Age: 26

Location: New York, NY

What is your specialty or focus?
By day, I toil in executive and internal communications in the media industry, where I focus a majority of my efforts on drafting speeches, quotes, bios, profiles, memos, and press releases on behalf of our executive staff. After the whistle blows, however, I devote my efforts to Void Magazine, a new literary magazine of which I am the Founder & Editor in Chief.

In either profile, my focus is on quality writing, whether I am reading, editing, and publishing the work of talented creative writers for Void Magazine, or I am striving to draft a successful speech. There is no substitute for a well-written piece, be it a news article, short story, speech, poem, corporate memo, or editorial. It
is certainly one of the most valuable commodities in any market, and it's a comfort to see the high regard in which these skills are held across every industry.

What's the latest thing you've worked on?
I recently oversaw the launch of the June issue of Void Magazine, which required a fair amount of diligence on the part of our staff and – for an unlucky few of us - an uneventful, four-day shut-in instead of the typical gluttony of Memorial Day weekend. It proved to be a small price to pay: the June issue turned out extremely well, and we are all very proud of the work that appears on our site.

What has been your most difficult project and how did you deal with its challenges?
Of the several tasks with which I've recently busied myself, the two most challenging - and the most rewarding - are the launch of Void Magazine and the (near) completion of my first novel.

Starting a web-based business requires a great deal of time, money, and effort, but what is most daunting is the looming responsibility with which it all comes. I am fortunate to work with an outstanding group of writers, thinkers, movers, and shakers - without this crew, I'd surely be lost - but that unfortunately didn't stop me from waking up in a cold sweat to thoughts of scrambled HTML and WebStats and mailing lists and press kits and deadlines.

Similarly, putting the finishing touches on my first novel and editing its 300+ pages is a nightmare all its own. Some of the earlier chapters - written almost two years ago - feel like they were written by a very slightly different human being, one whom I cannot understand but in fits and spurts. Rewriting something that ALMOST says what you want it to say is one thousand times harder than ENTIRELY rewriting something, and this has proven to be more difficult than the initial writing process itself.

To complete anything of this magnitude, you have to set a do-or-die date, and force yourself to stick to it like a New Year's diet. Be diligent: come home from your day job, stay in your work clothes, and dig in to whatever project drives you. Also, never let slip from your grasp the idealism that jumpstarted it all - as writers, there's something noble we're all trying to accomplish or change in the grand scheme, and you cannot lose sight of that.

What's the best or most helpful thing that you've learned about writing, editing or publishing?
Those three aspects of the literary world - writing, editing, and publishing - are all quite unlike one another and require a drastically different skill set than I initially thought. Being at the helm of a young magazine like The Void, the most important thing I've learned is to make a clear delineation in my duties and manage each task with the appropriate attention. And I've learned to disable my internet connection while I'm working; nothing spoils work ethic like e-mail and instant messenger.

What's the worst writing or editing advice you've ever gotten?
"Write what you know." So many writers have said this, and even more have doomed their career to it. To an extent, it makes sense - you want to sound knowledgeable, and you won't tackle a completely foreign subject. But let's be honest - writing what you know can be restricting. Your work can become one dimensional, feeling more like a well-paved highway than the road less traveled. Don't just write an imaginative version of your own life; try instead to create something wholly new for your readers, and entirely new for yourself.

How did you come to start Void Magazine?
A few years ago, I was working in the book business, and I found myself watching helplessly as commercial books took precedence over literary novels in storefronts. Readers loyal to the bestseller list never made it far enough into the store to learn about the excellent - albeit lesser-known - books not on the top ten. Meanwhile, other readers became so repulsed by the idea of over-commercialized books that they refused to give due attention to certain books simply because they were popular. That's just no way to treat a book, if you ask me - so I set out to create an unbiased resource where contemporary readers and writers can learn about all sides of the literary spectrum, especially that which balances precariously between the commercial and literary.

What sets the Void apart from other literary websites/webzines?
So glad you asked. The name "Void" was inspired by the following quote about writing by Adrienne Rich: "It takes some strength of soul - and not just individual strength, but collective understanding - to resist this void, this non-being, into which you are thrust, and to stand up, demanding to be seen and heard."

The Void represents that which dwells between the two extremes: the literary and the commercial. There are myriad writers who have been rejected from publishers on both ends because their work balances between these ideologies, and is "unmarketable" by industry standards.

Void Magazine's aim is two-fold: to publish the work of writers who may not have a venue in which to express themselves, and to provide a comprehensive resource for contemporary readers and writers of all styles and backgrounds. Just take a look at how varied the content is on our site - we believe the loyalty of readers should not be restricted to one publishing ideal. Even indie publishers enjoy commercial success, and even big publishers print books for their cult appeal. And if that's the case, then the literary community deserves a place that respects this dichotomy.