News And Announcements

Before we start regular conference updates proper, a heads-up that bestselling author and SCWC Director Janis Thomas will once again conduct her popular Novel Boot Camp in San Diego. Limited to only 10 participants, this immersive, 8-workshop track requires pre-registration and tends to sell out sooner than later. >>Complete details

Also, please be mindful that we’re still wrangling a few gremlins in our email server. Should be resolved soon, but do subscribe for updates if you haven’t received one over the past four weeks.

So Much Good “Muse”

What with wrestling tech since February, have neglected deserved props to all the SCWCers with new books…

Mustang to Paducah, A Zany Romp Into the Sixties, by Raul Ramos Y Sanchez (America Libre), mixes a stoner road trip and multiple murders with exuberant gonzo abandon … Pat Spencer’s Golden Boxty in the Fry Pan is a coming-of-age novel that brings to life the hardships and joys of a multi-generational Irish family struggling to stay together during the Great Depression … Post and Perilous is the third in Laura E. Akers’ Davina Glenn mystery adventure series.

From prolific author Teresa Burrell, the fraught trials of attorney Sabre Brown continue with The Advocate’s Nightmare, The Advocate’s Oath and The Advocate’s Phantom. The longstanding series (now up to 16 titles) draws heavily from T’s work as a lawyer in San Diego, whose private practice specialized in domestic, criminal, and civil cases. Also a former teacher, her work in juvenile court focused on representing abused minors and juvenile delinquents.

On the brink of World War II, Katharina Berger was the most sought-after stage and film actress in Germany. George (G.J.) Berger’s To Steal a Moment’s Time, explores his struggling mother’s remarkable diaries journaled while trying to survive Nazism and find his father during the first year of his life … The Diabolical, Book 11 in David Putnam’s Bruno Johnson thriller series. Janet Evanovich calls it, “Riveting, scary, but with plenty of wit and humanity” … Patrick Holcomb’s Where the Seams Meet plumbs the emotional depths of a desperately fractured relationship between a father and his son through their one common denominator: baseball.

“Spine-tingling […] deftly highlights the injustices of the American legal system regarding child abuse and parental rights all while presenting an engrossing cult thriller,” declares Publishers Weekly of of Mary G. Thompson’s young adult thriller, The Word … Book six of Indy Quillen’s award-winning Fox Walker suspense series, Perceptions, thrusts her expert tracker hero into a murder mystery that forces him to question his legendary bushcraft skills and world view … Shady Fortunes, Douglas J. Bornemann’s fifth installment in his historical fantasy The Dreamweaver Chronicles drops August 20^th.

August 27 sees the arrival of Melanie Doctors’ debut domestic drama Sleep in Peace. Of it, our own Ara Grigorian (Fortuny Bay series) effuses, “Wit, vulnerability, family saga, and love all come together in this story of self-discovery and second chances” … And from Christina Fong, the third in her YA fantasy Nightingale Songs Trilogy, ‘Til the Last Ember of Starlight, is out October, 2025.

Congratulations and best of success to all!

Dates for our 39^th annual winter event are Presidents’ Day Weekend, February 14-16, 2025. Discounted pre-registration is now open. Register today and save.

–Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC

Dates for our 39th annual San Diego conference are Presidents’ Day Weekend, February 14-16, 2025. Discounted pre-registration is now open. While regular updates will begin in August, here’s all you need to know now:

THE WEBSITE: WritersConference.com is currently being revitalized to better accommodate mobile devices. Consequently, over the next several weeks there may be backend code glitches I haven’t caught or ironed out yet. When launched, the new site will be significantly different than the current iteration. Should you encounter registration issues, please email me directly. (No need to blame the conference kitty.)

EMAIL: The ongoing disruptions we’ve been experiencing with @writersconference.com email functionality and delivery, since at least September of 2023, should be resolved within the next two weeks. Fingers & toes crossed. If you’ve not received a recent email update from us, be sure to subscribe in order to get all the latest news going forward.

