News And Announcements

Our initial return to in-person activities since February, 2020 exceeded all expectations. Lotsa work got done over conference weekend, tears fell, but laughter prevailed. An honor, truly, that so many placed their trust in the SCWC as we dipped our toes back into real-world conference waters. Huge thanks to Rick & Linda Ochocki, our workshop leaders, editors, agents and hotel staff. Cannot adequately convey how momentous an occasion Irvine turned out to be after all these miserable, many months. Thank you, all.

Now to the awards…

SCWC*LA/IRVINE 18 Award Recipients

OUTSTANDING FICTION (Historical)
Echoes
By Laura Rader of Escondido, CA

OUTSTANDING FICTION (Sci-Fi)
TBD
By Shawn Butler of Irvine, CA

Of course, each SCWC holds a contest in which all writers 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 one-word topic announced Friday night. The topic for LA18 was any iteration of “Tots.” Here’s the winning entry…

OUTSTANDING TOPIC STORY
Hot Tots
By
Simone Berkowitz
of San Francisco, CA

He walked in just as she bent to pull the tray out of the oven, giving him an excellent rear view. The smell of grease woke his stomach as he entered the kitchen where she stood plucking tater tots off the tray and placing them delicately in a bowl. He took in her pencil skirt, silky blouse, and tightly pinned hair before kissing her deeply in greeting.

“Let’s take this to the bedroom,” she said, leading him with one hand while grasping the bowl with the other. He nodded and stripped along the way until he stretched out on the bed nude. She set the bowl next to him and slowly undressed and then unpinned her hair, which fell around her face in waves.

As she lay beside him, he asked, “What’s with the tots?”

“I’ve had a fantasy ever since I taught high school,” she said. “I’ve wanted a younger man to eat tater togs off my body.” As she spoke, she placed several tots on her taut abdomen, wincing at the heat. When she was done, she licked salt off her fingers.

He held her gaze as he started from the bottom, tonguing each tot and crunching it before moving onto the next. When he finished, she closed her eyes and moaned.

“What about you? What’s your fantasy?” she asked, shivering with pleasure as he licked the remaining salt from her midsection.

He flushed red. “Well,” he said, “there’s something I’ve always wanted to do with ketchup…”

###

Congratulations to all the award winners!

We’ll return to Irvine next year with our 19th annual fall event. Dates will be September 16-18. Discounted pre-registration opens March 1, 2022. In the meantime, our 36th annual San Diego conference take place Presidents’ Day Weekend, February 18-20, 2021. All the details can be found here.

–Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC/SWS

For the safety and general well-being of all, conferees will be required to show proof of vaccination, or a negative COVID test within three days prior to attending the conference. You can email me directly proof of poke or test at msg@WritersConference.com, if preferred.

During the course of our writers’ weekend, we’ll remain in compliance with federal and California state COVID-19 protocols, as well as those Sonesta has in place. The hotel is mandating masks be worn inside ground floor level areas–lobby, bar, restaurant–as well as inside elevators. I’m told their staff will be masked. On the second floor, where the conference takes place, we are strongly encouraging that everyone wear masks.

Additional measures we’ve taken include keeping conference attendance at half it’s pre-pandemic capacity; utilizing the largest ballrooms for workshops; removing at least the first row of 8’ roundtables from workshop leaders and keynote speakers to put as much distance between them and conferees; and keeping workshop doors open to better ventilate the rooms.

Given the attendance of most workshops, and the halved capacity slated for Irvine, the ballrooms that seat 90 to 120 will be setup with fewer tables distanced farther apart than in normal circumstances. We’re also reducing the number of chairs available at each roundtable.

For the general sessions, such as introductions, guest speakers, agents panel and banquet, we’ll open the main ballroom air walls to utilize the entire space, again in effort to make everyone as comfortably distanced as they wish.

Finally, one more thing we’re working on is trying to conduct at least some of the advance submission consultations on the restaurant patio, however freeway noise may prevent that.

The deadline for discounted pre-registration is Sunday, Sept. 12. Be the writer you aspire to be and join us!

–Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC/SWS

In the Christian fantasy Murphey’s Law series, Satan’s estranged daughter Delaney Murphy must grapple with the inheritance of her’s father’s infernal powers and combat succumbing to them in effort to protect herself and those she loves on the mortal plain. USA Today bestselling author and longtime SCWCer Kristi (K.A.) Fox will join us to discuss the unique characters and world she’s built in The Devils Own, Judas Kiss, and forthcoming Earthly Shadows, along with her decision to eschew traditional Big Four publishing houses and find success through hybrid.

Also, a quick reminder that the deadline for those seeking feedback from Advance Submission Readers is Sunday, August 22nd. All readers remain open as of this writing, but are expected to sell out sooner than later.

The other deadline to be mindful of is for discounted hotel lodging, which is currently Thursday, August 26th. Please note that we will, of course, be complying with all COVID-19 protocols mandated by California state and the Sonesta hotel, taking every precaution we can to best ensure the safety and comfort of conferees and staff.

Discounted pre-registration remains open at this time. Get your work the attention it deserves and join us. (And for those thinking far ahead, discounted pre-registration for our 36th annual San Diego event is now open.)

–Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC/SWS

Hailed by Publishers Weekly as, “A dark but ultimately hopeful sci-fi exploration of the threats faced by queer people of color [and] a love letter to immigrant culture and the power people have to save each other … a beautiful, satisfying story of redemption and families of choice,” Light From Uncommon Stars is out September. Its author, the inimitable Ryka Aoki, returns as our Sunday afternoon Special Guest Speaker to tell us all about how it came to be.

Also confirmed: We will, in fact, be returning to our longtime home in Irvine, now the Sonesta Irvine (formerly Wyndham) hotel. Aside from the usual minor tweaks, the weekend’s working schedule has been posted; optional advance submission readers are now open for selection; and most agents, editors and workshop leaders have been listed on the staff page. Our remaining two guest speakers will be announced soon.

Happy summer! Till next time…

–Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC/SWS

Do you remember the 21st night of September?
Love was changin’ the minds of pretenders
While chasin’ the clouds away

So sang the great Earth, Wind & Fire on “September,” the joyful R&B affirmation released in 1978. September 21, 2019, Saturday evening special guest speaker Kali Wallace (Dead Space) joined the SCWC in Irvine to share her affirmation of purposeful being as a writer. Now, two years later and barring any major setbacks, California is on track to re-open and we will return to Irvine for our annual in-person fall event.

There’s much to report, but we’re waiting until June 15th to assess what tweaks might be needed regarding hotel accommodations. In the meantime…

Good “Muse” Galore

Since February’s San Diego wrap update, there are so many new SCWCer books to report now out or coming soon that I’m simply going to do so alphabetically:

Ryka Aoki’s LGBT sci-fi novel Light from Uncommon Stars drops September from Tor … Simone Berkowitz’s (writing as Simone De Munoz) debut medical thriller Manflu is now out … Matt Coyle’s eighth Rick Cahill mystery, Last Redemption, arrives in November … Gene Desrochers’ second Caribbean noir murder mystery, Sweet Paradise.

Tiffany de Vos’ (writing as T.D. Fox) debut YA fantasy The Walls of Orion … Marie Estorge’s latest memoir, Then There Was Larry, “a razor-sharp look at duplicity and betrayal among friends and lovers” … Jide Familoni’s novel about a struggling immigrant scientist, The Rachel Project … Kelley Gusich’s (writing as Kelley Kaye) Strangled by Simile, book three in her Chalkboard Outlines cozy mysteries.

Joe Jablonski (writing as J. John Nordstrom) sold his debut novel, A Thing with Feathers, to British indie The Writing Collective … Bethany Lopez’s two most recent novels, Unwoven Ties and Starter Wife … Pamela McCord’s The Problem at Wisteria Gardens, third in her Pekin Dewlap Series.

Reina Lisa Menasche’s spooky The Spirit of Shy Moon Lake … Mike Murphey’s Killing Time, third in his Physics, Lust and Greed Series, as well as the nonfiction chronicle of the Chad Mitchell Trio, We Never Knew Just What it Was (out August) … Elisabetta Panzica children’s picture book Butterfly.

Evan Ramspott’s (writing again as Better Hero Army) Archraven, Hollow Mountain Butterfly Book 3, and Soldierina … Suzanne Redfearn’s Hadley and Grace, a crime fiction … Michele Scott’s The Archangel Agenda: An Evangeline Heart Thriller.

Two young adult novels from Russ Thompson, Never Wanted and All Alone … Janet F. Williams’ (as Zoe Amos) LGBTQ+ romance, Talk to Me … and Thomas Wing has a story appearing in the new collection Phobia!: An Anthology of Fear, “Please Don’t Let Me Fall!”

Best of success to all!

Pre-registration Now Open

Discounted Early “Bard” Pre-registration is open. Do so now to save on Full Conference participation. We introduced several new workshops at San Diego 35 and will do so again in September. With the SCWC community, it’s about the writers in the room, not the person behind the podium; getting writers to the level of commercially viable craft; helping writers find that one passionate advocate so often crucial to publication success. Regular updates resume next month. Here’s what you need to know now…

SCWC*LA/IRVINE 18 LOCATION: The conference will likely return to Sonesta Irvine Hotel (formerly Wyndham Irvine), located at 17941 Von Karman Avenue, Irvine, CA 92614. Dates are September 17-19, 2021. Lodging discounts will be available to SCWC conferees. Phone (949) 863-1999 to book your reservation, or do so online (when available). Deadline for discounted hotel registration is pending until June 15.

SCWC*LA/IRVINE 18 SCHEDULE: Rest assured that plenty of craft- and business-centric sessions, read & critique workshops, one-on-one consultations and more will fill up the weekend. Though we won’t begin plugging things in until later, you can get an idea of the overall shape of the conference on the schedule page.

SCWC*LA/IRVINE 18 STAFF: In addition to our select roster of returning workshop leaders, agents, editors and other publishing professionals, several more will be joining us for the first time. Be sure to subscribe to our periodic .COMmunity updates to find out who, along with all timely SCWC news.

Until next time, give yourself permission to write even bad words.

–Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC/SWS