Relief Journal is here

I was headed out for a trip to the library when I stopped at the mailbox and found my copy of the first issue of "Relief, A Quarterly Christian Expression." In other words, a Christian literary journal. I know one of the contributors in this issue, Mike Snyder, who's brilliant and funny. The treasure in my mailbox was almost enough to derail me from the trip to the library, but not quite.

I came home with a big variety of books, fiction and nonfiction, intending to haul a couple of them with me over Thanksgiving weekend when we'll be visiting relatives. I picked up The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King and White Doves at Morning by James Lee Burke. The rest of the pile is nonfiction, research for the final tweakings of the novel I'm revising.

Of course the first "Relief" is coming with me, too. I can't wait to get into it. I've always loved reading short stories and poetry, two art forms that aren't especially lucrative for publishers. Hats off to the "Relief" crew for starting this venture. And congrats to Mike for making it into the first issue. It'll be a collector's item one day when you're rich and famous.