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Members Only
Interested in reviewing books? Contact us at
[email protected] with "Members Review" in the subject line and we will respond with more details.
Click
HERE to read WLT member
Tony Burnett's review of
Pride v. Prejudice
by Joan Hess.
"Meet the Members"
Want to be profiled on our blog? We are looking for willing subjects for our weekly Q&A posts with current members. If interested, write us at
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Our Next
Open Office Hours:
March 26, 2015
Registration closes
March 25 at 5pm.
Members: Meet one-on-one with a WLT staffer (in person or call in). Click here
for guidelines and to sign up. Current members only.
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Member News
Sheila Allee's (Austin) book My Father's Eyes has won the Barbara Jordan Media Award for writing that positively depicts people with disabilities. The award is given annually by the Governor's Committee on People With Disabilities.
David Furlow (Houston) will speak about the controversial history of Texas school prayer litigation from 1908-1963 as the representative of the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society, at the Texas State Historical Association Annual 119th Annual Meeting in Corpus Christi from 10:30 a.m.-12:00 noon on March 6, under the topic-heading, "The King James Bible, the Courts, and the Preservation of Records: A Historical Tie-in with a Twist."
Rick McGee's (Austin) book, The Independent is available on Amazon: Coach Bob is frustrated with national politics and the many people in office who aren't "earning it." Bob is a motivator who inspires players to develop a life path after the last whistle has blown. Can he make the transition from the gridiron to Capitol Hill and restore nobility and trust to the Senate?
David Morris Parson's (Austin) short story "Oysters" will appear in the Spring 2015 issue of Cold Mountain Review.
Clint Richmond's (Austin) latest nonfiction book Fetch The Devil, has been chosen as a Southwest Books of the Year: Top Picks for 2014, (co-sponsored by the Arizona Historical Society and Pima County Public Library). The book was previously reviewed on the Writers' League's blog, Scribe.
Marian Szczepanski (Houston) will give a student lecture and public reading of her debut novel Playing St. Barbara, as a visiting writer at St. Francis University in Loretto, PA on March 19. She will also read and give presentations on historical fiction at ten public libraries in the Pittsburgh area, March 18-31.
Jesse Sublett's (Austin) new book 1960s Austin Gangsters: Organized Crime That Rocked the Capital will be published in early March. Jesse will be doing a series of book signings starting with South Congress Books at 2:00 pm, March 19 and the SXSW Bookstore 2:00 pm, March 20. The launch party will be held at BookPeople on March 23, 7:00-9:00. Jesse will be playing a few murder ballads to set the tone.
Scott Wiggerman's (Austin) book Leaf and Beak: Sonnets (Purple Flag), based on daily walks at Mueller Lake Park, is now available. The book trailer can be found here. He will be featured at Wildflower Terrace's monthly literary salon on March 4 at 6:00 pm.
Debra Winegarten's (Austin) biography Oveta Culp Hobby: Colonel, Cabinet Member, Philanthropist, won the 2015 Texas Association of Author's Best Biography award, and her book of poetry Meeting God at Midnight (Sociosights Press) won for Best Women's Poetry. Debra is presenting a paper on Oveta Culp Hobby in Corpus Christi at the Texas State Historical Association's 119th Annual Meeting (March 5-7).
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Send Us Your Member News
"
Member News" is a perfect way for WLT members to share their news about signings, appearances, book releases, publications, etc. At least two weeks before desired publication date, please send your 50-word blurb to:
- You must be a current member of the Writers' League.
- Describe success story or upcoming event in 50 words or less.
- Urls and websites can be hyperlinked, if provided.
Items might be edited for style and publication dates will be determined by the Footnotes editor.
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San Antonio Book Festival
The Writers' League will be at the San Antonio Book Festival on April 11.
Our members will be signing copies of their most recent books.
If you're a member of the Writers' League and would like to sign at our booth or if you're interested in volunteering,
please email member (at) writersleague (dot) org
or call us at
(512) 499-8914 by March 20.
