News And Announcements

Publishers Weekly declared her 2010 thriller Rock Paper Tiger an “electrifying debut.” The book went on to become a New York Times bestseller and has since been followed by two other titles featuring Beijing-living Iraq War vet Ellie McEnroe. Hour of the Rat was short listed for Left Coast Crime’s Calamari (international mystery) award. And Dragon Day was named a Seattle Times Best Mystery of 2015. A standalone, Go-Between, is Lisa Brackmann’s latest. Of it PW affirms, “The edgy plot never lets up, touching on the war on drugs, for-profit prisons, and nefarious nonprofits.” Lisa will be joining us come September to discuss her writer’s journey and how she developed her unique form of suspense noir. We can’t wait to rowdily welcome her to the SCWC fold.

Good “Muse” Abounds

Summertime’s almost here and with it the usual many of hot new SCWCer releases. The latest include Greg A. Mongrain’s To Kill a Sorcerer, the first in his Immortal Montero series, which combines crime mystery with the shadowy paranormal underworld … Out June 7 is longtime author/workshop leader Alan Russell’s follow-up to Burning Man (A Gideon and Sirius Novel), Lost Dog … From E.V. Fairfall, the second installment in her Sleeping Tom YA romance series, Waking Gabriel, drops July 15 … And from A.K. Patch, September 1 will deliver the second in his award-winning Apollo series, Delphi’s Chose.

On the honors front, shout outs to International Book Awards finalists Matthew J. Pallamary’s Night Whispers, in the Horror category, and Ara Grigorian’s Game of Love, in Romance … And in the NEORWA Cleveland Rocks Romance Contest, Linda Rhoades nabbed First Place for her “Season Pass” manuscript in the Mainstream with Romance Elements category. Congratulations and continued success to all!

Next update, we’ll be rolling out more of the well over three dozen workshops that will be slated for LA14 (in Irvine). Be sure to never miss any latest news from our greater .COMmunity by subscribing to periodic updates or joining us on Facebook or Twitter.

–Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC

Author of the freshly released Cold Barrel Zero (Mulholland Books), national best-selling thriller writer Matthew Quirk will be joining us in September. Of his latest unrelenting page-turner, in a starred boxed review Publishers Weekly concluded, “Quirk goes flat-out explosive in this superior military adventure novel … There’s plenty of cool cutting-edge technology, but in the end it comes down to action, and the riveting battle scenes are among the best in the business.” A former writer for The Atlantic magazine, where he covered crime, private military contractors, international gangs, and more, we’re absolutely chuffed to have him aboard.

Still early to be announcing the bulk of LA14 (Irvine) staff, but so many are confirmed at this hour, why not get started? On the agents’ front, joining Marisa Corvisiero and Samantha Bremekamp, Sandra Dijkstra Literary’s Jill Marr is back, along with Donaghy Literary’s own Stacey Donaghy and Valerie Noble. All, of course, will be accepting advance submissions for review and consultation. Check out the Staff page to see who else is in.

Good “Muse” Brief

Longtime SCWCer Raul Ramos y Sanchez, author of the celebrated future-history trilogy comprised of American Libre, House Divided and Pancho Land, has a new standalone novel dropping. A coming-of-age story set in Miami during the 1960s, The Skinny Years follows the quirky travails of young Victor “Skinny” Delgado and his Cuban-exile family over their first ten years in the United States.

Murder in A-Minor, ever-versatile author/workshop leader Janis Thomas’ first foray into the murder mystery genre, is out May 31st. Not surprisingly, it’s already earned 5-star reviews from Readers’ Favorites Reviews. Like every book Janis pens, it promises to be a quality ride … Another of our favorite, prolific author/workshop leaders, Maralys Wills, has a new one coming. Written with Dr. John West, Prevent, Survive, Thrive: Every Woman’s Guide to Optimal Breast Care will be published in hardcover by BenBella Publishers, October 4, 2016. Maralys returns in September with at least a couple of her essential workshops, crafted specifically for the SCWC.

