Hello my dear readers!
I want to begin this editorial on a personal note of gratitude. As you may know, I have been knee-deep in building Luna Station Press. I have also had numerous personal work issues in the last few months. That all boils down to me having not enough time to cram in all the awesome that has come through the LSQ inbox.
So, I must sincerely, publicly, and loudly, thank my amazing assistant editors, Evan Mariah Pettit and Cheryl Wood Ruggerio for stepping up and shepherding our RECORD number of submissions for this issue. We had an astounding quantity of wonderful stories come through the door and they carefully weighed each one with aplomb and a true editorial eye.
THANK YOU, LADIES!
As for the issue itself, something that I have been noting for years now out of the corner of my eye became a solid thing in my mind. Rather than write a normal rant-style editorial, I wanted to simply chat about it a bit.
I am so proud to truly understand what an international community LSQ has become, starting at its inception. I have received submissions from, quite literally, all over the globe and I’m honored. There is one country in particular that I want to take note of, though. Australia.
Hello Aussies!
Sometimes I think that’s how I should start my greetings when I sit down to write my weekly blog post. The outpouring of support for LSQ from Oz has surprised and delighted me for almost as long as this publication has existed. I believe the Australian contingent got its start from the support of @seandblogonaut and his blog. He was one of the first to pay attention to my fledgling efforts and tweeted about the release of the very first issue. From then on, I have consistently received submissions from all over that sunburnt country down under.
I now joke amongst my friends that I’m the Amanda Palmer of short story publishing. For those of you not familiar with her, Ms. Palmer is a musician who is based here in the US, but has a substantial following in Australia and regularly tours there.
Maybe it’s just funny to me. Especially if I have to explain the joke. Moving on. 🙂
I’m not quite sure what it is about LSQ that has struck a chord with the ladies of Australia (and New Zealand, too! I see you there, Kiwis!), but I think it’s marvelous. It makes me smile every time I see one of you pop up in the submission queue. As soon as I have the means, I’m going to have to make some sort of field trip to a book convention or something down there to visit you all.
But what does this mean to me for the future of LSQ in the long run?
While there is still plenty of room for it to grow, my mission of reaching out to women and giving them a safe space to let their genre flag fly is working. Not only is it doing what I hoped, but it’s reaching women on an international scope. That’s something I had dreams of happening, but didn’t expect so quickly nor expansively.
So thank you, readers in all hemispheres and time zones, for all your wonderful support! I hope one day I can visit you all in person, but for now, I’ll just be thankful that the internet has given us all a means to find one another and circle the wagons.