Preparing Another Book Launch

The human factor. What is that? The phrase is used by one of the many people who answered our call for fiction for a nature-themed anthology. While our call was quite specific, we knew that writers would probably not sit down and write anything fresh for us; we knew that we’d get (as we did with the first three anthologies) all kinds of different, interesting items. But we cannot, ultimately, accept everything.

For this book, we did not want poetry, but that came in. We asked for fiction only, but we received a number of personal narratives. We even received a theological thesis on the garden of Eden. You would have heard from us sooner, but when we made our final selections, someone withdrew (perfectly normal) and someone else has disappeared (unexpected). We decided, after much debate, not to replace those chapters. While we favor longer pieces, we received many short pieces. In fact, if we published everything we received, we’d have a massive volume, since well over 1,000 pages of text came through the transom. That’s a lot of reading. And re-reading. And consulting with each other (since there are two of us). And differences of opinion and then compromises. So we appreciate your patience. We are now ready to begin the process of layout and copy-editing for this, our fourth anthology, entitled, Being Human: Call of the Wild.

The human factor. As it turns out, the stories we decided to keep were those closest to the call, and those which seemed, somehow to point to what it means to be human in a natural world. More than a few of the pieces we selected fit the subtitle we have chosen: call of the wild. The fact(or) of being human means recognizing that there is in each of us a call of the wild, however subtle. Who hears the call? Who answers the call? We are in nature; we are part of nature; we are in conflict with aspects of our own nature.

Our human history is such that we are social creatures who have evolved very complex emotions of sympathy and empathy. So the call of the wild does not mean running off into the woods and hunting fish with one’s teeth; it means acknowledging our deeper connection to the earth beyond the concrete and buildings. There are birds and raccoons out there. There are plants and bees. Though we are by nature social creatures, at times we can commit acts of aggression.

As with any anthology, some readers might complain of unevenness. We do not mean this in a negative way – it is just a fact that we are putting between covers many voices and many styles, not least of all our idiosyncratic preferences. We believe, however, that we have chosen the best pieces on this topic – and some of the writing is truly beautiful, magical, poetic, and memorable. There is also a good dose of humor in the book, always welcome.

About fifteen percent of the total submissions will appear in the finished volume – a book similar in word count to Common Boundary but shorter than Battle Runes. We are not interested in publishing hefty tomes (as we are petit), and certainly Being Human will be in line with that goal. Updates will appear on this site.

We thank everyone who submitted to the call, and we congratulate those who were selected. We want support, and we want to be supportive; simply by submitting to us, having the confidence that we will make the best decisions we can, is a show of support; likewise, we trust that everyone sees that each of these book projects and the site are signs of our support to the artistic community.

The writers to be included in Being Human: Call of the Wild are (in no particular order): Lawrence Van Eby; Stephen Poleskie; Rivka Keren; Lisa Sita; Arthur Powers; Andrea Vojtko; Jeff Vande Zande; James K. Zimmerman; Anne Whitehouse; Janyce Stefan-Cole; Patty Somlo.

The Foreword to Being Human: Call of the Wild will be written by Professor Ian Maloney (St. Francis College, English Dept. and Director of the Honors Program). We gratefully appreciate the assistance of Meagan Meehan (editorial assistant who has worked with us on Battle Runes) and Sharon Dittus (our new proofreader). We hope to see the book published by the end of January 2012, with a Kindle edition to follow at some point thereafter.