It was sometime in April that the idea for this fanzine struck me. I've been in charge of the Steelsings writings department for over two years, but since then I've done very little; normally I just wander by the Tamora Pierce section in what's affectionately known as The Pit of Voles and run away, screaming, from the Mary Sues and high-school crossover fics.
But then I heard a few people talking about managing a fanzine in another fandom and I thought, why not? So I dropped the idea down at the Steelsings writingsboard--and was blown away by the enthusiasm I got for the idea. Everyone, it seemed, wanted Steelsings to have a fanzine. So it began.
In the months between now and then, Icefall has taught me some very important life lessons. A few of them are: If you want something done right and don't want to do it yourself, leave very clear instructions, because most people are not psychic. Don't try to get anything done during your or anybody else' final exams. Teamwork and communication really are as important as your guidance counselor always said they were. Don't set a deadline on the same day as your brother's wedding. Any good Tamora Pierce fanfiction was probably written by or for a member of the Dancing Dove. And when life gets dreary and you want to kill CSS with a large, blunt object, just remember: you could be using table tags!
Getting submissions was definitely a challenge, since nobody had heard of Icefall. It took every trick we knew, from bribe attempts to blubbering to asking 'please' to just writing them ourselves. In the future I hope that we'll be better able to feature all kinds of work; right now, I'm just absolutely pleased to have this out.
My sincere thanks to the editing staff: Amity, Lena, Elizabeth, Rina, Jessa, Lan, Lina, Heidi, Nika, and Tash, to Kelly Martin, for being so supportive of yet another project on her webpage, and to everyone who submitted or contributed. Have fun reading this issue- and have a very happy Midsummer!*
Lis Davies
21 June 2005
Alberta, Canada