I'm not into sob stories, but I feel that our readers and contributors are deserving of something of an explanation for the significant publishing delays at The Externalist. The Externalist is a volunteer organization run entirely with my own money and time. In the last two years, I have lost my father and my 11 year-old son, been diagnosed with multiple autoimmune diseases, changed jobs, and started graduate school.

While I probably should have closed The Externalist down at least temporarily, I continued to receive emails and messages about the impact of the literature we publish. We were ranked #22 on Writer's Digest's list of top online literary journals. I didn't have the heart to shut down, but didn't have the time to keep publishing or even to look for help.

I'm pleased to say that I've now found help to get The Externalist up and running again. You can expect new fiction and poetry within the next two weeks. The work that has been on our site all this time will be compiled into a PDF issue that will be available this fall.

Thank you for recognizing the importance of writing that matters and thank you for your patience with an editor that's been slacking badly.

With apologies,
Larina Warnock