Hi Alphas,
Welcome to Alphaday 2, Season XI.
We’ve made a start. It’s still early days and the Alpha mechanism needs a bit of cranking up before all the cogs, levers and pulleys are operational and purring away at optimal capacity.
I think you’ll enjoy what’s on offer today. Most of you have contributed a turn or two of the crank handle, I’m pleased to say. Alpha is as strong as the sum of our members – and we’re lucky to have a great mix of talented writers.
So today’s agenda includes the following items:
- This bulletin from me with general news
- The Log from Fran with news of writing activities outside the Alpha cocoon
- The collated entries for the photo challenge from Sue
- The brief for Challenge 2 from Chris
The Showcasing contributions follow a separate schedule. Suzanne will present the first one as soon as she’s ready. She’s had a good response from some members, which is pleasing, but she’d very much appreciate it if you could all let her know what type of writing you’d like to contribute.
The idea is that everybody contributes something. Suzanne’s planning will be made easier if she knows what’s on offer. Don’t forget that reviews, opinion pieces, experimental pieces and even rants are as desirable as polished, complete manuscripts.
Surprise us!
Rosemary has been polishing up our web site. She’s made some changes to its appearance and the presentation and I think it looks both interesting and user-friendly. I expect you’ll get into the habit of checking it out regularly because there’s an excellent overview of all Alpha events past and present. Have a look:
We might also get a following of writers who’re not involved with Alpha. They could leave comments and buy our books.
Talking of which…
Our planned book about celebrating a decade of Alpha writing also needs some active input. I’ve had reactions from five members – some vague, some positive – but I’d urge those who think they’ll get round to it soon, to sit down with the list of 100 briefs, choose one and get in touch with me.
It’s the perfect occasion to pay homage to Alpha. Let’s make the most of it.
We’ve had some entertainment with our discussions. I like the way they go off at strange tangents from cars and their boots and trunks to the a / an usage and glottal stops for t’s (btw, I read somewhere that the apostrophe is recommended for the plural of letters… however wrong it may look).
I love etymologies and can sometimes be found ploughing through dictionaries for fun. Most words have complex life histories that easily outdo those of historical personages for excitement… in my view anyway, and I’m not in the least worried if others have different ideas. In fact life would be worse than boring if opinions didn’t vary.
Of course differences of opinions and beliefs can have catastrophic consequences when not tolerated, but this bulletin is about Alpha.
Enjoy your Alphaday! Pop in and leave a comment on whatever has caught your attention. Of course the purpose of everything that happens inside Alpha is to get you inspired to write and to feel part of a group where everyone cares about writing.
Christine