SCWC*SD39 SCHEDULE: As usual, plenty of craft- and business-centric sessions, read & critique workshops, one-on-one consultations and more that will round out our writers’ weekend.

SCWC*SD39 STAFF: Accomplished authors, editors, agents, and other publishing professionals will be joining us, again, as usual. Be sure to subscribe to our periodic .COMmunity updates to find out who, along with all other SCWC news.

Until next time, remember that there is no single right way to forge publication success – only an infinite number of wrong ways. The SCWC is devoted to finding your best way.

–Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC

Craft is where it’s at. With a lucky break from the rain, and despite unanticipated challenges with the venue, our plot of writers celebrated the weekend by digging in and doing the work. Janis, Rick and I thank all for placing their trust in the SCWC. A hearty thanks to our workshop leaders and volunteers. And thank you to special guests Matt Coyle (Odyssey’s End), Suzanne Redfearn (Where Butterflies Wander), Jennifer Silva Redmond (Honeymoon at Sea), and Judy Reeves (When Your Heart Says Go)—all dutifully aspiring to excellence and settling only for exceptional with their work.

With yet another rapturously exhausting conference now behind us, let’s get on to which conferees were awarded for pages put forth in read & critique workshops and advance submission consultation.

SCWC*San Diego 38 Award Recipients

OUTSTANDING FICTION (TBA)
TBA
by Jason Hook of Lancaster, NH

OUTSTANDING FICTION (Literary)
Mirror-Image America
by Daze Castillo of San Diego, CA

OUTSTANDING SHORT STORY
Untitled
by Diana Fulton of El Dorado, CA

Also, 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 SD38 was “Key(s).” Here’s the winning entry . . .

OUTSTANDING TOPIC STORY
Untitled
by Diana Fulton of Redwood City, CA

Somewhere in the Florida Keys …

“Morning. What brings y’all in so early?” the waitress asked, smacking her gum.

“Well, we planned to go sailin’ today,” said the woman, neatly dressed in navy Capri pants and a white linen top matching her permed hair.

“Yeah? What happened?” She twirled her pencil.

The woman glanced at her husband, who stared at the ceiling silently, hands resting on his small potbelly.

“I dropped his sailboat keys into the ocean.” Her leather cheeks reddened.

The waitress nearly spat out her gum. “You did what now?”

“I tried to toss ‘em to him, but they slipped right outta my hand. I had just put on lotion.”

The man muttered something incomprehensible.

“Sweet baby Jesus! Didn’t y’all have a floaty keychain?”

“We did, but our baby grandson was playing with it and it broke right off.”

“Lord. What are y’all gonna do?”

“We were fixin’ to have some coffee,” the man interjected, “while we wait for the boat store to open.”

“Course, yessir,” the waitress replied, “coming right up and I’ll throw in some key lime pie.”

When she returned with the order, the couple sat just as she had left them.

“Sir, I have to ask. Are you ‘bout ready to kill your wife?”

“No ma’am,” he said. “What these gray hairs have brought me is the wisdom that my wife is more important than any old boat.”

He gazed at her. She placed her age-spotted hand on top of his and smile. “My Ernie!”

Good writing is where you find it, regardless of length, and should be acknowledged. That said, I need to set this up: The hotel we were forced to hold the conference at was a stop-gap solution. Unforeseen challenges arose. Among them? Only one bartender. The one bartender they did provide was three days new to the job when we arrived. His name is Ernesto. How he managed to do so, we don’t know, but he did so with gusto and a smile. We wanted to honor him so much (for dealing so pleasantly and patiently with us), that extra points were given to anybody submitting a Topic Award story that weaved him into it.

Diana submitted the below, but in her late-night editing cut any reference to the actual topic (“Key(s)”) from the entry. However, our judges could not withhold their support for citing its quality.

WARNING: This story contains potty language. Get over it. Life should not be bleepable. We’re writers.

