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MEETINGS
Tap into the Writer’s Muse and Stoke Your Creative Flames
Dave Lieber knows tried and true methods to evoke the occasion every writer dreams of
having: the moment it all becomes clear and creativity flows. He’s an expert on opening the door to the writer’s soul and will share a series of techniques — tap into artistic ideas you never knew you had — at the February IABC meeting.
Lieber has entertained and informed readers with his stories for 30 years. The “Yankee Cowboy” is an award-winning columnist for the Star-Telegram and also co-founded Summer Santa, Inc., one of the largest children’s charities in North Texas. As a boy growing up in Manhattan, he hosted a live NBC television show Saturday
mornings and sang in the Metropolitan Opera children’s chorus. He says he peaked at age 14.
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24
Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor
Cost: members $25, nonmembers $30, students $20 (online add $1)
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The Good Life Rules! Being Your Best at Work and Play
It’s February. It’s cold. You’ve already broken your New Year’s resolutions. You’re unmotivated at work. Maybe you need some Bryan Dodge, a nationally known author, speaker and host of WBAP-AM’s weekly “Build a Better You” show, whose message — life is good and growth is essential — could boost you out of the doldrums, kick 2009 into gear and help you be the
best you can be. Attendees at the February PRSA meeting can hear it for
themselves.
Dodge’s latest book, published by McGraw-Hill, is “The Good Life Rules: Eight Keys to Being Your Best at Work and at Play.” His presentation on professional and personal development focuses on three
areas:
• Have your best year ever.
• Create consistent upward movement in your life.
• Harness the power of personal energy and tap its unlimited supply.
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11 (program at noon)
Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor
Cost: $25 members, $30 nonmembers, students $20
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No professional development meeting in February, but volunteers are welcome at
the Careers in Journalism/Mass Communication Conference at the TCU Moudy Communication Center.
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STRAIGHT STUFF
OpenTheGovernment.org director Patrice McDermott, an expert on government secrecy and what’s being done to combat it, will keynote Fort Worth SPJ’s 6th annual First Amendment Awards and Scholarship Dinner, April 17 at Cacharel in Arlington. Deadline for both the awards competition and scholarship application is Feb. 11. ...
In an attempt to spread the news to lay audiences, the Mensa Press Award
recognizes excellence in writing about human intelligence and giftedness.
Applicants need not be members of Mensa to win. Newspaper or magazine articles
published within two years prior to the March 1 submission date should be
mailed, with a cover letter, to Mensa Press Award, Mensa Foundation, 1229
Corporate Drive W., Arlington, TX 76006-6103. Direct questions to Jill Beckham, Mensa Foundation director, at jillb@americanmensa.org. ...
If there’s anything better than a paid newsroom internship, it’s a paid newsroom internship in Hawaii. The state’s SPJ chapter is sponsoring 11 full- and part-time paid internships at various
news outlets, encompassing print and broadcast media. Application deadline is
Feb. 17. Contact Craig DeSilva with questions: cdesilva@hotmail.com or 808-282-1038. ...
Karen Harrington and Robert Rummel-Hudson will present “A Year in the Life of Two Debut Authors” at the Writers’ Guild of Texas meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 16, at the Richardson Public
Library, 900 Civic Center Drive. UT Dallas grad Harrington is a Texas native
who has written fiction for more than 20 years and has been lauded by the
Hemingway Short Story Festival, the Texas Film Institute Screenplay Contest and
the Writer’s Digest National Script Contest. Her psychological suspense novel “Janeology” details a man’s quest to understand the wife he thought he knew after she snaps and commits a
murder. Rummel-Hudson is the author of “Schuyler’s Monster: A Father’s Journey with His Wordless Daughter,” the tale of a little girl who silently teaches a man filled with self-doubt
(the author) how to be the father she needs. Rummel-Hudson has been writing
online since 1995; his work has been recognized by the Diarist Awards and
featured in The Irish Times and Good Housekeeping, as well as on American
Public Radio’s “Weekend America.” WGT third-Monday early-birds: March 16,
Barry Shlachter, Savory House Press, Great Texas Line Press; April 20, Barbara Blanks, aka St. Flossie, on making your writing sparkle. More from writersguildoftexas.org/ or from organizer Carol Woods.
