About Quill & Cup
Quill & Cup is a community of women who can't help but write. Founded in July 2021, Cody and Ania Ray built this fiercely supportive space for writers who want to prioritize writing as part of their busy lives.
We serve women from all around the world who commit to showing up to their writing consistently. Together we work through roadblocks in the writing process by receiving coaching on writing craft and research-based practices for an empowered mindset.
Ania (or a guest) shares Daily Coaching videos to our members, and we invite various teachers from both our members and the larger writing community to lead weekly workshops and webinars. We commit to killing our writer's ego in the name of supporting others and bettering ourselves - not just seeing what’s in it for us but what responsibilities we have to each other and our readers.
We meet in Prickles (quill -> hedgehog -> a group of hedgies is a prickle) - what we call our virtual writing sessions. Zoom is our "kitchen table" that extends beyond the screen. We have over 45 scheduled writing times each week, so there's a time that works for you!
Picture a kitchen table in a super cozy house, with writers joining with their own mugs of tea or coffee or a glass of wine, and we chat about our characters like they're the neighborhood kids. Then, after we share what we'd like to make progress on in our stories, we mute our mics (but keep our cameras on for accountability - it works!), and get our story a little more ready than it was an hour before. Alone, but together!
What We Believe
In the Hedgie House, we believe…
- The path of a writer isn’t a journey you have to take alone.
- It doesn’t matter what that path looks like as long as you’re willing to show up for yourself and the writing.
- The words won’t come to the page if you don’t.
- Rest is non-negotiable.
- Just as you sharpen your quills, you must make the conscious effort to fill your cup.
- Quietude and quality over hustle culture and burnout.
- Honoring boundaries when you need silence and space makes room for inspiration.
- Creativity and joy in the process will meet you there.
- Community is about encouragement and accountability, not self-importance or competition.
- Working to kill your writer’s ego (KYWE) is a priority and a practice in grace and humility.
- We all don’t know everything, but together, we know a lot.
- There’s magic when we come together with heartfelt intention to write in a Prickle or PUP.
- Together we can cultivate our growth and knowledge while learning to sit with vulnerability.
About the Founders
Quill & Cup was founded by a husband and wife couple, Cody and Ania Ray.
Ania Ray is a former high school English teacher from Chicago, IL. She earned her B.A. in Literary Studies and a Master of Education from DePaul University. Ania then spent 6 years teaching English Language Arts and Creative Writing in a classroom setting.
Ania has been writing, editing, coaching, and teaching since 2015. After overcoming her own writer's ego, Ania has published The Cromwell Rules and Breaking the Rules, ghostwrote a 3rd novel, works with a variety of clients to turn their own writing dream-projects into reality. She is also drafting the third book of The Rules series! Ania now coaches and mentors women in all-things writing as a founder of Quill & Cup.
Cody Ray is an entrepreneur and engineer with a penchant for community building. While he was still in college, he built the Drexel Smart House, igniting his love for communities, education, and systems.
Cody "published" his first book when he was 7 (Young Author's Award!), has contributed to an engineering text book, and writes prolifically in his day job designing distributed software systems. Previously, Cody has run a small company helping fitness gyms manage their communities, and is currently an avid real estate investor. Quill & Cup is Cody's chance to bring education and community back together again, by building systems that keep writers moving toward their dreams.