About Us
Write Women Publish is a part of Write Women Network, a publishing-related business located in Prince George's County, Maryland. Write Women Network is owned by author, artist, and booklover Heather Brooks.
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Heather Brooks wrote her first manuscript in 2001 and sought to have it published traditionally, but received many rejection letters, though some of them had positive feedback to share. The discouragement of that process kept her from writing another book for twelve years.
She then wrote her first paranormal romance under the pen name H.L. Brooks in 2015 and, not wanting to go through the cycle of querying, waiting, and possibly being rejected again, she self-published it in 2016. Heather sought a woman-focused authors' group so she could commiserate over the pitfalls of the publishing and creative journey for women. She couldn't find one, so she founded Women Authors of Maryland Salon & Networking group. When the pandemic hit she changed the name to The Write Women Network and started connecting virtually with women authors who were outside of the DMV (District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia) area. Today she utilizes the group to host and facilitate author-focused salons, workshops, and panel discussions. It's important to her that she foster an atmosphere of positivity and encouragement, particularly for indie authors and newer authors. After that project was underway Heather began looking for a woman-focused book festival or author signing event. She couldn't find one, so in 2019 she also founded The Write Women Book Fest, an annual event which has grown from about 40 participating authors to over 100. Heather has been a visual artist (painting, sculpting, paper art, art journaling), feminist, and writer for over 25 years. She had to give up her activities as an award-nominated community theatre props and set-decorating volunteer in order to make time for her writing, and although she misses it, she'll be the first to admit that theatre was consuming! She enjoys British and Scottish mysteries on television and fairy tales of all sorts; loves chocolate, margaritas, and her three cats; and is married to the best editor and a pretty amazing actor, whose bio is below. |
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Will Hardy has been writing professionally since 1990, when he began producing and directing video marketing programs for NASA Federal Credit Union—an unusual job that often had him enlisting the talents of his acting friends in community theatre.
In 2001 he joined the staff of Daedalus Books at their warehouse and bookstore in Columbia, Maryland, writing book blurbs for their mail order catalog. This became an education in itself, as books of every kind crossed his desk, and each one had to be described accurately but also engagingly, in as few words as possible. This is where he learned how good editing can be a writer's best friend. It was the following year that Will met his future wife Heather (also through community theatre) and soon began collaborating with her online arts magazine. Their ongoing collaboration went to a whole new level when she asked him to edit her paranormal romance novel in 2015—making sure that days or weeks didn't slip in the narrative thread, and that the full moon was actually full on the day she mentioned in the story. He found that his favorite part of the process was helping the dialogue sound natural while also conveying a sense of each character's voice. Will loves supporting Heather's many projects and endeavors, whether being her chief "voluntolder" for a big book event or simply helping her set up a women writers' luncheon and then making himself scarce. He also loves the same three cats she does, and being able to spend his work days at home with his family. Will is a member of Editorial Freelancers Association. |