I'm writing you from Ducts headquarters, a luxurious suite in an unnamed five-star hotel in Paris, France, sipping champagne from priceless crystal flutes and eating Beluga caviar with my bare hands, so I'm going to make this Editor's Note short. First, I want to direct everyone to the above contest banner: that's right, Ducts.org is sponsoring its second ever writing contest, I Found it in My Attic. We're asking writers to think about how some artifact – something discovered cleaning the attic, the garage, the basement, maybe a childhood diary, a toy, a piece of clothing –affected and changed their lives. If you have an idea, pick up a pen and start writing now. The deadline for submissions is March 1st and the winning entry will be published in the Summer, 2006 issue of Ducts. To get a sense for what sort of writing we love, simply read through our essays and memoirs. We love deeply personal stories. To read the winning entry of our last contest, I Found it at the Movies, click here. And click here to learn more about the contest.

Greenpoint Press, our publishing wing headed by non-fiction editor and extreme sport devotee, Charles Salzberg, is preparing to publish its second book, a memoir by Genie Kraig called "The Sentence." In this true account, Kraig chronicles the years leading up to and through her husband, Jerry Kraig's, incarceration, including the devastating consequences for her family. Her marvelous book tells how Jerry Kraig, an idealistic Cleveland attorney was retained by his boyhood mentor, Reuben Sturman, as a First Amendment Coordinator. Known as the "czar of pornography," Sturman ran one of the most successful porn operations in U.S. history. Little did Jerry Kraig know that his loyalty and belief in the Constitution would resul t in a legal nightmare culminating in his conviction by the U.S. government of conspiracy to defraud the IRS of Sturman's taxes. The book unravels like a mystery, it's crisply told and it perfectly represents the Ducts credo: a well-told, personal story. The book will officially launch in March, 2006, but advance copies will be available here, on Ducts, very soon! Return frequently or be sure to join our subscribers list -- write to Editor@ducts.org -- to find out when the book will become available. We also have a few copies of our Best of Ducts anthology, "How Not to Greet Famous People," so if you're interested in buying a copy to help support what we do, please click here.

A quick reminder to those interested in sending us work: due to the heavy volume of submissions we've been receiving, we have instituted a reading period. Ducts.org editors will read submissions only from January through August of every year. Material received between September 1st and December 31st will be returned, although we'll encourage writers to resubmit their material during the reading period.

If you have any questions, please feel to write me at editor@ducts.org. This issue is one of the largest we've had to date, but as always, the quality of the writing is what matters most and you'll find great essays, fiction, memoirs, poetry, music and art within these many pages, so please return again and again. And as I climb onto the company helicopter that will transport me to Ducts' private island off the coast of Australia, let me finish this dictation by thanking all of you for your generous support of our little operation: without all your devotion, we certainly would not have survived!

Enjoy!

--Jonathan Kravetz, Editor-in-Chief, Ducts.org