Wordcraft -- Another word about writers conferences

I discussed writing conferences January 4 (“Writing conferences in heart of Texas"), but with the Houston Writers Guild convention coming up this weekend, April 13-14, an update seems in order. (Notice some of the prices are up -- usually the earlier you register, the better.)

Walk-up registrations are available for the Houston-area conference through Friday, April 13. Cost is $140 for both days, with one-day options, and an extra charge for agent consultations. Friday’s afternoon program is on self-publishing, at the Marriott Sugar Land hotel, 16090 City Walk, in Sugar Land.

Saturday’s programs are at Sugar Land Baptist Church, 16755 Southwest Freeway, with a full day of information sessions, including a mystery writers’ track. See
www.houstonwritersguild.org,/ for additional information, completed schedule, and list of agents.

The DFW Writers’ Conference, May 19-20 will be at the Hurst, Texas, Conference Center, 1601 Campus Drive. Regular registration costs $325 through April 19. Late registration through the May 19 opening date is $350. The price includes one consultation with an agent. Thriller writer James Rollins will give the keynote address. Check it out at www.dfwwritersconference.org/.

The Writers League of Texas convention in Austin, June 22-24, is the big one, at the Hyatt Regency, 208 Barton Springs Road. Registration is $429 for nonmembers through April 30, or $439 for the new YA A to Z track. See www.writersleague.org/ for additional information and prices for agent conferences.

The North Texas Christian Writers Conference is scheduled June 22-23 at the Bethesda Community Church, 4700 North Beach St., Haltom City, Texas. Reduced registration is available before May 15. I have not attended this one, but many of the classes seem applicable to general fiction and memoir writing. See
www.ntchristianwriters.com for details.

Nonfiction writers will want to visit the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, July 20-22, at the Hilton DFW Lakes Executive Conference Center, 1800 State Highway 26, in Grapevine. Register by today, April 11, for a $20 discount off admission. Manuscript deadlines are June 8 for the biography writing contest and June 11 for writing competitions in personal essay, reported narrative, and book manuscript. See http://journalism.unt.edu/maybornconference/ .

Austin’s ArmadilloCon, July 27 -29, at the Renaissance Hotel, 9721 Arboretum Road, isn’t strictly a writing conference. But it includes a writers’ workshop July 27 for science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories, with instruction and feedback from writing
professionals as well as students. Cost is $75, which includes admission to the convention. Manuscript deadline is June 18. See
www.armadillocon.org for details.

Another sci-fi/fantasy convention, FenCon, at the Crowne Plaza North, 14315 Midway Road in Addison, Texas, September 21-23, includes a writing workshop and story contest. Writers especially who long for more emphasis on hard science fiction won’t want to miss this year’s workshop with futurist Karl Schroeder. See www.fencon.org/, where you can also check out details of FenCon’s short story contest, with manuscript deadline July 20. Registration for FenCon is $35 before June 1, plus $40 for the writing workshop.

Finally, although Worldcon isn’t in Texas -- yet -- you can help Hugo Award-nominee Mike Resnick write a story for the 2012 Worldcon (Chicon 7) convention. Resnick writes the first half, you write the rest. Deadline is May 15. See https://chicon.org for details. Resnick also happens to be a guest of honor at FenCon. (Thanks to http://deborahwalkersbibliography.blogspot.com for the information.)