Hot off our warm winter event in San Diego (“chance of cloud, tanning likely”), the debate that began opening evening at SD28—whether 50% length of a Kindle book is enough or 100% is too much—still rages. With our fall conference nearly seven months away, we’ll leave it open for discussion. Meanwhile, there’s much good “muse” to report in the way of new books just out, or coming out shortly, all written by SCWC conferees. Among them, E.V. Fairfall’s Transformed, the fantastical YA tale of young Thea, who’s forced to break God’s one rule and forsake her animal form in order to become human, only to fall in love with the one thing she hates: a hunter. Yikes!
Next up, this week marks the release of Barbara Garren’s debut contemporary romance, Infinite Potential. Book 1 in her Phasms Trilogy—inked in a sweet 3-book deal with Entranced Publishing—it tells the story of young widow Kelsi Thomas, haunted by memories of her dead husband and desperate to distinguish reality from the guilty pleasure of the stranger that fills her sleep. Nice job, Barbara.
Evan Ramspot’s follow-up to the first novel in his Plagued series, The Midamerica Zombie Half-Breed Experiment, is next on deck. Plagued II: The Rock Island Zombie Counteractant Experiment is out both in print and paperless come March, 2014. SCWCer Kendall Roderick, a writer and graphic designer, did the jackets for both titles. You can check out her other covers and availability here.
In April we’ll see the awaited publication of Tonilyn Hornung’s How to Raise a Husband: A Whole Bunch of Ways to Build a Strong and Happy Marriage, out from Conair Press. Her manuscript earned the Outstanding Non-Fiction Award at LA8 and nabbed an agent on the spot, a mere three years ago.
And in May, David Putnam, a San Diego SCWCer from way back, will see the hardcover release of his debut novel, The Disposable, from Oceanview. Best-selling authors Michael Connelly and T. Jefferson Parker are giving it raves and we can’t wait for the release, or for David to tell us all about it.
Where You Will Be
LA12 (in Newport Beach, again) will offer the usual full slate of SCWC-centric read & critique, craft-oriented and business-savvy workshops. In the wake of SD28’s introduction of several new ones, we’ll also be devoting plenty of time and attention to the biggest rip so many writers are rending today: the choice to go fully indie, to pursue legacy, or to go hybrid when possible. As we all know, just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Where you are with your work come September, where you want it to be afterward, that’s what we’ll be dealing with. What we’ll not be doing is settling for anything—or anyone—aiming to settle for anything less than exceptional.
All that said, Early “Bard” Pre-registration is now open. Sign up for the Full Conference or Drusilla Campbell’s NovelCram immersion track (which includes all Special Guest Speakers, State of the Agent panel and Rogue workshops) today and save a whopping $75.
For just a little taste of the stories you’ll hear and what nifty nuggets of useful information you’ll glean at SCWC, check out this clip of LA11 Special Guest Speaker Leslie Lehr (What a Mother Knows) then join your greater SCWC .COMmunity on our Facebook page.
—Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC
