Dear Readers,
It is surreal to think that only a month ago Mandy and I announced to the world our idea: creating a new and improved edition of the now defunct online magazine, STiR, that we launched in 2006. My how things have changed! Five years ago people thought we were insane, yet innovative, for wanting to produce a free internet publication with a magazine feel. Now people start blogs for their pets.
While I’m still tinkering with the wording of our official ‘mission’ with JiLTED, let me enlighten you as to why I wanted to create a magazine in the first place: 1) There was a void in the market. I wasn’t seeing what I wanted to read…so I created it myself. 2) The people I encounter in life are such a quirky, eclectic, and endlessly fascinating bunch. Their stories need to be told, their voices need to be heard. 3) Expressing yourself in writing is such a therapeutic and empowering concept. There’s nothing quite like the feeling you get when you see your name in print and something you created starts a dialogue. Everyone deserves that opportunity.
Considering we literally threw this together—during the holiday season nonetheless—I’m thrilled with the content we have. The writers and artists who shared themselves with us have so much talent and penned thought provoking articles. If things look this good now in our mini issue, I cannot even imagine how astounding our official debut will be on April 7th!
Now is where I enter a special plea to you, dear readers—won’t you help us? We need writers, artists, section editors, and staff members. JiLTED cannot function without brilliant minds to propel it forward. As you can see from this mini issue, I have…questionable…grammar and zero graphic design creativity. Content is the most important part of the magazine yet it needs to be a visually appealing, cohesive product with all the right punctuation in all the right places. In my overzealous enthusiasm to churn out writing like there's no tomorrow, I suffer from PBP syndrome [publish before proofreading], so forgive me in advance for any errors.
Mandy and I are awestruck by all that has changed since our first magazine—and not just in terms of technology. She currently resides in Nashville while I’m in the San Luis Obispo area on California’s central coast—we’re a long way from home and that’s exactly how we like it. Both of us are college graduates [so the one whose name does not rhyme with ‘candy’ might have taken the six year plan but she ultimately reached the destination] now living independently and making our mark on the world. I’ve been married—legally I still am but let’s not go there—and am the mother of a three year old son, Adam. His sister, Tatum, arrives in February. Mandy’s the Digital Traffic Coordinator of Clear Channel Media [that’s a prominent title if I’ve ever heard one] and she worked extremely hard to get there. We’re jaded, sometimes quite grumpy and/or melancholy, read too much Sylvia Plath…yet remain eternal optimists who are forever young. Oh, and we’re quite opinionated. ;)
Enjoy the mini issue. We look forward to seeing you in April. As always, contact me anytime at sloanewreed@gmail.com.
Sloane
Editor-in-Chief, JiLTED
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