News And Announcements

Hailing from film & TV as a writer/director, he’s turned to writing books for needed spiritual (and cerebral) balance. A best-selling ghost writer for Random House/Harmony Books, under his own name Eric DelaBarre’s latest, Saltwater Taffy, is a lushly illustrated, hardcover young adult novel following the exploits of five kids who uncover a treasure map once belonging to the ruthless New Orleans pirate Jean Lafitte. Due out January from Seven Publishing, already the book’s being hailed by Teachers of the Year around the country. Also the author of the inspiring Why Not: Start Living Your Life Today, Eric joins us Sunday evening to discuss his own journey to publishing — and personal — success…

Plenty other familiar friends added to the staff as of late, so be sure to check it out. More to come, of course, including agents, editors, authors, and — hopefully — one especially guest speaker many of us know. What’s on our collective mind at the moment, however, are two things:

1. The 3/10 Power Pen immersion track debut. Intended to be a stand-alone track in which participants write the first 10 chapters of a novel over the course of the conference weekend, what we’d like to know is whether anybody’s particularly interested in participating in it. There’s only so much space to conduct things at the hotel, so we need to be certain that devoting space to such an experiment is practical. It’s YOUR conference, so please fill out the poll and let us know.
2. Mark A. Clements Appreciation Night. For 21 consecutive years horror writer Mark Clements has led some of the most die-hard Rogue Read & Critique workshops for the SCWC in San Diego. Recently, and quite unexpectedly, he lost his health insurance. Shortly thereafter he was diagnosed with a tumor. A hideously ruinous tumor he affectionately named Vlad. Vlad proved itself unlovable, so Vlad was smited by a rather remarkably expensive medical exorcism. On December 10, in San Diego, a victory benefit celebration of Mark, and his contributions to the writing community, in effort to offset his medical costs is being held. You don’t have to be in town to help out, and every little donation will go to the fund. Full details: http://writelivelihood.net

Turns out we’re going to have a 1-day Poetry Cram at SD25 — woo-hoo!  Details soon.

On the heels of winning yet another award for his debut novel, America Libre, this time First Place in the Books Into Movies Awards from Latino Literacy, author Raul Ramos y Sanchez returns with its controversial sequel, House Divided.  Out January, Raul is now very much in full swing with a sustained marketing campaign he built from scratch, and that has already greatly contributed to his publication success.  Come February he and his agent, Sally van Haitsma, will walk you through the essentials of public relations, branding, social media and direct marketing to get your own work noticed…

It seems everything today is about writers needing to have an online platform to be taken seriously in the publishing world.  Thing is, most writers would much rather be writing than devoting incalculable hours to social networking that may not result in a single book sale.  Writers must manage their time efficiently.  What works, what doesn’t, and how to win not just “friends” online, but book buyers, is what SCWC webmaster and popular workshop leader Jeremy Lee James addresses at JeremyLeeJames.com.  Resulting greatly from  feedback gleaned from his multiple appearances at the conference, there’s plenty of great information there, including this new series of articles, “A Workflow For Writers To (Mostly) Automate Their Social Media Strategy.”

By the way, many who attended LA8 expressed interest in Jeremy’s new service for writers who want a super-simple, affordable way to launch and maintain a high quality website.  It’s now up and running at Write Click Hosting.

More SD25 staffers to announce.  The first of the agents confirmed include Sandra Dijkstra Literary’s Jill Marr, Sally van Haitsma (van Haitsma Literary), and Elizabeth Winick Rubinstein (senior agent, McIntosh & Otis).  Authors Judy Reeves, Laura Taylor and Robert Yehling are back, as is freelance editor and genre guru Jean Jenkins.  Still plenty more to announce as we start rounding out the schedule.  Don’t forget to email us any specific topic suggestions you’d like to see addressed in February.

Finally, on the good “muse” front: Indy Quillen, recipient of the SCWC*LA8 Award for Outstanding Fiction, only a month after September’s conference has signed with Paul Fedorko of powerhouse agency N.S. Bienstock.  Paul had requested the full manuscript (as did two other agents) after review of its initial pages during advance submission critique.  Way to go, Indy!  Only a matter of time now.

Making her first appearance at the SCWC, author Linda Thomas-Sundstrom, whose sexually charged paranormal romances include Silhouette Nocturne’s wildly popular Wolf Moons and upcoming Vampire Moons series of novels and novellas, will be addressing all things gothic in one of the most wildly popular genres of the day. Wolf Trap is her most recent and, yes, she’s a Buffy fan. We’ve wanted her for a long, she’s got plenty of insight to offer, and we’re especially thrilled to have her. Also newly aboard…

Following a couple-year hiatus due to his hectic journalistic obligations schedule, Thomas Larson is back. Author of The Memoir and the Memoirist — a must-read for all writers crafting a “modern memoir” —  The Saddest Music Ever Written: The Story of Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” (Pegasus Books) is his latest. A finalist for the Barnes & Noble Fall “Discover” Award, the book provides an in-depth study of one of the most iconic, deeply resonant nine minutes of music ever written, and the young genius behind them.

Jim Hitt, noted film & literature monographer, essayist, short story writer, novelist, educator, and former conferee, is aboard to conduct read & critique workshops and a much-needed “Merging Style and Substance” session. His latest is Carny, A Novel in Stories (Aberdeen Bay Press).

As versatile as ever, genre-skipping novelist Michele Scott returns. From her popular Wine Lover’s Mystery and Equine Mystery series to young adult adventure such as Zamora’s Ultimate Challenge, and her latest, the sweeping narco-family epic El Patron, the exceptionally entrepreneurial Michele plies the craft and works the trade equally well at every level.

Still much, much more to announce, including additional workshop leaders, agents, editors, special guest speakers, advance submission readers and more. For those who register early and select optional advance submission readers, select “TBA” (to be announced), the list of readers will be up early November. Once posted, simply email the conference with your specific choice(s).

As we begin building out the schedule over the next few weeks, updates will appear frequently to reflect where we’re at (subscribe to our RSS feed to not miss one). Where you are at next Presidents’ Day Weekend is what matters now. Though it might be tough to picture this far out, that’s in the winter. And where better to be a writer in winter than in San Diego? Imagine what little will you could wear!

Until next update, here’s some timeless advice from author Ernessa T. Carter (32 Candles), one of our special guest speakers at last month’s LA8:

“A reality TV show lands on the last fragment of a primordial supercontinent, where life has evolved separately for 600 million years.” Such is the premise of Warren Fahy’s bestselling debut action-adventure Fragment, released hardcover by Delacorte last year and snatched up for film by Lloyd Levin (Watchmen). With a blood-pulsing narrative and speculative science edge, the book’s been compared to the best of Michael Crichton’s work. Warren will discuss with us how he did it.

Also aboard for SD25, Laurel Corona will be conducting select read & critique workshops over the extra-long weekend. Her latest historical novel, Penelope’s Daughter (Berkley Trade), revisits Homer’s The Odyssey from an utterly fresh perspective, chronicling the tale of Odysseus’ queen and daughter, both abandoned by the warlord in Ithaca for some 19 years . . . Author/artist Christine Renhad Stenstrom will be with us. The recent release of her exquisitely produced coffee table book, Cherry Blossom Trees: Literary Writings and Artworks, will allow us to  address a huge market not really dealt with much in the past.

In her first appearance at the SCWC, Lisa Fugard, author of the evocative and wonderfully rich Skinner’s Drift, set in her native South Africa, will be conducting workshops.  So too will Alexandra Sokoloff, whom we lost in Newport Beach due to unforeseen circumstances that left her stranded on the east coast.

Still many, many other authors, agents and editors to announce as we begin the run-up to February’s event.  Drusilla Campbell’s NovelCram immersion track is a go, as is our new 3/10 Power Pen track (details on that later), and some particular attention we’re going to pay to all things eBooks.

Check back often or subscribe to our RSS feed.  There’s much more coming soon.

While regular updates begin in October, some good “muse” simply can’t wait. Derek Haas will be with us, author of the 2010 Barry Award nominated Columbus. The follow-up to his acclaimed debut thriller, The Silver Bear, Booklist says, “Like Jeff Lindsay’s Dexter, Columbus is a thoroughly likable villain… It’s impossible not to like the guy, even though he explicitly and repeatedly tells us not to, just as it’s impossible not to like the novel itself.”

Also a celebrated screenwriter, Derek’s screenwriting partner on such hit films as Wanted, 2 Fast 2 Furious and 3:10 to Yuma, writer/director Michael Brandt will be joining us to conduct a workshop or two.  Their latest, The Double, starring Richard Gere and Stephen Moyer, is out 2011.

Another solid rep on the screenwriting front, writer/producer/story editor and former VP of Production for Davis Entertainment, Adam Coplan is aboard.  His work spans dozens of movies, including The Matrix, The Truman Show and Wonder Boys to I, Robot, Alien vs. Predator and The Express, starring Dennis Quaid and Rob Brown.

Of course many other friends of the SCWC will be joining us for our 25th annual San Diego event. We’ve got more special guests to announce soon, more authors, agents, editors and other publishing professionals. The $100 Early “Bard” Discount for full conference registration expires September 1 so take advantage and register today!

Now here’s your latest Writer Replay, in which an accomplished author is reminded what truly matters in today’s ever-changing publishing world.

Our extra-long holiday weekend conference takes place over Presidents’ Day Weekend, enabling us to run “Rogue” workshops until the very wee hours of Monday morning. In fact, this past SD24 two late-nighters went until 6:15 AM critiquing each other’s work and commiserating about all things writerly in a make-shift tag-team session that stretched from 3:30 AM, which several of us were privy to from afar…

What that says about those of us privy to the sincere efforts of other writers soberly imbibing upon their craft at the time need not be mentioned. Thing is, as we’ll be celebrating our 25th anniversary come February, no doubt we’ll do so again.

Already we’ve brought a lot of new flock into the fold, author-, agent- and editor-wise, to address the issues today impacting writers of all ilk. Many familiar friends will also join us in February. What’s cool now to announce — before starting our regular updates in October — is that we’re debuting a brand new immersion track as a result of several regulars’ input.

The “3/10 Power Pen” debuts at SD25. This is a stand-alone track in which participants are expected to write – from scratch — the first 10 chapters of their book over the course of the conference weekend. With individual sessions prompted by leaders, the idea behind this is that an SCWC weekend is YOUR weekend. It’s your weekend to get work done, work that you can print and wag in some skeptical non-writer’s face as tangible evidence of your creative efforts. It’s geared for you to write. Now. You.

Regular updates begin in October, following our LA8 event. Meanwhile, register really early (by Sept. 1) and take advantage of our $100 Early “Bard” Registration discount to secure your deserved spot in the .COMmunity extending into all things SCWC.