News And Announcements

A refreshing mystery without a murder, Good Sam delivers on many fronts. The debut novel from Dete Meserve, it has earned the 2013 Reader’s Favorite Book Awards Gold Medal. Kirkus declared it, “[A] solid feel-good romance sparked with mystery.” And Barbara Schroeder (Beverly Hills Confidential) raves, “Bravo! Author Dete Meserve takes us into a world not often explored, and writes fluidly, always leaving the reader wanting to turn the page… Hot stuff!” Not only our third Special Guest Speaker to be announced, Dete will also be conducting a workshop, “From Book to Screen: Turning Your Novel into a Film or Television Series.” As president of Wind Dancer Films, producer of TV hits such as Home Improvement and film successes like What Women Want, as well as several book-to-screen adaptations, it’s a subject she knows well.

Speaking of workshops, as we begin sorting out the schedule for September, please feel free to submit topic suggestions. Naturally, beyond our slate of critique and craft sessions, we’ll devote plenty of needed attention to the most pressing legacy, indie, and self-publishing issues. Despite what too many say, regardless of which route to publication you pursue, attaining success will ultimately hinge on inspiring confidence in your readers—and delivering on expectations roused—each and every step of your journey. Beyond writing an exceptional book, how best to do just that will be covered in our “Do Yourself Independence” (DYI, not DIY) track.

More SCWCer Books Out or Out Soon

SCWC veteran Teresa Burrell’s been busy. All five titles in her ongoing legal thriller series are newly available as audiobooks. The Advocate, The Advocate’s Betrayal, The Advocate’s Conviction, The Advocate’s Dilemma, and The Advocate’s Ex Parte can all be had and heard at Audible.

From longtime SCWC author/workshop leader Michele Scott, Dark Harmony: A Vivienne Taylor Horse Lover’s Mystery, the second in her Fairmont Riding Academy series, is out May 20… Also out next week, in a departure from the Peri Minneopa mysteries she’s best known for, author/workshop leader Gayle Carline introduces readers to new characters and a new venue in Murder on the Hoof.

Finally, on the young adult front, the second in Valerie Wicks’ 7-part Seven Spectral series is out. The Orange World Outlaw follows her 2012 debut, Into the Red World. Congratulations and best of success to all!

We’ll begin plugging in what authors, agents, editors, and other pros will be joining us on the staff page soon, along with what workshops are being lined up. Advance submission readers will start being listed early June. Remember that Newport Beach is more limited in attendance than our winter conference in San Diego. Discounted pre-registration is highly recommended.

More soon. In the meantime, we’ve begun recording the reading of SCWC Topic Award recipients. You can listen to LA11’s honored entry here, written by Stephanie Lewis. The topic was “bidet.” And don’t forget: Aim for awe. Settle only for exception.

—Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC

Selected a “Best Buzz Book” by PublishersLunch for Spring/Summer 2014, Isla Morley’s Above tells the story of a 16-year-old girl abducted and locked in an abandoned missile silo by a survivalist convinced the world is going to end. Booklist calls it, “[A] menacingly sinister tale of imprisonment… that will appeal to fans of riveting psychological suspense and cut-throat dystopian fiction.” The Boston Globe hails, “A compelling tale of survival, reinvention, and hope… Vivid and poignant.” “[An] audacious page-turner,” declares Publishers Weekly. And from Sara Gruen (Water for Elephants): “Grips your heart from the first page and doesn’t let go… A novel to savor.” Isla will join us as a Special Guest Speaker in Newport Beach to discuss her latest novel, and whatever the hell else she wants to.

Our second Special Guest Speaker to be announced is none other than Tonilyn Hornung, winner of the SCWC*LA8 Outstanding Non-Fiction Award for the manuscript that became her breakout success, released just this month, How to Raise a Husband: A Whole Bunch of Ways to Build a Strong and Happy Marriage. A prolific essayist and blogger, Tonilyn’s inventive discoverability campaign supporting the title’s release includes a series of fun trailers, which everybody should share. Welcome back, Tonilyn!

Boffo Good “Muse” Abounds for SCWCers

Since reporting so many SCWCers with titles due out in our February 26 update several more have dropped or are about to. Among them, Jeremy Lee James has released the first installment of his Nephilim Chronicles, I, Jequon, a taught thriller chronicling a half-angel, half-human’s fight to prevent a modern day “Holycaust” being waged against his noble people by an ancient religious cult… On the epic Armageddon front, Christopher P. Simmons delivers a sprawling, fresh take on the End Times prophecy, Judas Christ: Immaculate Inception. In it, following his betrayal, Jesus’ most infamous apostle prays for a second chance and is given it–some 2000 years later.

Fantasy folk can regale in Dot Caffrey’s Awakening Powers: Book One in the Trilogy of Power. Of it, multiple award-winning author and longtime SCWC workshop leader Laura Taylor lauds, “Readers will delight in the characters, both good and evil, and the world-building skills of the author… A 5-star achievement”… An equally delightful urban fantasy, Janet Tait’s Cast into Darkness is also just out. Mixing magic, megalomania and mystical intrigue to provide yet another fun foray in yet another far-spun otherworld, it marks the debut of her projected Kate Hamilton series.

