We’re an invite-only critique group nominally based in Austin, Texas, egalitarian in terms of background and experience. We actively strive to create a safe space for members to critique submissions with love. (Tough, harsh, blunt love, but love nonetheless.) Insults, including self-deprecation, are not appreciated.
History
- The group started in 2008 by Sheri G. Ray, where long-running D&D campaign maps, cats, and the occasional AKA purebred dog competed for space in the conversation pit in her home.
- Most of the original members were in the video game script writing or the tech end of the world.
- The group went virtual at the start of the pandemic.
- The group meets weekly for three hours, working on four submissions in a modified Milford critique format.
- As members drift in and out, we strive to maintain a core group of 6 to 10 active members at each session.
Here’s the history from Sheri.
Member Background
We’re a diverse sort. There are a few retired tech writers, someone who denies being a rocket scientist, a spattering of tech geeks, a full-time family shepherd, and a retired crossbow maker. Several of us write full- or most-time. There’s a strong SCA component to the members—every once in a while, someone brings up sword play, and almost everyone pulls out their favorite blade.
What do we write about?
Well, the current members write science fiction (hard, soft, and absurdist), fantasy, horror, historical fiction (which can get tagged as horror at times), poetry, comic book scripts, and…well, I’ll find out more this Tuesday. Story lengths run from a couple of thousand-word short stories, to four-book (and counting) sagas.
Publishing
Most of our members are published authors; check out our member pages to get all the details. Some have been in print for a few decades, others are just getting their first pieces out.
Activities
Aside from weekly three-hour meetings, we attend the ArmadilloCon convention in Austin, Texas, every September. As a group, we sit on panels, do joint readings, run the writers workshop, and haunt the Dealer Room hawking our wares.
We have the rare outdoor activities: one of our members invited a Hungarian saber fencing master and his assistant to come by and teach moves to writers (and eager SCA folks). Many people holding pointed metal sticks: what could go wrong? (Nothing did.)
On our own, we’ve been seen doing readings at the Coperas Cove Public Library, various Barnes & Noble bookstores in Florida and Texas, and other random appearances, to the startlement of bystanders.
Trivia
- The group name is derived from a book by Stephen R. Donaldson of the same title.
- The original membership hazing involved an invite and, most importantly, a dinner interview at a Chinese hand-pulled noodle restaurant. It’s harder to do via Discord, but we do try.
