Links of the Week #2

Every writer needs other people, no matter how much they enjoy tapping away at the keyboard, accompanied only by their cat. This week's links focus on ways to keep connected with other writers.

The Writer's View 2
If you don't have the money or the time to get to a writer's conference very often, Then The Writer's View 2 is for you. This group is for beginning and intermediate Christian writers eager to hone their craft.

A panel of published authors and editors post two questions per week, inviting members to chime in on the varied topics, which cover craft, marketing and other important subjects. One of the group members is Cecil Murphy, the co-author of the best-selling  90 Minutes in Heaven  Reading the weekly posts is similar to attending two writing conference workshops each week.

Two recent topics of discussion have been "How would you launch your book?" and "Dos and don'ts for approaching editors and agents". There are between 150 and 300 replies each month.

To join, go here. You will have to apply, sending in a little information about yourself and a short writing sample. Because the 800-member group is so active, select the daily digest option, rather than individual emails.

If you are a published author, you are invited to join The Writer's View 1 .

Young Adult Writers
Christian YA Writers Group 1 is an online critique group for writers of Christian young adult fiction. It's a small group, and each member is expected to complete one critique each week. Several members are published writers, and you will receive excellent critiques on your short stories or novel chapters. Writing courses are also offered through this free group.

Those members who demonstrate improved skill in writing and critiquing will be invited to join Group 2--a more advanced level critique group.

For Speculative Fiction
The Critters Workshop is a long-running online critique group "for serious writers of science fiction, fantasy and horror". Members are expected to do at least one critique per week, in exchange for the opportunity to receive dozens of critiques on your own work when you've reached the top of the queue.

You get to choose which story (or stories) to critique from a list of several dozen. Each is marked with the genre and title, so if horror isn't to your liking, you can pick from the other genres. Critiques of 200 words or more get uploaded on the site.

Critters is free to use, although if you don't critique often enough, your own stories get pushed to the bottom of the queue. Just a note: this is not a Christian critique group. You'll find stories of all flavors here, however those with potentially offensive material are marked as such.

Next Time
The next Links of the Week will highlight my favorite agent blogs. If you've got some of your own, let me know.