Oxford Geeks

This is a sci-fi & fantasy writing group that reciprocally gives critique on our members' submitted work. Our members span the gammut of writing interests - from sentient spaceships and near-future distopias, to supernatural gothic Victorians, high fantasy, sci-fi thriller/horror, and more.

New members cannot submit their own work for their first meetup. This allows new members to get a feel for how the group works. It's not a pat-on-the-back praise-group - it's honest critique on character, dialogue, plot, setting, prose, etc.

How critique meetups work:

1. Members submit their work during the month to our group Google Drive. This is part of Google Groups to protect members' email addresses. It also restricts access of submitted work to members only (so it isn't publically available on the internet).

• Cutoff for submission is 1 week prior to the physical meetup to allow time for members to give a high-quality critique.
• Maximum length: 10 single-space pages, Times New Roman 12 font.

2. We meet on Saturday in the middle of each month to discuss the writing submitted since the previous meetup.

If you're interested in the group, message me to touch base, then you can request membership (and access to submissions) here:
https://groups.google.com/g/oxford-sff-writing-group

You can also find us on Facebook, where we make casual posts:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/OxfordSFFWriters
Note: joining the group on Facebook doesn't give you access to the submissions - you'll need to join the Google Group for that.

Most of our core doesn't sign up on Meetup for each event, so don't be intimidated if there aren’t many people signed up via Meetup. :)

Come chat with fellow writers about all things sci-fi and fantasy. Let us know what you're working on.

# Old Soul by Susan Barker

The woman never goes by the same name.

She never stays in the same place too long.
She never ages. She never dies.
But those around her do.

When two grieving strangers meet by chance in Osaka airport they uncover a disturbing connection. Jake's best friend and Mariko's twin brother each died, 6,000 miles apart, in brutal and unfathomable circumstances.

Each encountered a mesmerising, dark-haired woman in the days before their deaths. A woman who came looking for Mariko - and then disappeared.

Jake, who has carried his loss and guilt for a decade, finds himself compelled to follow the trail set by Mariko's revelations. It's a trail that weaves across continents and centuries, leading back to the many who have died - in strange and terrifying and eerily similar ways - and those they left behind: bewildered, disbelieved, yet resolutely sure of what they saw.

And, at the centre of it all, there is the same beguiling woman. Her name may have changed, but her purpose has never wavered, and as Jake races to discover who, or what she is, she has already made her next choice.

But will knowing her secret be enough to stop her?

This is a sci-fi & fantasy writing group that reciprocally gives critique on our members' submitted work. Our members span the gammut of writing interests - from sentient spaceships and near-future distopias, to supernatural gothic Victorians, high fantasy, sci-fi thriller/horror, and more.

New members cannot submit their own work for their first meetup. This allows new members to get a feel for how the group works. It's not a pat-on-the-back praise-group - it's honest critique on character, dialogue, plot, setting, prose, etc.

How critique meetups work:

1. Members submit their work during the month to our group Google Drive. This is part of Google Groups to protect members' email addresses. It also restricts access of submitted work to members only (so it isn't publically available on the internet).

• Cutoff for submission is 1 week prior to the physical meetup to allow time for members to give a high-quality critique.
• Maximum length: 10 single-space pages, Times New Roman 12 font.

2. We meet on Saturday in the middle of each month to discuss the writing submitted since the previous meetup.

If you're interested in the group, message me to touch base, then you can request membership (and access to submissions) here:
https://groups.google.com/g/oxford-sff-writing-group

You can also find us on Facebook, where we make casual posts:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/OxfordSFFWriters
Note: joining the group on Facebook doesn't give you access to the submissions - you'll need to join the Google Group for that.

Most of our core doesn't sign up on Meetup for each event, so don't be intimidated if there aren’t many people signed up via Meetup. :)

Come chat with fellow writers about all things sci-fi and fantasy. Let us know what you're working on.

# These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs

Jun Ironway, hacker, con artist, and only occasional thief, has got her hands on a piece of contraband that could set her up for life: evidence that implicates the powerful Nightfoot family in a planet-wide genocide seventy-five years ago. The Nightfoots control the precious sevite that fuels interplanetary travel through three star systems. And someone is sure to pay handsomely for anything that could break their hold.

Of course, anything valuable is also dangerous. The Kindom, the ruling power of the three star systems, is inextricably tied up in the Nightfoots' monopoly - and they can't afford to let Jun expose the truth. They task two of their most brutal clerics with hunting her down: preternaturally stoic Chono, and brilliant hothead Esek, who also happens to be the heir to the Nightfoot empire.

But Chono and Esek are haunted in turn by a figure from their shared past, known only as Six. What Six truly wants is anyone's guess. And the closer they get to finding Jun, the surer Chono is that Six is manipulating them all - and that they are heading for a bloody confrontation that no one will survive unscathed.