Friends, Acquaintances, Writers

I was born as a writer in March, 2009. Of course, what makes me a writer comes from a thousand variables in the three decades before that, but that was the date I first tried to "write a bit of make-believe".

That birth took place within the confines of quite a small online writers group, the core of which is still together. The majority of this group is now moving from the weekly contests that tempered them into either putting a novel together or seeking paid publication in anthologies, print magazines or webzines.

Harper Hull (aka Grifter) is my writing buddy operating out of South Carolina. We throw ideas off each other and are working on a big project, which will be revealed on this blog in the spring of 2010. He's had multiple short stories accepted for publication in recent months and I suspect big things lie in his future.

Rob Long (aka Adso) was a stalwart in the group until the summer of 2009 when he disappeared to start work on his novel, which should be completed by this coming summer.

Simon Hood (aka Buttered) has recently had his first story accepted for publication over at Spilt Milk magazine. Simon has also been rather busy in recent months criss-crossing the country on his bike, following his favourite football team and raising thousands for charity in the meantime.

Justin Froude (aka Moist) is our Stephen King, our Peter Straub, our budding Tolkein. If there's a drop of blood to fall, either off the tooth of a vampire or the sword of an orc (do orcs carry swords? this is not my comfort zone!!), he'll be there to describe it in tormenting detail. He has recently begun to sub to paying publications and it's only a matter of time before success comes his way.

I'll keep the blog updated with any other major news about this writing group. We did try and publish a collection of our short stories last summer, but soon came to the realisation that the face of short story publication has changed dramatically in the last decade with the arrival of the internet.

Now, if you want to get your name out there and your face recognised, the path of the anthologies and zines seems to be the right one.