A horde of DFWWW science fiction and fantasy authors attended the World Science Fiction Convention (WorldCon) held in San Antonio from Thursday, August 29, through Monday, September 2.

Just a few of the exciting happenings:

Member Gabe Guerrero debuted his orc cosplay character, Tarbuz, which was the hit of the con. His picture may appear in Locus Magazine, the leading trade publication for SF&F. He was also photographed by local television stations, and won a Hall Costume award.

During the Hugo's, the biggest SF&F award, member Alley Hauldren sat in the press section representing her many blogs and other endeavors.

And that's not all.  Member Tex Thompson shined as a panelist as she rubbed elbows with her editor and fellow writers from Solaris.

 

Many of the top tier SF&F publishers were present, as well as several major editors, literary agents, and best-selling authors. There were participants from around the world (Japan, Finland, and United Kingdom seemed to be the most numerous). The variety of panels and topics were infinitesimal. The parties went until the wee hours of the morning (the candy and snacks at the Japanese party were life altering).

Needless to say, a good time was had by all.

Brenna Smith was quoted on forbes.com.

Brenna will also be quoted in an article in a small Woman's Magazine - (Western North Carolina Woman's Magazine) which hit stands in North Carolina last Friday. She is speaking at the University of Nevada - Las Vegas this Wednesday.

Carmen Goldthwaite is teaching Narrative Nonfiction: The Proposal at SMU beginning Feb 2nd.

Go the distance in narrative nonfiction with this class that helps you create the selling tool -- a book proposal --for your memoir, biography, history, anthology or travelogue. In this intensive, the first classes will concentrate on story ideas and early chapters, including research skills. Next, in a distance learning phase, you will develop the skeleton of the book, the outline. The third phase will be classroom learning about the business component of the proposal: marketing, platform and polishing. The intended product -- a complete and ready proposal (first three chapters, explicit outline, marketing and platform plans and statements) qualifies for eligibility to apply to the SMU Writer's Seminar in New York. THIS TIME ONLY, NO PREREQUISITES.

Code: 123IWR223-D
Dates: February 2 - April 26, 2012
Meets: Thursday from 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM (SKIP 3/15), 12 Sessions
Instructor: Carmen Goldthwaite
Fee: $600
Notes: Skip date 3/15 Publish Your Nonfiction Book by Shaarlene Martin and Anthony Flacco, Writers Digest Books, 2009 AND Writing for Story by Jon Franklin

Carolyn Williamson announced the North Texas Romance Writers are having writers conference Friday March 30th to Sunday April 1st. The cost is $150. For more info visit Texas Two Step Conference.
Alley Pat Hauldren announced the National Space Society of North Texas is having a poetry contest.

Don't forget to register for the conference, DFW Writers' Conference. Keynote speaker is James Rollins. Twenty-one agents and editors attending!

During the October business meeting, members of the DFW Writers' Workshop were reminded that nominations for the 2010 Board of Directors will be opened in November. The current occupants of each office described his or her duties.

Other volunteers needed to keep things moving smoothly are:  An elections coordinator (see Russell Connor), people to help with the registration desk during the 2010 DFW Writers' Conference (see Alley Hauldren), agent attendants (see Larry Enmon), and classroom monitors (see Carolyn Williamson).

In other news, Alley Hauldren's short story "Catsup" was selected to appear in the editor's choice edition of an upcoming issue of Bewildering Stories. Rosemary Clement-Moore has a book signing for her Young Adult novel, The Splendor Falls, on Saturday, October 10 from 1 p.m to 3 p.m. at the Barnes & Noble store in The Parks Mall. Candace Havens was featured on the front cover of last week's edition of DFW.Com Ink magazine.

Member Mary Malcolm announced the early release of her first romance novel, Diner Girl, during the August 26^th meeting of the DFW Writers' Workshop. Mary proudly displayed the book with its impressive cover artwork. The novel officially goes on sale at the end of this week.

In other news, Alley Hauldren commented that the Fort Worth Examiner has hired her to pen regular articles concerning writers' workshops and conferences. The DFWWW library continues to grow as two new books, the 2010 Writers' Market and Creative Characters, were added to the already impressive array of reference materials.  

In conference news, members were reminded that the 2010 DFW Writers' Conference is approaching fast and they should register soon. Also, the deadline for the Hook 'Em Writing Contest is January 16, 2010. The contest is open to all writers, regardless of attendance at the conference.

Finally, for writers who enjoy speculative fiction, it was announced that noted science fiction and fantasy writer, David Farland, will present a workshop in Dallas, October 10 - 11. See RuneLords.Com for more details.