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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A quick note to inform you that WritersConference.com has been updated to reflect the working schedule, workshop leaders & guest speakers currently slated, as well as all of the readers accepting material for evaluation prior to the conference, followed by one-on-one consultation during the holiday weekend.

The printable 4-page conference brochure is also now available online.  Hardcopy brochures were delayed a couple of weeks because of the recent wildfires, though we anticipate having them in the mail to you first week of December.

The 22nd Annual Southern California Writers' Conference *San Diego takes place Presidents' Day Weekend, Feb. 15-18, 2008.  For those staying at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, you can book your room online, taking advantage of the SCWC discounted conference lodging rate here.  For those booking reservations over the phone, our group code is SCW.

As always, do let us know of any topic suggestions you have for workshops or panel discussions.  You never know what we might be able to squeeze in.

--msg
Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC

The 22^nd Annual Southern California Writers' Conference *San Diego takes place Presidents' Day Weekend, Feb. 15-18, 2008. Here's all the latest news:

1. Agents and editors aboard

2. Workshop leaders and advance submission readers

3. Advance submission deadline and details

4. Andrea Portes' query letter now available

5. Movie made at L.A. conference now online

6. Save $50 on registration

7. Free conference contest

8. Location of the conference

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1) Agents and editors aboard

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While more will be announced, agents and editors currently confirmed for February: Night Shade Books' editor in chief Jeremy Lassen, Sunbelt Books publisher Jennifer Redmond, agents Jessica Faust (BookEnds), Kate McKean (Howard Morhaim Lit.), Kelly Skillen (PMA Lit.), Mindy Stone (The Firm Mgt.), Sally van Haitsma (Castiglia Lit.), Natanya Wheeler (Lowenstein-Yost) and Kelly Sonnack (Dijkstra Lit.).

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2) Workshop leaders and advance submission readers

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New friends and familiar will be joining us for workshops and optional advance submission critique. Confirmed thus far: first-timers cyber-punk novelist and executive consultant to HBO's outstanding series, ROME, Josh Conviser, and celebrated, sometimes controversial columnist, essayist and poet Edwin Decker. Returning staff includes novelists Mark Clements, Ken Kuhlken, Thomas Larson, Whitney Lyles, Matthew J. Pallamary, Laura Preble, Frederick Ramsay, Alan Russell, Michele Scott, Julie Ann Shapiro, Alexandra Sokoloff and Amy Wallen; award-winning humorist Gordon Kirkland, writing provocateur Judy Reeves, as well as stalwart freelance editors/authors Dale Fetherling, Jean Jenkins and Mike Sirota.  More to be announced.

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3) Advance submission deadline and details

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Deadline for submitting material for advance submission review, followed by one-on-one consultation at the conference is January 12, 2008.  All material MUST be received by that date.  No exceptions. 

If you're selecting more than one reader, keep in mind that you may submit your materials in one package, so long as each submission is clearly addressed to its respective reader with a cover letter or some kind of note.

Material to submit to readers consists of the following:

For fiction and narrative nonfiction, the first 20 pages of your book, in addition to an optional cover page (recommended) and 1 to 2-page synopsis of the book in its entirety -- if you wish.

For nonfiction, in addition to the first 20 pages and optional cover page (recommended), the Table of Contents of your book.

Find the growing list of readers at http://writersconference.com/bios.htmlReaders and select name of reader to read specific genres of interest.  Do note that we're updating the site as information comes in, so not all have their criteria listed yet.

Also keep in mind that the registration page will not list the available readers to select from until the bulk have been confirmed, over the next two weeks.  In the meantime, you may register and select "To Be Determined."  We will notify registered conferees via email when the list is posted.

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4) Andrea Portes' query letter now available

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SCWC*LA Friday evening speaker, author Andrea Portes, and her agent, Sally van Haitsma, wowed the audience with the tale of Andrea's outstanding query letter that hooked representation for her breakout novel, HICK.  That query letter is now available on the site at http://www.writersconference.com/grafx/portes_query.gif.  It's an image file, so be sure to right-click and save to your computer to print.  (Thank you Andrea and Sally.)