Untitled
by Diana Fulton of Irvine, CA

A wise writer wrote “The first murder is the hardest,” yet so far it had been deceptively easy. Why this weekend, this conference? The non-existent coffee, the broken printer, the shitty Mexican food; those transgressions could be forgiven. However, the lack of alcohol was a capital offense.

She needed a martini, maybe two or seven. For Christ’s sake, there were 150 writers at the conference, shuffling around her like zombies with a taste for agent brains. She was so damn sick of smiling she thought her face might explode, embedding false eyelashes into the walls.

Her ass had been kissed so many times she was afraid her asshole would start kissing back. How the hell was she supposed to endure this without alcohol?

The idea of murder had been simmering in her soul for years. She’d read enough unbearably crusty detective manuscripts from former lawyers and Connolly wannabes to learn how to avoid consequences.

She took the stairs, avoiding the elevator where perfectly practiced pitches pummeled her as if Blake Snell himself were throwing them.

She set the stage; a thoughtful rip in her Hello Kitty nightshirt, a lamp knocked to the floor, the gun tucked under a pillow. She had a permit to carry, she wasn’t stupid. No sense getting away with murder if you were jailed for a lesser offense. A drink would be nice.

A knock on the door, the click of the lock as it disengaged. She smiled, a genuine smile this time.

“Hello, Ernesto.”

Congratulations, all!

Dates for our 39th annual San Diego conference are Presidents’ Day Weekend, February 14-16, 2025. Limited to 175 writers, discounted pre-registration opens August 1. In the meantime, changes abound as we inaugurate SCWC 3.0. What’s all cool to come will be announcing soon.

Until next time, write more, suck less, and be the writer you aspire to be. Your work is worth it.

–Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC

Returning to the SCWC with her sixth novel, Where Butterflies Wander, out February 6th from Lake Union, #1 Amazon bestselling author Suzanne Redfearn will regale and inform us with her travels and travails negotiating an ever-evolving publishing landscape. She replaces our previously announced Sunday afternoon Special Guest Speaker due to unforeseen circumstances. Suzanne’s previous books have been translated into twenty-four languages and have been recognized by RT Reviews, Target Recommends, Goodreads, Publisher’s Marketplace, and Kirkus Reviews. In an Instant was awarded Best New Fiction from Best Book Awards and was a Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist. Author Gian Sardar (When the World Goes Quiet) extols of her latest, “A poignant tale of blame, forgiveness, and the slender threads that weave into the tapestry of life. Redfearn takes her readers from heartbreak to hope, all the way making us see our ties to what’s been lost, and that even the most unlikely people can set us free.”

While close to having the final weekend schedule in place, another new workshop has just been introduced:

“Painting with Prose: Crafting Children’s Picture Books”
Leader: Henry Herz
Objective: Unleash your inner child and grab your most colorful crayons for a deep dive into the vibrant heart of children’s picture book creation. Unveiling the secrets of blending lyrical language with arresting artwork, we’ll explore how simple stories can weave complex emotions and teach young minds without preaching; delve into dynamic design and visual storytelling that captivates evolving brains. Exceptional structure, plot, character development, word choice, rhyme, pacing, themes and humor remain–they’re all as essential to pic-lit as excellent adult fiction.

Been a long while since we’ve addressed the genre, but since so many of you have asked for it recently, we’re doing so. Hot market. Take advantage.

There’s still plenty of room to join us in San Diego. Discounted Full Conference pre-registration remains open at this time. You’ve earned it. Your work is worth it. Join us!

–Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC

In a starred review Publishers Weekly proclaimed, “Rick Cahill’s extreme physical and emotional vulnerability is on full display in Shamus Award-winner Coyle’s superior eighth outing [Last Redemption] . . . Contemporary hard-boiled PI novels don’t get any better than this.” Number ten in the series is now out, again brutally putting its protagonist, with his brain disease worsening and family in disarray, through almost impossibly dire circumstances—and a case—to overcome. Best-seller Joe Ide (the I.Q. series) calls Odyssey’s End, “[A]nother smart, tightly-written, faster-than-a-speeding bullet tale of lust, danger and greed.” The author himself, Matt Coyle, returns to the SCWC Saturday evening to tell us all about it, 10 years in and nine novels out since his debut effort.

