Two aspiring authors whose manuscripts were first discovered at the Southern California Writers' Conference will make their respective publishing debut in August with the release of books that could not be more dissimilar.
Stacey O'Brien's astonishing memoir,
Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl, is out from Simon & Schuster/Free Press on August 19th. Recounting the 20-year saga of O'Brien and the four-day-old Barn Owl she adopted while working as a young biologist in the owl laboratory at Caltech, the book evolved from the original manuscript being recognized at the SCWC*Los Angeles 4 event.
Of the finished book, Sy Montgomery (
The Good Pig) proclaims, "Stacey O'Brien has captured the essence of the soul of an unforgettable owl. Affectionate, quirky, joyous and wise, Wesley shows us the Way of the Owl - the way to God and grace." And Kenn Kaufman (
Kingbird Highway and
Flights Against the Sunset) proclaims it "stunning, unforgettable. Read this book and you will never see owls, or humans, in the same light again."
Evolving from a manuscript discovered at the second SCWC*Palm Springs event, Andrew Peterson's taut thriller,
First to Kill, arrives in bookstores from Dorchester Publishing/Leisure Books on August 28. Telling the story of a former Marine sniper and covert CIA operative coaxed from retirement in order to hunt down a rogue agent, Ridley Pearson (
Killer Weekend) says of the book, "Andrew Peterson has created the most brutally effective thriller hero to appear in years. He handles a plot line like his hero might a well-oiled sniper rifle."
Founded and run by professional authors, the Southern California Writers' Conference holds annual events in San Diego and Irvine, periodically in Palm Springs, and has facilitated nearly $4 million worth of first-time book and screen over the past 22 years. Both Stacey O'Brien and Andrew Peterson will be special guest speakers at the next SCWC event, taking place in Irvine Sept. 26-38, 2008.
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