News And Announcements

For our 13^th annual “LA” event we’ll actually remain in The O.C., but with one major change: we’re going back to where we once belonged—Irvine! Specifically, the newly refurbished, excellent hotel that fit the SCWC so well so many years back, before the move to Newport Beach. The property is now the Wyndham Irvine Hotel, and those who were with us those years will recall that all the workshops and special events were contained to a single floor, with a terrific bar, affordable restaurant and lush, lounging area directly downstairs. No more traversing endless stairs; no more waiting for golf carts to shuttle you from room to workshop, workshop to room; no more pencils, no more books, no more teacher’s… actually, that’s somewhere else. Anyhow, we’re back!

Early “Bard” Pre-registration Open

While regular updates for our Irvine conference, taking place September 25-27, 2015, begin in March, we can announce that two of our Special Guest Speakers have all ready been confirmed, along with several other authors, agents & editors.

As usual, the SCWC will offer our full slate of uniquely tailored read & critique, craft-oriented and business-centric workshops, and attendance will be limited to 150 conferees in order to maximize opportunities to facilitate enduring relationships.

Early “Bard” Registration is now open. Sign up by May 1st and save a whopping $125 on Full Conference participation.

And remember, the SCWC community extends well beyond the end of any conference weekend. Join the conversation on our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter @SCWriters.

Your words are worth it.

—Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC

What a wonderful weekend for writers. And what wonderful writers they were. Typically, as the SCWC is renowned for instead of being a scattershot “Writing 101” event but one that addresses several specific levels above the basics, we get a lot of quality storytellers attending. This time around, however, the overall bar of commercial-grade storytelling was raised considerably–great stories in a variety of genres, great people writing them.

Though tough to single ‘em out, let’s check the awards…

The SCWC*LA 12 Award Recipients

OUTSTANDING FICTION (YA Fantasy)
Destiny’s Thief
by Jason Ard of Tucson, AZ

OUTSTANDING FICTION (Science Fiction)
Horseplay
by D. Cameron Daly of Burlingame, CA

OUTSTANDING FICTION (Romance)
At First Glance
by Marissa Hughes of Irvine, CA

OUTSTANDING TOPIC STORY
Suck Less!
by Patricia Rinker of Diamond Bar, CA

Congratulations, all. We’ll be back in Orange County next September with one notable change, the reveal of which is contained in my big 3-ring conference binder. Thanks to our special guest speakers, Ryka Aoki, Tonilyn Hornung, Dete Meserve, Isla Morley, and Tom Zoellner. Big shout out to all the SCWC workshop leaders, advance submission readers and front desk staff. Above all else, a robust and especially big spoon to all the conferees who entrust us with their work and aspirations. It’s genuinely our honor to be a part of your writing community.

Discounted pre-registration for San Diego 29, which takes place Presidents’ Day Weekend, February 13-16, 2015, is now open. Registration for our new Sunriver Writers’ Summit, which takes place May 2-3, 2015 in Central Oregon, is also open. We look forward to seeing you there. In the meantime, aim for excellence, settle only for exceptional, and take a moment to read Pat Rinker’s LA12 Topic Award-winning entry, “Suck Less!”

–Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC

Each year the SCWC*LA holds a writing contest in which all conferees are invited to participate. The rules are simple: Write a piece in any form you wish of no more than 250 words based on the topic announced Friday night. The topic for the 12th annual Los Angeles conference (in Newport Beach) was “Move.” Patricia Rinker of Diamond Bar, CA is the writer of this year’s winning entry.

Suck Less!

By
Patricia Rinker

[Note: This is a parody of the tune “Rawhide,” originally composed by Dimitri Tiomkin in 1958 and used as the theme song for the popular TV show.]

Keep ‘em movin’, movin’, movin’
Though they’re disapprovin’
Keep those fingers movin’
Suck less!

Don’t try to understand it
Just write, rewrite and edit
A thesaurus, ready by my side.

My heart’s palpitating
My agent still waiting
Waiting for the end of my book

CHORUS

Move on, reread
Reread, move on
Move on, reread
Suck less!

Type it up, rip it up
Rip it up, type it up
Type it up, rip it up

Suck less!

