Meeting report for Sept. 3

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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