In 1995 I decided to put together a quarterly archery magazine produced by the archers of An Tir for the archers of An Tir. The goal of On Target was to bring the An Tir archery community together through words and pictures; to unite the archers across the great expanse of our Kingdom through education and entertainment.
On Target's first issue debuted at An Tir's Twelfth Night, 1996, A.S. XXX, and all 75 copies of the 12 page magazine were sold that first afternoon. A second issue was published before On Target was put on hold for time and financial constraints.
On 4 December 1996 I finally put On Target on the Web, hoping to fulfill the magazine's goal more effectively than it could have done in print.
Although I wrote some of the articles, On Target's foundation is article submissions. The call was put out and An Tir's archers responded by getting involved and by moving us with their poetry, dazzling us with their artwork, asking questions and educating us with trivia and tips that will help us become better archers in the Society. They proved that On Target is not just a magazine, it is our magazine.
On Target Online includes all the works of the printed On Target (except the children's games and the corkboard, which will be added later) plus much more. Archery related works are eagerly accepted on an ongoing basis. Remember, it doesn't have to be a masterpiece. Your work will be read by friends with similar interests and concerns whose only wish is to learn and to be entertained; no one is going to judge you or your work. Notice that not all the works are An Tir or even archery specific; there is a little something for everyone here. Please do not think that just because you're not an archer or from An Tir you can't submit a work. All submissions of interest to SCA archers are encouraged.
To submit your work, send me an e-mail with the text and graphics as attachments and "On Target Submission" on the subject line. I hope to hear from you soon!
For simplicity, and not out of disrespect, I left off the authors' and artists' titles in the by-lines with a few exceptions. Some of the contributors' titles are so numerous, their titles end up looking more cluttered than impressive. The proper thing would be to put them all in or none at all. I chose the latter.
Remember, the On Target Online format and all its content is protected by copyright laws! A lot of time went into creating the color images and cleaning up the submitted drawings, many times pixel by pixel (not easy to do with grayscale images). If you download any of the graphics or articles off this Web site, please make sure to give proper credit to the artist or author. Out of courtesy, let the artist or author know where you acquired their work and your plans for it. When possible, the artists' and authors' by-lines have been linked to their e-mail address.
On Target Online was originally developed on an Apple PowerBook 520c (upgraded to a PowerPC) using BBEdit Lite for the code and script editing and Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia FreeHand for the graphics. On Target Online is currently maintained using an Apple iMac.
On Target Online has been tested for compatibility on all the Mac– and Windows-based Web browsers I could find and I am constantly checking the code for compatibility issues on new browsers as they become available. If you find errors or have any comments, questions or concerns, please let me know A.S.A.P. so I can make the necessary changes.
On Target Online was the official An Tir Royal Archer Web site under Eric de Dragonslaire (1997-1999), the official Keeper of the InterKingdom Archery Competition (IKAC) Web site during my tenure (1998-2001) and is again the official An Tir Royal Archer Web site under Loegaire (Loric) mac Lochlainn.
A special thank you goes out to Jora Sveinsdottir, Antoinette LeBlanc and Shyamma Allam for their contributions to the growth of On Target and On Target Online.
Thank you for your patronage and please take full advantage of this site's offerings!
