Letter from the Editors
By Steve Watkins
After 25 issues of Pie & Chai, Janet and I are taking a break, though I’m not sure if we’re coming back and neither is she. Jan’s got a new job that’s taking up a lot of her time, I’ve got a couple of book projects in the works, and somebody around here is going to have to scrape together enough money to finish paying for our last two daughters’ college educations. When we started, Jan and I committed ourselves to putting out Pie & Chai for at least two years, with a promise to readers that there were four things we wouldn’t do and two things we would.
The wouldn’ts: charge anything, sell anything, run any ads, collect any data.
The woulds: bring out a new issue the first day of every month, and publish the best writing in Virginia.
Done and done.
Not that we did it alone. Our friend Laura Moyer has been a lifesaver as proof-reader and de facto editor for most of this past year—a wonderful addition to our staff of two who’s brought great intelligence, wisdom, insight, and mad editing and fact-checking skills to the magazine. A thousand thanks also to MetroNova, the IT and design folks who’ve kept us up and running all these months—especially LeAnna Armstrong, Dan Craddock, and Laura Honsinger.
We may be leaving, but we’re not leaving you empty-handed. We’ll keep the Pie & Chai website up for the time being, even though we won’t be publishing new issues—for a while, or maybe forever. There’s plenty to read in this month’s issue, including a compendium with links to all the books published over the years (and some forthcoming) written by our wonderfully talented contributors. There are also tons of stories and essays in the Pie & Chai archives if you missed anything, or want to reread, oh, Ranjit Singh’s piece on coyotes, or James Noll’s Modest Proposal, or Amy Pappas’ Widow’s Confession, or Mary Batten’s memoir about her buried doll Teeny Tiny who never made it to heaven.
And if you want a little Pie & Chai for your bookshelf, Jan and I and Pie & Chai Press have been working on a book of our contributions to the magazine. That should be coming out some time in the next few months, so watch this space and our Facebook page for the announcement. We’re calling it Letters from the Editors, and below is the cover illustration, by artist Varsha Sukla, plus the table of contents. What we’re considering for the cover art, anyway. It’s a work in progress, but isn’t everything?
Letters from the Editors
Issue #1, November 2022
What, Me Worry?—Janet
O, Brother—Steve
Issue #2, December 2022
Title Fight—Janet
Our Origin Story—Steve
Roadkill—Steve
Issue #3, January 2023
The Beavers of Accokeek Creek—Steve
How to Hospital—Janet
Obscene and Not Heard—Steve
A Word to the Wise—Steve
Issue #4, February 2023
Trigger Warning—Janet
You Say You Want a Revolution—Steve
Issue #5, March 2023
A Witness—Steve
Issue #6, April 2023
Not Healthy. Not Caring. Not Even a System.—Janet
Yeah, I Read That—Steve
Issue #8, June 2023
It Could Have Happened Here—Steve
Issue #9, July 2023
Bullet in the Brain—Steve
Issue #10, August 2023
Tuesdays With Luke—Janet
Issue #11, September 2023
Old Friends—Steve
Issue #12, October 2023
Goodbye to All That—Janet
Dead All Over—Steve
My Resting Serial Killer Face—Steve
Issue #13, November 2023
Déjà vu All Over Again—Steve
Issue #15, January 2024
Deliverance—Steve
Missing—Steve
Issue #16, February 2024
Dishonorable Mentions—Steve
Stevenitis—Steve
Issue #17, March 2024
The Far Right Spammers of Falmouth Bottom—Steve
Issue #18, April 2024
No Moss?—Steve and Janet
Swimming with Beavers—Steve
Issue #19, May 2024
Mayday—Janet
Issue #20, June 2024
Letter to a College President—Janet
Issue #21, July 2024
Contrary to Life—Steve
Issue #22, August 2024
Cell Block—Steve
Assassin Nation—Steve
Issue #23, September 2024
Bless Our Hearts—Janet
Issue #24, October 2024
The Grace Hotel—Steve
Issue #7, May 2023
A Land of the Living—Steve
***
Janet and Steve Watkins are the co-founders and co-editors of Pie & Chai Magazine. They’ve been married for 23 years and are the proud parents and stepparents of four wonderful daughters, Maggie, Eva, Claire, and Lili. Janet and Steve also have four terrific grandsons who they visit as often as possible, and a dog about whom Janet posts once a week on an Instagram page you’re welcome to visit called “Tuesdays With Luke.”
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