The Houston Writers Guild is a volunteer-run, nonprofit organization working to create a community of writers of all skill levels. Together we strive to improve our writing craft and help each other build successful careers through education, collaborative marketing efforts, and camaraderie.
The Guild offers a myriad of programs for both published and unpublished writers. It creates opportunities to build careers through networking, as well as, opportunities for author book sales throughout the Greater Houston area and neighboring communities. The Guild is also a place for hobbist authors to enjoy writing in a relaxed and fun environment.
Mission Statement
The HWG is a community of Houston-area writers whose purpose is to support each other in the author’s craft and writing career through:
- Engendering safe environments for writers of all skill levels. (Critique Circles)
- Reciprocally sharing time, talent, and knowledge. (Socials and Round Tables)
- Creating opportunities for the development of writing careers. (Through Conferences and Workshops)
- Celebrating the success of each as a success of all. (Via Newsletter and Social Media)
- Providing a platform through which members forge life-long relationships in writing and publishing.
- Fostering a culture of continuous learning. (Through Conferences and Workshops)
Won’t you join us in some of our great programs? Browse our site to see all we have to offer.
Members receive substantial discounts on workshops, conferences and contests. Feel free to sign up for our monthly newsletter, whether you join or not. You must be a member to participate in critique circles (although you can visit once as a guest).
Our Leadership Team
The Houston Writers Guild is an entirely volunteer-run community. Meet the leadership and board members that make your favorite Houston writing community possible.
Andrea Sanchez
Chief Executive Officer
Andrea Sanchez is the executive director and founder of SparkStory. She specializes in empowering creative entrepreneurs and businesses with tools, resources and the courage to tell their unique stories. With more than 20 years of executive communications, marketing, editing, writing and nonprofit experience, coupled with a profound passion in leadership, she believes that success comes from authentic self-packaging. Andrea has been published by numerous international publications and is currently a top blogger on the Medium social media platform.
Alicia Richardson
Chief Financial Officer
Alicia Richardson writes a little bit of everything, including an award-winning children’s book. Before she became a full-time writer, she was a database application developer. In 2016, she jumped straight into the non-profit pool by joining the Houston Writers Guild as CFO, and hasn’t looked back. Alicia is delighted to have the opportunity to work with Houston area creatives to build a welcoming community for all.
Andrew Fischer
Technology Director
Andrew Fischer is a songwriter and author. He has a bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology and a master’s degree in finance. He served two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in South America and currently works in the corporate world.
Clio Lang
Critique Group Director
Imani “Clio” Lang is a poet, model, author, hydrocephalus:brain surgery advocate, and Psychology student from Los Angeles, California. She has been awarded Poet Laureate for Lonestar College North Harris and has had poems published in The Larcenist Magazine and Aaduna Magazine.
Tom Richard
Creative Director
Tom Richard is a skilled artist and cartoonist with decades of experience designing logos and graphics for a number of companies.
Sandy Lawrence
Public Relations Director
Sandy Lawrence is an energetic “people person” and works passionately to take her clients’ message to the world. She loves a good story and considers it her responsibility to help people share their story with the world. Sandy is a publicist, speaker, author and founder of Perceptive Public Relations. She is number 17 in Houston’s Social Influencers and Perceptive PR is number 9 in Houston’s Public Relations Firms. Sandy is the author of several books, including the Do It Yourself PR Guide and Soar 2 Success in Marketing: 58 Tips to Getting the Word out and Growing your Business.
Mack Little
Webmaster
Mack Little holds an undergraduate in English Literature from the University of Dubuque, Iowa and a Masters of Information Science from the University of North Texas. Born in Conyers, GA, Mack has gone on to live, as a University Student in Seville, Spain and, as a soldier, in Wurzburg, Germany. Her studies and career have taken her and all over the United States. Mack is the Membership Director of the Houston Writer’s Guild. While Progenie is her first novel, she co-authored “Disaster Planning: a How-to-Do-It Manual”, published by Neal Schuman. She has also authored several articles for professional library journals.
Meet our Leadership Team/Board Members:
Andrea is founder and chief ignitor for SparkStory LLC (www.sparkstory.co), specializing in personal branding coaching for individuals and corporations. With over 20 years of executive communications, marketing, editing and writing experience in the nonprofit space, she believes that success comes from authentic self-packaging.
Andrea blogs regularly on Medium as editor-in-chief of WORTHY, and hosts the weekly Twitter chat (#DareToBe) as @asanchez16 to give others the courage to be themselves. No matter who you are, Andrea believes everyone has a story worth sharing. Her mission is to help others embrace their uniqueness, writing on human topics that people may not have the courage to address.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/acsanchez/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/asanchez16 @asanchez16 #DareToBe chat Tuesdays 8 pm ET
Instagram: asanchez16
Medium: https://medium.com/@asanchez16
WORTHY publication on Medium: https://medium.com/i-am-worthy
Besides volunteering at the guild, Andrea assists at her local animal shelter. She has three dogs and is a huge animal advocate.
Alicia Richardson is a non-so-common creature – a native Houstonian. While she grew up in and around the city, she did spend about half of the 80s living in Los Angeles. When she returned to the Gulf Coast, she spent a number of years in the oil patch, doing everything from being a production technician to a database application developer. Still, she yearned for creative expression. Alicia had been creating stories for as long as she could remember and was an avid reader. While she sat on the commuter bus to and from downtown every day, she wrote her first novel…that was really not ready for prime time. She tried again and wrote the well-received Earthbound – a ghost story from the ghost’s point of view – that had over 250,000 downloads on PodioBooks. Ultimately, she decided to take the indie plunge and Black Mare Books was born. She is a founding member of the author collective, Space City Scribes, and serves on the board of the Houston Writer’s Guild. Alicia has a number of stand-alone books for younger readers and tweens under the pen name Artemis Greenleaf. Artemis also writes the adult urban fantasy series, the Tarot-based Marti Keller Mysteries. Belinda Tate, a character in that series, writes romance novels under the nom de plume of Coda Sterling, so Alicia ghost writes those for her. For readers whose tastes run a bit darker, she writes supernatural horror as A.B. Richards. Readers can explore all of these brands at BlackMareBooks.com. Alicia currently resides in the leafy Houston suburbs with her husband and two children.
Verstandt R.A. Shelton is a native born Houstonian living in the Galleria area with his wife Jennifer and their dog Joan. He is a horror author, graphic artist and IT specialist. He has worked as an IT specialist for fifteen years and now heads up the IT division of a company focused on renewable energy. His works have been published in multiple short story compilations including Absolutely Equitable and A Story and he has self-published his comic book in the End. His graphic design skills have produced the covers for the Eclectic Writing series, Blood on the Potomac, Waves of Suspense and Twisted Reveries among others.
Born and raised in the French-speaking province of Quebec, Canada, Martine spent her childhood looking forward to her summer vacations at the farm, which were a nice escape from the suburbs where she lived. Her first written endeavor was a 200-page handwritten Duran Duran band fiction which she wrote when she was eleven years old. Of all her written work, this is the only one she no longer has. All throughout high school, Martine wrote more band fiction some original work, then she went to write fanfictions in the Star Wars, Buffy and Har
fanfiction.net. Following her viewing of Roswell on Netflix in 2012, Martine wrote book two and three of the Gray Eyes Series, then went on to create the Gray Eyes Series universe in which she has been playing ever since. She writes contemporary coming-of-age romance fiction (young adult/new adult) with a twist. Martine is an avry Potter universes. Her fanficiton in the Potterverse are mostly centered on characters of her own creation and can be found oid reader and rollerskater. She loves sushi, hot chocolate on a cold day, and the beach. But what she loves above all else is to curl on her chair with her computer and write more stories for her readers. Martine currently lives in Houston, TX with her two cats.
Sandy Lawrence is a “people person” who works passionately to take her client’s message to the world and help them break through, get noticed, and be known. Her PR skills are available to anyone who needs a truly perceptive Public Relations expert. Sandy is a publicist, an international speaker, bestselling author and creator of DIY PR programs. She is the founder and CEO of Perceptive Public Relations. She has received awards for being #17 in Houston’s Top Social Media Influencers and listed in the Houston Business Journal’s Top 25 Public Relations firms. Sandy is the author of the Do It Yourself PR Guide and Soar 2 Success in Marketing: 58 to Getting the Word out and Growing your Business. Sandy’s story, “From Sandra and beyond” was on of the chapters in the Share Your Message with the World, Volumes I and II.
Mack Little holds an undergraduate in English Literature from the University of Dubuque, Iowa and a Masters of Information Science from the University of North Texas. Born in Conyers, GA, Mack has gone on to live as a university student in Seville, Spain and as a soldier, in Wurzburg, Germany. Her studies and career has taken her all over the United States. She now resides in Houston, Texas. Mack is currently an active member of the Houston Writer’s Guild. While The First Daughter is her first novel, she co-authored Disaster Planning: a How-to-Do-It Manual, published by Neal Schuman. She has also authored several articles for professional library journals.
Zarah studied writing at Houston Baptist University where she acquired her B.A. She loves writing in all forms, but specializes in short stories. While freelancing for nonprofits and small businesses, Zarah’s work has appeared on different blogs and has contributed to The Federalist.