Beyond the dog days – fall lit events coming to North Texas!

Is it too early to talk about autumn? With temperatures here in Dallas still flirting with the 100-degree mark, the realization that fall’s abundance of literary events is around the corner, gives me an incentive to crawl out of my air-conditioned hibernation, beginning this weekend with:

August 24: The African American Museum at Fair Park, Dallas, hosts the Tulisoma Book Fair,10 a.m. – 4 p.m. – but stay for a Hip Hop Gospel Extravaganza on the museum lawn from 4-6 p.m.! The literary festival includes panels, author talks, book signings and more. This year’s guest authors include Caldecott Honor-winning Carole Boston Weatherford and author/journalist ReShonda Tate Billingsley. Free. See the site for details. 

September 5: Dallas Museum of Art taps author Salman Rushdie to open its Arts & Letters Live 2019-2020 season. Booker Prize-winner Rushdie’s most recent book is Quichotte, a Don Quixote for the modern age. Tickets (including book copy) start at $60 for the public, $50 for students. This opener will be held in the Moody Performance Hall, 2520 Flora Street, Dallas. 

Wondering how the rest of the Arts & Letters season can compete with Rushdie’s opening? How about appearances by Tracy Chevalier, former U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Margaret Atwood, Ann Patchett, John Grisham, Tim O’Brien, and more!

image: Pixabay

Unless otherwise indicated, events will be in Horchow Hall of the DMA, 1717 N. Harwood, Dallas. Ticket prices vary for events. See the site for complete schedule.

September 20-22: FenCon, the science fiction/fantasy convention showcases a plethora of area and regional authors, at the Sheraton DFW Airport, 44440 W. John Carpenter Freeway, Irving. Programming includes gaming, panels, author talks and signings, costumery, and more. Weekend tickets online and by mail: $45 by September 1, $50 at the door. Discounted tickets available for children (ages 6-12) and young adults (ages 13-21). See the site for details.

September 24: Richardson Reads One Book features Texas author Attica Locke’s Edgar-winning mystery novel Bluebird, Bluebird, 7:30 p.m., in the auditorium of Richardson High School, 1250 West Beltline Road, in Richardson, Texas. Free tickets available at the Richardson Library, 900 Civic Center Drive, in Richardson, starting at 9 a.m. September 3. See the site for details.

October 4-5: Roanoke Writers’ Conference, Roanoke Public Library, 308 South Walnut Street, Roanoke, Texas. Keynote speaker is award-winning author Sanderia Faye. Keep your eye on the site for details and registration opening September 2.

October 8-November 7: Authors LIVE! opens its fall season at 7 p.m. with Stephen Harrigan’s presentation of his latest book, Big Wonderful Thing: A History of Texas, in Wesley Hall of Highland Park United Methodist Church, 3300 East Mockingbird Lane, Dallas. See the site for calendar and details. All programs are free or make reservations for an author’s reception at 6 p.m. for $30 (includes meal and signed copy of book). Register for the reception at stanfordr@hpumc.org.  

October 12-13: If you’re a writer (or wonder what they do when not pecking on a keyboard), hie thee to Writers in the Field for expert advice, demonstrations and activities in weapons, period clothing, military life, medicine, horse handling, crime scene investigation and more. Weekend passes $65, primitive campground available on site for $25 (payable at registration), or check into local hostelries for 21^st century comfort! See the site for details and tickets. 

October 26-27: The statewide bookapalooza, Texas Book Festival, features hundreds of nationally and critically recognized authors for adults and children, exhibitors, food trucks, family activities, and more. Most events are on the grounds of the State Capitol Building in Austin. The south entrance facing 11^th Street is the busiest, so consider trying the north, east or west entrances if lines on 11^th Street get lengthy -- they probably will!

Entrance to the capitol grounds is free, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. October 26; 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. October 27. Additional festival venues include The Contemporary Austin, 700 Congress Avenue, and First United Methodist Church Sanctuary at 1201 Lavaca Street. A Saturday evening Lit Crawl takes place in venues in and around East Cesar Chavez. See the site for details.

