Groups I've Joined

• The Austin SlugTribe - the local science fiction & fantasy study group. We meet twice a month to critique and network, but we're online as well. Earl Cooley has hosted us on his bbs and now on io.com for years & years. What a prince! We've got the beginning of a Website up and more is to come.
  
  
• The Austin Screenwriters Group - this high-energy and very directed group of local writers critiques scripts and keeps up with Hollywood and anywhere films are made. We're also very tied in with the Austin Heart of Film competition! For several years I was a reader/judge for the Heart of Film screenplay and TV contest also. I know it's helped me learn screenwriting craft; my contest successes prove it! I'm also the webmistress for the website and designed the logo. For the past several years, the ASG WorkGroup (which I'm also on) has been using our clout and treasury funds to bring Hollywood folks to Austin.
  
  
• The Writers League of Texas - I joined it as the Austin Writers League and still think of it that way. The AWL is the second-largest regional writers association in the US. I joined at about 300 members, and it's up to 1400 members now. Even though I quit the WLT when it stopped listing its study groups in the newsletters, it belongs on this page as a community resource.
  
  
• The Austin Writergrrls - local women networking, supporting each other, sharing fears and joys about writing, wanting to write, and life. We get together a couple of times a month for meals and networking. Plus the group created an anthology that's to be POD (Print on Demand) in Dec 2006. I help moderate the list.
  
  
• Turkey City & Tryptophan - even more groups of SF/F related fiction and critique that I hang out with occasionally. The Turkey City group has been revived by one of its original founders, the internationally famous author Bruce Sterling, and the Tryptophan list is for that group. Tryptophan meets when no Turkey Cities are planned. Bruce only comes to Austin to visit now that he's moved to Sarajevo, but he would do a cool thing where he drew upon his many contacts in the publishing world and brought in guest pros. He's had people like: John Shirley, Ellen Datlow, John Kessel, Connie Willis, Cory Doctorow, Andy Duncan, ...
  
  
• The Fort List - what a crazy, international group of super-smart and cool people! We share a common fascination with the weird things in life, much as our namesake, the eccentric Charles Fort, did in his books on rains of frogs, mysterious voices from the air, etc. The Fortean Society prints a very cool monthly magazine also.
  
  
• HerDomain.org - the women-only group built mostly around the Austin area. Our focus high-tech, and in particular, use of the Internet for fun & profit. Some of the women with progressive politics also formed another, by invitation list, that I'm on as well.
  
  
• The Jung Society of Austin - joined this group at the suggestion of my friend Regan Brown. The JSA has presentations on myths and archetypes, which they even extrapolate into modern day, cyberspace, etc. Even though my membership lapsed, I have attended the past two Mythic Journeys events in Atlanta on the anniversary of Joseph Campbell's birthday. That place is chock fulla Jungians.
  
  
• RussCon - Alas, though it's gone as of Fall 2005, Russ Williams used to host a weekly Wednesday night game fest at his home. We played card games and German-style board games mostly. I started going to do research for the game I co-designed. Not sure why I went for so long; when they did a compiled statistical analysis of all people who ever played, I was ranked second to the bottom (of about 150 players). Yikes.
  
  
• SFWA - the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. It's a professional association so I had to have three professional short story sales to join. (One novel sold would've done it too, but I have written no novels yet!)

Friends of Wendy - Websites to Visit

• Dan Becker - Dan seems to have unlimited energy and interests. You'll see from his site that he's into gaming, miniatures, triathlons, beer brewing and drinking, and more. He's also got detailed instructions on how to make tiny trebuchets, cast your own game pieces, create dice towers, and all kinds of info.
  
  
• Ms. Elise - Lisa is one of my Writergrrl friends who does a lot of interesting stuff, including kinky performance art and sex education classes at Forbidden Fruit . Her classes cover a variety of topics including stripping, bdsm toys, sex toys, erotic role play, and dirty talking. She has published numerous erotica stories in anthologies.
  
  
• Regan Marie Brown - Regan is also in Writergrrls with me. She's been in almost every kind of creative or funky career you can have. She's been an editor and writer and songwriter for the whole time I've known her, though. One long weekend, fueled on Diet Dr Pepper, she wrote this incredible string of wise advice. Then she got it published as a popular women's inspiration book: The Woman's Way.
  
  
• Tom Konrad - Tom was a SlugTriber back when he lived in Austin. Then he and his wife moved to be nearer to mountains, starting off in Tucson but now settled in Denver. No more fiction writing for him, but he writes about cool environmentally responsible investment on his blog. When he talks about how he became an investment counselor because a friend asked him to give her advice, that's me!
  
  
• Kim Lane - Kim is another Writergrrl friend who conceived, created, and maintains an award-winning site called Austin Mama. Visit it for funky articles, cool fiction, and cows & puppies in dresses. It was the Austin Chronicle critic's choice in 2003 for best web community site.
  
  
• Jeff Shaevel - I can't even begin to list all of the hobbies and enthusiasms Jeff has. If you ever saw the play "Shear Madness" in Austin, you probably saw Jeff acting (as the flamboyant hairdresser). He's also into music, magic, Dance Dance Revolution, gourmet ice cream, pottery, sushi, baking, and more. He has awesome New Year's parties!
  
  
• Deborah Sterling - She just recently made her first website for her business, Sterling Quality Skin Care. She's got an amazing history in skin care and is one of the local Austin experts.
  
  
• Debra Winegarten - she has a website and publishing company called SocioSight Press. Another Writergrrl friend, she's had more booksignings and presented more speeches than you can count for her book on Texas aviatrix, Katharine Stinson. Now she's also planning a class on web promotion for writers, coming soon to an Austin space, we hope!