I wasn’t a short story reader. During high school I was busy being seduced by poetry and classic novels. The first time I remember reading a short story was for an assignment for a class at the local community college. We were reading Raymond Carver’s Where I’m Calling From. As a high school student with genius test scores, I only read two stories. After all, I was too busy reading Angela Davis to do more than I needed to.

Yet, after dozens of moves, often cross country, I still had the book. Periodically, I would pick it up and roll its pages through my hands. Then, I began to write my first novel.

One day while staring at my thick manuscript, I realized I didn’t have a clue as to what the hell I was doing. So I wrote a short story for practice, and then another. I found them natural and difficult at the same time, like poetry. The power was in the details and those details called to me. They were a testing ground and I slowly fell in love. I was sleeping beauty waking up to a world of short stories just waiting to be read.

Short stories don’t seem to be something people naturally pick up to read anymore. I think they are something you come to on accident or… after writing a story and falling in love. That is the main reason I founded this podcast and website. I’ll admit it; I am selfish. Learning, obsession, and community were needs I had and after listening to dozens of podcasts, the gap was clear.

My vision is ambitious and I don’t apologize for it. I toss around sentences like, “I want to create more literary readers,” “let’s kill the impression that literary fiction is stuffy,” and “I want people to rediscover the fun of literary short stories.” But my deepest darkest goal is to become a better reader, become a better writer, make good friends and explore this art that I crave.

I am beyond excited and a little intimidated. Surrounding myself with great co-hosts helps to calm my nerves. The excitement is growing and I can smell a storm rising. It’s a strong storm full of surprises and it whispers, “go ahead, close your eyes and jump.”

~ Maya

This morning my email box buzzed next to my floor and I rolled over with a groan. The minute I tapped the screen, my eyes shot open with excitement. We have a logo and it is a much better than any thing I imagined. For that, I have an entire community to thank.

I met our logo designer, Anita Sølver, over the summer when Johnny, Sean and Dave from the Sterling and Stone held their fiction unboxed event. For a month, a great group of people watched the Self Publishing Podcast guys write and we learned from their meetings and rough drafts. By the end, I’d gotten to know Anita as a strong and supportive member of the indie publishing scene. But, I had no idea she was an illustrator!

Months later, she designed a great logo for the To Be Read podcast. It was cute and fun, and fit a podcast of writer dad’s perfectly. I ran to her portfolio and her page was covered in amazing fantasy that reminded me of my childhood sticker collection. Yet when it came time to look for a designer for Literary Roadhouse, I hesitated. I’d only seen her fun and youthful work. For this grand adventure, I wanted strong and sophisticated. I took a deep breath and tossed it to her. Honestly, I just didn’t know who to ask and something in my gut kept whispering her name. I did a first draft website to give her tone and feel. Then I waited.

The first draft blew us away, but this morning I knew that Anita was the perfect designer for us. She was professional, talented and responsive to our many questions. I’ve re-designed the entire website around the new logo and know that it will take us from baby podcast to convention T-shirts. I hope you enjoy the new site and cannot possibly thank her enough. If you are looking for a great freelance illustrator, you can find Anita at soelver.dk

~Maya