Dear Noctules:
Resurrection is a hope, a wish, a manifestation—a message that we are sending out into the universe. Collectively, we shout: "We're here, and it's time for new beginnings!"
Whoever is reading this today, I'm amazed at your tenacity. You've been writing. You've been submitting. You've been reading Novel Noctule, perhaps? And, even if you've done absolutely none of the aforementioned activities, you have still been surviving, and that's enough. Our writers have brought a diverse collection of resurrection-horror stories to the table this month to honor the manner in which we weathered 2020: Resurrection was made for you.
That being said, you'll notice some changes in the magazine—some that I had announced definitively in December, others not so much. For instance, we discontinued our interior artwork component as planned. We've also decided to keep our Writer's Spotlights and get rid of our Artist's Spotlights, largely because we tend to rehire cover artists for multiple issues. Still, Desmond Rhae—this month's cover artist—wrote some lovely notes on his process before we made this decision, and I really wanted to include them in this issue: You'll find them under the Artwork section, just this once.
Going forward, Novel Noctule will also be including trigger warnings in our issues on a separate page; this way, you can decide whether you want to view them or not. We've been meaning to do this for a while, as it's terribly important to us that we avoid retraumatizing or triggering our readers. The stories that we run often cover some pretty sensitive topics, as you will likely notice in Issue #13. According to our trainee editor, the editorial process this time around had some "nice chaotic energy" to it. It's also the very first time that the NN team came together (virtually) to work on and complete tasks for our monthly installment simultaneously.
I hope that you can feel our "nice chaotic" hearts—as well as the hearts of our talented authors—inside of Resurrection. Warmly,
J.D.