Today's (first ever) edition of "Light Up Their Eyes" focuses on... StJoan!!
Alicia is a long-time deviant, known for her kick-ass tenure as a volunteer and as founder of Texasdevmeet. As much a go-to person as you'll ever meet, she poured her heart, soul and love into this community; thereby helping to shape the LIT community into what it is today.
But don't just take my word, here's what others have to say about her:
StJoan has always been a wonderful mentor and dear friend. I had the honor of working along side her for a little over two years on the community relations team, and she was our team's strength -- and heart. I will never have the words to properly thank her for all she has done. Her heartfelt determination to see us be successful made such a world of difference, and I cannot thank her enough. 
Ali is one of my IRL BFFs. She's one of the most supportive people I know, with the biggest heart in the world. Also, awesome hugger. Everone should get an Ali hug at least once in their life!xE
What strikes me about StJoan is how approachable she was during her tenure as a Literature CV. When I'd first joined the site in 2006, the lit community was a bit more insular and a lot more defensive; they were fighting against a general perception that words were somehow less artistic than drawings and photos, and were less appreciated as a result.Alicia was one of the first to change that: by welcoming everyone into the fold, by seeing that lit DDs were once again featured on a regular basis, and by putting together contests and prompts such as 'Gourmet Lit'.
Even now, with her time online far more limited, she still has the community's back. For instance, when Sta.sh Writer was launched last year to underwhelming fanfare, she campaigned directly to spyed about what its shortcomings were, and why such things mattered. Partly as a result of that, the version we have available for use today is far more reliable and robust.
She is also an expert birthday cake cutter, which is convenient as her birthday is TODAY! 
Happy birthday, StJoan, and here's to many moar!
Check out some of her gallery:Disclaimer:
I plan to do these features regularely, so if you know an awsome deviant who has a birthday coming up and you'd like to see them feature here, please send me a note with:
- their username
- their date of birth
- why you think they're awesome!!
Thanks!
wyldhoney
