Letter from the Editor I thought I worked hard on the November 2003 issue of HM, but as it turns out . . . that issue was a piece of cake, compared to this one! The November issue was a lot of work, but things went smoothly. This issue hasn't. On March 8th, I posted the following on Prego: Wanted: Editor in Chief for High Maintenance Posted by Lisa L on 8/3/2004, 1:14 am
While I was just kidding around and blowing off steam, this issue has been been filled with setbacks. My copy editor, Maggie, had numerous health issues to deal with, which kept me from even bothering to ask her to edit this issue. Fortunately, after my Prego plea, I received an offer of help from Cynthia Patton, a college English professor. She stepped up and offered to edit this issue. Thanks, Cynthia! This was especially wonderful because, in my total exhaustion, I had completely forgotten how to punctuate. I wouldn't even have known this except for all the red marks I got back on Cynthia's edited articles! I'm so grateful that Maggie never got to see how awful my writing was. She would have been disgusted with me and I would have lost all credibility with her! Deb Simpson, my art editor, is having major nerve damage problems with both of her hands and wrists. We delayed this issue for a week to see if she would improve enough to do the layout. She got worse. When it became clear that the layout was going to be up to me, Deb told me, "Make sure everyone knows that I didn't do the layout!" In other words, she didn't want anyone to think the crummy layout job that I DID was her work! One of my scheduled artists had a family crisis that prevented her from participating. Fortunately, at the last minute, Julie Agozino was able to fill that open spot for me. She was so enthusiastic and quick with her responses that I made her write me a last minute article on how to photograph dolls! My "find" for this issue is Jan Kaufman. As you'll read in her interview, things did not go smoothly for either of us in our preparation for publication. There were several delays, resulting in this issue being out three weeks later than I had scheduled it. Am I stressed out? NO! I'm exhausted. I'm way too tired to be stressed. Today, in the Christian world, we celebrate Jesus' rising from the dead. Jesus may have risen, but I haven't yet. Give me a week!
Lisa A. Lawrence
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