Every spring, right around this time, I start to feel overwhelmed. Normally it’s because of the garden more than anything. It’s the scramble to clear the beds, turn the soil, start seeds, get the crops going. Often it’s a weary dance with the weather, trying to find the long enough breaks in the rain to work the soil without threatening its structural integrity or turning it into rock hard clumps. It normally is madness for me this time of year, and this year is no exception.
Except it is, in its way. This year the madness is not based in the garden, but in major impending life changes and a flurry of work to get the delayed first issue of Into the Ruins finished and out the door. Due to the aforementioned major life changes, I’m not gardening at the moment as I gear up to change locations. The first issue of Into the Ruins, however? That I most definitely have been focused on.
After a few weeks of seeming nonstop work on Issue I, I managed to get the draft file sent off to my publisher late last week. The physical proof hopefully will arrive tomorrow and, barring no major problems, I’ll be mailing out copies to subscribers within two weeks. Yes, folks, this thing really is almost here.
I would like to ask everyone to please forgive the delays. This first issue ended up being a significantly more time consuming undertaking than I expected—though I probably should have expected just that. Essentially, I just spent the last month or so learning a computer program I had never used before (Scribus) so that I could essentially design a book, which is something I never did before. I self taught (thank you, Google) and, well, I’m a bit of a perfectionist. I really wanted this thing to look good. So it didn’t come together quite as quickly as hoped.
The good news? I think it looks good. Don’t expect anything visually stunning, as that’s not what my limited design skills (or this publication’s budget, for that matter) are able to offer. Instead, expect a crafted and well-presented text document. I think it looks clean and nice and is quite readable. I hope you feel the same.
Most importantly, expect some really fantastic writing. I’m a huge fan of the stories published in this first issue. I think you’re going to like them.
In the meantime, for those of you who have not already subscribed, what are you waiting for? Get going! This thing’s real, it’s great, and it’s going out in the mail soon. Now’s the time to get on board. That said, if you don’t want to dive into a full on subscription, I’ll have the first issue available for sale here on the website around the second week of May. However, due to the (again) aforementioned life events, I probably won’t be able to send out any single-issue orders until the beginning of June.
Oh, and dust off your writing caps, because I’m hoping to see some great letters to the editor in response to this issue. I’m aiming to get Issue 2 published in July to start getting back on track with the originally planned seasonal publication schedule, and I want to make sure to get plenty of reader thoughts into that issue, as well.
I can’t wait for you all to read this and I hope you’re all just as enthusiastic. Curious to see what you’re about to get? Whet your appetite with a preview of the Table of Contents page below:
Into the Ruins 