Plot twist! I’ve been sitting on this news for a few months. From the official announcement:

With a mingling of gratitude, grief, and joy, I [Katy Carl] write this to let you all know that SS. Peter & Paul 2024 is my final issue as editor in chief of Dappled Things magazine. After this issue, I will remain on the magazine’s board as editor emeritus—serving in an advisory capacity, but no longer involved in the journal’s day-to-day decision making and operations. But it is with great trust and relief that I hand this responsibility over to our incoming editor in chief, Rhonda Ortiz.

The invitation to become editor in chief of Dappled Things shocked me, and some time passed before I could entertain the idea—not because being editor in chief didn’t interest me, but because I believed I couldn’t rise to the occasion. Imposter Syndrome is my old friend, you see, and Imposter Syndrome thinks I am neither intelligent nor educated nor talented nor “literati” enough to lead a respected literary magazine.

But Imposter Syndrome is a liar. Hard things are always worth doing, especially at this time of life. Complacency hovers along the edges of middle age, when life is busy and bodies are tired and opinions are largely fixed. And underneath complacency is fear: fear of learning something new, fear of my own ignorance, fear of public opinion, fear of not being taken seriously, fear of failure.

Vanity of vanities. All is vanity.

This challenge is exactly what I need. I am glad I said yes.

What does this mean for my writing? Good things, I hope! The questions, “Is this too much?” and, “Will she ever finish Molly Chase?” have easy answers. The editor in chief position is new for me, but I was already working for Dappled Things, and others will take over my previous duties. And I firmly believe my writing will benefit from the time sitting in the chief’s chair. Behold, my continuing education:

In Adrift, Josiah makes a passing narratorial comment about poetry not being his forte. He is echoing his authoress here, for I am no poet. My mind works differently; I’ve never thought in meter and verse. Yet here I am, studying poetics for the first time since college—not because anyone at Dappled Things is worried (we have a talented poetry editor) but because I want to be excellent in all areas of my job.

Hopefully these efforts roll over into Molly Chase. A little poetry can only help, and never hurt. Right?

Otherwise, I will be spending more time with my frenemy, The Chicago Manual of Style; catching up on Catholic literary greats and rising stars, and reading more Substacks than I would ever have anticipated. And submissions. Lots and lots of submissions.

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