Mike MacCarthy, former publisher of San Diego Writer’s Monthly, is winning hearts and minds with his latest novel. Maiden General: How a 17-year-old Joan of Arc Saved France at Orleans chronicles the rapid rise to ultimate sainthood of the legendary young woman … And finally, Cherie Kephard’s poem, “The Ride,” has been published in this year’s San Diego Poetry annual The best poems in San Diego for 2015-16 … Congratulations, everybody! Publishing is a tough business, perhaps today more than at any other time. So fantastic to see so many aiming for excellence and persevering past all obstacles to produce quality stories that entertain, inform, and ultimately impact.

More soon. $75 discounted Early “Bard” Pre-registration is now open and our interactive SCWC Facebook group is smokin’. We’re also on Twitter and Tsu. You’ve earned it. Join us!

–Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC

While the bulk of LA14 (Irvine) big updates don’t begin till mid-March, there’s just too much good “muse” as of late not to grant some notable shout outs to SCWCers in the interim. Off the recent announcement of the 2016 Independent Publisher Book Award winners (the “IPPYs” as they’re known), a hearty congratulations to several authors in our community.

Taking the Gold in Horror Fiction for Soil-Man: Symphony, Book One, Oz Monroe continues to crush it with his debut release. He also just won the Next Generation Indie Book Award for Best First Novel from Readers’ Favorite Book Reviews. Oz will again be with us come September. He’ll introduce a new workshop, “The Science of Storytelling: How Neuroscience Can Help Us Tell Better Stories.”

Awarded the Silver in Multicultural Juvenile-YA Fiction, Claudia Whitsitt for Between the Lines, the first in her Kids Like You series … Tameri Etherton (writing as Tameri Tiara) landed the Silver medal in Erotica Fiction for her Developing Cassandra … And in the Parenting Non-fiction category, Dr. Lucy Jo Palladino nabbed the Silver for her Parenting in the Age of Attention Snatchers: A Step-by-Step Guide to Balancing Your Child’s Use of Technology.

Electing to pursue a personal path to publication is not an easy choice for most authors. To do so successfully is most often even harder. But to be recognized for having done everything right, from the writing and editing to the presentation and marketing–for settling only for exceptional–that is a vindicating accomplishment.  Good job, all!

One More Thing

As mentioned in last month’s update, authors Janis Thomas and Ara Grigorian have conspired to develop a new track that will debut at LA14. Their “Novel Intensive” consists of five comprehensive workshops that will take place all day Saturday, then conclude with a Rogue session beginning 9 p.m. For the hardcore writers who are committed to raising the bar of their own work, whether well into it or at the onset, this one’s for you. Details here.

Discounted Early “Bard” Pre-registration is now open. Register for the Full conference and save today. And don’t forget to join the conversation on our SCWC Facebook group where there’s always valuable information being shared.

–Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC

Gwendolyn Womack is the author of The Memory Painter, a dazzling debut novel that skips through time and blends romance, intrigue, mystery and science with masterful flair. Of it, in a starred review Library Journal declares, “It’s best not to try to analyze the ambitious plot of this thriller … just hang on for a wild and entertaining ride around the world and through the centuries back to ancient Egypt.” “Fundamentally it speaks to the cultural, emotional, and spiritual connectedness that binds us all,” avows The New York Journal of Books. And NY Times best-selling author M. J. Rose (The Witch of Painted Sorrows) calls it, “A sweeping, mesmerizing feat of absolute magic.” The first of our Special Guest Speakers to be announced, we’re delighted to welcome Gwendolyn to the SCWC.

While we’re crafting another unique conference experience for LA14, given the capacity crowds that attended his “Book Blueprint: From Foundation to Finish” at last month’s San Diego event, author/workshop leader Ara Grigorian will return to Irvine to co-present a new 5-part series of sessions being developed with yet another of our popular author/workshop leaders, Janis Thomas. Also confirmed, Jean Jenkins will conduct her popular 2-part genre workshop, “Best Foot Forward: Polishing to Impress.” From New York’s Corvisiero Literary, agents Marisa Corvisiero and Samantha Bremenkamp are on board. Also, addressing the countless questions many authors are grappling—whether traditionally published or pursuing the personal path to publication—public relations ace Paula Margulies will be joining us. Her terrific The Tao of Book Publicity: A Beginner’s Guide to Book Promotion is now available.

