Sue Grafton declared her, “[T]he first fresh literary voice I’ve heard in years. Sara Gran recombines all the elements of good, solid story-telling and lifts something original from a well-loved form.” Salon calls the series “delicious and addictive.” CNN says she “Reads …[Click For The Rest...]

Amy Meyerson, author of The Bookshop of Yesterdays, will join us September as a Special Guest Speaker. Of the book Publishers Weekly effuses, “In her heartfelt debut, Meyerson brings readers on a scavenger hunt full of literary clues and family secrets…. Filled with quotes from [Click For The Rest...]

[View roast video highlights.] I think it only apt that on the occasion of my 30th Southern California Writers’ Conference *San Diego I should lose my voice. In the screenwriting world we like to explain that, good dialogue is the verbiage you wake up in the morning wishing you’d said[Click For The Rest...]

Out April 3rd in hardcover from Henry Holt and Co., Peasprout Chen, Future Legend of Skate and Sword introduces readers young and elder to a vibrant new heroine and the fiercely competitive world in which she dreams of becoming a legend of wu liu, the deadly and beautiful art of marti[Click For The Rest...]

An unexpected murder of crows boded well for conference weekend, and our plot of writers seized the occasion to shine. From Wes, Chrissie and myself, Rick, Linda and Cricket, to all the workshop leaders, guest speakers, and agents–and most importantly to the conferees themselves, who [Click For The Rest...]

Author of The Dining Car, his sumptuous telling of “a story of service, serendipity, and second chances,” Eric Peterson will round out our 32nd annual San Diego conference schedule. As our Sunday afternoon Special Guest Speaker, Eric will share how he navigated the turbule[Click For The Rest...]

Plot is not story. Even the most skilled application of craft will conceal a weak story for only so long. Story is story. Craft is the toolbox an author turns to to tell a story. Surprisingly, many good writers—craft execution-wise—don’t understand the distinction between the two. In [Click For The Rest...]

Returning for her second appearance as Special Guest Speaker is author and SCWC workshop leader Janis Thomas. In yet another departure from the humorous women’s fiction that she first won over readers and critics alike with, her long-anticipated latest, the hypnotic domestic drama Wha[Click For The Rest...]

Winter is coming! Our extended 32nd annual Presidents’ Day Weekend conference takes place February 16-18, 2018. Offering over five-dozen workshops—including “Rogue” read & critique sessions that often run deep into the balmy wee hours, five months out there’s already plenty to rep[Click For The Rest...]

Yet another stellar weekend of writers who traveled from far and near to immerse themselves in story. To all the many talented first-timers and returning veteran members of our extended conference community, Wes, Chrissie, myself—we thank you for raising the bar, elevating expectation[Click For The Rest...]