It's good to have friends in this business, especially the ones that are successful and don't mind helping a little guy like me out. So I thought I spend this blog talking a little bit about the people who have been very generous with their time.
I've got to start with my writing group: Sam W. Anderson, Kim Despins, Kurt Dinan (that's Deenan to you), Petra Miller, and Erik Williams. With the exception of Kim, we all met at Borderlands in 2006. We decided to pool our collective talents and set up a private office on Zoetrope.com. In 2007, we added Kim after she completed a rigorous application process, also known as a few beers at WHC. In the past several years, these guys have read all my writing, even the crappy stuff that nobody else sees because it is so... well crappy. So here's a little bit about them:
Sam has just released a long awaited collection of his short fiction called Postcards to Purgatory (do yourself a favor and pick up a copy). He's also got so many other projects in the works that I can hardly keep up.
Kim has recently sold stories to Black Ink and Horror Library IV (the latter story is already being talked about and the book hasn't even come out yet).
Kurt has story out in the Springsteen Anthology called Darkness on the Edges and his story "Into the After" will lead off Horror Library IV. Oh yeah, he writes poetry too!
Petra sold her story "Drain" to Doorways and then the magazine promptly died before it could come out. It's a great story, and the rest of us are waiting for her to sell it somewhere else! She's also hard at work on a novel about ghosts and nazis set in Tennessee!
I've said it before: Erik Williams is everywhere. Because I am sure to miss something worth mentioning, you might want to start with his blog. I will tell you that he has two books out right now: The Reverend's Powder and Blood Spring. Prolific is his middle name. Or maybe it's Leif. I forget.
So that's my writing group, and I'm tired of writing. I think I'll do a separate post covering some other people who have helped me out.
Great post, John. I think having a select group of people who are there for us and us for them is a huge help in both writing and life. I have a small group like that and I can't thank them enough for all they've taught me in the last year.
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