Once Upon A Time In Austin

Okay so once upon a time, there were three writers who lived in Austin, Texas.   Two of those writers were already good friends and critique partners.   The third writer was new to the whole thing.  She'd only just finished her first novel, joined RWA and was beginning Agent Quest.  And while the whole journey was exciting, it was also extremely terrifying.  And she decided she needed wiser heads on her side.

So she watched and listened, and soon decided that the two friends were definitely the kinds of people she wanted to hang out with.  Women who were decidedly in the know when it came to writing.   So in a rather boldfaced move, she approached the two women and quite literally begged them to have mercy upon her and let her join the group.

Thankfully, being such lovely people—they acquiesced.  And the rest as they say is history.  The three were all published within the next year or so.  And many many many great stories both on the page and in their lives were born as a result of the union.

But none were so wonderful as the two books that bear all three of the authors' names.   You see, it was a crazy dream they had to write an anthology together.  And a wild night at RWA national that conceived the idea.   Bad Boys from Hell—literally.

And from that original alliance and that wine-fueled evening at RWA came Hell With the Ladies and Hell on Heels.   Anthologies with stories by Kathleen O'Reilly, Julie Kenner and me.  Almost thirteen years ago I asked them if I could be in their group. And we're still going strong.  And I am so amazingly lucky for the opportunity!   (Oh and… there was another amazing woman in that Austin RWA group at the same time—her name was Julia London).

Maybe next up we should try for an anthology with all the Whine Sisters.  Wouldn't that be fun????