INSTANT NOODLES, Volume 4, Issue 2, drops tomorrow. Theme: “Devil’s Party,” perfect for fall, includes art and photography, music, spoken word, poetry, and short form fiction and non-fiction, plus a few full-length pieces of fiction we just couldn’t resist!

I love creating the issue; it’s always a time-consuming process, but it’s one of the ones that makes me love my job, and feel like I’m in the correct vocation.

The first thing I enjoy about putting together the issue is experiencing all the pieces before the public does, and just feeling so much excitement about them, and a joy over the creative way each artist/musician/author chooses to interpret the theme. I get excited imaginging what someone will feel when they see, hear, or read the pieces.

The second thing I enjoy is making the cover with David. We are, after all, a mom&pop shop…, and this means we have to work together well. Usually I come up with some vision for the cover design, and David does his best to translate my description into a piece of art. This time I came up with a vision about a month ago, and David made exactly what I asked for, and we looked at it, and we both knew it was all wrong. There are many types of pieces that appear in each issue, in terms of tone or mood, and some of them are serious, or sad, among all the other emotions we also find in the pices, but the covers, pretty much all of them, are a bit irreverent. Which, yes, I admit, is me. I am irreverent, and I like that little bit of fun on the cover. The first cover for this issue was… not that. And David agreed, and we went back to the drawing board. When we were done I called into the room the teen who lives here, and asked her what she thought, and she was not happy about being interrupted during her very important teen activities, but she grudgingly came in, took a look, and broke into a smile. “It’s funny; I like it,” she said.

So that’s what I’m going for with the cover. It’s all that I could ask, but don’t let the cover make you think it is all frivolity inside. Each issue, including this one, covers a range of “feels,” topics, styles, and it is incredibly engaging.

AND, INSTANT NOODLES is always free to read, and free to submit pieces to, and can be read on any device that allows you to get to the web.

AS A READER OF THIS BLOG… I’m letting you in early. Use this link: https://instantnoodleslitmag.com/ and this password: DEVIL2024.

Enjoy the party!