Carmen Madden is Back to Teach Dramatic Fiction

Dramatic Fiction

Effective script writing

Monday - Friday
1:00-3:30 PM
RM 179

This workshop will emphasize how to build your script so that it has smooth continuity, great characters, and tension-filled conflict. Assignments are given each day, and works-in-progress will be read and critiqued.

Carmen Madden is the founder of CLM FILMS, a feature film studio located in Oakland, California. Madden is the producer/director/writer of the award-winning suspense film Everyday Black Man, which won several awards including Best Feature Film during its film festival run. The film can currently be seen on BET and Showtime. Madden will be shooting her next feature film, Shadow Fight, this summer. In addition to her film career, Madden is an associate professor of English at Ohlone College and writes short stories and novels. Her short stories have been published in literary magazines. Madden is currently working on a detective novel, Queen of King Street, and a nonfiction book.

Marla Miller Shows Writers How to Hook Their Readers

Hooking Readers

Editorial read & critique and social media strategies and discussion

Monday - Friday
1:00-3:30 PM
Vista I

Aimed at all levels, fiction & nonfiction, this workshop cross-pollinates editorial work with marketing and social media strategies, to expand author platforms. Both are needed in the 21st century publishing reality. In all sessions, leader and participants will listen for reader hook-ability and social media rooted platform building ideas and strategies. Workshop attendees are to bring openings, 5–7 pages (fiction or narrative nonfiction) and book proposals – overview, introduction and sample chapter. Query letters for critiquing also welcomed. 

For 16 years, Marla Miller wrote for OC Register magazine before becoming founding editor-in-chief of an O.C. lifestyle magazine. In 1999, Simon and Schuster published her first book, All American Girls, the authorized biography of the World Cup/Gold Medal winning U.S Women’s National Soccer Team. Until 2003, her sports columns appeared on Oxygen.com. In 2003, Miller’s experience in traditional publishing inspired her to launch MarketingtheMuse Workshop at SBWC. Though indie publishing wasn’t much of a thought back then, association with a big house taught her that many traditionally published authors receive very little help from marketing departments. So now she works with writers on the road to publication.

SBWC, Anne Lowenkopf and a Yellow Cactus Flower

What does a bright yellow epiphyllum cactus flower have to do with the upcoming Santa Barbara Writers Conference?  And what about that woman in the orange top, Anne Lowenkopf?

 Anne taught at SBWC for many years in addition to her other work as a writer and editor. She had a passion for helping others and for believing in writers and seeing their potential through even their early shitty drafts. Her students (me, included) basked in this sense that we could keep getting better if we just kept at it. 

 Earlier this week would have been Anne’s 92nd birthday. She passed away in December 2010, leaving behind a legacy of a thousand or so writing students who learned much from her over her decades of teaching.

 Anne was also a relentless gardener, and she always had extra plants to share. She gave me this yellow blooming cactus somewhere back in the last century. It always blooms in early June, and so all these years I have never forgotten her birthday. It helps me remember all the other things I learned from her. 

 So yes, I learned writing and passionate gardening from her, but it was that other quality of believing in aspiring writers that has fueled my effort in directing SBWC. 

 Putting together a writers conference requires a lot of smiling through challenging moments and hanging on to the belief that every writer is worthy…if they have the desire to grow in their craft. 

 That idea is prevalent at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference.  

So here is to you, Anne Lowenkopf, wherever you are. Thank you for the epiphyllum, and all the rest.  

Grace Rachow, SBWC Director

Melinda Palacio and Lida Sideris Lead the Way to Write Through the Fear, June 20

Writing Through the Fear

Thursday, June 20
1:00-3:30 PM
El Cabrillo

Maybe you’re juggling a fulltime career and family with the goal of completing a novel. Maybe your work has been critiqued to death. Maybe you’ve written yourself into a closet where it feels you cannot escape and put your book project back on track. Or maybe you’ve finished your book, but are scared to move into the marketing phase.

Every writer faces moments when it seems a project has come to a halt. This workshop offers a toolbox for overcoming the fears and other barriers to overcoming writing paralysis. Bring your problems and questions, and, together, we will share the solutions to your writing and marketing muddles. 

