Hello AVL Writers,

Let me tell you about our incredible AVL Writers group. It’s been an amazing journey since I took charge a year and several months ago. We started small—a handful of members at the beginning of the year—but now? We’ve exploded into a supernova of talent, with 15-20 regular authors showing up each Wednesday for critiques at Odd’s Cafe.

But AVL Writers is more than a meetup. We’re not just critiquing. We’re building a powerhouse network of (semi) professional writers. And now, at the end of the year, let’s highlight some of our fantastic members and their recent publication accomplishments.

• Barry Fields
  • “A Matter of Justice” (Short story)
  • “Induction Day” (Short story)
  • “Prankster” (Short story)
  • “A Virtuous Woman” (Short story)
  • “A Night by the River” (Short story, Spring 2024, Ginosko Literary Journal)
  • “Neige” (Short story)
  • “Counter Clockwise Jenny Traverse” (Short story, Spring 2025, Sunhous Review)
  • “The Parthenon Murder” (Short story, Spring 2025, The Genre Society)
  • “The Replacement Wife” (Short story, January 2025, The Worlds Within)
• F.G. Keel
  • The Ring Eternal (First self-published novel)
• Charley Paxos
  • Strength In Denial (Short story)
• Chris Maiorana
  • “Characters and Situations” (Short story)
  • “Mourning Wood” (Short story)
• Sarah Oechsle
  • “Avalon” (Short story)
  • “The Southernmost Point” (Short story, Fall 2026, Ploughshares)
• Marco Visciolaccio
  • “3/1 Walking Distance from Packard’s Corner” (Short story, Spring 2025, BULL)
• David Stern
  • “Opinion: How Tropical Storm Helene helped me connect to my adopted home of Asheville“
  • “One Hand in My Pocket” (Short story)
  • “Arrhythmia” (Short Story, Spring 2025, Windmill)
  • “Second Chance” (Microfiction, Spring 2025, Beyond Words Magazine)
• Jeremy Giles
  • Red Wolf (Poem, Spring 2025, Scar-Themed Beyond Words Anthology)

And that’s only in one year—one that included a natural disaster.

Here’s the kicker. The group’s free. It’ll always be free. And it’s not going anywhere. So if you haven’t been to a meeting lately, you’re missing out. We’re all about high-quality critiques, tons of encouragement, and more fun than you can imagine. Join us each Wednesday evening at the same time, same place, every week, rain or shine, closed cafe or open. We’d love to see you with 8-10 physical copies of what you’re working on.