Hope to see you there!
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2015 Spring Class Series
April Class Series:
Fundamentals of Fiction
Members: $246
(Remember: Today is the last day to purchase at the special discounted member rate of $226.)
Nonmembers: $486
This April, we're excited to be offering a month-long series of classes that focus on four of the most basic fiction necessities, all taught by acclaimed writers who are also experienced instructors. You can purchase the entire series (what better way to commit to your craft this spring while making new writer friends week after week?), but tickets are also available for purchase individually if you prefer a la carte.
with Brian Yansky
Saturday, April 4, 2015
9:00 a.m. to
12 noon
at ACC Highland Campus
Characters are the heart of fiction. We remember and feel passionate about novels because of the characters. But one problem for writers who write character driven fiction is that they often don't really understand how to find a plot for those characters to struggle through. So they have interesting characters but a dull or static plot. This short course will focus on strategies for developing plots that will not only help bring the story to life but also help deepen character.
with Stephanie Noll
Saturday, April 11, 2015
9:00 a.m. to 12 noon
at St. Edward's University, Trustee Hall 303
Often writers will have an idea for a story, its plots, and its characters, but before their fingers hit the keyboard or their pen races across the page, they should determine how to best tell the story. Choosing a point of view shapes how you--and your reader--experience any narrative. Imagine how different The Great Gatsby would be if told as a 1st person account by Gatsby. Or what if Gone Girl had been told through a 3rd person omniscient point of view?
In this class, you will consider how point of view impacts the narrative experience of these pieces, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the various points of view, and complete writing exercises that will give you the opportunity to "try on" all different perspectives.
with Nan Cuba
Saturday, April 18, 2015
10:00 a.m. to
4 p.m.
at St. Edward's University, Trustee Hall 303
When a character is in trouble, as all protagonists should be, she can seem unsympathetic if she's focused only on her own problems. Her unhappiness, worry, and frustration may result in a character who appears judgmental, short-tempered, rude, and who wants to read about someone like that? The answer is that we all do, but only if she's complex enough to make us identify with and root for her, and the story ultimately shows her transcending those tendencies. This class will furnish examples of such characters, along with specific techniques for evoking reader sympathy and depicting character growth.
with Carol Dawson
Saturday, April 25, 2015
9 a.m. to 12 noon
St. Edward's University, Trustee Hall 303
This class will show how to implement the Show, Don't Tell rule, and why it's one of those rules you should only break if you're a master of telepathy or a minister delivering a sermon. We'll take the mystery out of Showing, and the tackle the temptation to Tell. We will also set your imaginative gifts ticking strongly enough to carry out the most challenging of challenges. Once you leave the classroom, you should have enough tools in your toolbox to 'show' everything you need to in order to enliven your reader and spice up your narrative, from a romantic Regency ballroom romp to a high stakes poker game to a stealthy murder. Most of all, we'll have fun and laughs doing it.Bring a pen and notebook to class. Laptops if you prefer. Be ready to inscribe 'life' straight into the manuscript!
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Amplify Student Writers!
Support the Writers' League
on
March 5 & 6 (#AmplifyAustin Day!)
This year, our Amplify Austin campaign is all about connecting the next generation of writers with a community that will support and uplift them as they make their way. Your donation can help us do just that.
Every dollar that we raise during this year's Amplify Austin Day will be gifted directly to young writers in our community (15 years and older) in the form of student memberships and free programming.
In 2014, the Writers' League's Project WISE program facilitated fifty author visits to area schools, reaching more than 5700 students. These Project WISE presentations offer valuable programming to mostly Title One schools in our community. They also spark excitement and passion in the next wave of writers. Our Amplify Austin campaign builds on that good work -- and feeds that excitement and passion -- by gifting memberships and free programming to local students.
During this year's 24-hour Amplify Austin Day, your donation will make a difference to a young writer. The giving starts at 6:00 pm March 5 through 6:00 pm March 6.
