Mexico,” click here.