Dates for our 13th SCWC*LA are Sept. 25-27, 2015. We’ll be returning to one of our most favorite conference venues, now the Wyndham Irvine. Discounted pre-registration will open up March, 2015. If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to our periodic updates on the upper right navigation bar to receive important announcements and other vital, writerly news. You can also join the conversation on our Twitter feed and Facebook wall.

Author, workshop leader, singular songstress and overall embodiment of a true SCWCer Janis Thomas will be joining us in Newport Beach, as usual. What promises to be yet another uniquely laugh-out-loud romp, Say Never is her latest release, out October, marking the departure from her legacy publisher Berkley as a result of fan-based encouragement. We’re crossing our fingers we can wrangle a few pre-pub. copies for the conference. Also due shortly is her second go at the indie side of the aisle. It’s been a long, educational slog to get it out, but Murder in A-minor is also dropping soon and Janis has more than a boatload to say about it in her new workshop, “Hybrid Author: Balancing the Legacy-Indie Divide.”

Several other new workshops have been added to the LA12 schedule, including a new Writing for Real session conducted by our favorite secret agent man. Back from a long hiatus, Michael R. Shevock will introduce “The Ballistics of Homicide.” Anybody writing anything about how bullets behave will not want to miss this one.

Speaking of the schedule, while there’s a few select holes left to fill you can get a good idea of how we’re going to roll in September on the posted preliminary schedule. There’ll no doubt be some shuffling of specific timeslots around, but you can start planning now. And don’t forget, simply clicking on of the workshop title will reveal a summary of most sessions.

Deadlines Fast Approaching

For those planning to stay at the Hyatt Newport Beach, where the conference takes place, the deadline to book a room at the SCWC discounted rate is August 19th. You can do so online using the Hotel Information navigation tab on the upper right, or call the hotel at (888) 421-1442. Be sure to mention SCWC.

The majority of Advance Submission Readers have now been posted. If you have already registered for the conference but have not selected your reader, now is the time. The deadline to submit material is August 23rd. Submissions are now being accepted via email and must be received by us by no later than that date. Visit our Advance Submissions page for complete information.

The next Early “Bard” Discount registration is September 1st. Pre-register by no later that September 1 and save $50 off Full Conference participation. If for no other reason, save $50 today to keep somebody else from doing so!

For those thinking of participating in the popular “Best Foot Forward: Polishing to Impress,” Jean Jenkins’ popular two-part, hands-on genre workshop, the deadline to get your material in is also September 1. Space is strictly limited and only a few spots remain open, so get on it and let me know if you want in.

That’s all for now. For those planning ahead for our winter conference, Presidents’ Day Weekend, Feb. 13-16, 2015 in San Diego, $100 Early “Bard” Discount pre-registration is available now through September 15th. Also, dates for our Sunriver Writers’ Summit have just been confirmed. For writers planning way, way ahead, mark your calendar for May 2-3, 2015 and join us at our exclusive event in Central Oregon.

Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC

Joining us for the first time is Tom Zoellner, co-author of the New York Times bestselling An Ordinary Man, mesmerizing autobiography of Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel manager who turned Rwana’s luxurious Hotel Milles Collines into a refuge for more than 1,200 Tutsi and moderate Hutu refugees during the 1994 genocide that inspired the film Hotel Rwanda. His latest is Train: Riding the Rails that Created the Modern World (Viking/Penguin), which Booklist hails as, “An exuberant celebration.” The New York Post calls it, “Enchanting.” And the L.A. Weekly concludes, “Once you open it up there are so many reasons to keep reading that it’s nearly impossible to put down.” Tom’s our final Special Guest Speaker to be announced for LA12, and he’ll be conducting a workshop for novelists, non-fictionalists and short story writers that bites down to the bone of story, “Clearing the Narrative Brush.”

Lots of additions to the staff and workshop roster. We’ve many trusted, familiar faces in the September fold, of course, but also new folk introducing fresh sessions to the mix. Some of the workshops most recently added:

• An Agent Explains Author Platform
• Author-Publisher: The Crucial Steps to Achieve Success
• From First Draft to Best Seller: Revising and Editing Your Novel for Publication
• Memoir: Structuring Your Story and the Stories Within
• POV: The Power of Point of View
• Start Your Book With a Bang
• Re-entry: Editing Non-fiction for Dramatic Impact
• Story Structure Made Simple: The 7 Key Steps Based on Truby’s Method
• Ten Ways to Upgrade Your Manuscript
• The New World of Killer Queries: The Key to Getting Requests

 
Still more to come, but you can always check where we’re at with the line up on the Workshops and Events page, via the navigation menu on the right.

