Annual, Weekly and On-Going Socials
Weekly Saturday Socials With HWG
Join us on Saturday mornings from 10:00 am to 11:00 am (CST) via Zoom for a time of networking and connecting to other writers.
Conversations about current work in progress, publishing, troubleshooting issues, plus sharing news and opportunities with one
another take place during this time as we meet up in virtual space for coffee.
The Marketing Mastermind
A monthly members-only meeting for published and unpublished writers who want to learn, work on, and collaborate with other writers on marketing their work and themselves as authors. The format of the meeting includes a discussion/presentation on a specific marketing topic either by Ronel, a guest speaker, or a member, followed by a Q&A, and finally one marketing/promotional action taken by each member before the meeting ends. The meetings are from 5:30pm CST to 7:00pm CST every second Thursday of the month. To join the group, please click the link below.
Upcoming Houston Writers Guild Events
AuthorPalooza Extravaganza Conference
September 27–28, 2025
Rice University Campus
Houston, Texas
Conference Itinerary
Saturday, September 27th, 2025
Conference main day schedule will post soon. Check in to see the exciting speakers and sessions as they come online!
Rice University Campus
9:00 am–5:00 pm
Sunday, September 28th, 2025
Join us for hands-on writing activities. More details will be coming soon.
Rice University Campus
10:00 am–2:00 pm
Keynote Speaker
Wulf Moon was fifteen when he won the national Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the same contest that first discovered Stephen King, John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates, and a host of iconic names in the arts. He sold the story that same year to Science World (circulation 1,000,000 copies per issue), making it an impressive first professional sale.
Since then Moon has garnered over sixty regional, national, and international writing awards; another thirty in public speaking. Thousands around the world vote in the annual Critters Readers’ Poll Awards—Moon has won Best Author five times, Best Writers Workshop six times, and multiple Best of the Year awards in categories that include Best Nonfiction Book and Best Short Story.
Moon writes in diverse genres that include nonfiction, literary, memoir, fantasy, science fiction, weird Western, and even romance when he wrote the winning conclusion to Nora Roberts’ contest novella Riley Slade’s Return. His fiction and nonfiction have received recognition multiple times in best-of-the-year lists and anthologies. His stories have appeared in professional magazines and anthologies that include Writers of the Future Vol. 35, Best of Deep Magic Anthology Two, Galaxy’s Edge, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 2—a borg love story, what could be sweeter? Wulf Moon’s award-winning Super Secrets of Writing online resource has enjoyed 1,000,000 views, and his articles on writing are a regular series in DreamForge Magazine and in the literary magazine Story Unlikely. Moon is also a freelance editor and voice-over actor. He is the writing coach of the successful Wulf Pack Writers group, teaches the Super Secrets of Writing Workshops, and is the author of the award-winning The Illustrated Super Secrets of Writing, and the runaway bestseller How To Write a Howling Good Story.
Discover more of Wulf Moon’s secrets at thesupersecrets.com or join his Patreon at patreon.com/wulfmoon!
Conference Speakers & Topics
Mike Kowis
Conference Session Topics:
How to Build an Audience & Get Book Sales
In this presentation, seasoned author Mike Kowis explains the practical tactics he has used to build an audience and consistently sell 1,000 copies per year for the last 9 years. He achieved these results with this simple book-selling formula: Appealing Book + Social Proof + Visibility = Book Sales.
What Authors Need to Know about Small Business & Taxes
In this talk, seasoned tax attorney Mike Kowis encourages his fellow writers to treat their authorship as a business and maximize available tax deductions. Key topics include treating your writing efforts as a business or a hobby, selecting the right business entity, maintaining critical business records, and filing appropriate tax forms.
Joshua Mouton
Conference Session Topics:
What Makes A Website Effective and Understanding its Purpose
In this session, Joshua Mouton will provide a detailed understanding of what a website's purpose is. We will explore how a website serves as an online platform for an individual or business to achieve specific goals, like providing information, selling products, connecting with customers, or sharing content. We will outline the key aspects of a successful website.
