I'm a recent college graduate working in the PR industry in Austin, Texas. I've been writing for a little over ten years, but I have little experience in submitting my stories to literary journals and contests. Recently I've been contemplating applying to grad school and getting my MFA in Creative Writing, but I want to fine tune my manuscript and ensure that I have something solid to submit when/if I apply. I'd like feedback on my writing just so I know what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong. Since most MFA programs are highly selective, I really want to make sure that I submit my best work. 

I graduated from college with a degree in Public Relations. At the time, I picked PR because I had read it was writing heavy. In the back of my mind, I envisioned myself working in PR while also working on my novels once I finish school, and once I started my writing career, I could leave my PR job. Now I'm working a PR job, and I see that I don't have time to write. I feel lucky if I can get an hour of writing in, and I spend that hour trying not to fall asleep from exhaustion. This is a part of the reason why I want to go back to school, so I can dedicate myself full-time to writing to see if this is a career path I want to pursue.

I haven't been able to rid myself of the desire to become a writer, though sometimes I wish I could. Life would be much easier if I was passionate and excited about my current career trajectory. 

As for what I write, I tend to focus on fiction. The types of fiction I write varies, but lately I've been focusing on horror, mystery, etc. Some of my favorite authors (and the ones I look to for inspiration) are Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Shirley Jackson and Flannery O'Connor. 

I'm an outdoor writer and environmental journalist. I'm a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America, and teach a graduate class in environmental journalism at Dartmouth College. I also administer the Robert Traver Fly Fishing Writing Award for the John D. Voelker Foundation and the American Museum of Fly Fishing.

I've published two books about fly fishing. The Confluence is a group memoir co-written with six lifelong friends from college. Storied Waters is a narrative about a six-week trip to fly fish in waters made famous in literature and art. I write a monthly column called The Sporting Environment for the Maine Sportsman magazine.

My current project is a departure from outdoor writing and environmental issues (mostly). As of April 2021, I am finishing the first draft of a historical novel called Papscanee about the Dutch colony of Rensselaerswyck in the Hudson River valley during the 1640s near present day Albany. As my first foray into fiction, I am looking for feedback on my storytelling, characters and dialogue. I also want to depict the Native American characters and culture with respect and accuracy, overcoming the strong European colonial and religious bias in the historical record.

My goal is to bring this fascinating period of American history alive to a wider audience. The novel includes fictional and historical characters and imagines the daily lives and interactions between the Dutch colonists and the Mohawk and Mohican Indians amidst actual events based on the documented records of the period (1640s). The two protagonists are Annatje, a young Dutch woman, who becomes friends and trading partners with Capachick, a young Mohican man. Annatje and her husband Jacobus are farmers and fur traders near Papscanee Island. After a flood kills their neighbors, Annatje and Jacobus adopt their friends' orphan children and move their family from their farm to Beverwyck (later Albany) to build an inn and tavern. Historical Dutch characters include Kiliean van Rensselaer, Arendt van Curler, Adriaen van der Donck, Willem Kieft, Peter Stuyvesant and Brant van Slichtenhorst. Historical Indian characters include Papsikenekas, Skiwias (Aepjen), Canaqueese and Agheroense. 

I anticipate writing a sequel about Beverwyck in the 1650s and 1660s.

I published my first story in 1979. Since then I've published short stories, essays, and reviews. I would like to finish my novel already. I'm looking for a supportive group of active, published writers. My primary goal is society, my secondary goal is to give and receive feedback. I'm looking forward to the day when we can all meet in person. I will be the first person to volunteer my house and yard.

In the last 4 years or so I've begun to declare myself a writer to others, although I've enjoyed writing for decades.  I'm an avid reader, have a curious mind, love exploring "what makes people tick", and have attended / completed writers' workshops, courses, retreats, and authors' meet and greets.

Just belonging to a group dedicated to the craft would bring me joy.  My commitment is that the joy will then translate to elevated rigor in the face of my fits and starts.  

I have a BA in English/Creative Writing and an MA in English/Fiction Writing. I have been writing primarily literary short stories and poetry, which have been published in literary magazines. I published my debut novel, Telling Sonny, in 2018. I'm mainly looking for a group of writers who focus on literary fiction. I've been through the workshop experience, and I'm much more interested now in discussion and feedback than formal workshop critique.