For over 40 years the SCWC has guided both aspiring and accomplished authors through an ever-evolving – sometimes confoundingly so – publishing landscape. Fostering craft and community, facilitating opportunity and encouraging market acuity, after four decades of doing so one constant remains: story sells. Also, celebrity. And efficient advertising. And book reviews. And word of mouth (especially word of mouth). Or pretty much anything that draws awareness to your work.
We’ll be all over that again come January. Updates on who’s in for 2027 begin shortly. Meanwhile, what with development of the new site underway, I’ve neglected kudos to SCWCers with new books out. So let’s catch up.
Good Muse
The seventh in her Fox Walker action-suspense series, Avenge, drops Indy Quillen’s resourceful tracker in a backcountry tactical tinderbox against a hitman and rogue FBI assassins … Conor Black’s Pain Killer, the follow-up to his Nate Vigil Thrillers debut, lands the nomadic vigilante in Los Angeles, which he discovers is no City of Angels … And again set in the early days of America’s Revolutionary War, former Colonial sea captain Jonas Hawke seeks revenge and redemption in the latest mariner adventure from Thomas M. Wing, Perilous Shores.
“[H]istorical fiction braided with present-day narrative,” from Jasmin Iolani Hakes, The Pōhaku is a multi-generational saga plumbing the perseverance and resilience of the Hawaiian people … In a California-set supernatural suspense authored by Elisabetta LaPera, a century-old secret awakens in the form of a mannequin who watches. Moves. Speaks. In Ghosts of Alhambra … Further along the creep factor front, Dennis Crosby and KC Grifant have edited and are among the two dozen who contributed stories to the Dread Coast: SoCal Horror Tales anthology, proceeds of which support recovery efforts of our recent Pacific Palisades and Eaton Fires … Fatal Destiny, the fifth entry in Tameri Etherton’s paranormal romance Fatal Fae series.
For young adult and coming of age readers, Amanda LaPera’s prequel novella to her Desert of Dreams series, Sway the Wind … From Finding Forward Books, which publishes short novels for all teens about issues faced by teens in effort to improve their reading skills, increase their success in school, and develop positive attitudes, Electro Blast, by Russ Thompson.
Finally, cherished memoirist, author, editor & SCWC workshop leader Cherie Kephart’s long-awaited The Upside of Falling: Connecting to the Art and Heart of Being a Writer. This comprehensive exploration of creative self reaches beyond the grammar rules, productivity hacks and word counts, to delve deeply into your relationship with personal epiphany.
Many more coming up soon. Congrats to all!
Discounted pre-registration is now open here.
–Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC
