Endings and Next Big Things
Originally published at tansyrr.com. You can comment here or there.
Random Alex wrote a lovely post about the closure of ASIF. I pretty much nodded and moved on when I heard the news, as I’ve felt quite removed from the project for a long time, but Alex brought home to me what ASIF actually represents - sure, a site devoted to reviews which covered a long period when Australian SF/F writers were struggling to get reviewed anywhere, and sure, a site which published a lot of my writing over the years.
But far more importantly, ASIF was a community. It was through this project, before it launched, that I first exchanged emails with a certain Ms Krasnostein, who has turned out to be quite important in my life, as it happened. My friendship with Alex likewise was first sparked through the connection we made as fellow reviewers, and I think it would be safe to say that many cherished relationships, publications and podcasts in my life (Galactic Suburbia, anyone?) might have never existed without Australian Specfic in Focus.
So yes, while I am especially proud of Alisa and Tehani for recognising that it was time to call it a day and draw a line under the project (nothing worse than dragging these things on past their time out of nostalgia and a sense of duty), I’d also like to stop and acknowledge all the hard work done by reviewers and admin support over the years.
In other news, two of the writers I tagged for the Next Big Thing meme have written their posts! Check out Charles A Tan and Narrelle M Harris.