flashquake - Spring 2002 - Editorial Corner - A Writer's Choice by Dave Lignell

Editor's Corner

flashquake
A Writer's Choice
by Dave Lignell

In the Charles Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol, two emaciated children cling to the robe of a spirit who tells Scrooge, "The boy is Ignorance and the girl is Want. Beware them both."

It's a warning I'm beginning to understand as a writer.

Want prompted me to join the staff of Flashquake last year. I wanted to learn about an online journal and to mingle with a community of writers. I wasn't disappointed. The publisher and editors of Flashquake are professional and down-to-earth folk.

Publisher Debi Orton not only originated the concept, but also the design of the Flashquake site. To say it's a useful, logical and professional online journal is an understatement. It's the result of Debi's extensive background in technical writing, web site design and development, and web site accessibility research. It's damn hard work and she does it well.

The Flashquake editors are equally talented.

Roger Paris is the artist behind the artwork visible in each Flashquake edition. When you read a story, look closely at the digital painting that goes with it. It's Roger's work. He holds degrees in Art, Art History and Photography. Roger eye for art is also reflected in his fiction, which is filled with concrete nouns and imagery.

Vanitha Sankaran is a scientist who has degrees in Optical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering. For fun, she gives seminars on topics such as, "Polarized Light Imaging Through Biologic Tissue." She also has a fiction column in the newspaper The San Francisco Call. As anyone who's read Vanitha's work can tell you, her stories are well grounded in empirical detail.

Jonette Stabbert is an artist and designer living in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Aside from numerous nonfiction and fiction credits, Jonette is an award-winning designer of Swiss dolls. Her Teddy Bears would melt the heart of a Polar bear. Jonette crafts her fictional characters with the same care she puts into creating her dolls.

Paul Alan Fahey is joining Flashquake as an editor for the Summer and Fall issues. Paul is a learning disabilities specialist at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, California. He's also the editor of Mindprints, A Literary Journal, and a national magazine for writers and artists with disabilities or for those with an interest in the field. A Fahey story is easy to spot; it's characterized by brevity, wit and crisp dialogue.

Now let me tell you how that needy boy Ignorance has influenced me. That child inspired me to underestimate my work and family obligations, which competed with Flashquake for my writing time.

As a Flashquake editor, I was ignorant of the time required to thoroughly read submissions and write critiques. Similarly, I was ignorant of the time required to effectively perform my job in human resources, or to participate in after-school activities with my three children, or to escape those children just to have a date with my wife. I began to feel frustrated with all of the competing activities and the diminishing amount of time I had left over to write.

The Lignell Family on a recent vacation to sunny Florida

From left to right: Dave Lignell, wife Colleen, daughter Erica and son Adam. Foreground: son Bryce asleep under poncho.

That's why I've chosen to end my role as an editor with flashquake after this issue.

Flashquake is a reflection of the writers and artists behind the masthead. It's a professional and writer-friendly publication. I have chosen to stay involved, not as an editor but as a writer.

Flashquake now becomes a potential market for me. And yes, I'm well aware of the high caliber of the story, play, poem and memoir submissions we've received. That's why I'm not planning to submit a piece unless it's been through several critiques and revisions. That will take some time. And thanks to my friends at flashquake, I'll have more time to spare.

"The boy is Ignorance and the girl is Want. Beware them both."