Letter from the Editor

When we talk about what makes a good story, or poem, or piece of art, the aspect I find myself always coming back to is: change. How does a character change from the beginning of a piece to its conclusion? How does a photograph change in meaning the longer it is viewed? The power of change stirs something innately human in each of us, that triggers our attention. When we can accept change in our lives, and learn to ride its waves, we are better prepared to do what every species on the planet is attempting to do— survive.

Recently LiveWire has been faced with an enormous and tragic change. Amanda Walzer, our Faculty Advisor, passed away during the completion of our Spring 2016 issue. Each of us on staff had a unique relationship with Amanda that transcended beyond a typical working relationship. I know for me, Amanda became my mentor, inspiration, and second mother. She taught me the importance of a well-placed comma, the strength in a sentence that doesn’t give too much away, and why to avoid clichés. Amanda was the life force behind LiveWire. She had the vision to bring together artists of all kinds, push them to make their art better, bring them into her heart, and release them back out into the world with a publishing credit and a new loving friend. She was the catalyst for so much of the positive change our journal has grown from, and now her absence is the biggest and most difficult change we’ve faced yet.

As many of us on staff prepare to graduate from Fullerton College, my biggest hope for LiveWire is that it continues in Amanda’s spirit. Her joie de vivre is emblazoned into every word, every pixel, every page. Because of Amanda’s dedication to each and every piece, this issue is jam packed with everything from a life-inspired mixtape, to dreams of far off places. Because of her, our readers are invited to stay up all night with us, traverse the border, and feel the wind. Because of her, you may find yourself exploring the seashore, the Afghan desert, and a drug store bathroom. You will connect to characters whose lives will change forever in just a moment, the length of a breath, a phone call, a few words, a pregnancy test. I know we at LiveWire have been changed deeply this issue. I hope you will come away equally transformed.

Thank you to the amazing visual artists with whom we have had the utmost privilege to work: Patrick Quirk, Lin Skye Greene, Marlon Rizo, and Lainey LaRosa. And thank you to the incredible writers, who took our suggestions with grace, and left it all out on the page: Zachary Kam, Julian Babad, Victor Mendoza, Nadine Arndt, Christin Caparas, Jessie Bullard, and Haley Russo. Enormous thanks to the incredible LiveWire staff: Thor Roe, Berenice Galvez, Haley Russo, and Jessie Bullard, for all your hard work, patience, and persistence. Thank you to Richard Levesque and Tamara Trujillo for all your help to us throughout this process. Thank you to Dan Willoughby and the Humanities Division for all your support, and Dennis Howey, Runjhun Bhargava, and Benjamin Cuatt from the Printing Department for all the color. Thank you a million times over to the wonderful Ivan“EatsTacos” Panuco and Jasmin Zuniga for jumping into building our website. A gigantic thanks and lots of love to Allison Clifton, our Head of Publicity.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to Ryan Shiroma, the Faculty Advisor who kept our ship afloat. And of course, there’s no way this would have happened without the one and only Amanda Walzer. Words cannot express how grateful I am for the effect Amanda had on each of us on staff. We are all forever changed by the moments we shared.

Despite our many odds, I am proud to finally say, “We’re Live!”

Katelyn Hall
Editor-in-Chief
LiveWire Journal