Since becoming the Fiction Editor of Connotation Press in October 2009, I’ve learned a few lessons. The most surprising thing for me, nearly a year later, is that these lessons have nothing to do with editing and publishing. I expected to read fiction, write letters, and do some surface editing. I did not expect to work with such amazing and wonderful writers. I didn’t hope for the privilege of participating in the lives of their stories because I didn’t know it was possible. I didn’t expect to be filled with hope and pure delight in the conversation of art which Connotation Press continues to facilitate every day all over the planet. Yet all these rewards have been mine.
And there’s more—communicating with writers about their writing lives and work
lifts me up. I am better for it as a person and a writer. I am reminded that reaching out and connecting with others is the whole point. I’d like to thank
all the writers who have trusted us with their work and all our readers who keep returning. I encourage you to take this opportunity to read some of my favorite stories from our early issues: “Some Churches” by Liza Wieland, “Finding Jesus” by Kristy Webster, “Illusions” by Diane Payne, and “Kurznil” by Paul Maitrejean.
