Last chance to enter! Contest deadline is Aug. 29

Next Wednesday, Aug. 29, will be the deadline to receive entries for this year's Poetry and Short Story competition, whether you turn them in to us at the regular meeting or mail them in time to be in the P.O. box by that date.

Don't forget to turn your entries in! Requirements are in this document.

Good luck!

Carmen Goldthwaite presentation tonight

At tonight's meeting at 7 p.m., our distinguished member Carmen Goldthwaite will have a presentation on freelance writing, titled, "Match your Writing to Your Market."

Carmen is a magazine feature writer, storyteller/lecturer, and writing teacher at Southern Methodist University. Her work has been featured in the anthologies Wild Women of The Old West and The Way West: True Stories of the American Frontier.

See you there!

Speaking Event Tonight!

Hey Gang,

We have a cool creative writing workshop coming up, and it's free. Rosemary Clement Moore, Shannon Canard and myself, Candy Havens, have put together a workshop that will get you motivated to write. We're coming at putting those words on the page from three different angles, and it's going to be an informative and fun time for all. You don't want to miss this one.

The fun begins tonite (Thursday, August 16) at 7 p.m. at the
Hurst Library at 901 Precinct Line, Hurst Texas. (817-788-7300).

-Candy Havens
http://www.candacehavens.com
Charmed & Dangeorus
Charmed & Ready
Charmed & Deadly
Like A Charm (Feb. 4, 2008)

This Week's Workshop Events

Thursday Aug 16, 7pm - Candy Havens, Shannard Cannard, and Rosemary Clement-Moore will be speaking at the Hurst Public Library on writing and creativity. This event is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC :).

Sat Aug 18, 10:30am - Rosemary Clement-Moore speaks to the North Texas Romance Writers of America meeting in Colleyville at the La Hacienda Restaraunt (on 121) on query letters. This event requires a $3 cover charge for nonembers. More info at www.ntrwa.org

Sat Aug 18, 2 - 4pm - Alex Martinez will be signing for all his books at the North Richland Hills Barnes & Noble. Come join us for some fun, meet new people, and check out Alex's books!

Sat Aug 18, 7pm - Poetry Workshop. Poets from the DFW Writers' Workshop meet to read and discuss their poetry. Free and open to the public.

See our website for more info www.dfwrite.org or contact Alley at alleypat (at) tx.rr.com

"The Dos and Don’ts of Query Letters"

Got this from Carol Woods of the Greater Dallas Chapter.

Monday, 20 August 2007
7-8:30 p.m.
Speaker: Maya Reynolds, a writer with a checkered background
Topic: Query Letters
Richardson Public Library
900 Civic Center Dr.
Richardson TX, 75080
Basement Room

Maya Reynolds tells all in “The Dos and Don’ts of Query Letters. Things I Did Right and Things I Did Wrong on the Way To Getting An Agent and Contract.”

Maya lives in a small town in north Texas. Her days are divided between writing, working in her garden, and chatting on line. She shares her desk with a one-year-old kitten named Bob who guards the right side of her laptop, making the letters U-I-O-P a particular challenge. At varying times, Maya has been a teacher, a stockbroker, a psychiatric social worker, and a crisis team interventionist. (Editorial comment: Sounds like a perfect background for a writer.) While plying those many vocations or maybe because of them, she sold short stories to romance magazines as well as non-fiction articles in other markets. In 2002, she began to write full time and finished her first manuscript in 2003. Anticipating that any editor who read it would immediately put her under contract, she sent it to only one publisher­-and was astounded when that editor passed on the project. Half a dozen more rejections later, she decided she needed a new strategy. She became a member of Romance Writers of America and Sisters in Crime­-and continued to write. She joined a critique group and took on-line writing classes. By 2005, she began winning contests and getting requests for full manuscripts. In January, 2006, she signed with literary agent Jacky Sach. In August, 2006, Jacky sold Maya’s manuscript, You've Been a Bad Girl, to NAL Heat, a division of Penguin. Maya is one of the founders and the Membership Chair for Passionate Ink, the erotic romance chapter of RWA. She also writes a quarterly column on the publishing industry for the Passionate Inc newsletter. This event is free and open to the public.

Tonight's speaker

At tonight's meeting (Aug. 8) before the critique we will have a distinguished speaker, namely our very own Rosemary Clement Moore, who will talk about "Winning Query Letters." I've heard this presentation before and I think you'll find it very helpful as you submit your work.

Rosemary is the author of "Prom Dates From Hell," published earlier this year by Delacorte, with more books on the way.

Also, at our Aug. 22 meeting, we'll have the chance to hear longtime member Carmen Goldthwaite speak about writing for magazines.

See you there!