I write short stories and essays and I'm fortunate to have published some. I'm on the first draft of a novel. I'm looking for a supportive group of active, published writers. Not looking for copy-editing or line editing, but for feedback on what's working and to give and receive support. I'm open-minded, enthusiastic, and willing to work!

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. 

In the last 6 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.  Byline in a Sierra Club newspaper and multiple published articles within the nonprofit arena. 

Seeking the support and accountability of a group, feedback, possibly prompts, etc. at times.  I know from past experience that the group setting and regularly scheduled meet-ups helps with rigor for the craft.

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.  

New Media Writer - Write and perform stories with music (usually guitar and original). Authored an interactive web-based multimedia bio of composer Amy Beach. Published hit podcast Light 1.0, episodic story with music, on iTunes for 15 years (currently revamping and will re-upload soon).  Currently researching and authoring a series of cnf books on subject of women and technology.

Born in Utah and raised in North Carolina, Esther Milanzi is half Black South African and half Caucasian American. Spending most of her life in America with her mom, dad, and 2 sisters. She was estranged from her biological father who was deported from the US when she was 3 years old. The only time Esther was able to visit South Africa was 23 years later at his grave site. The opportunity to visit the birthplace of humanity arrived after she finished graduate school from Florida State University with a degree in International Education Development.

She was then awarded a Fulbright grant to teach leadership and literacy skills at a FET college in Vereeniging, South Africa, an Afrikaans town 40 minutes south of Johannesburg. To share her teaching abroad experiences with family and friends back home in the states, she started a blog. Unintentionally, it became a journal of her healing journey as she documented her experiences understanding the post-apartheid racial climate, visiting her father’s grave, and meeting her paternal family including a younger brother and sister. It was there that she received, from her cousin, her South African name, Ubuntu, meaning humanity -”I am who I am because of who we all are.”

Inspired by her journey, she began to write magical realism, poetry, and daily morning pages, as a way to continue to heal, elevate, and to empower others. For the last 5 years, she has been traveling, teaching, writing, & radiating bread crumbs for other creatives.

She is the co-founder of the Surat Warrior Writers group in Surat Thani, Thailand. Weekly writing workshops were held and a community of creatives was cultivated in a time and place where people were looking for alternative ways to connect other than partying.  Eventually, Esther co-led 3 writing retreats in Thailand. The first one focused on unlocking creativity and getting rid of the inner critic, the second one focused on healing through love and letters, the third one focused on developing an individualized blueprint as a creative.

In Vietnam, Esther was a member of a writing society and eventually led the group with exercises. techniques, and insights she’d learned, discovered, and created in South Africa and Thailand.  For the last 3 years, Esther taught grade 6 literacy and a 6-week intensive novel-writing course at the Green School. Most recently, she has taken a sabbatical to focus on writing full-time and to start a writing coach business.
Esther manifests abundance and happiness with her life partner and husband, Lo. She is in the middle of writing the first draft of a novel: The Enchanted Elm, the sentence summary reads: A woodcarver’s life is changed forever when she discovers an enchanted tree and its connection to the oppression of one family.

Esther is excited to lead and empower you on a journey to uncover the true source of your own unlimited creativity.

I do not have very extensive experience writing.  I have been 'trying' to write a novel - any novel, for 30 years now, and had resigned myself to the idea that I would likely never write a book when the pandemic hit.  One day, became maybe never, and then why not right now?  I have dozens of excellent book ideas, and many unfinished projects and notes for projects, so, I just want to get as much support and information as I can and finally write a book - finish a first draft, and see what happens next. 

I am looking for support and encouragement, and (constructive) feedback (I was once in a writers workshop where one of the particpant read my story and annouced she just didn't like it - not at all helpful.  What the hell am I supposed to do with that...)

That's about it.  Excited to get started and see if having an accountability partner or partners, might help me get over the finishe line.  

I am a historian and teacher who writes personal and historical essays. I am also working on a novel right now very loosely based on some family history looking at the legacy of bound apprenticeship post-Civil War in the Midwest. I am hoping that it reads in the tradition of Kristin Hannah or Alice Hoffman - historically set but thoroughly fiction. 

I am looking to build a community with other writers. In this next phase of my career and life, I want to feed and grow my writer self and connect with other writers.