With President Russell Connor on vacation, the May 26^th meeting of the DFW Writers' Workshop was a little disorganized, but the Board pulled together to conduct business. This included welcoming five new members to the growing list of weekly attendees.

In the news, A. Lee Martinez displayed the German-language edition of his book Too Many Curses. Kenneth Ingle presented the audio version of his novel First Contact. John Keith announced that Jessie Cammack with the JABberwocky Literary Agency requested the full manuscript of his work 74 Degrees. Stephen Manning advised the tally of traditionally published novels by Workshop members now rests at 299.   

Finally, Jeri Burbage was seated as Treasurer to fill the spot vacated by Fred Campos. Don't worry, Fred's not leaving the Workshop, he just has other obligations that make stepping down from the Board the right decision for him.

The April 28^th meeting of the DFW Writers' Workshop saw a good turnout, which included five visitors and four new members.

In the news, Del Cain had two poems accepted by the publication Cross Timbers. Ginnie Bouvier received an invitation from agent Eleanor Jackson of the Markson Thoma Literary Agency to visit their offices in New York City for "a brainstorming session".  Kenneth Ingle will speak at the Hurst Library Association on Saturday, May 1 at 11:00 a.m. Also this Saturday, A. Lee Martinez has a book signing for his newest release Devine Misfortune at Lone Star Comics in Dallas from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Finally, the executive committee for the 2011 DFW Writers' Conference was announced. Among his many other hats, chairperson Jeff Posey will handle marketing. Co-chair Jason Myers will invite the agents and editors. Michelle O'Neal will invite the speakers. Jeri Burbage will serve as treasurer, and Stephen Manning will coordinate registration.

As always, a dedicated family of DFWWW volunteers will be needed for a multitude of other tasks to be announced later.

The Ruth Millican Center was packed as 62 members and five visitors attended the January 27 meeting of the DFW Writers' Workshop.

On Saturday, January 30, the Hallmark Channel will replay Bound by a Secret, a movie based on the novel Ida Mae Tut­wei­ler and the Tra­ve­ling Tea Party by Workshop member Ginnie Siena Bivona. Beginning February 15, Candace Havens will teach her "Fast Draft and Revision Hell" class online for the Orange County Chapter of the Romance Writers of America. Also in February, Stephen Manning will teach a class titled "Blogging with Wordpress Deep Dive" through Texas Christian University's Extended Education program.

Finally, everyone was reminded that 2010 membership dues should have been paid by January 1. In order to participate in the read-and-critique sessions, all outstanding dues must be paid.

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 final business meeting of the year saw a large crowd at the Workshop. Nominations for the 2010 Board of Directors closed with elections to be held in January. Submissions for the Barbara Wilson Award to honor writers of articles and shorter works opened with a March 3 deadline. Finally, George Goldthwaite's audio book From Youth to Ven­geance became the 294th title donated to the collection of traditionally published books by Workshop members.

In other news, the annual Christmas party will be held December 16. Members are encouraged to bring a potluck dish. Stephen Manning will teach classes on social media as part of TCU's continuing education courses next year. The 2010 DFW Writers' Conference committee extended an offer to pay a $50 finder's fee to any Workshop member who secures an exhibitor for next year's event.

Stephen Manning will be speaking about his experiences interviewing Texas World War II veterans at the Irving Public Library at 2 p.m. this Saturday. This is a great chance to hear some of the incredible stories from his non-fiction books, The Courage of Common Men and Texans Touched by World War II. Manning interviewed veterans and family members around the state of Texas to collect their memories of the war years.

The Irving Pipe and Drum Honor Guard will perform several numbers, and then Manning will speak. Bob Moffatt will also talk about the Irving Memorial Park Commemorative Brick Program.

Refreshments will be served after the program.

Irving Public Library
801 W. Irving Blvd.
Irving, TX 75060

Map

Parking is available on the Irving Boulevard and Rock Island side of the building, as well as in the parking garage underneath the Library.

Books will be available for signing, including the very last available copies from the publisher's warehouse of The Courage of Common Men.

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!