Hello fellow members of the IASD

Well, that happened fast, didn’t it – November already!

We had two aims, apart from the ongoing appliance of our collective target (our group’s initials).

First, we wanted to maintain our monthly Featured Author.

Secondly, we had new anthologies we wanted to create.

Featured Authors

When we got the idea underway (two years ago), the author was selected by a secret ballot. Next came my use of a ‘randomiser’ program, which entailed me listing every member’s name. Early this year, thanks to Sylva, I started using the Sociograph program to see who our most active members were in a month. This third method works well and will continue for the foreseeable future.

New Anthologies

When the year was but young we had good intentions and aimed to produce three more collections as a group.

– another anthology of short stories and this time the theme — Freedom.

– a collection of horror stories was to happen in October.

– a third collection — illustrated stories for children.

What happened?

Life happened, folks.

Let’s not have any feelings of guilt or embarrassment. We are writers, and for most, there is also the tedious aspect of having to deal with a ‘day job’. With effect from this week, I’m retired, but my diary is already full for the next three or four months, so I can only imagine how it is for those of you who have full-time employment, families at home, and other commitments.

What would I suggest we do about it?

As with most of my ideas, I list — I can’t help myself.

1 – If it’s okay with the rest of you guys, my feeling is that we should roll with it until we get into next year. We haven’t failed in any way – we’ve simply been overwhelmed as a bunch of international friends are by the pressures of everyday living.

2 – The three people who were heading up the anthology projects have all got a good reason for being unable to pilot schemes which take a lot of time and dedication. I will liaise with each of the three, behind the scenes.

3 – For many years I lived by the maxim, ‘adapt and overcome’, and it stays with me until this day. To ensure we have some level of control and a ‘central’ feedback, I’ll work hard to keep tabs on all three prospective collections.

4 – If for any reason one of our collection leaders is unable to continue, we’ll ask for another member to carry the torch.

5 – I feel the best way forward would be to set target dates for each of our projects, which will separate them, and we will not feel as if there is a lot to be done at one time.

6 – A couple of our long-term and capable members have already offered their services and time to the likes of formatting, cover design, proof-reading, etc. When I’ve prepared a ‘battle-board’, and I’ve been in touch with members individually, we could move forward in February 2018.

I say February rather than January because getting into the new year carries burdens too.

Do we have any foundations for the new books?

Yes, we have a considerable level of work completed.

In all three cases, we have stories, which have been read, re-read, and moved up a stage in their production. We also have artwork for another. As writers, we all recognise the importance of not going ahead with publication of work until the whole package is ready, and for that reason, I believe we must take a step back, inhale, exhale, and live our lives for the remainder of 2017.

A new year tends for most folk to create a fresh outlook and instils a sort of mental impetus for what we want to get done. Let’s use that as our stepping stone — combined with all the solid stories we have in our archives.

This is simply an update from a personal point of view. If anybody out there in IASD land can see a better way forward, please feel free to shout. We’ll all be listening.

Before signing off, on behalf of our members I’d like to say a big, public thank you to Melanie for all the work she does on our behalf by including so many of our writers and their work in the Connections eMagazine.

Now, as always, I thank you for reading my thoughts regarding our group and I’m sure I speak for everybody when I say, I’m looking forward to feedback!

Tom