Speaking of Good “Muse”

Plenty other SCWCers with new books out, or soon to be released: Claudia Whitsitt’s Beyond the Lines has just dropped. The second in her Kids Like You series, Dream Girls Hattie, Crackers, and Beverly Jo return with the same determination and resolve they displayed in the first … From the ever-prolific Bethany Lopez, 7 Months, the next installment in her Time for Love series, is out March 24^th … The fifth in her popular Peri Minneopa Mysteries, Gayle Carline again tosses the charming housecleaner-turned-detective into hot water with A More Deadly Union, out May 26^th.

In her first foray into teen contemporary, Mary G. Thompson’s Amy Chelsea Stacie Dee is out October, followed by yet another of her delightfully dark YA fantasies, Flick and Mist, come January, 2017. Both in hardcover from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt … Finally, from Buzz & Roar Publishing, Christa Yelich-Koth’s sci-fi Identity, the sequel to Illusion, will be published this fall. Congratulations and best of success to all!

We have lots of staff still to announce, including many authors, agents, editors and other publishing professionals both familiar and fresh. We’re also developing several new workshops to address some of the most confounding issues impacting most writers, as was time and again brought to our attention at SD30. More on that soon.

Until next time, take advantage of the Early “Bard” Pre-registration discount off Full Conference participation and register today. Join the conversation on our SCWC Facebook group. And be sure to watch this brief excerpt from novelist Elizabeth Marro’s talk at SD30.

–Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC

In the jubilant afterglow of our San Diego celebration we now turn attention to September’s event in Irvine, which will be our 48^th conference in 30 years. And regardless of whether you’re a writer pursuing the traditional route or one opting instead for a more personal path to publication, the founding principle of the SCWC remains as true today as ever before: quality matters.

That’s why the SCWC is a craft-centric conference. We’re not about “pitches” and “promises” and stuffing as many people into a ballroom full of strangers as possible. We’re about doing the needed work and providing the wherewithal. We’re about intimacy, accessibility, community and mutual support. As such, our focus at LA14 (Irvine) will again be on elevating the quality of manuscripts coming through, troubleshooting problematic aspects of execution, embracing material of promise, expanding on ideas perhaps not yet fully explored, avoiding catastrophic premature e-publication, and connecting the dizzying array of dots flooding today’s publishing landscape.

Don’t get bilked. Don’t get blinded by the tethered assurances of Author Solutions (AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Trafford, Wordclay, Xlibris, et al) and its similarly mercenary ilk, those who profit from selling uninformed writers “author services” far more than from actually publishing and selling their books. Get wise and get good.

What’s on the page is what matters most. It matters to agents. It matters to acquisitions editors. It matters, ultimately, to book-buying readers. So get to Irvine in September and allow us to let you be the best writer you aim to be.

New Contest Nets Two Full Conference Admissions

Courtesy of longtime SCWCer & debut author Oz Monroe, whose literary dark fantasy Soil-Man is now out, we’re having a writing contest. The subject is, appropriately, “anniversary,” written in any genre you wish. The writers of the two winning submissions selected will both receive Full Conference admission to SCWC*LA14. Deadline to submit is May 1, 2016. Up to 1500 words. Submit your entry here.

In the meanwhile, discounted Early “Bard” Pre-registration is now open for our LA14 (Irvine) event. Do so by May 15, 2016, and save $100 on Full Conference attendance. It’s going to be another big mind sweller, so don’t dither. Don’t deny yourself. We’re talking about your work. We’re talking about your passion. Your words are worth it.

Also, if you haven’t, subscribe to our periodic .COMmunity updates and receive the latest announcements via email. Join the well-moderated conversation on our SCWC Facebook group for all sorts of writerly info and support. And for those seeking a more streamlined forum for SCWC exclusives, announcements, publishing news and more, we’re also on the emerging Tsu social media network, as well as Twitter.

That’s all for now. Until next time, go forth and write hard!

–Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC