Workshop Update

Meeting report for Sept. 3

2008-09-07T23:42:00.000-05:00

A good crowd of 35 or so regular members were in attendance Sept. 3 for the regular monthly business meeting of the DFW Writer's Workshop . A vote on revised bylaws to facilitate conference leadership passed with only one dissenting vote.

Next, Dan Anders gave a report on price structures for the May 2-3 2009 DFWWW Conference. Until October 31, 2008 DFWWW members may register for $75 and non-members may register for $125. At least one agent pitch session will be included. Sign up now to attend the Friday evening party at no charge. Six agents and editors are currently scheduled.

An online form for 2009 conference registration is available at www.dfwwritersconference.com. Pay by credit card on the site or register at the Wednesday evening workshop and pay by check.

Russell C. Connor booksignings

2008-09-04T17:23:00.003-05:00

DFWWW member Russell C. Connor will be signing his books, Second Unit and Race the Night, on Sept. 27th at the Abilene Book and Music Festival and October 4th at the Cat and the Candle Bookstore in Whitney, TX for Pioneer Days. Stop by and say hello if you're out that way!

Kristen Lamb to speak on social networking this Wednesday

2008-08-13T00:50:00.002-05:00

At this week's meeting, member Kristen Lamb will speak about the importance of online social networking for writers. She'll walk us through some important sites every writer should be using. Then we're going to start building an online network to support each other. This is an important topic, so you don't want to miss this. See you there!

Candy Havens' Charmed and Ready Comes out Today!

2008-08-06T07:10:00.006-05:00

DFWWW member Candy Haven's second paranornal romance is out and about ... show your support by buying the book in the critical first week of release!

Review from Amazon:

"After spending most of her life single-practically an occupational hazard for a witch-Bronwyn's finally found a sexy warlock to love. But it's going to take more than a few love spells to keep him from getting jealous about her latest gig-protecting a rock star named Zane from the creepy Goth guys in cloaks who keep showing up at his concerts and zapping his mojo. Bronwyn would like nothing better than to blow them up in an inferno of Love That Red smoke, but they're proving elusive. And in the meantime-what girl wouldn't want to hang with the hottest man in music? "

Sci-Fi Contest sponsored by Oklahoma small press

2008-08-03T15:26:00.001-05:00

From the PegLeg Press website:

We receive a lot of fantasy and science fiction short stories for GlassFire Magazine, so we've decided to make our first short story contest a sci-fi/fantasy themed contest. We're looking for short stories that focus on anything fantastic, magical, or futuristic. Dragons and space ships, aliens and knights, even pirates (if they're in a fantastical situation, of course) are welcome. Below are the specifics for the contest.

Deadline: October 31, 2008 ... (see website for complete details)

Meeting of July 30, 2008

2008-08-02T08:16:00.004-05:00

Yet again, a generous continent of readers, 21, for our regular Wednesday meeting, requiring the use of 4 read rooms.

Acceptances:

Russel Connor will have a short story coming out with Lilley Press's "Worlds of Wonder" magazine. See http://www.lilleypress.com/.

A. Lee Martinez received another call from Dreamworks to do a concept pitch by phone.

Conference 2009:

New York Times Bestselling author Bob Mayer will be our keynote speaker at the 2009 DFW Writer's Workshop Conference on May 1-3, 2009. Visit his website at http://www.bobmayer.org/.

We have an official conference hotel, the Wyndham. The conference rate will be $89 per night.

The cocktail party will be at Darryl and Cindy McGinnis house, as it was last year.

There will be a conference meeting next Wednesday, August 6, at 6:10 p.m.

Poetry Anthology

Our poetry anthology in the planning stages, and submissions are being accepted. Email your poems to Del Cain at del.cain@sbcglobal.net. You may submit up to four poems.

Bylaws Changes

Bylaws changes relating to the conference are posted on the bulletin board and will remain on display for 30 days. They will be voted on during the business meeting of September 3, 2008.

Regular meeting of July 23, 2008

2008-07-24T15:39:00.002-05:00

There were a banner number of readers -- 21 -- for a high-summer meeting of the DFWWW last night. Two member news items stuck out:

Linda Lannerd Lands Agent

Linda announced that she has received a letter offering representation for her novel, MESSENGER UNAWARE, from Cherry Weiner, a well-established and respected agent working out of New Jersey. Ms. Weiner represents Mike Silvestri, Larry D. Sweazy, Robert W. Walker and others.

A Lee Martinez Brings In Concept Sketches for AUTOMATIC DETECTIVE

A Lee Martinez, meanwhile, showed off concept sketches for Blur Studios' animated adaptation of his novel THE AUTOMATIC DETECTIVE. Blur is currently shopping the project to studios. If the film is picked up, Dave Fincher of Fight Club could be producing.

New Free Class and News from member-author Candace Havens

2008-07-14T08:09:00.004-05:00

This from Candy:

Hey Gang,
I have Rosemary Clement Moore (Prom Dates From Hell, Highway to Hell)
teaching a query class for the Write_Workshop.
(Write_Workshop- subscribe@ yahoogroups. com). As always, it's free, and
I happen to know this is a great class.

Also... I'm out in Beverly Hills covering the new TV season. It's been
an interesting six days, and I'll be here for about two more weeks.
You can read about my daily antics with celebs on my livejournal and
myspace blogs which you can get to through my website
candacehavens. com. You can also join the workshop from there.

Candy Havens
www.candacehavens. com
Charmed & Dangerous
Charmed & Ready (Aug. 2008)
The Demon King and I (Nov. 2009)
Dude, Where's My Dragon (July 2009)
Charmed & Deadly
Like A Charm

DFW Writers Conference date set for 2009

2008-07-03T08:00:00.002-05:00

Planning is underway for the eagerly awaited follow-up to our successful inaugural conference back in February.

The 2009 DFW Writers Conference will take place May 1-3. We'll be back at the City of Grapevine Convention Center, which turned out to be an ideal facility for our event.

More details (pricing, hotels, etc.) will be announced as they become available, and a conference website will be announced soon.

Children's picture book and cover art contests

2008-06-22T22:20:00.002-05:00

DRAGONFLY PUBLISHING WRITER’S AND ILLUSTRATOR’S CONTEST
There is a $10.00 entry fee for each contest. Artists may enter both contests if they desire.

CATEGORY 1: Children's Picture Book Contest
CHILDREN'S PICTURE BOOK CONTEST PRIZES:
1st Place: $100.00 (U.S.) plus a trophy and a possible book contract
2nd Place: $50.00 (U.S.)
3rd Place: $30.00 (U.S.)

CHILDREN'S PICTURE BOOK CONTEST RULES:
Children's Picture Book Contest submissions shall consist of one children's picture book manuscript formatted in storyboard layout for 20-22 illustrated pages.
See website for details: http://www.dragonflypubs.com/dfp/contest.html

CATEGORY 2:
Children's Cover Art Contest
CHILDREN'S COVER ART CONTEST PRIZES:
1st Place: $100.00 (U.S.) plus a trophy and a possible book contract
2nd Place: $50.00 (U.S.)
3rd Place: $30.00 (U.S.)

CHILDREN'S COVER ART CONTEST RULES:
Children's Cover Art Contest submissions shall consist of one (1) original 8x10 full-color front cover illustration and one (1) original 8x10 full-color back cover illustration for children's picture book: See website for details: http://www.dragonflypubs.com/dfp/contest.html

Back from the Agents and Editors Conference in Austin

2008-06-22T21:44:00.003-05:00

We had an even larger contingent of members than we had expected at the Texas Writers League's annual Agents and Editors conference in Austin. In addition to the names Sonja mentioned in the previous post, members Ron Bates, Lorelei Buckley, Jeff Clark and Paula LaRocque attended. Eleven total. An impressive showing for the Workshop at the biggest conference of this kind in the state of Texas.

Great news for former Workshop member Jill Carolan. She entered the conference's manuscript competition, in the young adult novel category, and came down on Saturday for the announcement of the winners. And what do you know -- she won! Her prize was a 10-minute consultation with an agent. Way to go, Jill!

Former member Linda Rohrbough was also there, as a presenter. It's always great to see her again, especially since she's relocated to North Carolina.

At Wednesday's meeting, I'll discuss some of the things I learned at the conference and share my funny literary agent story (does that mean that I'm a real writer, now that I have one? Don't answer that.)

June 18, 2008 meeting

2008-06-19T06:29:00.002-05:00

News:

The Writer's League Editors and Agents conference is this weekend!

Our DFWWW contingent will be Grace Roeber, Sonja Cassella, Steve Manning, Chris Moore, Kyle White, Kristen Lamb, and Darryl McGinnis. Have a good time everyone! Steve has promised the membership a presentation about the conference when he returns.

DFWWW Conference 2009

We have a date and a venue! The conference will again be held at the Grapevine Convention Center on May 1-3, 2009. The next conference meeting will be on July 2nd at 6 p.m., before the regular Wednesday workshop. Any who are willing to help out are welcome.

Refreshments Volunteers

We need a couple of volunteers to help manage the coffee supplies at our weekly workshop meetings. Please see Steve Manning if you're available.

Austin Writer's League Conference June 20-22

2008-06-13T12:24:00.006-05:00

The following is from an email sent out by Writer's League this morning:

Agent Meetings Still Available

As of the sending of this email, the agents and editor listed below have a limited number of consultation times available to new registrants of the 2008 Agents & Editors Conference.

Check out the bios for agents and editors listed below online, and tell us your top 3 choices for formal consultation when you register online or by phone at 512-499-8914.

Agents:

Lauren Abramo
Kathleen Anderson
Emmanuelle Alspaugh
Kimberley Cameron
Daniel Conoway
Jim Donovan
Mary Evans
Ronnie Gramazio
Robert Guinsler
Abigail Koons
Alexandra H. Machinist
Kirsten Neuhaus
Rebecca Oliver
Nicole Steen
Uwe Stender
Katie Sulkowski
Sally van Haitsma
Stefanie Von Borstel
Natanya Wheeler
Ted Weinstein

Editor:

Brooke Warner

Poetry Session Next Wed

2008-06-12T12:45:00.001-05:00

Next Wednesday nite, June 18th, will be our regular poetry session for those interested. Poets will meet in a separate room to read and discuss original poetry.

The new words for the next poetry challenge are listed below. Remember, you don't have to write a poem with these words to participate in the poets group.

intention
display
heartfelt
ochreous
sunlight
dwarf
eye
scatter

Candace Havens offers Fast Draft and Revision Hell classes on-line

2008-06-06T07:04:00.002-05:00

DFWWW member Candy is posting the FREE Revision Hell and Fast Draft classes on her Yahoo group. You can find out how to join in at her website. Visit www.CandaceHavens.com, run down the links on the left hand of the page, click on workshop, and find out what it's about.

Meeting Report: May 25, 2008

2008-06-02T10:14:00.004-05:00

The loyal members of the DFWWW were called to order once again by the banging of President Steve Manning’s gavel at around 7 p.m. last Wednesday.

ACCEPTANCES

Darryl McGinnis has been consulting with Politico.com, helping with their stories regarding the merger of Delta and Northwest Airlines … Sonja Cassella received four new assignments at once from TrailBlazer magazine, for which she writes regularly … Del Cain received an acceptance with positive comments from the editor about his piece for the Fort Worth Business Press.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Saturday, June 21^st at 7 p.m. there will be an “open mike” poetry night for DFWWW poets at the Barnes and Nobel Euless. Consider this a call for readers and audience members; see Del Cain for more info or email del.cain@sbcglobal.net

There will be a 2009 CONFERENCE MEETING in two weeks , on June 11, 2008 at 6 p.m. before the regular workshop.

Nathan Bransford's Dialogue Contest

2008-05-20T14:10:00.000-05:00

Agent Nathan Bransford is doing a contest over at his blog:

Enter up-to-but-not- exceeding 250 words of dialogue and supporting description in an entry in the comments section of the blog post. The balance between dialogue and supporting description is up to your discretion, bearing in mind that this is a dialogue contest and not a supporting description contest.

Read the original post for more rules, as they are subject to change. Prizes, which of course are also subject to change, are a choice of a query critique, partial critique, or 10 minute phone conversation with Nathan.

Deadline is 5:00 PM Pacific Time on Wednesday May 21st. As there are already 250 entries at the time I'm writing this, get yours in before Nathan's head and blog explodes.

Antitrust Lawsuit Filed Against Amazon

2008-05-20T10:21:00.003-05:00

Booklocker.com has filed suit against Amazon for demanding that e-publishers use Amazon's own print-on-demand company, Booksurge.

Also see Tools of Change for Publishing blog story.

Workshop meeting of May 13, 2008

2008-05-18T08:59:00.008-05:00

Acceptances:

Alex Martinez' first book, GIL'S ALL-FRIGHT DINER, is being re-optioned by Jim Henson Productions. Alex also showed off some signed Futurama memorabilia he received as part of a deal with Rough Draft Studios, which optioned IN THE COMPANY OF OGRES.

Steve Manning is starting an MBA program at University of Texas, Arlington in the fall, and John English will be starting a new assignment as a video game writer. Kristen Lamb went to the Oklahoma Writer's Federation conference and won 2 second place awards for two novels she entered in their manuscript contest. An editor at the conference asked to see her speculative fiction manuscript, IN THE SHADOW OF DILMET.

2009 Conference Update

Conference chair Dan Anders has asked that a survey about venue, cost, and presentations/classes be be emailed to DFWWW members and conference attendees. Responses to the survey will help the committee decide how to structure the 2009 conference. When you receive your survey, please fill it out and email it back.

Barnes and Nobel Preview Night

Please support the workshop and Barnes and Noble by attending the May 20, 2008 Preview Night for their new store.

From an email written by Steve Manning, DFWWW President:

"The North Richland Hills Barnes and Noble is relocating to the Shops
at Northeast Mall. Workshop members have been invited to attend their
preview night, 6-9 p.m. Tuesday, May 20. Nothing formal, just hanging
out in a show of support for Georgette Radford, their Community
Relations Manager who has done so much for the Workshop and its
published members. We don't have to be there the whole three hours,
just drop in for a little bit. Refreshments will be served. It'd be
great if you wore your Workshop badges. I'd like to see a lot of us
there! The new store's address is 861 NE Mall Blvd, Hurst, TX 76053.
See you there!"

Meeting of May 7, 2008

2008-05-08T07:26:00.001-05:00

Rejections: 3

Acceptances: Ginny Bivona announced that her book Notes from a Chameleon has won an Eric Hoffer award. Her new Seductive Chef is now available. Alex Martinez has had a movie treatment accepted by Dreamworks.

Submissions: Chris Moore, Carolyne Williamson, Ginny Bivona, Nick Holman.

Announcements:

Planning for the 2009 conference continues. We still haven’t chosen a venue but are closing in on the selection. Please forward your ideas for editors and agents to be invited to Dan Anders.

Notes on April 29, 2008 meeting:

2008-05-06T11:30:00.002-05:00

Acceptances: John Bartell took first place in a writing contest. Del Cain was asked to submit poems for a book. Alex Martinez showed off the new Danish and German copies of “A Nameless Witch.”

Submissions: John English sent two stories to literary magazines; Del Cain sent a piece to Fort Worth business Press. Kendall Furlong sent a short story to a literary magazine.

Announcements:

Alex Martinez asked members to please be considerate of others and not ask anyone to read work or give out industry contacts such as agents.

Conference 2009: Next week will be our conference meeting, at 6:00 p.m. before the regular workshop meeting. We will be discussing pricing and locations. All interested members are welcome to attend.

Meeting of April 16, 2008

2008-04-17T18:29:00.001-05:00

Our regular DFW meeting came off without a hitch, except of the (later corrected) delay in the announcement of Submissions.

The stats:

Rejections: 7 reported. Either the editors are getting more ferocious out there, or the writers of this workshop are getting more honest.

Acceptances: Jessica Eldredge had a magazine article accepted, Del Cain has been asked to write a magazine article; Alex Martinez is working on a script for Dreamworks; the teleplay of Ginnie Bivona’s book will feature actresses Leslie Ann Warren and Meredith Baxter Birney, Rosemary Clement Moore’s book Prom Dates from Hell (paperback coming out next Tuesday) won the Gail Wilson award for Excellence in the YA division.

