State of the Bloc in 2026
If we haven’t met, I’m Geoff Mantooth and I thought you might be interested in a brief update on your Granbury Writers’ Bloc.
While we physically meet in Granbury, Texas, we have members in Florida, North Carolina and formerly New Jersey, although she’s now a Texas resident. There are reasons our group draws from far and wide, why I drive in from another county to attend in-person meetings. While our membership skews older, we bring a wealth of experience to the page and to our fellow members when asking for feedback. I wish I had such a group when I was in my 20s. (I did, but it happened to be in patent law, not writing.)
Our members range from already published, to about-to-be-published, to self-published, to-want-to-be-published. Publishing is evolving and even already published and about-to be-published authors find themselves wondering how to keep current so we’re not sidelined in the future.
We continue to meet monthly to hear speakers. Our speakers are a mix of members sharing their know-how and outside speakers. If you publish these days, whether with a publisher or by yourself, authors must promote and market their books. My university publisher, while great to work with, is relying on me to sell my book when it comes out this fall. Speaking in front of Bloc members is valuable experience for any author. Not to mention the audience tends to be friendly.
Coming attractions begin in January with our own Wendy Wheeler sharing her expertise on how authors can build their social media presence. In February, Wendy has arranged for William Leadbetter, who publishes SciFi novels, to speak. I’ll be talking in March, most likely on how to put tension on the page and keep the reader turning.
We writers work in isolation, but we need (and apprehensively crave) feedback. Our Sunday and Wednesday Read & Critiques, each held twice monthly, fill this very need and are well attended. This past Sunday, we enjoyed readings from Laura’s island thriller, Wendy’s archeological fantasy, Leon’s noir thriller, Robin’s fantasy, and Gary’s magical equinox. We ran out of time to discuss Donna’s historical novel. Wednesday’s group runs a bit smaller, but no less interesting. In addition to feedback on our own work, R&Cs allow us to understand how different readers consume writing differently. This type of market research in invaluable to writers and it’s why members sit in even if they are not reading.
We are moving toward updating our web site, a labor-intensive process. We may skew old, but we want our web site to reflect our fresh ideas and writing.
When I practiced patent law, my door was always open to our staff, my partners. The same holds true now. Let me know if you have a particular topic you’d like to learn more about, or how our Bloc can better serve your needs.
Because no matter our skill level, we in the ink fraternity are here for the same reason, to improve our craft. The road to improvement isn’t hidden or obscured. We read, read, read, write, write, write and learn as much as we can from GWB.
Yours,
Geoff Mantooth