And for both the young ‘uns and our elders, we got two new titles to glean: First up is from that unstoppable force of nature, Sheri Fink. The fifth of her “Whimsical World” of cherished children’s titles, The Little Seahorse also marks her 5^th No. 1 best-selling debut… And from conferee Lynne Martin, whose travel memoir Home Sweet Anywhere: How We Sold Our House, Created a New Life, and Saw the World sprouted at SD27, the book is now out to wide acclaim, even landing her only this past week a guest appearance on CBS’ “The Morning Show.”

Congratulations and best of success to all our SCWC community authors!

Settle Only for Exceptional

As we now begin finalizing the itinerary for LA12 and which legitimate, genuinely knowledgeable authors, agents, editors and other pivotal publishing professionals will be joining us in September, much focus is being drawn from our new Sunriver Writers’ Summit intensives in Central Oregon. Strictly limited in size and planned to take place twice a year—one in the spring, one in the fall—the Summit grew out of what many of us behind the SCWC have come to believe: Too many writers remain too un-prepared for today’s industry reality. Because of that, they’re often bilked by publishing predators and punksters, or writer events that unapologetically ally themselves with entities whose mission is solely to profit from doing so.

Writers must break the cycle of rejection, whether it be from agents, publishers or, most importantly, book buying readers. With the ease of publication what it is today, far too many writers are giving up on the traditional path to publication altogether and simply skipping straight to self-publication. Not necessarily a bad thing, but just because you can doesn’t mean you should. The overwhelming majority of titles—especially those that are self-published—fail to find a readership for a reason: they’re not ready for public consumption.

Craft matters, today perhaps even more than ever in the past. Aspiring for mediocrity does not a good writer make. And good writing doesn’t necessarily equate to good storytelling. A good writer understands this. A good, commercial writer respects the expectations of her reader, aims for awe and settles only for exceptional in each and every step of the book production process. Unfortunately, most writers don’t discover their work is far from good enough until it’s been rejected by agents and editors. Or worse, after their book’s been self-published and too late.

We need to address that. And, as usual, we will again tailor an SCWC that uniquely guides you along the right path to publication success on your terms.

In the meantime, as requested, we’ve begun posting extended audio podcasts of some of our Special Guest Speakers’ talks from the archives. There’s a lot, but only a few are up and running at the moment. You can find them at Voqel.com/SoCalWriters.

—Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC

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

You really couldn’t ask for a more perfect conference. Exceptional writers were found every which way you wandered, the weather was beautiful, and we introduced a shockingly new “Take an Agent Home” session that just might have to become a fixture. Most uncanny? The awesome guy pictured below we discovered in the Hyatt’s sculpture garden, located just down from the bar where such discoveries are often posited, pondered and parlayed each evening. We prefer to think of it as a writer carrying the weight of a writer, or the writer’s responsibility, or some such. That may have changed by dawn.

Anyhow, on to the awards.

The SCWC*LA 11 Award Recipients

OUTSTANDING NONFICTION (Memoir)
Gloria O’Brien
from Sylmar, CA

OUTSTANDING NONFICTION (Memoir)
Christine Magnus Moore
from Silverado, CA

OUTSTANDING FICTION (Historical)
Sandra Montanino
from Provo, UT

OUTSTANDING FICTION (International Thriller)
Gary Parker
from Apple Valley, CA

OUTSTANDING TOPIC STORY
Stephanie Lewis for English Language Gone Astray (read here)
from Carlsbad, CA

Congratulations, all!

We’ll be back in Newport Beach next September. Thanks to our special guest speakers, Leslie Lehr, Marci Nault, Brett Battles, Sheri Fink, and Elana K. Arnold. Big shout out to all our SCWC workshop leaders, advance submission readers and hard working volunteers. And above all else, a robust and especially big spoon to all the conferees who entrusted us with their work and aspirations this past weekend. It is the SCWC’s honor to be a part of your community.

San Diego 28 is only five months away. We look forward to seeing you there. In the meantime, settle for exceptional, go forth, write well and suck less. More t-shirts are coming!

Celebrated author and SCWC workshop leader Darlene Quinn just scored another win. Unpredictable Webs, the fourth installment of her wildly popular suspense series set in the world of high-fashion intrigue, opulence and depravity, just won the International Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal in the General Fiction category (along with the National Beverly Hills Book Award). Its immediate predecessor, Webs of Fate, also claimed the honor at last year’s competition. A brand-spanking new trailer for the book premieres online today. You can be among the first to check it out below. As with the WOF trailer, SCWC executive director Michael Steven Gregory produced and directed.

Another big winner at this year’s International Readers’ Favorite, none other than SCWC alumni and Sunday morning speaker Sheri Fink. Sheri’s wildly popular The Little Gnome and Exploring the Garden with the Little Rose took the Gold Medal in both the Children’s Fable and Children’s Concept categories, respectively. Along with mystery writer Dean Koontz and historical writer Martin Dugard, Sheri was also recently named as one of the top local writers of Orange County by CBS.

Bethany Lopez, yet another SCWCer, nabbed the Bronze Medal in Contemporary Romance for her most recent novel, Trust in Me. A blog post she wrote after attending this past February’s conference in San Diego details the top self-publishing takeaway tips she gleaned from SD27 here.

That’s all for now. The working schedule is up. Still plenty of room to join us in Newport Beach. As always, it’s going to be a fantastic, brain-numbingly informative weekend. If you can’t make it this time around, remember that our winter conference takes place in San Diego, Presidents’ Day Weekend, Feb. 14-17, 2014. $100 Early “Bard” Discount off Full Conference is available now through September 15th.

Now let’s watch our latest book trailer…