October 31-November 3: Bouchercon 2019 welcomes local and international authors of mystery, thriller, and crime writing to Dallas for its “Denim, Diamonds, and Death” presentation. At the Hyatt Regency in downtown Dallas. Registration is $175, with special hotel room rates available to attendees. Guest authors include James Patterson, North Texas writer Deborah Crombie, Sandra Brown, Charlaine Harris, and more! Check out the site for registration and details.

November 1-30: NaNoWriMo all month long! Write from your home or with friends. See the site for details in your area. 

November 11-12: It’s not often that a theological conference makes my list of literary events, but the annual convocation of the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University is known to add literary figures to its list of keynote speakers. This year’s speakers include best-selling travel author Rick Steves, November 11, 7:30 - 9 p.m. in McFarlin Auditorium on the SMU campus, 6405 Boaz Lane, followed by a book signing. Tickets for Steves’ lecture only are $15. A printed receipt is required for entry, and no payments can be accepted at the door. 

See the site for details, including other keynote speakers and complete schedule. 

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But, you ask, where are the writing contests? I’ll give them a post of their own – as well as tidbits from the recent ArmadilloCon and online Mystery and Thriller Summit.

Spring literary events start to flow in Texas

Yes, it’s still winter, but sap is rising in the trees, the days are getting longer, and so is the list of spring literary events across Texas! I’ll run a later post on contests, but here’s a sample of festivals and conferences to get your writing juices flowing.

Now – January 31: OK, I said no contests, but the Writers’ League of Texas Manuscript Contest is a biggie, with multiple categories, and first prize in each being FREE admission to the League’s 2019 Agents & Editors Conference, June 27-30, in Austin. Also, chances to meet one on one with a top literary agent in your genre and public recognition at the conference for winners and finalists. All participants also can opt to receive specific written feedback on their work. Fees are $55 for WLT members, $65 for nonmembers, or if you wish to opt out of feedback, $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers. See the site for details.

January 27-May 13: The Dallas Museum of Arts Arts & Letters Live programs run for their 28^th season, with dozens of acclaimed authors, performers and artists. See the site for events, locations and tickets.

February 6-11: Pitch Wars agent showcase isn’t in Texas, but aren’t you curious what the winners look like? Here’s a chance to pick your favs on Twitter from the comfort of your sofa! See the site for details.

February 15-17: Science fiction/fantasy convention ConDFW, Radisson Hotel Fort Worth Fossil Creek, 2540 Meacham Blvd., Fort Worth. ConDFW welcomes back guests of honor Charlaine Harris and Yoon Ha Lee. Harris’s bestselling novels have inspired the TV series True Blood and Midnight, Texas; as well as Hallmark movies. Lee’s books have garnered awards and recognition from Locus, Nebula, Hugo and Clarke awards. (By the way, he returns to North Texas for the North Texas Teen Book Festival later this spring.) Three-day registration is $40 for adults (plus online service charge) through January 31. Add $5 for at-door entry. Discounted registration is available for accompanied children, students, and military members. See the site for program details.

February 21: Couldn’t get enough Black Panther? Check out the Highland Park Literary Festival, whose keynote speaker Nnedi Okorafor wrote the book. Literally. An author of Africa-based science fiction and fantasy for children and adults, Okorafor wrote Black Panther: Long Live the King for Marvel comics, among other award-winning volumes. Hear her keynote address at 7 p.m., followed by a book signing at Highland Park High School, 4220 Emerson, Dallas. Free and open to the public. 

sap buckets: pixabay

March 18-April 24: Author DL Hammons’ WRiTE CLUB returns for its 8^th season. Yes, I’m sneaking in another contest, but partly because Hammons has already put out a request for judges (aka, slushpile readers) to winnow the expected 200-250 entries down to 30 for the readers’ favorite writing bouts. Please note that judges may not be WRiTE CLUB contestants. Interested? Check the site, and if you’re game, contact Hammons at writeclub2019@gmail.com. (And stay tuned for more on this fast and fun contest!)

March 22-23: North Texas Teen Book Festival, Irving Convention Center, 500 Las Colinas Blvd, Irving. Not just dozens but (and I love a chance to use this word) SCORES of middle grade and young adult authors make appearances. March 22 is Educator Day, March 23 is the free and free-for-all public festival day. Go, bring your kids (or your parents) and marvel at how enthusiastic young readers can be! Check the site for complete lists of authors (so far) and program details. 

