Several years ago, while I was still very much a wannabe
writer with barely one badly-drafted novel to my name, a dear friend here in
Houston, Andrea White, invited me to join her in a new critique group with
another of her friends, Chris Cander. Andrea was already a published YA author
(SURVIVING ANTARCTICA, WINDOW BOY, RADIANT GIRL) and Chris had just
self-published her first literary novel for adults (11 STORIES).
Chris and I immediately knew we'd get on, and over the next
few months we invited three more friends to join our group, all then unpublished writers like - Eleri Grace, Tobey Forney and Mimi Vance. Unlike other critique
groups, we decided early on that we wouldn't swap chapters. Instead we would be
there as a support group for each other, meeting up every so often to catch up
and offer advice, and it works brilliantly. Five years on, I know I have the
best squad of cheerleaders any writer could ask for. Certainly, when my own
books came out in 2017 and 2018, I was so thankful to have my own personal
cheer squad standing beside me.
Of course, it hasn't all been sunshine and roses. We've all
had ups and downs with our publishing journeys, but I remember saying, the
first time all six of us got together over lunch, how exciting it would be when
every one of us would become published writers. I know it's only a matter of
time before that happens (they are all so talented, believe me!), and we are
getting closer to our goal each year. From out of our group of SIX writers,
FOUR of us are now published, and even more amazingly, we have had THREE new
books published just in the last few weeks!
I'm therefore proud and delighted to introduce you to these
brand-new beauties from my wonderful critique partners, in alphabetical order,
along with their retail links so you can buy them!
THE WEIGHT OF A PIANO
by Chris Cander
A moving dual time-line story about the two women and the
piano
which connects their lives.
COURAGE TO BE COUNTED
by Eleri Grace
A lush WW2 romance about Red Cross girls and B-17 bomber
boys.
The first in the Clubmobile Girls series.
by Andrea White
A post-apocalyptic young adult thrill-ride about a boy who
tries to do the right thing
when everything around him is going wrong.
If you are writing, whether as a newbie or an old hand, I
cannot recommend enough the value of finding 'your people'. You don't
necessarily need to find an established critique group to join, you just need
to find another one or two other writers you think you can get on with, and
start your own. Ours was created using the good old friend-of-a-friend method,
but if you don't think you know enough writers to make that work, why not talk to your local chapter of SCBWI or any other writing
organization to see if anyone else is looking for support? In our Houston SCBWI
chapter, there have been two new groups set up in different parts of the city
just in the last few months. And if you live in a rural area, have kids to stay
home for or have problems travelling, why not set up your critique group
online? With video services like Skype and Zoom, you can chat to one or more
other people from the comfort of your home. Who knows, you and your critique partners you might end up being life-long friends, all cheering each other as you compete for the top spot on the bestseller list!
