I also wondered how my joining the team and reading and evaluating submissions would be received. Would Yosh, the editor of this online magazine, find me and my responses to the pieces I read helpful? All these concerns evaporated as I warmed from Yosh’s welcome email earlier this year.

“Welcome to the Forge Literary Magazine! We are thrilled to have you intern for us. We will start sending reading assignments your way very soon. We try to get back to our submitters fast, so if you are unable to read within one week or so, just give us a shout and we will reassign or pause your assignments. I know you have a set number of hours, so let us know If you are getting too many or two few pieces.”

Along with such a warm welcome, the moment I opened up the first email with a link to several titles (both fiction and nonfiction submissions), which I eagerly read and commented on, I felt my fit in this internship. That said, as I began going through the submissions – writings that I know the authors put their heart and soul into – I found that heart and soul did not necessarily indicate good writing. I somewhat reluctantly clicked on the “thumbs down” image to several pieces. I began to wonder if my assessment of the writings was too harsh. Maybe I was being too critical. So for guidance I went to The Forge website and read some published stories and essays. Doing this reminded me of the quality of writing that was accepted to this literary magazine. I returned to my assignments feeling more grounded and confident in my ability to discern different levels of writing.

Soon I was rewarded with a submission that shined above the others. Exceptional writing and wonderful story! I thought. I was on my way! What made my participation even more meaningful was that in one fiction piece that Yosh decided to decline, after the team had made their evaluations, she included part of my comment in her reply to the author. I had written, “How much can fiction be fictionalized?” In this piece of fiction there were inaccuracies in descriptions of important facts that could not be overlooked.

Yosh has also invited me to join the Fiction Forge forum where all the editors mingle and share their writings. As both a fiction and nonfiction writer I am so happy to be engaged in this internship. I have immersed in the flow of connection with The Forge. There was a couple of days last week that I did not receive any assignments. I missed those emails and inquired as to the pause. Yosh let me know that often happens at the end of the month. I eagerly awaited more submissions, which arrived this week. There are several awaiting for my attention. But, in this moment, as I gaze out at the blue waters of the Pacific, the waves flowing between the islands of Lanai and Molokai interrupted by splashes from whales breeching, I a bit reluctantly step away from my laptop. An island excursion  with friends, who have joined us here on Maui, awaits. Aloha!

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From the start of this process, I knew where ever I landed for this internship experience, I wanted to feel I belonged and feel creatively inspired. I knew that a sense of connection would facilitate my learning process and hopefully enhance my writing. I want to learn how The Forge works. How does the team of people behind this magazine, who I hope to get to know, work individually and together?  How do they choose the right pieces, the best pieces, the pieces that fit into The Forge to give it life, the pieces that go out into the world? I want to learn more about others’ writings, and understand my own style of writing through the experience of reading submissions.

I so much want to immerse in this process of engagement and learning, at the same time my ability to immerse feels challenged by other aspects of my life. That is what causes me the greatest concern. Managing not just the demands of the course and the commitment to the internship, but also other life responsibilities. I gulp down my angst. I hate having to be so careful because of the pandemic. Monitoring everything. Every day I sense moments happening around me that I am not a part of. I catch hints of movement out of the corners of my eye that make me wonder what I am missing. What I am not seeing? Is this part of aging I ask myself each day?

I want to engage in those moments of life that bring connection and a sense of vitality. As always, I am torn between the writer in me who could just immerse into the creative flow of words and forget the rest of the world, while other parts of self are buoyed by being in the company of others.  I thrive when enjoying and nurturing others through cooking and a shared a meal, having fun playing games like “Left, Right, Center” and laughing, connecting with nature, and taking photographs of the Maui mountains, the whales breeching off shore, and the sunrises and sunsets.

I struggle mostly with myself because when I commit to something I take my commitments seriously and try to do my best. Maybe I am committed to too many things! Yet amidst my trepidations, I am ready for my internship at The Forge. “The Forge Literary Magazine was founded by volunteers from the Fiction Forge, an international online writers’ forum, which counts amongst its members and alumni winners of numerous literary awards…. Our all-volunteer staff shares editorial duties equally, we pay our contributors, and our taste is wide-ranging and eclectic. The Forge Literary Magazine is a project of Forge Literary Press, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization incorporated in the state of California.”

And so with excitement, curiosity, and yes nervousness, I open the door to this new on-line experience with The Forge.

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The “Colophon” was so obvious and persistent in its presence as I looked at thousands of book spines over my lifetime. Yet, its meaning, history and significance were unknown to me. Also unknown was its relationship to “imprints,” another term I learned in my Intro to Publishing course. It’s not that I didn’t notice the different symbols at the bottom of book spines. I just never gave them much consideration, nor did I know what they were called, or what information this emblem offered about the publisher.

I recall the moment in zoom class when our teacher Kate mentioned this word amidst other information as we discussed major publishing houses and their many imprints (smaller houses within the larger ones). As the word colophon slipped past my ear I didn’t know if I heard it right. What did she say? “Colo…,” something or other? What was she talking about? What did I miss? Once our class was over, I followed up with a bit of research. There in the Oxford dictionary I discovered its meaning. “Colophon: a publisher’s emblem or imprint, especially one on the title page or spine of a book.” I jumped up from my desk and ran over to the small bookcase in our bedroom. With curiosity and enthusiasm, my finger moved from book to book, stopping at each colophon. I was amazed at the variety! Some colophons were rather predictable, others were works of art!

Searching for more information, I clicked links on the internet and learned much more about colophon and how it came into being centuries ago. Encyclopedia Britannica offered an interesting history. “Colophon, an inscription placed at the end of a book or manuscript and giving details of its publication—e.g., the name of the printer and the date of printing…. In medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, a colophon was occasionally added by the scribe and provided facts such as his name and the date and place of his completion of the work…With the invention of printing in the 15th century, printers gradually added a blank piece of paper at the front of a book to protect the first page from soiling, and they also added an identifying monogram, emblem, or a brief sentence at the rear of the book… In most countries, the colophon now appears on the page opposite the title page and consists of a one-sentence statement that the book was printed by a given printer at a given location.” Eventually the Colophon found its way to the lower spine of a book, but I have not discovered when this first happened.

So now I will tell you what I love about the Colophon. I love the way it is spelled and sounds. It is an artistic word with a hint of musical flair; the o’s are like notes. It inspires curiosity, adding a bit of romance for book lovers. I love the art work in some colophons and how they hint at the personality of the publisher; sometimes even reflecting their mission statement. The colophon also adds a bit of something special to the appearance of the spine. And if it could talk I imagine it telling a story about how the manuscript came to be acquired by the publisher.

Here in Napa Valley I don’t have many books. The majority of my books are in Massachusetts where over the decades they have found their home.  When we return there I have an imposing task ahead of me. I have to empty out my writing room because we are having new carpeting installed. This means moving out all my things including my many books; a process that already seemed daunting. Now it is going to take even longer than anticipated because as I pick up each book, instead of just placing it into a box, my eyes will be drawn to the spine and to the design of each colophon. And I will pause for a moment and smile.

*The term colophon derives from the Late Latin colophōn, from the Greek κολοφών (meaning “summit” or “finishing touch”). Wikipedia

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