Using Twitter has been likened to "drinking from a firehose." Are you feeling thirsty? A full understanding of how to get the most out of Twitter can help you as a writer do a better job of marketing yourself and your writing. Workshop member Stephen Manning will present a class on smart use of Twitter, 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 21, at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. The registration fee is $55. Please visit TCU's Extended Education web site at www.lifelong.tcu.edu for more details and to register. Register by Monday, Jan. 18 to make sure you get a seat!

The January 13 meeting saw an influx of new members and an abundance of good news at the DFW Writers' Workshop.

Carolyn Williamson has been asked to teach a class on point-of-view at the Silken Sands Writers' Conference in March. Pat Hauldren has a new gig writing articles for North Texas e-News. Harold Clark won first place in the Dulce D. Moore Short Story Contest for his work "Almost Home". Literary agent Dr. Uwe Stender requested the full manuscript of Emily Hildebrand's novel Healer.

Jamie Harrington announced the most unusual item of the night. She will join a group of ladies as they drive a Camaro from Texas to Oklahoma - while Twittering and eating fried pies. It's all part of a publicity stunt by General Motors. Follow her on January 20 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at her link.    

Finally, everyone was reminded that the deadline to enter the Hook 'Em Writing Contest is this Friday, January 15 at 11:59 p.m. Also, the discounted early registration fee for the 2010 DFW Writers' Conference ends on Sunday, January 31. After that, the price goes up.

Only six days remain until the deadline for the Hook 'Em Writing Contest. Only three weeks remain until the early-bird registration discount ends. Only 90 days … oops, there went another one … until the 2010 DFW Writers' Conference!

Have you sent your entry for the contest? Are you practicing your agent pitch? Are you planning to wait until the last minute?

Why?! Register today for the conference and the contest. And don't forget, all attendees are invited to participate in the free, on-line class "Agent Pitches 101", scheduled to be conducted in March by Candace Havens Writer's Workshop.

Election fever struck DFWWW during the January 6 business meeting as the 2010 Board of Directors was selected. They are:

Russell C. Connor, President

A. Lee Martinez, First Vice President

Carolyn Williamson, Second Vice President

Fred Campos, Treasurer

Kyle White, Secretary

Nik Holman, Director

Larry Enmon, Director

In other news, Jenny Martin received a full manuscript request from literary agent Robert Astle for her Young Adult novel Holy, Texas. Mike McMullen submitted his non-fiction book, I, Superhero, to his publisher Kensington Books. Pat Haul­dren was a guest writer on the website Marketing Tips for Authors, and noted that her blog entry received the highest ever traffic for the site.

Finally, longtime member and fantasy author A. Lee Martinez announced his engagement to fellow Workshop member Sally Hamilton. Their wedding is tentatively planned for October. Congratulations to the both of you.

The dead­line to enter the Hook ‘EM Wri­ting Con­test is 11:59 p.m. on Friday, January 15, 2010.

New at the 2010 DFW Wri­ters’ Con­fe­rence the con­test focu­ses on those all-important first five pages. The best entrant in each cate­gory, as deter­mi­ned by a panel of jud­ges inde­pen­dent of the DFW Wri­ters’ Con­fe­rence and the DFW Wri­ters’ Workshop, will win a 10-minute appoint­ment with an agent. The cate­go­ries are:

• Lite­rary


• Mys­tery / Sus­pense / Thriller


• Non-Fiction


• Romance


• Science Fic­tion / Fan­tasy / Horror


• Young Adult / Middle Grade

Con­tes­tants may enter in seve­ral cate­go­ries, or have seve­ral entries in one or more cate­go­ries. The con­test is open to ever­yone, age 16 and older, regard­less of regis­tra­tion to attend the 2010 DFW Wri­ters’ Con­fe­rence. There is a $35 fee per entry per cate­gory.  A por­tion of the regis­tra­tion fee will be dona­ted to the children’s cha­rity, First Book.  

Enter today to avoid the last-minute rush.