For the past five years and nine months, it has been just Robbi and me in the barn, working side-by-side, doing all of the everything that needed to be done. Often time, we had no idea what we were doing, and so we figured it out. We make books (and attend to the related miscellany) in a constant, relentless way. And, frankly, we are getting tired.

For a long time now, we’ve been thinking about how nice it would be to have someone else around here to help out. From fleeting tastes, we know just how nice it is to have an extra set of hands for a few weeks. Thanks, Cousin Kate. Thanks, Emma!

The piles of extra work have gotten so high and our time so stretched that we decided it was finally time to do something about it. And, Lo, the stars aligned. Starting this morning, and continuing for as long as we can convince her to stay, the one and only Tilly Pelczar will be joining the Idiots team as intern extraordinaire. A Chestertown native and recent graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Tilly is an emerging painter, printmaker, and maker of books. She is fun, she is smart, she is creative, and gosh darn it, we like her.

We consider ourselves lucky indeed to welcome her to our studio.

We aren’t exactly swimming in extra space, but by removing a cabinet door and a few shelves, we were able to carve out a space for her.

I’m sure you’ll be hearing from her here from time to time. You Chesertonians will likely run into her on the street. Regardless of where you live, please join us in saying:

Note: I pointed out to Robbi that Tilly’s welcome message was missing a comma. Instead of adding it, she said something along the lines of, “Bite it, writer.” Here’s hoping Tilly’s presence will improve Robbi’s mood.