At the September 23 meeting of the DFW Writers' Workshop, members were advised that appointments with some of the literary agents are starting to fill-up.

For example, authors interested in pitching their books to Joshua Bilmes, Lucienne Diver, or Gina Panettieri had better register now. The slots for all three agents are over a quarter of the way full and going fast. Appointments with many of the other agents  are also filling quickly. This is definitely a case where if you snooze, you could lose, so register early to secure your place in line.  

Members were also told that the tenth, and final, agent had been named. Mary Kole, who represents children's picture books as well as Middle Grade and Young Adult authors, has been added to the roster. The agents attending the 2010 DFW Writers' Conference are:

Anne Hawkins | John Hawkins & Associates, Inc.

Gina Panettieri | Talcott Notch Literary Services

Joshua Bilmes | JABberwocky Literary Agency

Laurie McLean | Larsen-Pomada Literary Agents

Lucienne Diver | The Knight Agency

Melissa Shultz | Jim Donovan Literary

Paul S. Levine | Paul S. Levine Literary Agency

Victoria Horn | Liza Dawson Associates

Mary Kole | Andrea Brown Literary Agency

In other news, A. Lee Martinez signed the contract for the German rights to his upcoming novel, Divine Misfortune. (Those Germans sure do love his work.) Russell C. Connor has a book signing for his horror novels on October 3 at the Cat and the Candle Bookstore in Lake Whitney from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. during Pioneer Days.

We recently learned that Preditors & Editors, one of the publishing industry's most trusted resources for writers, has recognized on its website both the Workshop and its Conference. Details about the DFW Writers' Workshop can be found in the 'Workshops' section. Information about the DFW Writers' Conference can be found in the 'Conventions & Festivals' section.

The membership of the Workshop is honored to be included in the recommendations of such a venerable organization.

DFWWW's own R. Douglas Weber, author of Solomon's Key: The Codis Project, will be featured on the Discovery Channel program "The Hunt for the Lost Symbol" scheduled to air on Sunday, October 18. Check your local television provider for the time.

This is another example that Workshop members continue to receive national exposure for their books, and to use inventive ways to promote them.

It seemed as if the announcements and news would never end during the September 9 meeting of the DFW Writers' Workshop.

Leading the pack, A. Lee Martinez displayed the German audio version of his novel The Automatic Detective. Mike McMullen sold a flash fiction story to A Thousand Faces magazine. Kenneth E. Ingle's publisher has commissioned him to writer a thriller, and he has a book signing for his first release, First Contact, Saturday, September 26 at the University of Texas at Arlington bookstore.  

On Saturday, September 12, Candace Havens will teach two classes at the Heart of Texas Chapter of Romance Writers of America in Waco. Kyle White announced he's been selected to teach a class at next year's Books, Authors n' All that Jazz festival in Weatherford. Rosemary Clement-Moore's book, The Splendor Falls, arrived on shelves Tuesday, September 8, and the paperback version of her earlier work, Hell Week, is now out.

Finally, five new reference books were added to the DFWWW library. Members were reminded to take advantage of the many titles available to help them learn more about the craft of writing.

Just noticed that our Twitter account (http://www.twitter.com/dfw_writers) is up to 1,135 visitors! That's fantastic and the great thing about it is, a lot of that happened on its own, with people finding us instead of us going out and tackling people.

Thanks to all of you tweeters for your support! By the way this blog is linked to the Twitter account, so it's a great way to keep track of updates to this site.