March 23-24: WORDfest/WORDfield, Tarrant County College Northeast Campus, (Student Union Building), 838 Harwood Dr., Hurst. This year, WORDfest, that inspirational, informational gathering of writers from dozens of North Texas writing organizations will also include presenters from last October’s Writers in the Field event. Due to epic fall rains, many WITF presenters weren’t able to well, present. So they’ll return at the combined WORDfest/WORDfield event. It’s all free but register to reserve a place. And check out the site for extra for-fee goodies!

March 26: Authors LIVE! returns for its spring season with Gretchen Rubins’ Outer Order/Inner Calm, 7 p.m., in Wesley Hall of the Highland Park United Methodist Church, 3300 E. Mockingbird, Dallas. Free, or register for a meet-the-author preview (including signed book copy) for $30. See the site for details.

May 27-June 2: Writefest, the week-long festival presented by the Houston Writers’ Guild and Writespace, returns with workshops, panels, agents and editors, and more. Much is still in progress, including costs and sites of the May 27-30 workshops. Weekend festival and book fair will be at the Anderson-Clarke Center, Rice Glasscock School of Continuing Education, 6100 Main St., Houston. Check the site for upcoming information.

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Something seems to be missing? Sad to report, the weekend-long, lollapalooza Dallas Book Festival is no more, due to lack of sponsorship. However, stay tuned for smaller events in conjunction with the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture and Friends of the Dallas Library.

Springing up – more fall writing events plus contests!

Oh, the things I didn’t know about (or that didn’t yet have information available) when I posted last month about fall literary events in Texas! And now, there’s writing contest information as well.

September 12: Authors LIVE! returns with infantry veteran and Pulitzer Prize winner C.J. Chivers' The Fighters, 7 p.m., in Wesley Hall of Highland Park United Methodist Church, 3300 E. Mockingbird Land, Dallas. The series continues October 29 and December 6. All presentations are free, or register for an author’s reception beforehand for $30. See the site for additional information. 

image: pixabay

September 17-October 30:  Writers Guild of Texas flash fiction contest. No cost for first entry by WGT members, $15 for additional entries (up to 3 maximum). Entry fee for nonmembers $35 (which includes membership in the Guild), $15 per additional entry. Cash prizes and publication in the Guild newsletter for winners. See the site for details.

September 21-22: Conference of the North Texas Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), at the Crown Plaza Hotel, 14315 Midway Roads, Addison. Agents and editors, award-winning authors and illustrators. New this year: critique round table and first pages contest for picture book, middle grade and young adult. Tickets $200 for SCBWI member, $225 for nonmembers. 

October 5-6: Roanoke Writers Conference returns to the Roanoke Public Library, 308. S. Walnut Street, Roanoke, Texas, with multiple craft sessions plus flash fiction writing contests for adults and teens. Two-day tickets $55 for adults, $40 for teens; Saturday only (October 6) $35 adults, $20 for teens.  

October 17: DFW Writers Bloc, October 17, 2-4 p.m., features Liese Sheerwood-Fabre, on the art and marketing of short stories, in Dallas Public Library’s Laurie Evans Studio (3^rd floor). Free, but reserve a seat through the website. 

October 20: Houston Writers Guild's Indiepalooza returns 8 a.m. – 4 p.m., at Rice University and kickoff-social October 19 at Hotel Ylem. New this year – sessions on songwriting and screenwriting. See the site for details and registration.

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Still to come – Writers League of Texas 2019 manuscript contest, with information probably available in October. 

And – Save the date – October 31- November 3, 2019, for mystery convention Bouchercon, which celebrates its 50^th anniversary in Dallas Halloween weekend, October 31-November 3, 2019. Guests of honor include James Patterson, Dallas-area author Deborah Crombie, and more. Registration $150 through the end of 2018, $175 in 2019. See the site for much, much more information. 

When the weather’s frightful, make tracks for lit events

Readings, conferences, contests – let the new year of Texas literary events begin! I’m listing a sample, in order of urgency. Don’t let frightful weather keep you from venturing out.

Now – March 18: Dallas Mavs winter reading challenge for kids 0-18. Family members can help kids too young to read by reading to them. Register here or at any Dallas library branch for fun and prizes.

January 18: Authors LIVE! continues with its first author appearance of 2018. Melanie Benjamin will discuss and sign The Girls in the Picture at 7 p.m. at Highland Park United Methodist Church, 3300 Mockingbird Lane, Dallas. Free, or choose a reservation-only reception at 6 p.m. for $30, which includes a copy of the book. Contact 214-523-2240 for reservations/more information, or visit the site for additional Authors LIVE! programs.

image: pixabay

January 18: Love PBS’s drama series, “Victoria”? The Dallas Museum of Art presents “Victoria” producer Daisy Goodwin at 7:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church of Dallas, 1928 Ross Ave., as part of its Arts & Letters Live series. This one will set you back $40. Discounts available for museum members, KERA members, students and educators. See the DMA’s site for tickets and more Arts & Letters Live appearances.

January 23: Interabang Books, 10720 Preston Road, Suite 1009B (in the shopping center at the corner of Preston and Royal), Dallas, hosts a panel of local authors from 7 – 9 p.m. on “Building Your Writing Community: How to Find Writing Groups & Support Other Writers.” Free, courtesy of the Texas Writers’ League. See the League’s site for a complete list of programs.

January 27-28: Need more bookishness? The Dallas Central Library, 1515 Young St., hosts its gargantuan semi-annual book sale. 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. January 27, 1-4 p.m. January 28. Or join the Friends of the Dallas Public Library for a January 26 first dibs preview.

January 31: This is the deadline for the Texas Writers’ League’s 2018 Manuscript Contest. Show them the (approximately) first 10 pages of your unpublished manuscript, get written critiques and a chance to win both free admission to the League’s 2018 Agents and Editors Conference this summer and a session with a literary agent in your genre. See the League’s site for details and contest fees.

February 8-10: Lone Star Ink  hosts its premiere literary conference at the Dallas Central Library,1515 Young St., Dallas. Cost is $125 for two full days of workshops plus Friday keynote address. And remember – if you’ve already signed up for Lone Star’s first pages contest, entries are due January 20! See the site for details and a list of instructors and editors.

February 16-18: North Texas science fiction/fantasy conference ConDFW welcomes author guest of honor Charlaine Harris (Southern Vampire series), at Radisson Fossil Creek hotel, 2540 Meacham Blvd., Fort Worth. Three-day tickets for adults $35, kids (ages 6-12) $15, with discounts for educators and military members. See the site for details.

February 22:  The Highland Park Literary Festival hosts Pulitzer Prize-winning author Adam Johnson (The Orphan Master’s Son) at Highland Park High School, 4220 Emerson, Dallas. Johnson gives the festival’s keynote address at 7 p.m., with book signing to follow from 8-8:45 p.m. Free and open to the public.

February 28: Deadline for the new book award contest of the Writers’ League of Texas, for books published in 2017. See the site  for details and contest fees.

March 12: DL Hammons announces the return of WRiTE Club, the readers’-favorite, knock-‘em-dead contest writing contest. He’d also appreciate a little help from his friends – judges to sort through the slushpile of 500-word contest entries. See the WRiTE Club site for details.

Whew – that’s all for now, folks! Stay warm, and I'll see you later at this site for spring events.

A Texas literary perspective on late, crazy year of 2017

Hallowed writers thronged North Texas venues, a beloved writing haven found its forever home, and book festivals abounded during 2017. To commemorate those brighter points in a wild and crazy year, I’ve compiled excerpts of favorite posts from the first half of this year. Tomorrow -- stay tuned for the second half.

1/20/17: Writing tips from a quartet of Texas greats

Considering how many books, magazine articles, television scripts they’ve written, listeners at the recent Authors LIVE! “Four Great Texas Writers” program featuring Texas writers H.W. Brands, S.C. Gwynne, Stephen Harrigan and Lawrence Wright understandably wondered how the foursome kept track of everything. What ultra-sophisticated program did they use? And by the way, can it help the rest of us as well?

For some, the answer is something as simple as . . . notecards.

OK, Brands admitted that after decades of teaching, he knows enough about most of his subjects (presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Reagan and Eisenhower, General Douglas McArthur, et al) to keep many of his notes in an even more low-tech system – his brain.

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2/7/17 Writer’s Garret back and better than ever 

Dallas literary institution, the Writer’s Garret, welcomed a standing-room crowd to its new quarters at Metropolitan Press, 1250 Majesty Dr., with an open house, readings, and discounts on new classes. The Garret’s new space at Metropolitan Press includes office, reception, and supply space, as well as a common room where the open house was help, and other spaces shared with Metropolitan Press’s other tenants. In addition to printing services, Metropolitan Press provides office space for a number of nonprofit organizations, and a rotating gallery of work by local artists. 

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2/21/17 Barnstorming small libraries with Texas Writes 

There were maybe a dozen of us along the sides of the long tables at Lindale’s Lillie Russell Memorial Library, with eager pens and notebooks at the ready. There were two of them on the other side of the tables – Jeramey Kraatz (author of The Cloaked Society trilogy and the upcoming Space Runners series) and Liz Garton Scanlon (author of Caldecott Honor book All the World, as well as Bob, not Bob!, A Sock is a Pocket for Your Toes, and more). Make that three, counting Jo Virgil, in Lindale to represent Texas Writes, a program of The Writers’ League of Texas that brings accomplished authors to rural Texas libraries for a series of free presentations and discussions. 

Kraatz writes middle grade fiction and Scanlon writes picture books, but in many ways their discussions have broader implications for all genres. Starting with that impetus for all stories, conflict. Or as Kraatz terms it, “Trouble Talk.” 

No matter how much we try to avoid it in our lives, “trouble is interesting in story,” Kraatz told our audience. Conflict is a way to guide readers through a story. And for writers, it provides a means for working through a project when we’re stuck, and as a key to self-assessing our writing. 

“How do you look at your writing objectively? How do you tell if it’s working?” One way to answer both questions is to ask: “how is the overall conflict of the story being addressed in this particular section.”

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3/7/17 North Texas Teen Book Festival: laughing at what scares us 

It was billed as a middle-grade panel entitled Guys Read: Terrifying Tales. But the crowd packing into the auditorium at Saturday’s North Texas Teen Book Festival boasted plenty of female attendees, and plenty more obviously older than the term “middle-grade reader” (generally, 8-12 year-olds) would indicate.  

Even I, significantly past the age of middle grade readers, recognized the major-name panelist – R.L. Stine, author of the long-running Goosebumps series of kid-version horror that has been sending shivers up the spines of young readers for 25 years. He was joined by fellow horror writer Adam Gidwitz and moderator Jon Scieszka (rhymes with “Fresca). 

Gidwitz’s writings include both a Star Wars book and fractured versions of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales. His latest, The Inquisitor’s Tale, features three kids on a quest, facing enemies such as a dragon whose plentiful farts are not only smelly but deadly, and aided by dog, “recently brought back from the dead,” its jaws clenched around a Newbery Honor award, one of the accolades given by the American Library Association for outstanding children’s literature.  

Stine insisted that he was too shy as a youngster to interact with others, so he dragged a typewriter into his room and spent all his time writing. “My mother stood outside the door and told me to go out and play. Good thing I didn’t listen to her.” 

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5/9/17 Tragedy + Time = Comedy: The essential Stephanie Klein 

How had I lived so long and gone to so many writing conferences without running into blogger/memoirist/TV script writer Stephanie Klein, the petite New Yorker with a head of wild copper-colored curls who was the keynote speaker at the 2017 DFW Writers Conference in Dallas.

The popularity of her original blog, Greek Tragedy, focused on life after her divorce. Its popularity gained her the title “Internet Queen of Manhattan,” and led to the publication of her first book, Straight Up and Dirty: A Memoir, about moving on after divorce. 

So, how does a magna cum laude graduate of Barnard College, who married the “mensch-next door” move on after her perfect marriage came to a bitter end? Wildly. Detailed on her blog with the bone-deep honesty that she recommends for memoirists. Well, that and what she called “the observational stuff. . . what the artist notices that makes the good story. Not the expected, not the cliché."