This workshop encourages interaction and movement and will wake you to what you need to do to move your project forward. We will cover the magic of ritual, concrete practices and a little of the spiritual to free up your writing and get it to the finish line.

Melinda Palacio is a the author of an award winning novel, Ocotillo Dreams, as well as three poetry books, Folsom Lockdown, How Fire is a Story Waiting and her latest, Bird Forgiveness (3: A Taos Press 2018).  

Lida Sideris writes soft-boiled mysteries and was one of two national winners of the Helen McCloy Mystery Writers of America scholarship award. The third installment in her Southern California Mystery series, Murder: Double or Nothing, will be released on June 25th.

Matthew Pallamary will Teach Phantastic Fiction, as well as Speak on Guerrilla Marketing at SBWC June 16-21

Wednesday June 19, 4 PM Guerrilla Marketing, El Cabrillo

Monday-Friday Fantastic Fiction 9:00-11:30 AM, Vista I

On Wednesday June 19, at 4PM join thirty-five-year publishing veteran Matthew Pallamary for an informative presentation on how to get the best bang for your buck, by taking advantage of free services and a guerrilla approach to getting the best exposure for your work possible.

Matt asks that participants in his Fantastic Fiction workshop bring a sense of dedication and a willingness to listen and pay attention. Writing a well-written narrative is mastering the energies of your story—the multi-faceted energies that determine the moods, reactions, choices and traits of your characters, the energies between characters, the drive of the pacing, action and dialogue to create a deeper, emotionally powerful resonance within your total story structure. All types of writing and genres are welcome, but the primary focus of the workshop is on literature of the visionary, supernatural, metaphysical, new age, horror, fantasy, and science fiction.

Multiple award-winning author Matthew J. Pallamary’s historical novel, Land Without Evil, received rave reviews along with a San Diego Book Award. He has published a total of a dozen titles across genres and is truly a one-man publishing empire.

Yvonne Nelson Perry Returns to SBWC With More Wisdom on Crafting Short Stories.

Crafting Short Stories

Monday - Friday
1:00-3:30 PM
RM 177

Yvonne Nelson Perry asks that participants in her workshop bring an open-mindedness to a critique of their work. People are reading short fiction; they often don’t have time for anything else. However all stories must have a beginning, middle and end. Test your short story in this workshop. Learn new techniques to strengthen your writing. Bottom line: master your craft.

Yvonne is the author of The Other Side of the Island, a short story collection set in a timeless Hawai’i and taken from a memoir. Over fifty stories of hers have been published in literary journals, magazines and anthologies, many receiving awards. Often sent into California schools as “a living writer” to promote the art of writing, Perry continues to teach at conferences and in private workshops. San Diego Writers/Editors Guild recently honored her with their ODIN, an award for outstanding work in the writing community. An editor for hire, Perry has been a workshop leader at SBWC for over twenty years.

Diana Raab to Teach Memoir at SBWC, June 16-21

Writing tips and wisdoms for writing a riveting memoir

Monday-Friday
9:00-11:30 AM
Vista III

This workshop will offer you valuable tips and insights for writing a compelling memoir. We will discuss many subjects, including how to decide what story to tell, and what are the important elements in writing a memoir. You’ll learn what prompts someone to pick up your book, and what causes them not to want to put it down. The class time will include lecture, discussion, and writing exercises. The content will be suitable to those who have been contemplating writing a memoir, as well as writers who are already doing so. You will leave the workshop inspired, motivated, and with many snippets of writing to be used in your memoir,

Diana Raab, MFA, PhD is an award-winning memoirist, poet, and blogger. She’s been writing personal stories and memoir for more than four decades. She’s the author of nine books, including two memoirs. Regina’s Closet, and Healing With Words. Her latest books are Writing for Bliss: A Seven-Step Plan for Telling Your Story and Transforming Your Life (winner of Feathered Quill Book Award for best self-help book), and  Writing for Bliss: A Companion Journal.

Author Lisa See will Speak at SBWC on June 16 at 7:30 PM

Lisa See will be introduced by Fannie Flagg. Lisa will receive the Ross Macdonald award before her evening talk.

Lisa See is the New York Times bestselling author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Peony in Love, Shanghai Girls, Dreams of Joy, and China Dolls. Her recent novel, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, was an instant New York Times bestseller. Her upcoming novel, The Island of Sea Women, was released in March 2019. Booklist has put The Island of Sea Women on its “High-Demand Hot List,” while Library Journal has made The Island of Sea Women a “Pre-pub Pick” for 2019. Jodi Picoult has given her praise: “Lisa See excels at mining the intersection of family, friendship and history, and in her newest novel, she reaches new depths exploring the matrifocal haenyeo society in Korea, caught between tradition and modernization.  This novel spans wars and generations, but at its heart is a beautifully rendered story of two women whose individual choices become inextricably tangled.”  

 Ms. See has also written a mystery series that takes place in China, as well as On Gold Mountain, which is about her Chinese-American family. Her books have been published in 39 languages.  Ms. See was honored as National Woman of the Year by the Organization of Chinese American Women in 2001, was the recipient of the Chinese American Museum’s History Makers Award in 2003, and received the Golden Spike Award from the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California in 2017.

John Reed Returns to SBWC to Lead "The Pirates" Workshop into the Wee Hours June 16-21

Sunday-Friday
9:30 PM into the wee hours
Vista III

This is a lively, spirited read-and-critique session, often stretching into the wee, small hours of the morning. Students who try hard to help their fellow writers often end up helping themselves even more. You won’t need to bring copies for the group, but if you want in-text edits, provide one copy for the instructor.

John asks that the participants in his pirate workshop have an open mind and a willingness to write from the heart – even when they don’t feel good.

 John Reed is the author of five novels, Mountain of Ashes, Thirteen Mountain, Dark Thirty, Shadow White as Stone and The Kingfisher’s Call.

https://www.sbwriters.com/john-reed

Stephen Markley Will Speak at SBWC Tuesday June 18 at 8 PM.

Stephen Markley

Tuesday June 18, 8:00 PM, El Cabrillo

Stephen Markley’s OHIO is one of the best debut novels I have read in years.

Stephen Markley’s new novel is Ohio. In it he depicts an American generation fumbling through disillusionment and a turbulent new age of war, addiction, political unrest, and unemployment.

Markley is a gifted writer, masterfully weaving together the stories of his protagonists through a variety of perspectives and timelines that culminate in a stunning reveal. 

Stephen Markley is an author, screenwriter, and journalist. A graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, Markley’s previous books include the memoir Publish This Book: The Unbelievable True Story of How I Wrote, Sold, and Published This Very Book, and the travelogue Tales of Iceland. He lives in Los Angeles.

Monte Schulz Teaches Voice & Style

Voice and Style

Monday - Friday
1:00-3:30 PM
El Monte

Monte Schulz asks that his students try to write the best they can. There’s no reward in striving to be mediocre, no matter what genre you choose.

His popular SBWC workshop is about finding the right voice or style to fit your story or novel or poem. Style is how we as writers present ourselves to the world. Writers are often known for how they tell a story, rather than the tale itself.

Schulz has been a writer for over forty years. He published his first novel in 1990. He then spent ten years writing a thousand page novel of the Jazz Age that was published in three parts by Fantagraphics Books (2009–2012). Schulz’s most recent projects include his novel Crossing Eden, published in 2015, and “Seraphonium,” an album and live performance, for which he served as composer, songwriter, and producer. Schulz has been teaching at SBWC since 2001 and became the conference’s owner in 2010.

New Book Panel on Monday June 17, 4-5 PM

The New Book Panel is open to registered SBWC attendees, and the public may attend as well for only $15 per person.

SBWC likes to feature new books, especially first books, and for bonus points, we love it when the new publications are by authors who were or are SBWC attendees. This year we have a rich representation in all of the above on this panel.

Moderator Lorelei Armstrong is a novelist and leader of one of the SBWC late night pirate workshops.

August Norman, known as Norm Thoeming to SBWC attendees, has been promoting his first novel, Come and Get Me, a thriller.

Deborah Gaal’s first novel, Dream Stitcher, was selected as a finalist of the 2018 National Jewish Book Award.

John Reed is the author of five novels and he will be talking about his latest, Mountain of Ashes. He teaches the other late night pirate workshop at SBWC.

K. N. Crighton, is a longtime SBWC attendee, and her first novel The New Normal is set post-Katrina New Orleans.

Dale Griffiths Stamos is Big on Structure

Monday - Friday
1:00-3:30 PM
Gazebo

Dale Griffiths Stamos will be back teaching Story Structure for All Genres at SBWC this year June 16-21.

In both fiction and nonfiction, Stamos looks to help writers strengthen those all-important story elements, without which the novel, memoir, play or screenplay will fall apart, no matter how beautifully worded. Stamos will look at pages from your work in the context of your whole story, helping you to strengthen the parts in ways that contribute to make a more compelling whole. Remember STORY is at the heart of every good story!

She prefers her students to bring in no more than five pages from any genre: fiction, nonfiction, memoir, play, screenplay. Those pages should be drawn from a key dramatic scene in the work, preferably not from the beginning. Students may also bring in ideas for new work, and she will help answer questions regarding potential structure. When bringing in pages, where possible, bring a copy for her.

Sid Stebel & Karen Ford Return to SBWC to Help Writers Find Their Secret Stories

S.L.(Sid) Stebel and Karen Ford

Finding Your Secret Story

Monday - Friday
1:00-3:30 PM
RM 269

Those attending read their own work aloud for positive feedback moderated by workshop leaders.

This workshop is valuable for writers at all levels.

Sid Stebel is a five times published novelist, produced screenwriter & playwright, and spent twenty years teaching grad students at USC. He has been at every SBWC since the early 1970s, except for one.

Karen Ford is a novelist and short story writer, a contributing editor to American Salon magazine and a long-time veteran of the SBWC. Her recent publication credits include Ginosko Literary Journal; Ginosko Anthology 2; Narrative Magazine, where she was the winner of the 2013 Winter Fiction contest; and bosque (the magazine), where she was the winner of the 2015 Fiction Prize.

Four Genres Panel on Thursday June 20, 4-5 PM

Four Genres Panel is open to SBWC attendees, and the public may attend, as well, for only $15.

Several years ago SBWC discovered that if you get authors working in different genres on a panel together, the conversation gets very lively. This year we have a poet laureate, a maven of YA novels, a historical novelist and an editrix of a literary journal discussing their various angles on storytelling and publishing. We hope you will join us for the fun.

Moderator Trey Dowell is the author of The Protectors, a thriller.

Laure-Anne Bosselaar is the current Poet Laureate of Santa Barbara and is the author of multiple volumes of poetry, including her latest, These Many Rooms.

Robin LaFevers writes for middle grade readers and her latest, Courting Darkness is receiving rave reviews.

Willard Thompson is the author of four historical novels and his newest is The Girl from the Lighthouse.

Silver Webb, known to us at SBWC as Angela Borda, is a writer of speculative fiction and is the editrix of the Santa Barbara Literary Journal.

Steph Post Will Speak at SBWC on June 17

Monday June 17, 8:00 PM, El Cabrillo

I just finished reading Steph Post’s latest novel, Miraculum, an epic battle between good and evil with plenty of quirky characters. I look forward to hearing Steph speak on June 17. She shares her writing world with a flock of chickens and some dear dogs. I enjoy her daily Facebook posts of her menagerie. Her writing career is off to a roaring beginning with four novels already in print. According to her official bio:

Steph Post is the author of the novels Miraculum, Walk in the Fire, Lightwood, and A Tree Born Crooked. She graduated from Davidson College as a recipient of the Patricia Cornwell Scholarship and winner of the Vereen Bell award, and she holds a Master’s degree in Graduate Liberal Studies from UNCW. Her work has most recently appeared in Garden & Gun, NonBinary Review and the anthology Stephen King’s Contemporary Classics. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, a Rhysling Award and was a semi-finalist for The Big Moose Prize. She lives in Florida. 

How and Where to Submit to Literary Magazines and Online

Max Talley will be teaching his very popular 3-day workshop on how to market short essays and fiction this year at SBWC.

Whether you are writing short stories, poems, nonfiction, or novels, getting short pieces published in literary magazines is an essential part of platform building for an author. It is also the way potential agents and editors will gauge your experience level. This one-day workshop covers basic rules in formatting, grammar, and submission guidelines. Learn how to avoid mistakes that will cause immediate rejection.We will read the first three pages of writers’ stories or novel chapters and discuss the best places to submit to, and ways to strengthen the crucial beginning of the story to compel weary slush-pile readers to continue reading.

Mac (Max) Talley is the author of the novel, Yesterday We Forget Tomorrow, published in 2014. His short fiction has appeared in Two Cities Review, Del Sol Review, Iconoclast,The Opiate, Gold Man Review, Thoughtful Dog, Chantwood Magazine, and in the Hardboiled: Dames and Sin anthology, and is forthcoming in the Freakshow anthology from Copper Pen Press. He is a contributing editor for Santa Barbara Literary Journal.

Jervey Tervalon and Ginger Swanson Teach Creative Nonfiction at SBWC

Creative nonfiction combines techniques of fiction and nonfiction

Monday - Friday
1:00-3:30 PM
Vista II

The successful creative nonfiction writer strives to incorporate what is important to him or her and then transforms those passions into a compelling narrative. 

Course Description

This workshop will help you identify and solidify your structure and foundation, and it will help you clarify your past and present voices. It will provide you with action steps to take as you begin or continue your creative nonfiction or memoir-writing project.

 Sometimes the hardest part of writing is getting close to the most meaningful elements of your story—the parts that may be difficult to reveal. Ginger and Jervey help you delve beneath the surface to the gold in your story—drama and passion.

We will “whiteboard” your ideas and find what’s most important—that kernel from which your story really begins. We’ll discover the emotional energy and dramatic pace that will keep your voice active and alive and your story vibrant and truthful. And, we’ll have fun.

Jervey Tervalon is a “professional teller and gatherer of stories” and “literary networker” by the LA Times,“award-winning poet, screenwriter, and dramatist” by Simon and Schuster, and “literary sage, cultural recorder, working class hero, father” by a community blogger, Jervey Tervalon was born in New Orleans and raised in Los Angeles.

He received his MFA in creative writing from UC Irvine and was a Disney Screen-Writing fellow and a Shanghai Writers Association fellow. He is the executive director of Literature for Life/Locavore Lit.LA, a literary magazine and educational advocacy organization. He is cofounder and literary director of Pasadena LitFest and teaches fiction writing at the College of Creative Studies at UC Santa Barbara. His latest novel is Monster’s Chef, published by Amistad/HarperCollins.

Ginger Swanson authored The Other Woman: Film and Feminism and is currently in the dissertation to book adaptation process. Ginger worked for Phoenix Pictures in Story Editing. She wrote, directed and produced A Room for Sara (Official Selection Santa Barbara International Film Festival). She is currently working on a long-term writing and film project entitled The Art of Writing: Craft and Community. Ginger is also the founder AsarumRetreats.com in Santa Barbara where she leads Writing, and Body, Soul and Dream Tending Retreats. 

 Ginger holds a PhD and MA in Depth Psychology, a BA in Film and Media Studies, and degrees in Writing and Directing, and Performance Arts. Ginger holds an adjunct faculty position at Pacifica Graduate Institute and has a private psychotherapy practice in Santa Barbara, California. 

Eric Myers Moderates SBWC Literary Agents Panel on Tuesday June 18, 4-5 PM

All day on Tuesday June 18, SBWC attendees will meet with literary agents to discuss their book projects. The marathon of appointments will culminate with an agents panel in El Cabrillo, open to the public for only $15. The panelists will reveal the secrets to gaining agent representation. Eric Myers, will moderate. Panelists are Annie Bomke, Charlotte Gusay, Dara Hyde, Mary C. Moore, Dana Newman, and Liz Parker. It should prove to be a lively discussion.

Taylor Jenkins Reid will speak at SBWC June 19.

Wednesday June 19, 8:00 PM, El Cabrillo

We are pleased to announce that Taylor Jenkins Reid will be speaking at SBWC this year. She is the author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, One True Loves, Maybe in Another Life, After I Do, and Forever, Interrupted. Her novels have been Indie Next Picks, chosen by Book of the Month, and featured in People, US Weekly, Entertainment Weekly, Good Morning America, and more. Her newest novel, Daisy Jones and the Six, came out in March 2019. She lives in Los Angeles.