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5) Movie made at L.A. conference now online

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Ripped from today's headlines, a salacious senator makes his last (wide) stance against bathroom injustice in this little movie we made at the Irvine conference a couple of weeks ago.  Watch it on YouTube at http://youtube.com/watch?v=hoAyvWpS3AY and be sure to visit and Digg the website posted at the end.  If you like it, past it along.  Who knows what we'll come up with in San Diego!

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6) Save $50 on registration

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The Early "Bard" Discount, allowing you to knock $50 off full conference registration, expires December 1, 2007.  Be sure to visit http://writersconference.com/register.html and save today. 

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7) Free conference contest

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A half-page ad for the SCWC*SD is running in the WRITER'S GUIDE TO FICTION, just out from THE WRITER magazine. For those who can identify the literary source and signicance of the big symbol featured prominently on the left side of the ad, we'll be taking entrees for a drawing at the San Diego conference. The first lucky winning name pulled out of the hat will win a free full conference pass to our Los Angeles (Irvine) 2008 or San Diego 2009 conference.  Good luck!

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8) Location of the conference

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SCWC*SD22 will be held at the same location as the past two years, though newly renamed and under new ownership.  The Crowne Plaza San Diego (formerly Red Lion Hanalei) handles all lodging reservations directly. The hotel is also the physical site of the conference. Its address: 2270 Hotel Circle North, San Diego, CA 92108; Telephone: (619) 297-6049; Website: www.cp-SanDiego.com. Be sure to mention the SCWC when booking to ensure you receive the discount rate. Those planning to stay at the hotel must book by no later than January 15, 2008 to ensure the conference discount.

Write well!

--msg
Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC
http://www.WritersConference.com

For any that are interested...

Nickelodeon is offering writing fellowships in live action and animated television to writers with diverse backgrounds and experiences.  Participants will have hands-on interaction writing spec scripts and pitching story ideas.

The program, developed to broaden Nickelodeon's outreach efforts, provides a salaried position for up to one year.  The '07 – '08 cycle is scheduled to begin October 2007.

The next submission period runs from January 2 – February 28, 2008.  Applications and submission guidelines are available on our website at www.nickwriting.com. The website will be updated by the end of November.

So, I'm not a big fan of reviews of my work.  When they're bad, I lament that I failed to deliver on expectations roused.  When they're laudatory, I'm suspicious as to why.  But then this morning I checked out the Amazon.com reader feedback on a little book I wrote years ago that's still in print and found the greatest, most singularly dead-on summary ever:

Blahblahblah, kudoskudoskudos, "there are some fluffy parts that you can ignore, but they are to flesh out what could be a solid 10 pages."

Exactly!  I feel that way about my entire body of work: Could have been a solid 10 pages!

I love this guy.

--msg

At its festival premiere, We, The Screenwriter wins Best Feature-length Documentary 2nd place at the ReelHeART International Film Festival in Toronto.  The frenetic, highly-stylized "doculogue," as director Michael Steven Gregory calls it, features sixteen professional writers addressing the art, craft and business of being a scribe in today's Hollywood.

RHIFF's third annual event took place June 19-23, 2007, screening over 100 films from around the world in a variety of genres.

Learn all about We, The Screenwriter at WeTheScreenwriter.com and join out mailing list  today.

Selling 2 million DVDs in a year and nearly 4 million books based on it in only six months, The Secret has become one of the biggest overnight sensations in publishing history, earning for its author an estimated $48.5 million fortune.  But as the Chicago Tribune reports, before gaining attention from Oprah, The Ellen DeGenerous Show, Larry King, Newsweek and the New York Times, "a clever viral marketing campaign that has successfully harnessed the Internet and word-of-mouth buzz to reach the masses" guaranteed blockbuster status long before the book was released. 

The man responsible for that campaign, Web marketing strategist Dan Hollings, is joining the Southern California Writers' Conference *Los Angeles to disclose just how he pulled it off.

Others slated to appear at the SCWC*LA (actually, in Irvine)...

• Best-selling novelist Andrea Portes, who's debut title Hick is garnering raves.

• ¡Ask a Mexican! author/columnist Gustavo Arellano, who's become a familiar face on such outlets as The Today Show, Nightline, The Colbert Report and almost everywhere else. 

• Raul Ramos to discuss his and his agent's decision to publish the controversial America Libre independently, only to now be courted by the mainstream houses he turned his back on.

• Kirwan Rockefeller, entertainment industry consultant and author of Visualize Confidence: How to Use Guided Imagery to Overcome Self-Doubt.

In addition to plenty of read & critique workshops, craft and execution sessions, advance submission reviews, agents, editors and others, highlights include the total immersion "Novel Cram" writing track in which writers build a book from concept to completed outline, and such topics as writing videogames and graphic novels, constructing the short film from scratch, memoir writing, landing magazine assignments, selling the nonfiction book before actually writing the book and a whole lot more.

The 5th Annual SCWC*LA takes place in Irvine, CA, Sept. 28-30, 2007. For complete information visit www.WritersConference.com or call (619) 303-8185.

WHAT: 5th Annual Southern California Writers' Conference *Los Angeles(ish)

WHEN: Sept. 28-30, 2007

WHERE: Crowne Plaza Hotel, 17941 Von Karman, Irvine, CA 92614

COST: Full Conference - $355

"More millionaires have been made by winning the California Lottery than by writing screenplays."  So begins the new feature documentary by Michael Steven Gregory, We, The Screenwriter, in which sixteen film and television writers present a frenetic, fast-paced portrait of the person, process and profession of being a scribe in today's Hollywood.

Marking the return of Gregory to documentary — or "doculogue" as he calls it — form, We, The Screenwriter will make its world premiere at the RealHeART International Film Festival this June, fully two years after the then-just-completed film was lost in a car accident only days before its initially slated premiere in New Mexico.  With no other option, the highly stylized, edit-intensive movie was recut from scratch and only recently completed again.

Produced, directed and edited by Gregory, We, The Screenwriter features writers whose credits include Air Bud, Any Given Sunday, A Valentine Carol, Battlestar Galactica, Carnivàle, Cleopatra, Constantine, Hill Street Blues, House, Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang, Land of Oz, Lethal Weapon, The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Last Boy Scout, Mission Impossible: 2, Moby Dick, Pacific Heights, Perfect Romance, Resurrecting the Champ, Roswell, The Role of a Lifetime, Silver Surfer, Spawn, Spider-Man Unlimited, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Sum of All Fears, Tales from the Crypt, Timeline and more.

The topics they address are equally eclectic, ranging from breaking into the business and what validates the screenwriter, to the profession's impact on personal relationships, responsibilities, writing for TV versus features, writing on assignment versus on spec, pitching, outlining, adaptation, rewriting, agents, young executives, ageism, studio notes, gender bias, writing for market, being pigeon-holed by the industry, and others. 

Ultimately, what the film is a testament to is the one topic not covered in it: finishing what you start. "Great, unproduced scripts are still circulating in Hollywood after 40 years," said Gregory. "Only four years to get a movie made is like living in the fast lane!"

WHAT: We, The Screenwriter premiere (WeTheScreenwriter.com)

WHEN: June 19, 4 PM at RealHeART International Film Festival (RHIFF.com)

The Fifth Annual Southern California Writers' Conference *Los Angeles(ish) will take place Sept. 28-30, 2007 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Irvine.  As usual, many familiar friends are aboard  and several new ones are being rolled into the fold, including authors, agents & editors.

Get all the latest news at WritersConference.com, where you can also take advantage of our Early "Bard" Discount and knock a whopping $50 off full conference registration if you do so by June 1.