Wulf Moon
Additional Conference Session Topics from Keynote Speaker:
Magic Sword: The Powerful Story Principle Everyone Forgets
Most stories can be characterized as “from a weak state, made powerful.” Novels and movies usually open with a scene where the hero is living their normal life, and someone or something crushes their life and what they love or desire most, and they’re left after a good butt-kicking wondering how they can beat their enemy that’s just demonstrated how much more powerful and crafty they are.
The solution? The hero recognizes they’re going to need something with greater power to defeat their enemy, and they go on a quest to find it.
Two-Hour Masterclass—How To Write a Howling Good Story
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Apply the powerful fundamentals of story architecture that have helped Wulf win over sixty writing awards. Learn his secret sauce!
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How to create engaging titles—the secret weapon to hooking editors and winning awards and why crafty titles work!
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Storytelling secret that spellbinds readers with vivid protagonists and pulse-pounding plots. Many writers claim this principle transformed their writing and launched their careers.
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How to create smart dialogue that reads like a breeze and makes readers feel they’re eavesdropping on real people!
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How to stick your landing at the end of stories and novels with a flourish as powerful as Simone Biles at the finish of her gold medal routines!
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Go through a career analysis worksheet to help you focus on what you want from writing and how to get what you desire.
You can’t ski what you can’t see. Get off the bunny hill and use this pro training from a coach with experience in selling and winning awards to transform you into a black diamond master!
Be sure to follow HWG on Eventbrite for all AuthorPalooza event information!
Writing Coach and Developmental Editor, Max Regan, offers ongoing workshops and programs for writers of all genres.
For more information and to register for any of the classes or events listed:
Please email hollowdeckpress@mac.com and let us know exactly which class(es) you are registering for, then you can send in your tuition.
To pay tuition for any of the classes or events listed:
Venmo:
* Note: If you choose to pay electronically, Venmo is the least glitchy
PayPal:
*Note: Please insert the correct address, as PayPal only allows you to pay my business, Hollowdeck Press. If you simply try to pay “Max Regan” on PayPal, the payment will not reach me.
Zelle:
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Use this email address: maxregan@mac.com
Check:
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Checks can be made out to Max Regan. Please just drop me an email, and I will send you the mailing address.
Payment plans are always available!
Upcoming sessions offered by Max Regan:
February 10-Day Bootcamp
Date: February 1, 2025 – February 10, 2025
Time: Daily
Tuition: $240
Taught by Max Regan via Email
The Bootcamp is an easy, email-based class for folks who want to generate some creative text and get a little support and feedback along the way. The daily craft notes in the Feb class support writers in both generating NEW texts as well as editing and revising older texts. We welcome drafts in ANY genre you choose!
SP'25 11-Week Beyond Bootcamp Class
Date: February 10, 2025 – April 27, 2025
Time: Weekly
Tuition: $290
Taught by Max Regan via Email
For writers who want to build a weekly writing practice with some inspiration, structure and accountability, then this might be the class for you! The Beyond Bootcamp Class moves from a focus on daily writing goals to weekly writing goals.
First Sunday of the Month Salon Reading
Date: First Sunday Monthly, Starting February 2, 2025
Time: 5:00–6:30 pm Mountain Time
Tuition: FREE
Taught by Max Regan via Zoom
Join us for a reading and feedback session on Work-In-Progress by writers in our community! Bring short 5-minute writing pieces to share and receive feedback from Max as well as the other authors in the room.
Weekend Writing Craft Class: Genre Jumping 101
Date: March 1, 2025 – March 2, 2025
Time: TBA
Tuition: TBA
Taught by Max Regan via Zom
Workshops by Max Regan
See other courses that are added to the Class Schedule at https://www.hollowdeckpress.com.
Follow the Houston Writers Guild on Facebook!
Software requirements for HWG events and writer's room:
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