Submissions: Grace Roeber, Rosemary Clement-Moore, Sonja Cassella, Dan Anders.

Announcements:

Glen Norton told the group that his wife, member Wanda Norton, has had a stroke but is recovering.

Rosemary Clement-Moore’s paperback Prom Dates from Hell is out on Tuesday. Since important sales tracking figures are based on the first week’s sales, Rosemary encouraged all who have considered buying Prom Dates to do so in the first week – also to do the same for other authors they want to support. She also reminded members to ask at the information desk of the bookstore for books you want if they’re not in stock, so they will order them.

* * *

Writers’ League Agents and Editors Conference, June 20-22, 2008 – So far we have 6-8 DFWWW members who plan to attend. Don't miss the biggest writer's conference in Texas, and your chance to pitch your project to one of 26 agents and editors (23 agents, 3 editors). For more information, see the FAQ's at the Writers’ League website. Register as soon as possible for the best chance to get the agent of your choice. Writers’ League notes the date and time of your conference registration, and when they begin assigning agent appointments in June,* they go from the first registration on to the last received. More information on this process.

For more information about car pooling or hotel rooms, see Sonja Cassella.

*May 6^th is the deadline to turn in agent/editor selections for those who have already registered. The Writers’ League will continue taking new registrations after that point until all spaces are filled, but agent/editors selections will be due at the time of registration. They will not begin making the actual appointments until mid-June. All registrants will be notified of the details of their appointment (date, time, agent/editor) no later than June 16.

* * *

Nick Holman announced that he, Rosemary Clement-Moore and Grace Roeber attended the ArtsNet award breakfast and picked up a check for $1263 to support our conference. Thank-you to ArtsNet for supporting the workshop!

2009 conference: next meeting will be May 7, at 6 p.m. before the workshop. The DFWWW Board will meet April 30, 2008 at 6 p.m.

Meeting of April 9, 2008

2008-04-15T06:54:00.003-05:00

Our regular meeting was full of ... regulars. And a couple of visitors.

The stats:

Rejections: Four reported.

Acceptances: Harry Hall has an article in Toastmasters Magazine, Kendall Furlong had a flash fiction piece accepted by an e-zine; Sonja Cassella had a partial request on her novel; Carolyn Williamson got a request for a full of her thriller; Kristen Lamb had a request for synopsis and first 30 pages of her novel; Iris Acuff had a request to see a play.

Submissions: Dan Anders, Kyle White, Jo Lightfoot.

Announcements:

Jeri Burbage is ordering name badges and giving out ones she's already had made. If you need a badge, see Jeri.

The Digital Critique will be coming out soon, so the deadline for your 100- word submission for "What I'm Reading Now" will be due Wedensday, April 16th. Send it to Rosemary or Candy.

Poet Laureate at TCC April 16

2008-04-12T22:19:00.000-05:00

Hi, everyone,

The TX Poet Laureate for 2008 is Larry Thomas. Here’s his site:
http://www.larrydthomas.com/default.htm

He’ll be giving a reading on TCC’s NE campus in College Hall (NCAB) on Wednesday, April 16 at 7:30pm. Bring a class, a friend, a spouse, or just you!

He’ll bring some books to sell and sign, and we’ll have cookies and coffee available.

Best,
Rebecca Balcarcel
TCC NE

2008 Winter Rose Awards Luncheon

2008-04-12T19:55:00.001-05:00

From Denise McDonald:

2008 Winter Rose Awards Luncheon
Yellow Rose Romance Writers presents:
Margie Lawson
Empowering Characters' Emotions

Saturday, May 17, 20088:00 am to 5:00 pm
at the Hurst Hampton Inn
1600 Hurst Towne Center Drive
Hurst, TX 76054
http://www.yellowroserwa.com/awards.php

Cost is $75.00 with lunch included
Please join us for our 2008 Winter Rose Awards Luncheon featuring Margie Lawson's day-long seminar on Empowering Characters' Emotions. We will also have an afternoon lunch and announce our 2008 Winter Rose Contest winners. Seating is limited to the first 90 registrants, so hurry! http://www.yellowroserwa.com/awards.php