It seemed as if the news and announcements would never end. Candace Havens delivered her newest book, Turn and Dare, to Harlequin. A. Lee Martinez’ newest novel, Catching the Moon, was accepted by Orbit. Delacorte accepted Rosemary Clement-Moore’s newest work, Texas Gothic, and the book is already available for pre-order at Amazon.com.

Del Cain reported a successful event at the Saginaw Public Library last week. Russell Connor and A. Lee Martinez appeared, along with Rosemary Clement-Moore who was the keynote speaker. This weekend, Rosemary will appear at Readers & ‘ritas in Allen, with Candace Havens as the Master of Ceremonies. Also this Saturday, A. Lee Martinez has a book signing at 2 p.m. at the Borders in Burleson.

Finally, President Russell Connor thanked a wide variety of volunteers who unselfishly give of their time each week. Harry Hall who arrives early to set up the building and to make coffee;  Eric Dixon who never fails to monitor one of the read-and-critique rooms; former President Stephen Manning who assists the Board in making the hard decisions; and Jeff Posey, Jason Myers and Michelle O’Neal who work on the annual writers’ conference.

Thank you everyone who contributes in some way. As a non-profit, all volunteer organization it takes all of us to keep DFWWW functioning.

 In other news, A. Lee Martinez is a guest speaker at MythCon 41 this weekend in Dallas. Candace Havens turned in her latest manuscript, She Who Dares Wins, to Harlequin, and submitted a book proposal titled, Triple Dare Ranch, to the same publisher. Jamie Harrington announced her participation in WriteOnCon.com, a free online writers’ conference now accepting registrations.

But in the biggest news of the night, historian Stephen Manning announced the donation of the 300th traditionally published book by a DFWWW author. A party is being planned to commemorate this momentous milestone, 33-years in the making.

A. Lee Martinez’ book, Monster, is now available as a mass-market paperback. Kyle White sold his first novel, Attack of the Crystal Spiders, a Middle Grade science fiction work, to Wild Child Publishing. The American Library Association named Rosemary Clement-Moore’s novel Highway to Hell as a 2010 Best Books for Young Adults. One of Kenneth E. Ingles’ short stories is a finalist in the current Writer’s Digest contest. Candace Havens inked a three-book deal with Harlequin. She will also sign copies of her newest work, Take Me If You Dare, on Saturday, February 6 at 2:00 p.m. at Barnes & Nobel in Hurst.  

Finally, three new members were welcomed to DFWWW, and the Workshop’s extensive reference library reopened after a year-end inventory. Books may be checked out for three weeks.

City of Euless Mayor, Mary Lib Saleh, presents DFW Writers’ Workshop President, Russell Connor, with a certificate to commemorate the Workshop’s 20th anniversary of meeting at the Ruth Millican Center. During those 20-years, Workshop members can only recall one Wednesday night meeting that was canceled, and it was due to an ice storm.

There was no red carpet at the October 14 meeting of the DFW Writers’ Workshop, but there should have been one. Dignitaries such as the Mayor, City Manager, Deputy City Manager, Parks Director and City Council members joined the Workshop to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of DFWWW meeting in the City of Euless.

President Russell Connor commented that the Workshop has existed for 32 years, 20 of which have been spent in Euless. During that time, DFWWW members have produced 292 traditionally published books. The Ruth Millican Center, home to the Workshop for all 20-years, was packed as everyone enjoyed a good meal to celebrate Euless’ support of the arts.  

Since DFWWW members are always a busy bunch, there was also plenty of news. Yvonne Isaacs announced the publication of her book Seven Tiny Miracles. R. Douglas Weber, who will be featured in the Discovery Channel program “Hunting for the Lost Symbol”, mentioned that the show has been moved to Sunday, October 25. The Burleson Star interviewed Glenn Norton about his work-in-progress, A Knight in Tarnished Armor. A. Lee Martinez commented that he is now a regular contributor at his publisher’s website, OrbitBooks.net.

Rosemary Clement-Moore has an essay in the book A New Dawn released this month. Candace Havens bragged about the cover of her newest work from Harlequin, Take Me If You Dare, due in February 2010. Both Rosemary and Candace will teach a class at the Mansfield Public Library on November 6 at 7 p.m.

A full house! The DFW Writers’ Workshop membership has grown to 100+ authors from across North Texas. Some of our authors drive over an hour to attend our famous read and critique sessions.

Of course, even with all the festivities the read and critique sessions still happened as planned. The dedicated authors of the DFW Writers’ Workshop never take a break from honing their craft.