Described as “John Grisham with a sister’s twist,” Pamela Samuels Young makes her SCWC debut in September. The award-winning author of such taught legal thrillers as Every Reasonable Doubt, In Firm Pursuit, Murder on the Down Low, and Buying Time–honored with a 2010 Fiction Award by The Black Caucus of the American Library Association–her books are immensely popular with readers everywhere, but it’s her path to publication where the real story lies. Full of insight and inspiration, she’ll tell us all about it, as well as her latest, Attorney-Client Privilege, out July from Goldman House.
No doubt you’ve heard plenty about HarperCollins digital imprint, Authonomy, derived from its online effort geared to “flush out the brightest, freshest new literature around.” Well, none other than Mary Vensel White is aboard for LA10. Her debut novel, The Qualities of Wood, was the first book chosen for publication based on nominations from the Authonomy writing community. A work of literary fiction bestowed the 2012 International Book Award, the challenges of crafting the novel proved unique enough–though pervasive throughout the writing community–that Mary’s put together a workshop right up the SCWC’s alley: “Outside Genre: How Story Trumps Convention.”
Speaking of community, both our .COMmunity and extended community of SCWCers, Janice Thomas is a familiar face to many regulars. Among our prized volunteers behind the registration desk the past two conferences, not only will she be introducing a new workshop, “Getting to the Heart of Women’s Fiction,” but also her debut novel from Berkely Books, Something New. The publication date isn’t until November, but we’re pretty sure we’ll get our little digits on some advance copies. Congratulations, Janice!
Another member of the community couldn’t have made us more proud than Sheri Fink, best-selling children’s book author of The Little Rose and The Little Gnome. Sheri took it upon herself to compile not one, but two Amazon Listmania lists of books that have come out from SCWCers in recent years. While in no manner complete, it offers up over 60 titles in almost every genre imaginable for your reading pleasure, including Jennifer Word’s debut novel, The Society, just out from Stony Meadow Publishing. Thank you, Sheri!
- Checkout Great Reads by Southern California Writers Conference Authors 1
- Checkout Great Reads by Southern California Writers Conference Authors 2
More Good “Muse”
Two debut novels were unveiled by ZOVA Books at February’s SD26 event. SCWCer Jessica Therrien’s Oppression, the first volume in her Children of the Gods trilogy, and SCWC director Wes Albers’s gritty Black & White. Both have won over gobs of fans since then, and both have given extended audio interviews to our friends at Scripts & Scribes. Here you can listen or download for later the podcast of Wes and the podcast of Jessica.
Quick shout out to yet another ZOVA Books writer, author and Oscar-winning screenwriter Michael Blake. His sequel to Dances with Wolves, Into the Stars, recently nabbed the Gold Medal IPPY Award for Military/Wartime Fiction. Of course, Michael is one our special guest speakers and workshop leaders in Newport Beach. Members of ZOVA’s editorial team will also being joining in.
House Cleaning & Pending Surprise
As usual, we’ll be opening up the advance submission readers for selection by month’s end, just as soon as the remaining agents, editors and authors who’ll be accepting material are confirmed. The working schedule will be posted in a week or so. Also, either at the end of June or first week of July, we’ll be rolling out a new feature of WritersConference.com that so many have been asking for for a very long time. Be sure you’re subscribed to our newsletter to find out where it will be and when. If you’re a writer, you’ll not want to miss it.
Attending writers’ conferences often ain’t cheap and the motives of the organizers putting them on can sometimes prove questionable. Some are devoted to the writers attending, others more to those the writers are seeking to learn from or be represented by. For nearly 27 years the SCWC has distinguished itself for a reason: it is first and foremost about extending our community, our commitment to passionate advocacy for writers, far beyond the end of any given event’s weekend. Two brief essays that got lost in the website rollover, geared to help you choose the right conference for you, are now back: “Pitch Conference: My Opinion,” by Jean Jenkins and “Choose the Write Conference for Your Needs,” by Michael Steven Gregory. At some point we’ll get them back on the front page.
Finally, the Newport Beach conference is more limited in size than San Diego. Reserve your spot by taking advantage of the Early “Bard” Discount by July 1. And be sure to join the vigorous conversation on our SCWC Facebook Wall.
