DENTON WRITERS LEAGUE
FIRST EDITION
 August 2008 VOL. 19 NUMBER 7

DWL Home Page: http://byjoni.com/dwl

If you would like a copy of the newsletter e-mailed to you instead of through the US post,
please contact George Avera-George Avera-george.819471@verizon.net or Joni Latham-bleuunicorn@verizon.net.

WHERE WE MEET AND WHEN

The second Saturday of every month, at the

Denton Library-Emily Fowler Branch - click here for map 
502 Oakland St
 Denton, TX

General Meeting 10:30 a.m.

Lunch at Noon at the
 Evergreen Super Buffet - click here for map 
1006 W. University Dr
Denton, TX

NEXT MEETING: August 9, 2008

Guest Speakers

September 13 - Jeff Crilley
October 11 - TBD
November 8 - Cindy Vallar
December 13 -  TBD

GUEST SPEAKER

There will be no speaker this month.

MEMBER'S SHOWCASE

Instant Water
By: Crystalwizard

The sun shone upon a small patch of tilled earth, baking it to a crisp. Marigolds blossoming around the edges wilted, and drooped. An old woman stood with her left hand on her hip, and squinted through one eye. “That garden ain’t gonna grow.” She turned a small cardboard box around, and peered at the label on the front.

Instant water.

She tossed a dirty look over her shoulder at a near-by bungalow, and wrinkled her nose. “Stupid late night T.V. shows... sellin’ mah husband all sorts ‘a rubbish!” She gave her attention back to the box, and tried to make out the directions on the back.

Add water...

She raised an eyebrow at the box, and snorted. “Yeah, instant water all right. ‘Fool an’ his money be parted!” She ripped the shrink wrap off the box, tore off the top and peered inside. A fine white, glistening powder filled the box almost all the way to the top. “Looks like sugar...” She turned the box upside down, poured its contents into the grass next to the garden and tossed the container away. “Idiot husband. Gotta fall fer every scam that comes along!” She hobbled toward the house, leaving a pile of glittering white crystals behind.

The sun continued to shine, oblivious of her disgruntled unhappiness. Its rays drew moisture from the grass. Water vapor rising into the air interacted with the crystals, and they began to vibrate. A rumbling rose in a rapid crescendo and a monstrous tsunami erupted into existence, washing away everything in a fifty mile radius.

A small cardboard box washed up onto the edge of the devastation and lay drying in the sun, its waterlogged type visible for any survivors to read. Instant water, the label read. Add water to activate. Caution. Contains enough for one medium lake. Handle with care.

POETRY CORNER

Poetry Group
3rd Saturday
10:00 am
Emily Fowler Library
502 Oakland St
Denton, TX

Open Mic Night
4th Wednesday
7:00 pm
Recycled Books
200 N Locust St
Denton, TX

FLASHING SWORDS COLLECTOR'S EDITION CONTEST

Take a good look at this image (found at http://flashingswords.sfreader.com/jpcontest/contest.htm). What do you see going on here? Who is that girl? Why's she standing like that? Who are those guys? Why are they doing what they're doing? What has happened, is happening or is about to happen?

Let your imagination roam, then write a story about what you see. Send it to us at flashingswordspress@gmail.com. Query letters are not required, however submissions must have the author's name, title, word count, email address and other standard contact information at the top. Submissions should be in Times New Roman or Courier New, both 12 point, and should NOT be double spaced! Submissions may be sent as an attached .doc or .rtf file if we know you. If we don't know you, then please paste the story into the body of your email. We'll contact you if it is chosen and ask for a .rtf or .doc at that time.  Deadline September 30, 2008.

Go to the website today http://flashingswords.sfreader.com/jpcontest/contest.htm , to see the image and read the rest of the submission guidelines.

ANNUAL CONVENTIONS
*******************************************************************************************************

CONVENTIONS

Convention                   Month    Place                    URL             

ConDFW                   Feb     Dallas, TX       http://www.condfw.org/
Texas Frightmare         Feb     Dallas, TX       http://www.texasfrightmareweekend.com/lifetype/
AggieCon                 March   Bryan, TX        http://aggiecon.tamu.edu/
Dreamin' in Dallas       April   Dallas, TX       http://www.dallasromanceauthors.com/conferences/
ApolloCon                June    Houston, TX      http://www.apollocon.org/
Conestoga                July    Tulsa, OK        http://www.sftulsa.org/conestoga/
Armadillo Con            August  Austin, TX       http://www.fact.org/dillo/
Mythcon                  August  Norman, OK       http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon37.html
Bubonicon                August  Albuquerque, NM  http://www.bubonicon.com/
Fencon                   Sept    Dallas, TX       http://www.fencon.org/
     A comprehensive list of other conventions    http://www.fencon.org/links.html#calendar
World Fantasy Con        Nov     Austin, TX       http://www.worldfantasy.org/ 

On-Line Writers resources

Author's Network-for writers about writing based in Europe, but interesting- http://www.author-network.com/
Copyright Forms- http://www.loc.gov/copyright/forms/
The New Covey Cover Awards - http://thenewcoveycoverawards.blogspot.com
Dallas Screen Writers- http://www.dallasscreenwriters.com/
Denton Public Library - http://www.cityofdenton.com/pages/library.cfm
Flashing Swords Magazine - http://flashingswords.sfreader.com
Fort Worth Book Blog - http://booksblog.guidelive.com/
Glimmer Train Press, Inc.-A quarterly magazine of about 260 pages of literary fiction - http://www.glimmertrain.com/
How Stuff Works - Want to know how something works, try this link - http://www.howstuffworks.com/
Lulu.Com - A Self-Publisher - http://www.lulu.com/
MeetUp.Com - A place to find MeetUp groups in your area  - http://www.meetup.com/
   Jeff Crilley's DFW Do-It Yourself PR Group - http://freepublicity.meetup.com/1/
National Association of Women Writers - http://www.naww.org
National Writers Union - http://www.nwu.org/
Northeast Texas Writers' Organization - http://www.netwo.org/
Para Publishing Website - a good writing, publishing, and promotion source - http://www.parapublishing.com/sites/para/
Preditors and Editors-a resources to check out agents and publishers http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/
Printing for Less - Good prices and I understand good product - http://www.printingforless.com/index.html
Ralan's Webstravaganza-speculative fiction resource http://ralan.com/
Society of Children's Writers and Illustrators - http://www.scbwi.org/
Texas Coalition of Authors, Inc. - http://www.texasauthors.org/
The Market List-the online resource for genre fiction writers http://www.marketlist.com/
The Novelist's Workshop-essays and advice on how to publish your book- http://www.monash.com/writers.html
Vista Prints - inexpensive business cards, postcards, etc - http://www.vistaprint.com
Writer's Exchange - http://www.writers-exchange.com/epublishing/
Writer.com - on-line classes and other writer's information - http://writers.com/
Writers' League of Texas - http://www.writersleague.org/
Writers Net-source for information for writers, editors, agents, and publishers - http://www.writers.net
Writing-World.Com - http://www.writing-world.com 
Writing.Com - Community for readers and writers of all skills levels and interests - http://www.writing.com

There are multitudes of writing resources available on the Internet. Go to any search engine and ask for writer's resources, writer's markets, writer's contests, writer's conferences, etc

DWL OFFICERS:

President       Joni Latham ( joni1957@verizon.net) - 940/382-4865
Vice-President  Kelly Christiansen
Newsletter      George Avera ( george.819471@verizon.net) - 940/387-8315

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