The Literary Social Calendar
WLT Events
Workshops and Classes
How a Great Novel Works with Amanda Eyre Ward, Saturday, December 1, 2012, from 9 am to Noon.
** SOLD OUT
He Said, She Said: The Art of Dialogue in Fiction with Sara Kocek, Saturday, December 8, 2012, from 1 to 4 pm.
** There are still spots available for Sara’s Class. Preregistration will be open until Tuesday, December 4. Walk-up registration may be available. Take advantage of your membership benefits before time runs out!
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The WLT 2013 Manuscript Contest is open for submissions!
Been slaving away on an unpublished manuscript that’s finally ready to see the light of day? Well, now’s your chance! You are invited to submit a 250-word synopsis and the first 2,500 words of your unpublished work to the League’s 13th annual Manuscript Contest. The winner in each category will meet individually with an agent at the 2013 Writers’ League of Texas Agents Conference, June 21 – 23, 2013. You do NOT have to be a member of the Writers’ League to enter this contest.
This contest gives you the chance to:
Attend a private meeting with a literary agent in your genre
Have your work professionally critiqued by a published author
Find out how your first ten pages rank against others in your genre
Be recognized at the 2013 WLT Agents Conference
For more information on the 2013 Writers’ League of Texas Manuscript Contest, visit our website.
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CALL FOR WLT HISTORIAN
The Writer’s League has a treasure trove of memorabilia from its 31-year history – photos, scrapbooks, old newsletters, etc. We are looking for an Austin-area member to serve as volunteer “historian” for the 
short term. He/she will sort through items, provide captions and identifying information for photos as possible, preserve scrapbooks and possibly compile new ones, scan pictures and articles for cloud storage, and deed certain items to the Austin History Center. No pay, but volunteer hours can earn free tickets to WLT classes and events. If you are interested in this position, please contact the League at wlt@writersleague.org or by phone at 512-499-8914.
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Big News! Chuck Sambuchino will be the Keynote Speaker for the 2013 Agents Conference! For more information on the amazing book editor, humor writer, and freelance editor, visit his website. The WLT 2013 Agents Conference is now up on the Writers’ League website. Registration is now available. Purchase your discounted rate through December 15!
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Sisters in Crime Event – Texas Search and Rescue
Greg Pyles, CEO of Texas Search and Rescue, Flood and Swiftwater Rescue, Disaster Response and Relief and Wildland Fire (TEXSAR) will be our December 9 speaker. TEXSAR is a volunteer, first responder organization based in Austin, Texas, that is able to deploy throughout the entire state. TEXSAR units are emergency response teams focusing on Search and Rescue (SAR), incident response and disaster response. TEXSAR is fortunate to have the technical support of the US Coast Guard and the US Air Force Search and Rescue software tools to guide resource needs and allocations. All TEXSAR personnel are National Incident Management System compliant, and the organization operates under the Incident Command Systems protocol. The units are self-sufficient and do not require financial or logistics support from requesting Agencies.
Greg Pyles has spent a little over 40 years in the delivery of public safety, security and was doing incident response and management before we called it that. More recently, Greg is currently responsible for safety, security and risk management for the Texas Lottery Commission, a Texas Department of Emergency Management and FEMA trainer delivering Incident Command System courses, Community Emergency Response Team trainer for Homeland Security, member of the Capital Area Incident Management Team (Type III), CEO of Texsar, Inc. (nonprofit disaster response organization) and frequently trains various City of Austin Department personnel, DPS Troopers and other first responders in topics including personal safety, search and rescue, Incident Command Systems and situational awareness.
Sisters in Crime Heart of Texas Chapter, meets monthly on the second Sunday of themonth at 2 p.m. Our meeting place will be changing since the Barnes & Noble of past meetings is closing. In December we will meet at the Lion and Rose Pub located at the southeast corner of Loop 360 and Bee Cave Road, in The Village at Westlake shopping center. It is a few doors down from our previous place of Barnes & Noble. The Dungeon room is reserved from 1:30 to 4:30, and lunch and/or drinks will be available if wanted.
Sisters in Crime is an international organization of women and men whose purpose is to promote mysteries written by women, and combat discrimination against women mystery authors. Speakers include published mystery authors and technical experts who help writers craft better mysteries and readers enjoy what they read. Meetings are free and open to all. For more information, check out the Sisters in Crime website at www.hotxsinc.org.
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Houston Writers’ Guild – Workshop
“The Self in Self-Publishing” with Enos Russell
December 1, 2012, 10:30am – 2:00pm @ Sugar Land Library
The goal of the 4-hour workshop (time out for lunch which will be furnished) is to provide writers with sufficient knowledge and tools to meet the requirements set by Amazon and Smashwords to Self-Publish, at little or no cost.
Topics include: Introduction to the concept of Marketing by Discovery, Content Development, Lists and links to recommended free tools and apps, Overviews of Deployment on Amazon, Createspace, and Smashwords, Discussion of additional content required for publishing
Participants will prepare content for use in the Self-Publication Part II workshop where they will discover how to publish their book within one hour of completing the manuscript.
FREE – to members who have paid their 2013 dues, $35 for non-members. Visit their website for more information.
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Austin Poetry Society Events
December 1, Saturday. 7 p.m. start, doors open at 6 p.m. Expressions features the Past Poetry Project : Tolkien with Garrison Martt and a preview of “Wassail!” with Darrel Mayers. All ages reading. Admission–a dish for the pot luck supper at the interval and cans of food for Poets Pantry. Baha’i Center, 2215 E.M. Franklin Ave., austinbahai.org.
December 3 and 17 (1st and 3rd Mondays), 7:30 p.m. Austin Salon Poetic, hosted by Michael Aarron Casares. Headhunters Club, 720 Red River, Austin.
December 7, Friday. The Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center and Red Salmon Arts present the Flor De Nopal Workshop and Reading Series 2012. Flor De Nopal Literary Festival 2012. Email flordenopal@gmail.com to reserve your spot at MACC, 600 River Street, free. For more info, please visit www.flordenopalliteraryfestival.wordpress.com.
December 9th, 6:00-8:00 p.m. Austin Writers Roulette is a monthly culturally diverse evening of reading and performing original written works (play excerpts, poetry, essays, etc.) Each month has a theme, and in December, it’s Circles: recurring themes, patterns, cycles, death-rebirth. Every second Sunday at Capoeira Evolucao Studio, 2015 E. Riverside #7B (behind Emo’s). Email Teresa the selection(s) you wish to read/perform along with the corresponding theme(s) at mathdreads@yahoo.com.
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Austin Public Library Events
Holiday Open House and Gift Sale – Saturday, December 8 from 12 noon to 5 p.m.
Austin History Center 810 Guadalupe St. | 512-974-7480
Join us at 1:30 p.m. to meet Ralph Yznaga, author of Living Witness: Historic Trees of Texas. At 2:30 p.m. there will be a concert and sing-along with the Shape Notes Singers. At 3:30 p.m. meet John Slate, author of Lost Austin. The Austin History Center will have historic photographs for sale, used and Rare Texana books and ephemera, and even some Austin related historic artifacts (who wouldn’t love an old Aquafest skipper pin in their stocking?). Also, The Austin History Center Association will be selling items from Waterloo Press, including a new line of note cards, O. Henry items, books, and more.
Open House and Vintage Book Sale – Saturday, December 15 from 12 noon to 6:00 p.m.
Recycled Reads Bookstore 5335 Burnet Rd. | 512-323-5123
Join us for live music all afternoon from local Austin Musicians, ornament and gift-wrap demonstrations and a bow bar for to wrap gifts. All proceeds benefit the Austin Public Library. Recycled Reads encourages Austinites to have a Green, affordable Holiday season by purchasing and making gifts locally.
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Barnes & Noble Invites Children of All Ages To Take a Ride on The Polar Express at a Magical Holiday Event!
Cookies, Cocoa and Crafts Will Add to the Festivities on Friday, December 7th, at 7 p.m.
Children of all ages are invited to don their pajamas and “wind their way to the North Pole” through a reading of the holiday classic. Cookies, hot cocoa, crafts and other activities will round out the festivities.
“The Polar Express is one of our most popular national Storytime events,” said Sarah DiFrancesco, Director of Community Relations for Barnes & Noble. “Each store puts its own creative spin on this holiday classic, making it extra fun for the booksellers and the customers.”
Where: Barnes & Noble at the Arboretum
10,000 Research Blvd; 78759
When: Friday, December 7th; 7:00 p.m.
The Polar Express Storytime event is free and open to the public. For further details, contact any Barnes & Noble store, or visit Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com).
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WLT wishes all of you a Happy Holiday! May you get some writing done over the break and crack open that Eggnog.
– WLT
