Ink dragon next to a ringed planet

Central Florida Inklings

science fiction & fantasy writers interested in diversity & development

Who we are & community guidelines

Central Florida Inklings is a science fiction and fantasy writing group welcoming writers at every stage in their writing journey. We encourage diversity and development—in our writing, careers, and ourselves.

Blue banner with text "Central Florida Inklings Writing Group Who We Are & Community Guidelines"
Yellow banner with text "Writing Workshops to Develop Your Craft and Career with Guest Instructors hosted by the Central Florida Inklings"

upcoming & previous workshops

Our workshop instructors include authors, agents, and marketing and publishing professionals speaking on a wide range of writing and publishing topics to help develop your craft and career.Workshops for 2025 are currently being scheduled!

Navigating Impostor Syndrome

Aug 16, 1–3pm ET
Regaining and Maintaining Writing Motivation with Elle E. Ire & José Pablo Iriarte

Purple banner with text "The Challenges of Writing Sapphic Fiction Across Genres a round table discussion hosted by the Central Florida Inklings" with an image of a white hand holding a brown arm, both of which are painted with a rainbow.

writing Workshop

Purple banner with text "a round table discussion The Challenges of Writing Sapphic Fiction Across Genres hosted by the Central Florida Inklings" with an image of a white hand holding a brown arm, both of which are painted with a rainbow.

Regaining and Maintaining Writing Motivation description and banner to come!Aug 16, 1–3pm ET
Virtual Workshop
$15
Register at EventBriteElle E. Ire
Elle Ire writes science fiction novels featuring kick-ass women who fall in love with each other. Her first novel, VICIOUS CIRCLE, released from Torquere Press in November, 2015, and was rereleased in January, 2020, by DSP Publications. Her STORM FRONTS series, THREADBARE, PATCHWORK, and WOVEN were released in 2020 – 2021, by DSP Publications.José Pablo Iriarte
José Pablo Iriarte is an author of fantasy and science fiction stories mostly focusing on the magical in the world around us. Their stories have been published in Uncanny Magazine, Lightspeed Magazine, Strange Horizons, and many other venues. Their debut middle grade novel, Benny Ramírez and the Nearly Departed, was published by Knopf Books for Young Readers in spring of 2024, and the follow-up, AJ Torres and the Treasure of Captain Grayshark, was published in June of 2025.

Upcoming & previous workshops

Yellow banner with text "Writing Workshops to Develop Your Craft and Career with Guest Instructors hosted by the Central Florida Inklings"

Upcoming Workshops
August 16, 2025 Regaining and Maintaining Writing Motivation with Elle E. Ire & José Pablo Iriarte
September 2025 Navigating Impostor Syndrome with Chrysta Bairre
Fall 2025 2-Page Critiques with Alli Martin & the InklingsPrevious Workshops
Gripping the First Chapter in SFF with Sarah N. Fisk
How to Write Short Stories for Novelists with Karen Osborne
Reconnect with Your Writing Life with Alli Martin
Book Proposals for Genre Fiction with Allison Lane
Building Distinct Alien Cultures with Valerie Valdes
The Challenges of Writing Sapphic Fiction Across Genres with Elle E. Ire, Cathy Pegau, Meredith Doench, Riley Scott, MB Austin & K. AtenKeep in touch by joining our newsletter.

who we are &
community guidelines

Blue banner with text "Who We Are & Community Guidelines a Writing Community"

Central Florida Inklings is a science fiction and fantasy writing group welcoming writers at every stage in their writing journey. We encourage diversity and development—in our writing, careers, and ourselves.While our writers all share an interest in science fiction and fantasy, we write everything from nonfiction to poetry to interactive narratives. We seek out and write about characters expressing experiences familiar and unfamiliar, celebrating diversity and sensitivity in representation of race, economic status, sexuality, gender, and disability throughout all genres.We bring our other talents to the group as well, including graphic art and design, collage, soap-making, knitwork, and sewing. (Also, it’s not a requirement, but most of us own cats.)Most of our writers have the goal of traditional publication (and some have achieved that in anthologies, literary magazines, and websites), but we are also interested in self-publishing. Whether our writers have degrees in creative writing or not, we are all interested in furthering and developing our writing craft and knowledge of the publishing industry. We host guest speakers and workshops, as well as share and discuss publishing news, articles, and opportunities..
Central Florida Inklings is currently looking for new members who would fit well within our group. If the above guidelines sound like you, please reach out!As an official Inkling, you’ll be invited to join our weekly writing sessions (in-person and online through Discord). These sessions provide a structured time dedicated to working on your projects and developing your writing life. While open chat is invited, we ask all writers to be respectful and considerate, acknowledging that our meeting times are Writing Time and excessive cross-chat can be distracting.Belligerent behavior, hate speech, confrontational debate, and other forms of disrespect are not tolerated in this group.