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 martial arts figure skating. The first in a series, Publishers Weekly calls the debut novel, “Massively entertaining… Peasprout Chen is a future legend, indeed.” While New York Times-bestselling author Daniel José Older effuses, “Martial Arts! Global intrigue in fantastical lands! Ferocious figure skating! A disgruntled oracular monkey with a butcher knife! This book had everything I didn’t realize I needed and more–a thrilling, heartfelt tale about growing up and standing up for yourself told against a backdrop of stunning fight scenes and brilliant worldbuilding.” Its author is Henry Lien, and we can’t wait to welcome him to the SCWC. Our first Special Guest Speaker to be announced, Henry will join us in September to share with us his writer’s journey and more.
Pre-registration Begins
Discounted Early “Bard” Pre-registration is now open for our 16th annual Fall conference. Do so by April 1, 2018 and save a whopping $125 on Full Conference participation. Being fresh off our Winter event in San Diego, we’re developing several new workshops for September. As always, time and attention will be paid most to where you are today as a writer and how to get you where you want to be tomorrow. And every day after. Craft, of course, is key. We’ll begin rolling out regular updates starting next month. In the meanwhile, here’s what you need to know now…
SCWC*LA16 (IRVINE) LOCATION: The conference will again be held at the Wyndham Irvine Hotel, located at 17941 Von Karman Avenue, Irvine, CA 92614. Dates are September 21-23, 2018. Lodging discounts are available to SCWC conferees. Phone (949) 863-1999 to book your reservation, or click here to do so online. Deadline for discounted hotel registration is August 30, 2018.
SCWC*LA16 (IRVINE) 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*LA16 (IRVINE) STAFF: In addition to the many familiar workshop leaders, agents, editors and other publishing professionals returning in 2018, many fresh folk will be joining the fold.
Before Irvine, our exclusive Sunriver Writers’ Summit will be held near Bend, OR, May 26-27, 2018. Held in the resort community of Sunriver, the 2-day intensive features three workshop tracks to choose from, with their respective emphases on writing memoir & personal narrative, substantive story building, and scripting the commercial screenplay (longform, episodic and short). What better way to prepare for September than escape to Central Oregon’s High Plateau and immerse yourself in The Great White Art? Details here.
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–Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC/SWS