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2015 A&E Conference
2015 Agents & Editors
Conference:
Meet the Faculty!
Our impressive faculty for this year's 2015 Agents & Editors Conference is coming together nicely. We'll be adding a few more people in the coming weeks, but the confirmed list already includes notable names from top-tier literary agencies such as Curtis Brown, Folio Literary, Gernert, Inkwell, Janklow & Nesbit, Sanford J. Greenberger Associates, and Wendy Sherman Associates.
As we do every year, we'll be featuring Q&As with our faculty on Scribe (subscribe if you're not already receiving our latest blog posts!) and, of course, full bios for all confirmed faculty can be found on our website.
Read bios of two of our featured agents (Scott Hoffman and Jim Hornfischer) below. Visit our
Featured Agents
page for the most up to date list of attending agents.
Scott Hoffman is one of the founding partners of Folio Literary Management LLC, a New York City-based literary management company that has sold hundreds of titles to major publishers in the United States and around the world since 2006. Since its founding, more than 50 books by Folio's authors have appeared on major bestseller lists.
Mr. Hoffman personally represents #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Charge and The Millionaire Messenger Brendon Burchard; New York Times bestselling authors of The Passion Test, Chris and Janet Bray Attwood; Philip K. Dick award-winning novelist Chris Moriarty; award winning journalist Greg Farrell, author of Crash of the Titans; and many others. Read a Q&A with Scott on Scribe.
Jim Hornfischer of Hornfischer Literary Management has a strong track record handling a broad range of serious and commercial nonfiction. His clients include major award-winning nonfiction writers, memoirists, historians, scientists, professionals, journalists, and assorted other literary artists.
In addition to agenting, Jim is a licensed attorney and a former New York trade book editor. He is also the author of three well-received nonfiction books of his own. This combination of experience makes him an effective advocate as well as a perceptive editorial adviser for his clients.
In sixteen years as an agent, Hornfischer has handled many New York Times bestsellers (including three #1's) and several winners of and finalists for major book prizes.
Take advantage of the reduced conference rates through April 5th: $389 members/$449 nonmembers.
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Spotlight on Spring Classes
Honing the Spark:
Mapping Out Your Revision
with Charlotte Gullick
Saturday, March 14, 2015
9 am to 3 pm
$99 members/ $159 nonmembers
St. Edward's University
Trustee Hall, Room 303
Austin, TX
Online Registration Closes at 5pm on
Thursday, March 12 or when class reaches capacity.
In this session, we will create a roadmap for what is needed to revise your current book-length draft into an engaging manuscript. We will assess what we have and what is needed and create plans for closing the gap, and at the same time, honor the initial spark that started the work. Participants are asked to bring the first 5 and last 5 pages of their current draft, as well as 5 middle pages. We will look for themes, primary symbols, and subplots to deepen or eliminate.
We will also explore our willingness (or lack thereof) to let go of current pages in order to create better ones.
This session is for any writer with a book-length manuscript in progress, regardless of genre.
Charlotte Gullick is a novelist, essayist, editor, educator and Chair of the Creative Writing Department at Austin Community College. A first-generation college graduate, she received her AA with High Honors from Santa Rosa Junior College, a BA with Honors in Literature/Creative Writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a MA in English/Creative Writing from the University of California, Davis. She began a MFA in Creative Nonfiction at the Institute of American Indian Arts in July 2014.
Charlotte's first novel, By Way of Water, was chosen by Jayne Anne Phillips as the Grand Prize winner of the Santa Fe Writers Project Literary Awards Program, and a special author's edition was reissued by the Santa Fe Writers Project in November of 2013. Charlotte's other awards include a Christopher Isherwood Fellowship for Fiction, a Colorado Council on the Arts Fellowship for Poetry, a MacDowell Colony Residency, Faculty of Year from College of the Redwoods as well as the Evergreen State College 2012 Teacher Excellence Award.
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