I have a dirty little secret. I love genre fiction. Given the choice between a classic novel and a good genre book, I'll go with a fantasy, romance, or horror story. (My best read last year was Bag of Bones by Stephan King.) So it was with real pleasure that I visited The Little Read Writer's Hood Web site, where readers and writers celebrate genre fiction. The site is divided into different areas: sci-fi, humor, fantasy, mystery, children’s, romance, adventure, horror, general fiction (something that falls between the lines), performing arts, and poetry. It sounds as if much is on the plate; however, each area is almost its own Web site, with a front page that has graphics to match the genre. The page editor discusses writing, trends in the genre, personal notes, and links to other sites of interest.

The Hood is a self-billed site for Amateur Writers. Amateur Writers. Scary words. Almost as scary as amateur sex workers. Whether this refers to beginning writers or to old hands who haven’t been published, or both, the editor-in-chief doesn't say. To gain a better sense for myself, I selected a story from each of my favorite genres and read it carefully. My fantasy story was "Sweet as Honey" by Anne Traffle. My romance was "Sleeping with Ghosts" by Loraine Lafranchise. (I was hoping the romance would have a supernatural element, but the ghost was figurative.) Finally, I selected "Desire" by M.O. Steinberg because the editor described it as hot and saucy. ("Desire" lived up to the description.) I admire the authors for placing their stories on the Web and asking for feedback. I found each story rich in imagination and technically correct. Nonetheless, the writing shows some the common traits one expects to find in pieces by writers just starting to hone their craft: each author struggled with point of view – a slippery enough concept, but often the difference between a successful attempt at story writing and an unsuccessful attempt; and the stories read more like scenes than completed works. But again, these are Amateur writers.

On a more technical note – too often on writing Web sites, visual images overpower the writing, or, to the other extreme, a lack of visual content results in a bland layout. Finding a balance between the images and the writing can be difficult, but The Hood does just that. Graphics are limited to the front page, the index, the front page of each genre area, and to the bios of the editors, and Brian Lee, responsible for the layout, does a good job of picking graphics that are charming without falling into the dreaded cute category. His own picture with words typed over his face is quite arresting. The poetry area has killer graphics, showing the poems as if they were in a book.

It is hard to encourage and nurture writers who are learning and finding their voice. There is something brave about devoting a Web site to Amateur Writers, and Little Read Writer's Hood does an excellent job at presenting new writers in a format that is easy to access and visually interesting.

Jill Hill lives with some kids, some dogs, writes, and manages a restaurant where she tries out her new CD's. She listens to a variety of music, from Classical to Blues, but tries to stay away from most rap.