Interesting statistic. If I'd kept up the numbering schematic from way back in the day, Inkblots would be up to #17 by now. We did seven print issues, and since then we've done ten online editions. Not a lot numerically, I suppose, but it's still a lot of work and a lot of fun.

I'm hoping to put out #18 this summer, with a dedicated focus on making it fun again. Lately Inkblots has gotten really really serious, which has sort of mixed results. We've been printing some interesting editorial pieces, some great critiques of classics, and some really terrific fiction, poetry and artwork, but a bunch of the levity that we had back in the single digits has sort of evaporated. I think part of that was a side effect of being in Washington, D.C. There was a part of me that never felt comfortable in Washington, which is taking to Chicago like a fish to water. Seriously. I've been here for, what? Two weeks? And already I've found myself saying that I'm never going to leave. Which could be tricky, since the grad program I want to do is in Boston, but maybe I'll take a two-year sabbatical to Boston and then come back. Lord, it feels good to be back in the Midwest again.

Anyway, the point of that was to say that Chicago is rebooting my creative instinct here. Things are percolating, and things are looking up. If you'd like to join me in relaunching the zine, let me know! I'd love to have you aboard.