Editor's Corner

By Mary E. Adair

Welcome to the month with the most important sounding name in our calendar! We base that comment on the fact that august means "inspiring awe and reverence" as well as "worthy of respect because of age and dignity; high position; venerable..." It stems from the word augury, which meant the practice of divinations based on omens, and august itself means "consecrated by the augurs" which must also be one reason the Roman Emperor, nephew of Julius Caesar, preferred the name Augustus to that of Octavian, when he had the 31 day month renamed August in his honor. Much more auspicious portent. Besides, July, another 31 day month was already named for uncle Julius.

Perhaps that mood of inspiration touched the works of the authors this month. There are three articles, "Changes . . ." by new author Parcelvx (check the bio's of authors by clicking their byline); "One Generation" by another new author, Talia Alleyne, aka Oceanfires; and "Eulogy of a Writer" by Judy Issette.

Issette also provides one of the stories "Memories of When" that includes the discussed poem, "Mother." Other stories are:

"Angels Around Us" by Jill Cruzan, aka PrairWarur of Allpathways.com and the earlier Spiritweb chatrooms;

"The Churches of My Childhood" by Mary E. Taylor;

"Affair With A Gambler - Part 4" the final segment by deacon, the mysterious mysterywriter;

"The Sighting - Part Four" by Cayce B. Shelton.

We always look forward to the poetry, and this month offers a dozen poems, with almost a dozen different themes. We introduce two new poets, Beth Harris, aka Artemis8, ("Merlin and Nimue'" and "The Best, Again,") and Sheila Keith, aka Bjays_Little_Angel, with "My Heart's Healing Prayer." Returning poets M. Jay Mansfield ("Brilliantly Dull," "Deep End," and "So Into Me"), John I. Blair ("Hug," "Abyssinian Eyes," "Old Nefertiti," and "Mirror Image"), plus Bruce Clifford ("A Throw Back In Time" and "In Your Goldfish Bowl").

Our columnists are the backbone of Pencil Stubs Online! Their words in this issue vary between humor, philosophy, soapboxing, and spiritual insights. Both Mike Craner and Connie A. Anast, being tied to summer schedules, were unable to share their thoughts with us for August, but we hope to see them back next month. Meanwhile the roster reads present for
Cassandra - "Cassandra's World,"
LC Van Savage - "Consider This,"
Leo C. Helmer - "Cookin' With Leo,"
Darren Bardsley - "Ever Increasing Circles,"
Mattie Lennon - "Irish Eyes,"
pbobby - "Provocations,"
Dr. Sam Vaknin - "Taming The Beast,"
Gerard Meister - "Thinking Out Loud."

Rebecca Morris, author of the popular children's serialized story "Adventures of Ollie-Dare" adds a chapter "Ollie-Dare Begins Planning." The tale has captured the imagination of not only young readers but those who are young at heart. If you have never read it, you can access it by clicking the words Serialized Stories on the sidebar.

Your editor, qualifying as an august person (if you stick to the "respect because of age" definition) will now do the honorable thing and close this column so you can start reading the delightful content detailed above.

See you in September!!