Avoid Writer’s Hell is a Yahoo group for writers. Created by and based on the books by Faith Bicknell-Brown, the group is an invaluable resource for writers and authors who wish to hone their craft. Faith is not only an author but an editor and has been at the helm of several publishers as Editor-in-Chief.

The group has open crit days, flash fiction writing contests, and lots of writing exercises to help even the newest of writers learn the nuts and bolts of writing and how to become an author. This group is a workshop only group without promo or chatting. It is dedicated solely to honing the craft of writing.

There is also an AWH Chatters group for talking and discussion, for sharing photos, jokes, stories, and for promo. Members post to this group when they have new blog posts, reviews, releases, and contracts.

The blog on this site is for the members of the group, known affectionately as AWH puppies, to post their thoughts and information about reviews, contracts, awards, releases and more.

Group Owner, author and editor – Faith Bicknell-Brown

Faith Bicknell-Brown’s work has appeared in a wide range of genres such as: Would That It Were, Touch Magazine,  GC Magazine, Ohio Writer Magazine (non-fiction), Waxing and Waning (Canada), and The Istanbul Literature Review (Turkey) just to name a few. She was a regular contributor to Gent under a pseudonym. She has also had fiction published in Hustler’s Busty Beauties, Penthouse Variations, Twenty 1 Lashes, and was a regular contributor to Ruthie’s Club. In addition, Faith has several e-books and some print titles published under Zinnia Hope and J. Emberglass. For two years, she served as the co-editor of The Tenacity Times. For thirteen years combined, she served as the managing editor for Wild Child Publishing and its sister division, Freya’s Bower.

She is represented by TriadaUS Literary Agency (www.triadaus.com). Visit her at her website www.faithbicknellbrown.com.

Moderators:

Tess MacKall – author and former editor – ON HIATUS

Laura Garland – author, instructor, graphic artist

With over ten years in middle school, high school, and college classrooms, she has now taken her teaching skills home to the kitchen table where she home schools her three boys. She’s also worked as a graphic artist for over twenty years, having designed everything from book covers and magazine ads to t-shirts and billboards. Her list of publishers include: Cerridwen Press, L&L Dreamspell, and other various epub venues. You can visit her website at www.lj-garland.com.

Lex Valentine – author, former editor, website designer

As blog mod, Lex is well suited to this job. She works full-time at a cemetery as the network administrator. She is an EPIC author and a Covey Associate. Her list of publishers includes: Pink Petal Books, MLR Press, Liquid Silver Books, Noble Romance, Freya’s Bower, Wild Child Publishing, MSF, and Cobblestone Press. You can find her author website at LexValentine.com and her graphic designs and cover art at Winterheart Design.

Maura Anderson – Instructor, Mentor, Author, Editor

Maura says she’s a geek and a word-aholic. Her day job is working as a programming writer at a very large software company, and she writes and edits fiction and non-fiction by night. If only she didn’t have to sleep. She’s a published fiction and non-fiction author who really really wishes she could buy cloning technology so she had more time for writing while her clone did the housework. You can visit Maura’s website at http://www.realmsoftheraven.com.

Zetta Brown – Publisher, Editor, Author

Zetta Brown is editor-in-chief for LL-Publications. She holds a B.A. in English/Creative Writing from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas and is the author of MESSALINA – DEVOURER OF MEN and several short stories. In 1998 her short story, “Black Water,” was a regional first-place winner for The National Society of Arts & Letters (NSAL) Award for Short Fiction.

Marguerite “Margie” Lafayette – AWH’s Gal Friday

Hello, my name is Marguerite Lafayette, Margie for short. I’m AWH’s Gal Friday. I manage and publish the AWH newsletter, gathering the puppies’ news, reviews, announcements, and much more (just remember you must join AWH or AWH Chatters to get this cool newsletter).

I ‘ve worked in law enforcement for nearly ten years collecting characters and stories. I have toyed with the idea of writing for approximately five years, but only recently became serious about writing since October 2009 when I joined AWH. My first story “Knight at Knuckle Draggers” is due to be released by Eirelander Publishing in July 2010. I am also trying my hand at acting and have auditioned for Survivor and one movie role. I’m currently single and  spend whatever free time I have writing, drawing and auditioning.

Emmy Ellis – AWH’s magazine editor, creative writing teacher, cover artist, author, editor

Emmy gave up e-book editing to concentrate on her writing career. She has three pen names and writes m/m, het erotica, and horror/thrillers. She creates book covers for two online publishers and teaches creative writing at her local school.

In her spare time (what’s that?), Emmy enjoys watching Heroes and Deadwood, reading, and cleaning house, although she won’t attempt the latter without her trusty rubber gloves. Pink, if you please.

Emmy facts: She is obsessed with perfume and owns over twenty-five bottles…and counting. Obsessed with smells in general (nice ones!), she thinks nothing of sniffing fabric conditioner in the local supermarket. If she smells a lovely perfume on someone else, stranger or not, she’ll go up to the wearer and ask what it is. Her current favourite smell is pine toilet liquid and a nifty all-purpose cleaner that she sprays liberally around the kitchen, even when it’s already clean, just so she can smell it. Yes, the fact that really stands out here is: Emmy is weird.

Click the button below to join the Avoid Writer’s Hell group on Yahoo.

Click the button below to joing the Avoid Writer’s Hell Chatter’s group on Yahoo.