Does Story Trump Good Writing?

A topic making the rounds among many in the SCWC is the lackluster quality of writing found in so many novels being published today, both traditionally and independently. True, mediocrity is sometimes rewarded, but it should never be the aspiration of any writer to achieve.

Efficient, albeit uninspired prose, errant POV, sloppy structure, muddled or missing voice—these and myriad other issues of execution seem so common in so many books populating the bestseller lists as to astonish. (Though, figuring what number of books actually sold quantifies a “bestseller” these days is hard to come by.) But so long as there’s the semblance of a good story, adequately presented and that satisfies the expectations of its readers, does it matter? Do readers really care about the writing? Should they?

I recently had a fascinating conversation with a writer who self-published his first novel to moderate Amazon “bestseller” success that faded fast. Thing is, in hindsight, he recognized just how much he didn’t know he didn’t know when he elected to eschew the traditional path to personal validation he was seeking from legacy publication. Rebuffed by agents, ignored by slush pile sifters, he opted to go indie. Then he realized his book was not anywhere near ready for publication. More importantly, he realized its execution did not represent the superior quality of storyteller he’s determined to become. Pretty much the norm nowadays, actually.

Recognizing the unique approach and success rate the SCWC has maintained these past 28 years, this writer reached out to us. He called and proclaimed that he wants to write his next book right. More than just a good story, he’s coming to LA12 to learn how to write a terrific book. Not only for his readers, but for himself.

That’s what every writer should aspire to.

Now For Some Good “Muse”

Congratulations to SCWCer Amanda LaPera. You may recall that her debut title, Losing Dad, Paranoid Schizophrenia: A Family’s Search for Hope (Adamo Press), broke out big upon its release last December. Well, Amanda was just in New York as recipient of the Silver Award in the IBPA’s prestigious Benjamin Franklin Book Awards category of psychology… Also, at Book Expo America in New York, SCWCer Jide Zeus was formally presented the 2014 Next Generation Indie Book Award for his debut novel, Losing My Religion… And in Florida, word’s in that SCWC*SD workshop leader Rick Anderson’s Cobra Clearance has been selected as a finalist for the Royal Palm Literary Award.

Congratulations, all!

Couple new books out from SCWCers… The follow-up to I, Jequon, Book Two of the Nephilim Chronicles, With Mercy, is now available from Jeremy Lee James for all those who dig a taught, paranormal thriller (Jeremy will also be conducting a workshop or two come September)… And from Doug Bournemann, his debut novel has just been released. The Demon of Histlewick Downs (The Dreamweaver Chronicles Book 1) follows the adventures of a young man forced to outwit magic-wielding heretics in order to save the lives of his parents, falsely accused of heresy.

Advance Submission Readers Open

Advance Submission Readers are now available for selection. If you registered for a reader “to be determined” simply email Chrissie, Wes or myself which reader(s) you’d like to go with and we’ll take it from there. It is important that you select a backup reader, as well. Also, remember that we are now accepting submissions strictly through email. Details on advance submissions can be found on the upper right navigation menu.

Discounted pre-registration expires soon. Do yourself a favor and secure your spot today. And just to whet your writerly appetite, from her LA11 keynote, here’s why you probably don’t want to miss Leslie Lehr’s “Story Structure Made Simple: The 7 Key Steps Based on Truby’s Method” workshop:

–Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC

Joining us for the first time as a Special Guest Speaker, celebrated writer, performer, musician, and educator Ryka Aoki, recipient of a University Award from the Academy of American Poets. Author Robert Morgan (Gap Creek) calls her He Mele A Hilo (A Hilo Song)—out August 26th from Topside Press—“A debut novel unlike any you have ever read.” Maureen McCody (Junebug, Walking After Midnight) lauds, “Rich in authentic voice, the book is grounded in emotional honesty, rhythmic prose, and doses of humor and heartbreak that loft the reader along as believers in Aoki’s thrilling dream.” Ryka was last with us as a conferee and we’re thrilled to welcome her back, let alone boasting such beautiful affirmation of her literary talent.

