Coming soon to a blog near you...

Fridays
Monitor Musings: how to be a monitor from the greatest monitors in DFWWW history

Mondays
Critiquer's Calisthenics: how some of our best critiquers form their thoughts

As you can see, I have a thing for alliteration.

If you would like to contribute a post to either of these series, send it to me. If you think these ideas are stupid, you can tell me that, too.

Kate Cornell

We have lost a director. Kirk Von Der Heydt has volunteered for the position. According to the bylaws, Kirk must be approved by the membership. We will be voting on Kirk at the next business meeting which just so happens to be next week, April 6th.

Candace Havens' She Who Dares, Wins drops on April 1st. Be sure to check out her website for more info.

She has a book signing on April 16th at 2 pm at Barnes and Noble in Lewisville.

Do you know how to use Google? Would you like to help the Workshop? Good. We knew you would. The Workshop now has a grant committee looking for three or four volunteers to help research grants we can apply for. This is a research position, not a grant writing position.

Contact Kate Cornell or Donna Lasko if you are interested.

We have four rooms in our new building that need names. We are leaving it up to the members to generate possibilities. Harken, creative writers! Give us some ideas.

Send Kate Cornell or Donna Lasko your brilliance.

I'm still taking blog ideas. I've got some good'ins which will be discussed (fleetingly) during next week's announcements.

You can always comment on this post, send a message to us on Twitter, or hit our Facebook fan page.

Hi, chaps, it's me again.

Kate

While you may equate my reappearance on this blog to a certain Beach Boys song involving the stolen vehicle of a patriarch, I do have a something to share.

If you have attended any meeting of DFWWW in the last year or so, you may have noticed our visitors mentioning they heard about us on the Internet. You may have also noticed that we only post about once a week on this blog.

I put it to the members: What would you like to see up here?

A few weeks ago, I implored a certain member to write a guest post on how to be a monitor. I'm sure he's still considering the offer, but I believe that would be something you would want to see. I can't come up with all this stuff by myself. I would love ideas (aside: you can comment directly on this post).

What do you want to see? Do you want to know what my overweight cat is up to? Do you want to know what our members are up to? Do you want me to steal the RSS feeds from other sites and post them up here? Do you pray for someone who isn't me to write something that is at least coherent and organized?



Let me know.

I'm from the DIY generation, which comes with fast typing speech-to-text, built in Intel processor, technobabble translator,  and built-in Internet navigational computer. Even when I'm wireless, I'm still plugged in.

If you want to contribute a blog post, that would be great, too! You see, once I post this, it goes out all over the Internet. Twitter, Facebook, and, of course, the DFW Writers' Workshop homepage. We tag your name, and (bam) Google takes notice. While I understand the gritty underworld of the Internet (Search Engine Optimization, reputation management, synergy) is not everyone's cup of tea, you can use it as a tool to brand yourself and get your name circulating.

And, I wouldn't let you post anything that would make you look bad... *wink*

I do believe our group can offer a great deal to each other and the writing community.

Send me your thoughts. On Facebook, Twitter, or right here.

Four visitors and one new member joined a good-sized crowd at the March 23 meeting of the Workshop.

In the news, Nik Holman announced he is among 500 Quarter Finalists in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest for his book, The Boy Who Wasn't There. Pat Hauldren is teaching an online class and needs test subjects to help her work out the bugs. Rosemary Clement Moore is participating in Operation Auction, an online event to help a family in need. Rosemary is offering a copy of her novel The Splendor Falls, an advanced reader of her newest book, Texas Gothic, and up to 20-pages of critique.

Finally, President Donna Lasko reminded everyone of the importance of keeping the new building clean. She also asked for volunteers to serve as ambassadors to greet the increased number of weekly visitors.

A large crowd attended the March 16 meeting of the Workshop to help celebrate the grand opening of our new building. In addition to 70+ regular members, we had eight visitors. Four of them were students from a creative writing class at Tarrant County College visiting for Spring Break. We also had two new members join us. The parking lot filled quickly, but we managed to find space for everyone.

President Donna Lasko opened the meeting with a thank you to the volunteers who helped to pack over 20 years of books, awards, and memories (enough boxes to fill the main room at the old building). She also thanked the volunteers who helped to supervise the move and to unpack all of the boxes.

As always, DFWWW members are a busy crew. In the news, Ginnie Bivona signed a contract



with agent Al Longden for ebooks. Kathryn Thomas' submission to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel contest was recognized as a Top 1000 and moves forward in the competition. Troy Young advised his novel On the Darkest Nights is available for the Nook eReader. He also has a poem in an upcoming issue of Abandoned Towers magazine.



In still more news, Matthew Usey signed with agent Louise Fury after he met her at the DFW Writers' Conference.  A blog by Pamela Skjolsvik appeared in the online version of the Dallas Morning News as a guest blogger. Jimmie Kepler had a poem accepted by Poetry and Prose magazine.

Despite another round of ice and snow that struck North Texas, the DFW Writers' Workshop will be open for the business of writing on Wednesday, February 9. As always, attendance is voluntary and members should use their own judgment whether they feel the commute will be safe or not. The meeting will start at the normal time of 7 p.m.

The City of Euless has been asked to close all non-essential facilities due to the electrical blackouts caused by the ice storm. This means the Ruth Millican Center may not have lights or heat. The Board of Directors has decided to cancel the Wednesday, February 2, meeting of the DFW Writers' Workshop. Please do not attend, since the building's doors will be locked and the read-and-critique sessions will not be held.

As long as the weather permits, the Workshop will reopen for business next Wednesday, February 9.

With North Texas continuing to have winter weather advisories, the question has been asked if the DFW Writers' Workshop will be open this week, or not. As best as anyone can remember, DFWWW has closed only once in its 34-year history and that time was due to inclement weather.

Before you start your commute, please check this blog, your email, Facebook, or Twitter for an update. The final decision will be made around 1 p.m. on Wednesday, February 2. While we hope to continue the tradition by keeping the doors open for our famous read-and-critique sessions, everyone's safety takes priority.

The Workshop elects a new Board of Directors during the first meeting of each year. To qualify to run for office, members must be eligible to vote. To vote, members must have paid their fiscal year dues and have atten­ded at least three of the five busi­ness meetings prior to the election. Busi­ness meetings are those conducted on the first Wednes­day of every month.

To cast their votes, qualified voters should arrive by 6:30 p.m. and no later than 6:50 p.m. on Wednesday, January 5. Each member's eligibility to vote will be verified, and then he or she will be directed to the voting area. The goal is to complete the balloting prior to the start of the business meeting at 7 p.m.

While visitors cannot vote, they are always welcome to attend. However, be forewarned that the monthly business meetings can sometimes run long.

Despite it being the day before Thanksgiving, the November 24 meeting of the Workshop was well attended and included two visitors. Proving once again that DFWWW authors are a dedicated bunch.

In the news, Cladach Publishing requested a partial of Jimmie Kepler's book Honor and Jealously in Texas. Secretary Kyle White advised that the nomination period for the 2011 Board of Directors has closed. The full slate of candidates will be presented on December 1. Additionally, next week's business meeting is the last chance for members to qualify to vote in the January election. Per the By-laws, qualified voters must have paid their annual dues, and have attended at least three of the five business meetings prior to the election.