Who am I?
Welcome! My name is Sara Light-Waller and Lucina is the name of my small press. This is a new endeavor for me, although I have worked in writing, illustration, and publishing for many years. I developed Lucina Press as a platform for certain ideas about the future.
Mankind stands at a crossroads. The people of our world have been chivvied, deceived, poisoned, and threatened into behaving in certain programmed and pre-planned ways. This has been going on for a very long time. I am a pop culture historian and have been cataloging cultural changes through the eyes of contemporary writers throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries. It’s a fascinating study that leads me to believe that we are living in a state of cultural semi-amnesia, even within our own lifetimes. I’ve already written a few preliminary posts on my writing blog here, and here, and here. I will have a lot more to say on this topic as time goes on. I’m not going to point fingers at who and why, at least not yet, but I want to underline that, even after all the manipulations, humanity may be down but we are not out.
Right now people are waking up to certain ugly truths about the way the world really is. It’s easy to let it all go by, believing that we are not part of the problem or the solution. But we all live on this planet and that makes us all part of both problem and solution.
Being a victim is easy, but it’s not nice. And why be a victim when you can stand up and be a hero? We all have skills which we may have self-suppressed because society, or circumstance, says they are of lesser value than money-creating, or “adult” behaviors.
I believe that our natural-born talents are gifts which can add invaluable contributions to the world and help us build a better future for everyone. We don’t have to accept the dank, dystopian fate that’s being handed to us. We can all work together and change the future. That’s what I call, Neotopia.
Who is Lucina?
My press is named for Lucina, the Roman Goddess of light and birth. Lucina, along with Juno and Diana (also Birth-Goddesses) were sometimes called the Lucinae. My Latin is a bit rusty but it seems to me that this means “lights” or “daylights” and certainly refers to birth bringing babies into the light of day for the first time. Birth goddesses were called upon to protect pregnant women and newborn children, and also to help women conceive.
I’m sure that you can see how this fits a small press run by a woman named Light.
My logo adds a futuristic touch the Goddess’ looks, the perfect thing for a writer who adores science fiction pulp and space opera.
Publishing arts and letters is a lot like giving birth to a child and I hope that Lucina gives shelter to myself and other authors and artists who might one day publish with me here.
To the stars!