The working Schedule has been posted and the Staff page updated. While we’re still battling profound technical challenges behind the scenes, February’s in-person event is shaping up swell and promises to be another one to remember. If you’ve subscribed to our monthly updates to keep apprised of all the latest SCWC news and have not received any over the past many months, that’s because our third-party mailing list sender is pretty much broken. We’re striving to resolve the situation, but do re-subscribe if you do not receive a conference update via email by tomorrow (Tuesday).

Discounted registration remains open. Till next time, best of writerly success in 2024. We look forward to seeing you in San Diego!

–Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC

Rod Stewart’s lyric licked it best, “Every picture tells a story, don’t it?” Me likes to think, at least in the writing world, “Every person IS a story, idn’t it, if not a volume?” But where and how to publish that story is the challenge. There’s been big changes in the traditional publishing world over the recent past, with more coming. In fact, we’ve reached an interesting crossroad, with so many paths to publication available: TradPub, Indie, Boutique, or the inevitable Hybrid alternative. A startling number of writers we’ve spoken to are contemplating eschewing TradPub altogether, electing instead self- or hybrid; so many so that we need to be clear: If you pay to be published, 1) You’re not traditionally published, regardless what they tell you (trad-pubs pay you to publish your books); 2) You’re likely not going to recoup the money you spend to have them print your book, let alone make a profit. They will, because you paid them in advance.

So figure, what’s your story worth? Your legacy? We’ll address this hardcore in February because your work is an investment. You need to be sufficiently compensated for it. As we like to say: There is no single right way to publish a book; only an infinite number of wrong ways. This February, allow us to help find your best way.

Where We’re At

Book marketing expert and online book publicity pioneer Fauzia Burk will be joining us as Sunday afternoon’s Special Guest Speaker. The founder and president of FSB Associates, she has spent more than 25 years publicizing books by bestselling authors such as Alan Alda, Arianna Huffington, Deepak Chopra, Sonya Renee Taylor, Ken Blanchard, Charles Spencer, as well as many first-time authors. In 2019, she co-founded Pub Site, a platform for building author websites and used by authors such as Tom Clancy, Robin Cook, and hundreds more. Fauzia now leverages her rich background at the intersection of publishing and technology to innovate book marketing through AI.

Also, while we introduced many new sessions this past September in Irvine, even more will debut in San Diego. Necessarily so. Check out the Workshops & Events page to keep up to speed as we continue updating the program.

Novel Boot Camp

Bestselling novelist Janis Thomas returns to San Diego with her exclusive eight-part Novel Boot Camp. It’s been infinitely beneficial to a slew of SCWCers who’ve done the deep dive with her. There are a limited number of seats available, so be sure to email me directly to get in before too late. (There will be a waiting list.)

Good “Muse”

SCWCers with books recently out: Indy Quillen’s latest Fox Walker novel, Conflicted … Writing as M.G. Wetherholt, Gayle Carline introduces readers to a new cozy animal mystery, Paws on the Pier … Thomas M. Wing’s Against All Enemies, recent winner of the Firebird Award for Best Military Fiction.

David Putnam’s A Lonesome Blood-Red Sun, the second in his new Bone Detective series … Anthony and Shamus Award-winning Matt Coyle’s tenth in his celebrated Rick Cahill P.I. series, Odyssey’s End … And from bestseller Gene Desrochers, the third in his hardboiled noir Boise Montague mysteries, Crime Paradise, along with The West Indian Manner, featuring two short stories focused on his sun-soaked sleuth.

Best of success to all.

Extended Discount Deadline

Because of myriad technical issues as of late, we’re running about three weeks behind on staff, workshops and schedule updates. Consequently, we’ve extended the Full Conference participation discount to January 1. Perfect for Christmastime. Advance Submission Readers are now open. More will be added. Register today and save!

–Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC