TheFinalTwistWriters

ANNOUNCEMENTS

At previous meetings and events...

The annual business meeting and election of officers was held on January 7, 2012.  Local novelist Pauline Baird Jones discussed solutions to marketing issues for writers and shared insights into her latest projects. http://paulinebjones.server101.com/perilous-paulines-books.html

The Final Twist celebrated the holidays with the launch of  the latest group anthology, "Underground Texas", on December 3rd, at 13 Celsius. Writers signed books and gave short readings from their stories.

Short story authors signed copies of "Twisted Tales of Texas Landmarks" on November 12th at Murder by the Book, 2342 Bissonnet. The booksigning  featured a panel discussion led by President Laura Elvebak with contributions by several authors about their inspiration for the stories in this collection. Texas-themed refreshments -- the baking creations of writer Bridget Haines, who is debuting her talent for writing short stories next year -- were a spectacular addition to the evening.

Mystery novelist and short story writer Laura Elvebak was the featured speaker at The Final Twist Writers Society on Saturday, November 5. She discussed the content of several writers' seminars at writing conferences such as Bouchercon, and MWA-University. Her notes from a special local talk by an FBI Profiler were particularly helpful for mystery writers.

Maggie Galehouse, Book Editor with the Houston Chronicle, was the featured speaker at the October meeting of The Final Twist Writers Society.  Ms. Galehouse gave us fascinating insights on the selection process for writing book reviews for major newspapers. She holds a Ph.D. in English from Temple University in Philadelphia and has worked as a news reporter and book reviewer for the New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer and Washington Post.

Christie Craig was our featured speaker in September. Ms. Craig discussed her multi-faceted career as an adult romance and young adult paranormal romance writer, photo journalist, magazine feature writer and writing teacher, as well as the particulars of characterization and motivation. Her romance fiction has been described as “witty humor with a suspenseful, sexy tone.” Many of our writers took the opportunity to purchase Craig’s books following the meeting and to have them autographed. Christie's website is at http://www.christie-craig.com/, where you can read about her latest release, Don't Mess With Texas.

In July, we met off-site - at the National Museum of Funeral History, one of Houston's most unusual and maybe funkiest landmarks. It was a fascinating museum, large and full of extremely interesting objects that should inspire almost any writer. The museum opens at 10 a.m. and is located off North I-45, exit Airtex Drive and go west. If you didn't attend, you owe it to yourself to go on your own.

Here's a link with a map and directions.
http://www.nmfh.org/directions/index.html

The address is

The National Museum of Funeral History
415 Barren Springs Drive
Houston, TX 77090

At the June meeting, Dr. Tom Carter, a Jungian psychologist, presented a highly informative and enlightening discussion on the topic of Jungian depth psychological therapy and dream analysis. He will be conducting a class in dream interpretation this fall, to which area writers are invited.

At the April meeting, member Jim Davis described the economics of self-publishing by referencing MOTORCYCLE SAFETY AND DYNAMICS, Vol. I, which was just published by The Master Strategy Group. A discussion of the many details involved in setting up layouts, meeting printer specifications, and managing the sales of this reference book followed.

At the March meeting, members discussed the book conventions they have attended recently, the benefits they obtained from attending, and what to expect this year.

In February, Lucy Riggs, a professional illustrator with 30 years experience in architectural renderings and other projects, talked to the members about how illustrators deal with text to bring it to life in pictures.

Authors signed Twisted Tales of Texas Landmarks at our book launch November 13th at 13 Celcius Wine Bar, 3000 Caroline.

The October meeting was superceded by a 'field trip' to the Museum of Printing History. Charles Criner, resident print artist at the Museum of Printing History, gave a terrific guided tour through the museum.

Our September meeting featured a talk about Politics among Police Agencies; plus Why You Want to Make Your Sleuth a Customs Agent; and other topics in the criminal justice arena, from Larry Karson, retired U.S. Customs Agent and lecturer in the criminal justice program at University of Houston-Downtown. It was GREAT!

At our August meeting, we were delighted to have David Thompson join us to talk about the bookselling business, Busted Flush Press (his publishing company), and share stories of his 20 years at Murder By the Book.

At our June and July 2010 meetings, we discussed the rewrite process and a series of interviews by award-winning fiction writers about how they do it.

Our speaker for the May meeting was Dee Blackwell, who provided useful guidelines and hand-outs about the details of editing a manuscript.

Our speaker for the April 3rd meeting was our own Charlotte Phillips, whose topic was Publishers, Editors and Printing.

Business meetings this Spring focused on development and adoption of our Bylaws.

The Final Twist will not meet in December, as is customary. Happy Holidays to all!

Our 2009 anthology, A Box of Texas Chocolates, has won Best Anthology of 2009 at the New England Book Festival!

Our speaker for the November 7 meeting was Mylene Dressler. Mylene put together a special version of "The Art of Inspiration" for us, in which we focused on building and harnessing our inner narratives of aspiration so that they flow powerfully outward in the narratives we construct and share with the world. The program also included a frank talk about keeping our spirits up as we get through this rather depressed period in publishing, as well as about the larger role of the writer in a culture/country facing difficult times. For more information on Mylene, check out her website: http://www.redroom.com/author/mylene-dressler

The Final Twist Writers took photos in period costume, October 17th, for the "Wanted Posters" to use at the Chocolate Festival in Rockdale.

Our speaker at the October 3 meeting was Officer Michael Collins with HPD, who studied with Edward Albee and who is writing a teen mystery novel. He says he loves being a cop and has met all kinds of people. His father, also named Michael Collins, is an internationally famous painter, BTW, and his grandfather Lowell Collins painted, collected art, and owned a gallery here.

Release party for A Box of Texas Chocolates, our 2009 anthology, was September 24.