So my last post seemed to do the trick: summer has arrived with a vengeance. The countryside sizzles and shimmers, the air is filled with BBQ lighter fuel fumes, insects buzz and bite. Even the road tarmac threatens to melt. Of course, it will only last until the school holidays begin, but I’m enjoying it while it lasts…

The big news for me this month is that I’ve finally joined the SFWA as an Active member. Which, for me, is A Big Deal.

I don’t remember exactly when I first became aware of the organization, but it was probably as a teenager when I used to read and collect Analog, Asimov’s and F&SF. Joining the august ranks of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America seemed like a distant pipe-dream at the time — it required at least one professional story sale — but it was always an ambition. A sign of having Made It.

Teenage dreams, eh?

By the time I qualified to join as an Active member this year, I have to admit I had my doubts about joining at all. First off, was sheer relevance. I’m not American, as it turns out. Would there be any purpose in joining, apart from as a badge of vanity? I certainly don’t consider myself a “professional” writer (yet); that remains a distant pipe-dream. And I don”t want to get into the various recent controversies about rabid weasels and inclusivity and Bulletin covers here, but from the outside looking in — it didn’t look good. Not good at all.

So why did I join, in the end?

Simply…those teenage dreams. It may well turn out there’s something to them.

I’m willing to see how the reality shapes up.