The Situation in Detail – and a Decision

Clearly, based on the utter lack of activity here, we did not move to Patheos. We ran into unanticipated legal issues, and so the move was canceled. I apologize for not explaining things sooner, but life has been getting in the way at a whole new level of crazy.

I want to take a few moments and just be frank with you all. I don’t have the patience right now to make this post all official-like, minding my diction and so forth. So I’m just going to tell you what’s what, and trust you to make the best of any minor grammatical errors which may intrude. This magazine was my baby for a long time; this past September marks five years for us. I took a hiatus about a year ago with the promise to update in a year’s time, regarding the future of this publication.

Right now, my heart is not in it. It many never be again. I honestly cannot predict what I may feel in the future, but if I were to continue stringing you all along with promises that never materialize, I would feel guilty for every day in which I wasn’t dedicating my energy to this end. Currently, in my life, I have school (I’m going full time for my Bachelor’s in Small Business Administration), my other business (aside from this ‘zine, which doesn’t make money), my family, a house and yard to remodel, and an honest-to-god social life that actually requires my time to maintain. School intrudes upon other things a great deal, as I’m sure you’ve experienced yourself. I’ve started investigating local hauntings and helping people here with spirit-related problems. This magazine is at the end of a long to-do list, and I’m not sure I’m ever going to get back to it.

Besides feeling guilty, going along with a “maybe we’ll be back” just keeps the pressure on me to decide one way or the other, to catch up with so much work (like restoring the now fabled archives) in order to feel I was doing my minimal duty. So, without even consulting my authors, who’ve been supportive for all my decisions, I am closing this magazine until such a day as I want to pick it up again. When I get the urge and when I have the time (and when both of these things coincide), I will restore the archives at my leisure. Ironically, this probably means they’ll be done sooner. But, I’m making no promises of adding new content — if it comes, you’ll see it when it shows up. If not, well, I won’t be breaking any more promises.

If I ever get my life together and have the time, energy, and drive to spare, I may pick this up again someday. I’ll be leaving the site up — it doesn’t hurt me in any way to do so — and keeping the domain name, so at least you’ll still have access to what you can read here now. I’m sorry for letting everyone down, but sometimes you just have to let go of something or you never make real progress anywhere.

My best to you all,
Sheta

An Explanation

I mentioned a News post or two ago that I had been fielding personal crises. They have escalated now to the point that my work here has suffered, and I think for that I owe you an explanation. To be blunt, my daughter has severe emotional issues. She’s bipolar like her mother (that would be me), but unlike me she’s currently unmedicated. I won’t trouble you with why, but it is temporary and unfortunate. She has emotional episodes frequently. Typically I am very patient because I know what it’s like. For the past three solid weeks, she’s been in serious emotional crisis. I’m talking about half a dozen panic attacks a day. We’re both home all the time and no one else is around, so it falls to me to serve as support and guidance. This is difficult and very taxing for both of us.

I’m doing the best I can. I am in the process of switching bedrooms with her so she can have more space. I have the entire apartment for my “stuff,” so I don’t mind it and honestly should have thought of it before. But this need (or rather solution) is one in a series of solutions after a series of traumatizing “discussions” with her that eventually led to epiphanies of what each problem actually was. . . so I think you might have an idea of why I’ve been lax in updating the Summer Issue. I’m currently on day 3 of who knows how many, moving rooms with her. The entire house looks like somebody shook it and then kicked it down a couple of flights of stairs. My ability to cope is at about 5% of normal. So all I can say is, I’ll be back when this passes, hopefully within a few days. Getting her settled in a new space should help for a while. I’ll finish the issue then, and I’m sorry this has created problems for our readers.

Your continued patience is sincerely appreciated.

— Sheta

The Beltane Issue

Hi folks. I know you’re breathing down my neck for the Beltane issue, and it’s coming. I’ll be adding some of it tonight and continuing throughout the weekend. Computer issues (I spilled soda into my keyboard and though I took it apart and cleaned it, it’s stiff as a board to type on) and various other demands have made an all-at-once arrival too difficult to ponder. This way you’ll be able to peruse as I get the material added. Look for the first article within the next thirty minutes or so.

As always, thanks for reading and for your infinite patience.

From the Editor – Avoiding Bias in Reviews

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