December 2022

Dear Reader,

And so, we arrive at 8. Four years in, and Lit Jo remains a beacon of dignity. Ha! But there is something to be said for longevity, for refusing to fold under the vagaries of life. To remain creative, even when it’s not convenient, profitable, or even pleasant. In fact, my most revered writers, musicians, and artists are those who have endured over the course of a lifetime, and continue to create, regardless of where the spotlight wanders. Bob Dylan is still touring for fantastic new songs. Patti Smith still blows my mind. David Bowie recorded and released Blackstar at 69, a few months before he left this dimension. It comes down to this: musicians must play, artists must paint, and writers must write. Anything less that this imperative, and you end up the forgotten member of a boy band, or designing bologna labels, or calling it quits after you self-publish your memoir (Oh, yes, I just said that. Quote me on it.)

Lit Jo occasionally tips its hat to these enduring artists, and Volume 8 continues the tradition. Tom Waits is prolifically creative, and has been since his twenties, as a musician and actor. The gravelly voice, the wildly unpredictable, profane and whimsical lyrics accompany a love affair with the piano that borders on infidelity to his wife. He is the kind of musician who has been playing for long enough that you remember whole decades of your life based off a particular album of his. The really good artists do this; they walk with you through your  life. His song, “Drunk on the Moon,” was released two years after I was born, on The Heart of Saturday Night. The lyrics had me at “And the moon’s a silver slipper / It’s pouring champagne stars / Broadway’s like a serpent / Pulling shiny top-down cars.” Volume 8 is thus titled “Moon Drunk,” in honor of the song and the singer, and also because there is a dreamlike, blurred quality to his music and the moon itself that also describes a kind of story I love to read.

I hope you will enjoy looking for both the moon and the surreal in this volume, which begins with James-Paul Brown’s beautiful artwork on the cover, and winds through a path of poetry, curated by Shelly Lowenkopf  (look for “It is Late and Dark and You’re No Lantern” by Amy McNamara), flash (“And She Lay There in the Moonlight” by Ted Chiles and “Blue Hour” by Chella Courington are favorites), and into short stories like “Destination Unknown” by Max Talley. Be sure to check out our Lyrics section, curated by Dennis Russell, as well as the world-famous “Down the Rabbit Hole” with DJ Palladino, featuring excerpts from his novel, Werewolf, Texas.

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Best,
Silver Webb
The Editrix