What we’re about
We're a support network for Houston independent authors to socialize and gain insights into the business and marketing aspects of indie publishing. We're not focused on any one genre or way to write, and we welcome indie, trad, and hybrid authors at any stage of their career.
Though our focus is primarily social, our monthly meetup will include an education portion with professional speakers (marketers, editors, book designers, other authors with strategy insights, etc.).
Upcoming events
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•OnlineWriters Lunch: Eliminating Filter Verbs
OnlineYou may have heard about filter verbs, but what are they, really? Why are they something that authors are taught to avoid? And how can you eliminate them from your own writing? Join A.P. Hawkins on Writers Lunch for a discussion of filter verbs and writing exercises to help you learn to recognize and eliminate filter verbs from your prose.
About Our Host
Anna (she/her) is our world-building goddess. Her degrees in both biology and marine biology have given her an extensive understanding of niches, habitats, and circles of life. Her background in biology has given her unparalleled skill at helping writers get the details of their complex, immersive alien worlds onto the page, without excessive info dumping. Check out her blog post on “incluing” for some tips and tricks!
Anna has nearly a decade of editing experience transforming complex information into concise and engaging text for writers in multiple fields. This has allowed her to hone her line-editing skills for many types of readers. She has a keen eye for details in story elements like character arcs and pacing as well as on the line level for grammatical and spelling errors.
When she’s not editing, Anna writes stories that deal with disillusionment with institutions and characters who sometimes become the same kind of monster they rebelled against. You can find her work in Analog Science Fiction and Fact and several small press anthologies.
If your setting is just as integral to the story as your characters, Anna is uniquely qualified to assist you.1 attendee
•OnlineWriters Lunch: Ask the Editor--Killing Your Characters
OnlineWhat do writers have in common with serial killers? That’s right, an undeniable urge to kill… our characters. No matter what genre you write, you’ll probably find yourself killing off a character at some point. What are the different ways of killing characters? How do you craft a death scene? How do you pull at the heartstrings of your readers, or make them cheer? Join us this October for Ask an Editor Hour, where we answer your questions!
Do you have a conundrum about killing your characters? Join our Tomeworks Discord Server here: https://discord.gg/kTJqhFe776 to ask! Questions asked in our Discord or by our Patreon members are given priority.
1 attendee
•OnlineWriters Lunch: American Regionalism Through Fiction Part II
OnlineWhat makes a book Southern? How does the rugged landscape of New England lend itself to horror? Does a novel need cowboys and six-shooters to be Western?
Join us this week on Writers Lunch for a journey through the American landscape and the literary tropes that define the many vistas of a country that has struggled to identify itself with a singular vision.
From Nathanial Hawthorne to Octavia Butler, from Seanan McGuire to Elmore Leonard, from Cormac MacCarthy to Flannery O'Connor, from sea to shining sea and the depths of American identity; let's take a literary road trip!
There are so many American regions, we couldn't cover them all in just one hour. Join us for Part II of American Regionalism Through Fiction. This time, we'll head away from the East Coast and cover more central and western regions. If you'd like to check out the recording of Part I, where we discuss Florida and New England, among others, you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/live/ib1Q_LK2G2o?si=IR_hfHAj4EitQ-9e.About Our Host
If you are looking for an editor with a strong hold of epic sci-fi, climate fiction, or any of the punks, Sean Morrissey Carroll (he/him) is your man. Sean has an innate understanding of poetry in prose and linguistic interplay, making him a master in line editing for both style and substance. As both a seaweed farmer and restaurant owner, Sean has a strong comprehension of logistics in his toolbox to ensure your science fiction and fantasy epics are immersive and believable. His art degree and history of critical evaluation allows him to provide clear insights and guidance to move your idea from what you see in your head to a fully fleshed-out story. Sean is also adept at honing literary elements of fiction that will resonate and hook the reader’s emotions.
In his spare time, Sean writes near-future sci-fi with heart-wrenching themes about family and climate displacement. His stories can be found in Defunkt, Nebo, Punt Volat, Space City Underground, and decomp zine (intentionally lowercase).
Let Sean help you imbue your hard science with humanity.1 attendee
•OnlineWriters Lunch: Writing Your Author Bio
OnlineAuthors have to write bios for their books, for public appearances, and for their sales pages. A great bio gets people excited about experiencing your creativity and reading your stories. But writing a bio and writing a book are very different tasks. How do you know what to include? Do you add where you went to school, who you married, or that you owe fifty thousand dollars in student debt? How do you know what elements of your life will grab a reader’s attention and create allure? And what do you do if you’re writing under a pseudonym?
We’ll discuss this and more and provide you with some simple steps to create attractive short and long author bios.
(Though nonfiction authors may benefit from this workshop, the content and advice are focused on fiction writers.)About Our Host
Shannon’s (she/her) mind is a steel trap, and that’s what makes her so good with continuity edits and shoring up plot holes across all genres. Shannon is a whodunit mastermind who also loves zombies and old-world monsters. Her background in emergency and trauma medicine make her uniquely qualified to help you describe injuries, wounds, and diseases both in a modern setting and in the apocalypse. Shannon has been a professional editor for over a decade and even teaches workshops for the Editorial Freelancers Association to help new editors learn their trade.Shannon has a penchant for educating her authors, and she likes to provide feedback that helps her authors grow and understand their genre expectations.
When she’s not editing, Shannon writes under a pen name and uses the things that go bump in the night to take the piss out of the patriarchy.
If you’re looking for an editor who can help you be consistent in your complex worldbuilding across an entire series or if you’re a new author who wants a guiding hand, Shannon is the editor for you.Contact her at www.tomeworksedits.com.
1 attendee
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