Swimming-March 2013

Stories artwork

What do you get when you combine the idea behind Stories by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio (an anthology of short stories by some of the best writers around, exploring the concept of theme and genre and producing works so different from each other yet deliciously complimentary) and a quote from my favorite writer, F. Scott Fitzgerald (All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath)?

I'd like to believe that it's The Pool Collective that you get. Taking Stories' flesh and bone--one of my favorite books of all time, and giving it life by way of Fitzgerald gave birth to TPC. Immediately, after the whole eureka moment of just putting together a solid concept for TPC, I knew I had something exciting and worthwhile in my hands.

The Pool Collective gathers five to ten writers, some of them new, some of them known (who might be using their own nom de guerre) every month to produce a short story or a work of literature that uses, falls under or incorporates the theme assigned for the month. Quite simple. But still very tricky.

While approaching writers for our very first month, I was faced with the challenge of seeing their work and wondering if they'd fit well together and if the theme is present and living in their stories. So far, it's pretty good. And I've read intelligent works, one of which even managed to change the way I looked at card games and drunken nights...

And this is the main reason why I haveTPC. Not only have I been missing so much literature round here, in our local shores, I also believe that there are many great story tellers out there who do not have the space and the means to see the light of day. It enriches our pool of creativity and knowledge and opens up worlds far better (or worse) than our own and it just takes us, even for a minute or two, away from where we are now. Definitely, it's the beauty of literature that grounds this whole idea, and I'm blessed to have the inclination towards the art form.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

So, before you head down and take a plunge in our first ever batch of stories for TPC, I'd like to introduce to you the theme for March. March is all about swim. Credits go to F. Scott Fitzgerald, for giving TPC the best foundation.The quote really got me the moment I read it. I just had to use it somewhere, someday, I told myself and TPC's first ever set of stories is the best place and time to use it.

Dark Night Swim

My challenge for my writers was to write anything with swim as the theme. And the stories that came in, were terribly good and different but still had that feeling of swimming, or taking laps, or taking in as much air and heading deep down...

To my writers, big thank you for the trust, the talent and the time...This will take us somewhere good someday...

And dear readers, welcome to The Pool Collective. I hope you enjoy the swim...

- Gerard Gotladera