Editor's Corner

By Mary E. Adair

SEPTEMBER!!

Wonder why, after a hiatus, one always feels overwhelmed with the first little something there is to do when one resumes their duties. It is like the brain itself hasn't yet returned from vacation. Though the fingers are hacking away at the keyboard, the mind is still dreaming in the past, and sometimes the printed result bears no resemblance to what is required. But, with a bit of immersion, skills come flooding into the present, and all at once things start clicking into place, as they should. Sorta like sticking your toe into that cold water first, then just letting go and jumping in over your head, coming back to the surface and swimming right along.

During this August hiatus, our partner and webmaster Mike Craner was busy redesigning a lot of the presentation part of our ezine. One innovation he came up with for September is comment sections found at the bottom of all the regular columns as well as one special poem "Junkie" by M. Jay Mansfield. When you use these comment areas, it will be posted immediately with the page where you choose to offer your feedback. We hope this will make reading and participating in the issue more productive for you.

We continue to run the Forum and the Wall, and invite interaction there from readers. We will be happy to provide announcements of special literary events, but point out that our deadline for the next issue is the 20th of the preceding month. There are submission forms where you can send your work for consideration of publishing, and to include your biography also. When you list the URL of your homepage with your bio, it becomes a link for our readers. We take this opportunity to remind you to click on author names for their biography and any page link or email addy they may have listed.

We are henceforth setting the 20th of the month as an arbitrary deadline on writers to have their work to us for publication. Peace of mind in these quarters demands perfection, or as near perfection as the webpage templates can provide, which requires time to proofread again and again. Typo's, or as my late hubby referred to them, type lice, can populate all areas, and plague editors regardless of that creature's diligence. But elimination of said varmints remains a lengthy process that still allows one or more to survive. It is this editor's suspicion that they breed indiscriminately somewhere in the email transfers, as no one ever admits to producing any on purpose.

Nonetheless, this issue, pristine or otherwise, is reaching you with quality entertainment. Proudly bearing numerous poems, thought provoking columns, a couple of articles, additions to the serialized stories department, and a few short stories, it presents a variety of subjects. Love is always a popular theme; the attaining and/or loss thereof can be expressed so many delightful ways (and is, this month). Observations of Faith abound, tales of travel, philosophical musings, reminiscences and appreciation of family, and of pets - and we even came up with three poems involving trees.

We welcome some new authors to this issue: Thomas Farrelly, with the article "Religious Retirement?"; Teri E. Holloway, "Last Ride" a poetic tribute to veterans ... DB, with three reflective poems, "Out of Me Tonight" ... "War and Death" ... "Still"; Shannon Wadford, grand daughter-in-law of your editor, with "If I Lost You"; Reverend James Robert Donk with three channeled poems, "Truth" ... "Ice of Fire" ... "Perhaps". We also re-print from the lost issues (February 1998 through August 1999) two poems by Virginia Brittony D'Archangel (Rainbow), "To Hal" and "Ray of Sunshine" with pics of her with Hal Ketchum; and "Formation of Friendship" by Donna Swanson (Cinderelli). Returning poets are Phillip Hennesy, Doug Tanoury, LSeeker, Blinder (Todd Anderson), Kenneth Rea Berry, his daughter - Megan Rea Berry, JoBi Wilson, and your editor, Mary E. Adair.

Story reprints include Jennifer K. Stiff's "The Town That Grew Redheads" and the editor's short story "Whispers". New stories are Mary E. Taylor reminiscence, "Of Outhouses and Owls" ... and your editor's "Perspective on a House". If everything is worked out for this issue, a new author, under the pseudonym of Gold Avatar, is to be presented with the beginning three chapters of an exciting work of his, "Time War 2055".

The article "Concerning Spirituality" by Robert R. Beaty, who is our regular columnist 'pbobby', might surprise you as most of his "Provocations" usually do. We happily reprint the article by Mark Crocker, "Fencing" and lament we were not able to find the pic that originally was printed with it. Mark did a follow up to this article, and it, too, has been lost to us.

So, we close, reminding again of the impermanence of the medium of the Internet, and urge you to print out your own works, at least. Also consider saving your submissions on a disk so there is a better chance of recovery if disaster should strike. With the foregoing caution, we continue our efforts toward perfection for your reading pleasure.

Enjoy!