We’re getting great suggestions for topics many would like addressed at LA12. Given the accelerated pace of galvanizing trends across the entire publishing spectrum, it’s no surprise emerging writers require as much real-world perspective from those now in the trenches and successfully plying their trade—whether it be in Big 5, boutique house, hybrid or self-publishing—in order to make an informed decision on which path to choose. As usual, the SCWC brings plenty to the table. Among our new business and indie publishing “Do Yourself Independence” sessions lined up:

• “Author-Publisher: First, Worst, or Best Choice for You?”
• “Authorpreneur: Managing YOUR Publishing Business”
• “Indie Excellence: Beyond Kindle—A Brave New World”
• “Reality Check: Do You Not Know What You Don’t Know?”
• “Team Publication: Avoiding DIY Pitfalls”

 
Among the many craft & execution workshops slated:

• “Best Foot Forward: Polishing to Impress” (1 & 2)
• “Building Characters from the Inside Out”
• “Defining Genre: What Are You Really Writing?”
• “Saving Your Life: Writing Memoir for Market”
• “Transformative Narrative: A Shamanic Approach to Story Structure”
• “How Story Suffers from Too Much Mystery”
• “Women’s Fiction Today: Much More Than a Love Story”

 
The response to our Scrivener software workshop at this past February’s conference was such that Ara Grigorian returns with not one, but two sessions he’s been crafting: “Scrivener Demystified: Maximize the Value, Minimize the Stress (for Beginners)” and “Scrivener in Practice: Advanced Tips and Techniques.” Having become a recent convert, there’s no doubt in my mind that it should be considered the go-to software in almost any writer’s toolbox.

A reminder that Drusilla Campbell’s “NovelCram: Building the Better Book” immersion track, along with the two-part “Best Forward: Polishing to Impress” workshop, led by Jean Jenkins, are both very popular and require pre-registration as they tend to sell out. While there’s more wiggle room with NovelCram, BFF is strictly limited to 12 participants. If you’re writing genre fiction, you do not want to miss it.

The bedrock of the SCWC remains its emphasis on producing exceptional craft by providing writers with empirically qualified feedback on their work. In addition to our usual storytelling prose and query letter read & critique workshops, at LA12 we’re going to test one devoted to book summaries. Reason being is that we’ve seen so many writers—especially author-publishers—post such awfully written book summaries on their Amazon pages and elsewhere that they instantly snuff any interest in exploring them further.

The odds of a good book being discovered and propelled to success by discerning, book-buying readers are slim, so long as confidence in the writer being a professional is undermined every step of the way. Presentation is key. That means a book needs:

1. An alluring, professionally produced cover
2. An evocative story summary/teaser that firmly establishes genre, rouses expectations, and motivates readers to “look inside,” or buy outright
3. An author bio that conveys a confidant, qualified writer, not a self-published hobbyist or, even worse, a cat hoarder

 
Should be fun, so bring a paragraph or two write-up of your book and let’s see if it needs fixing.

Recent Good “Muse”

SCWCer Mary Vensel White’s The Qualities of Wood, her debut novel and the first book chosen for publication based on nominations from the Authonomy writing community, went on to win a 2012 International Book Award for literary fiction. Initially released only in digital format, come June 17 HarperCollins finally drops the hardcopy of the book and we couldn’t be more pleased. There’s a recent interview with Mary over at Authonomy.

Out August 5th, our own Mary G. Thompson’s follow up to Escape from the Pipemen drops from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. The comedic fantasy Evil Fairies Love Hair tells the story of Ali and her middle school classmates, who are raising hundreds of two-inch-tall fairies in effort to make their wishes come true. Thing is, it turns out the little imps have plans all their own: to replace all the parents in town with the awesome magical powers they possess to do so!

Out now on Kindle is SCWCer Jennifer Hilborne’s third installment of her popular Jackson mystery series. In The Blackest Night our favorite homicide inspector is forced to turn to a wrongfully convicted ex-con with problems of his own, in effort to solve a murder he just might be connected to.

Congratulations, everybody!

That’s all for now. Plenty more staff to add to the schedule, as well as the schedule itself. We’ll begin opening up the Advance Submission Readers for selection shortly. Remember that Newport Beach is more limited in attendance than our Winter conference in San Diego. Take advantage of the discounted pre-registration price today to secure your spot. Your words are worth it!

—Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC