The temperature continues to rise, but that didn't stop the dedicated members of the DFW Writers' Workshop from attending the August 4th business meeting.

In the news, A. Lee Martinez donated a copy of the anthology Death's Excellent Vacation in which he has a short story. He also has a book signing this Saturday, August 7th, at 3 p.m. at the Barnes & Noble in Denton. Jason Myers recei­ved a par­tial request for his novel Mayhem Inc. from agent Anthony Mattero. Kristen Lamb announced she signed with Gina Panettieri of the Talcott Notch Literary Services. Also, Kristen donated a copy of her recent release, We Are Not Alone: The Writer's Guide to Social Media, to the Workshop's Trophy Room. Carolyn Williams displayed a new reference book for the library.

Finally, thirteen agents and editors have agreed to attend the 2011 DFW Writers' Conference with more being added soon. The event is sure to be spectacular with a full lineup of classes and speakers.

The August 19^th meeting of the DFW Writers' Workshop was full of news.

A. Lee Martinez announced that his first novel, Gil's All-Fright Diner, will soon be available as an audio book for downloads to MP3 players and iPods. Additionally, a Chinese publisher has purchased the foreign rights to his first four books, which already are popular in Europe.

In other news, Kenneth E. Ingle announced that his publisher has requested a sequel his science fiction novel First Contact. Kristen Lamb has been appointed fiction editor at The Report, the newsletter of the Oklahoma Writers' Federation. Her Warriorwriters's Blog, written with Boy Mayer, was named a top website for writers by AndyShack.Com. Agent Caryn Wiseman, with the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, requested the full manuscript for Kyle White's Middle Grade science fiction novel, Attack of the Crystal Spiders.

In Workshop news, two new reference books have been added to the library, and members may now checkout library books for up to three weeks. Due to time constraints, the conference committee will no longer meet on Wednesday nights preceding the Workshop. Also, conference committee meetings have been moved to the North Richland Hills library. Please contact chairperson, Jeri Burbage, for more details.

Finally, a unique event will be held in September. Tai Chi expert, Master Wong, will teach authors how to channel their energy to make them better writers. The event costs $90 and will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, September 19 in Richardson, Texas. Contact Robin Yaklin for more details.

Bob Mayer, who keynoted our conference, posted a nice thank you to the Workshop on his blog. He praised the Workshop's professionalism. He specifically mentioned Dan Anders and Jeri Burbage, the chair and co-chair, as well as everyone else who volunteered. And he said he got a lot out of the social networking presentation by Kristen Lamb and Stephen Manning, with some additional advice from Fred Campos.

Many thanks to Bob for traveling to DFW to speak at our conference and helping to make it such a great success!

The first meeting of every year is when we elect a new board of directors. To be eligible to vote, members must have attended at least three of the last five business meetings. (Business meetings are the first Wednesday of every month.)

This year's slate of candidates is:

President: Russell Connor
1st Vice President: A. Lee Martinez
2nd Vice President: Carolyn Williamson
Secretary: Nik Holman
Treasurer: Fred Campos
Director: Kristen Lamb
Director: Chris Lee Moore

Thanks to these members for stepping up to lead the organization through another great year!