I hope you enjoy the new issue of the Istanbul Literary Review.  Thank you Etkin, Guluzar, Susan, Halime, and the ILR staff for all your work with this issue. 

The Lazy Days of Summer

With the warmer weather arriving for many of us, I hope you find the time to read and write outside.  Go sit under a tree, sit outside in a café, or at your favorite place to meditate and be by yourself.  A place that makes you feel alive and happy.  Bring a notebook with you and I’m sure you will be writing in no time.  After such a long and cold winter, it is so wonderful to feel the warmth of the sun and see flowers blooming.  Such a beautiful and welcomed sight! 

My favorite time to write is in the early morning hours around 1:00AM.  Everything is so quiet.  It is just amazing!  I also like to read the ILR submissions at this time because there is nothing to distract me.  Then when I feel sleepy, I go to sleep.  At 5:00AM, I drink coffee and get ready for work.  We all have our favorite times, and you should make room for it to stay creative.  This world makes such demands on all of us.  We must strive to keep some time for ourselves. After all, we are writers, artists, singers, songwriters, readers, etc…  Whatever you do, just make the time to do what makes you feel creative. 

Yesterday, I watched two movies I haven’t seen in years.  I liked them just as much as I did the first time.  It was a gift to take personal time and feel good about seeing such great movies again.

I hope you will enjoy your summer days!

All my best,