Santa Barbara Writers Conference

To everyone who has attended the Santa Barbara Writers Conference and are now part of our tribe of scribes, here is the first post of the audio from the 2024 conference.

For those of you who have recently discovered the conference and are considering attending, we will be posting the audio periodically so you can get a sense of this amazing week long experience which has been going for over fifty years now.

This first post from the 2024 conference is the Orientation and Welcome which will give you a sense of the conference along with tidbits that will help you get the most from the conference.

We are looking forward to 2025!

Mystic Ink Publishing Voices of the Masters Series - Santa Barbara Writers Conference 2024 - Orientation & Welcome - Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction To everyone who has attended the Santa Barbara Writers Conference and are now part of our tribe of scribes, here is the first post of the audio from the...

Christina Crawford (born June 11, 1939) spoke at the 1989 Santa Barbara Writers Conference. She is best known for her 1978 memoir, Mommie Dearest, her account of growing up with her adoptive mother, film star Joan Crawford.

Christina Crawford was born in Los Angeles, California in 1939, to an unmarried teen. According to her personal interview with Larry King, her father was married to another woman and supposedly in the Navy; her mother was unmarried. Crawford was adopted from a baby broker in Nevada because Joan was formally denied an adoption by social services for being an unfit candidate in California in 1940 (due at least in part to her status as a divorcee).

Crawford was one of five children adopted by Joan. Her siblings were Christopher (1942–2006), adopted in 1943, and twin girls — Catherine (Cathy, 1947–2020) and Cynthia (Cindy, 1947–2007) — adopted in 1947. Another boy, also named Christopher, was adopted in 1941 but was reclaimed by his birth mother. Crawford has stated that her childhood was affected by her adoptive mother's alcoholism. At 10, Crawford was sent to Chadwick School in Palos Verdes, California, which many other celebrity children attended. However, her mother sent her from Chadwick to graduate from Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy in La Cañada (now the city of La Cañada Flintridge), California, and curtailed Crawford's outside contact until her graduation. After graduating from Flintridge, she moved from California to Pittsburgh to attend Carnegie Mellon School of Drama and then to New York City, where she studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse in Manhattan. After seven years, she gained a Bachelor of Arts degree from UCLA. After 14 years as an actress, Crawford returned to college, graduating magna cm laude from UCLA and receiving her master's degree from the Annenberg School of Communication at USC. Then she worked in corporate communications at the Los Angeles headquarters of Getty Oil Company.

Christina Crawford - Santa Barbara Writers Conference - 1989 - Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction Christina Crawford - Santa Barbara Writers Conference - 1989

John Saul, an American author of suspense and horror novels spoke at the 1988 Santa Barbara Writers Conference . Most of his books have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller List.

Prior to the start of his bestselling thriller career, Saul had around 10 books published under pen names, the first of which he wrote in one weekend after unexpectedly losing his job. His first book sale earned him just $200. Today he has over 60 million books in print.

In 1976, Dell Publishing contacted him about his writing a psychological thriller. The resulting novel, Suffer the Children, appeared on all the bestseller lists in the United States and reached the number one spot in Canada. In addition to his novels, Saul has had several one-act plays produced in Los Angeles and Seattle.

John Saul - Santa Barbara Writers Conference 1988 - Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction Mystic Ink Publishing Voices of the Masters Series - John Saul - Santa Barbara Writers Conference 1988

Thank you friends who read my novel! 😍😍😍I’m humbly asking a teeny favor: could you could pretty please leave a review - even 1 word on Amazon? 🙏 🙏🤩🤩😎😎😊😊😊

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Soaring to New Lows: Confessions of a Rock Star Wife’s Hilarious Road to Ruin and Redemption
https://a.co/d/0P0xuYr

Hal Kanter started out writing variety shows and revues for television in the early 1950s. He turned to screenwriting in the mid-1950s, specializing in comedies (he wrote for Bob Hope and Martin & Lewis) but also turning out dramas such as The Rose Tattoo and Let's Make Love. He directed a few movies, and although they met with success and acclaim, he returned to television. In the 1970s he was the executive producer of the landmark series All in the Family (1971),among a dozen others.

Here is his talk from the 1988 Santa Barbara Writers Conference.

Mystic Ink Publishing Voices of the Masters Series - Hal Kanter - Santa Barbara Writers Conference 1988 - Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction Hal Kanter started out writing variety shows and revues for television and turned to screenwriting in the mid-1950s for Bob Hope and Martin & Lewis.

Charles Schulz the creator of Peanuts and all the unforgettable characters he created was a regular at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference and was known to everyone by his nickname "Sparky".

He loved writers, writing, and the creative process, and spent the whole week at the conference for many years.

Aside from showing support for all the regular talent, a big part of Sparky's attendance was in support of his son Monte, a novelist.

After a few years of bumpy transition that brought the SBWC close to the edge of extinction Monte stepped up to the plate and bought the conference, keeping the tradition alive and insuring its legacy.

As a result of Monte's efforts and backing The Santa Barbara Writers Conference will be celebrating its 53rd anniversary in June 2025!

We hope you enjoy this talk by Sparky from the 1989 Santa Barbara Writers Conference.

Charles Schulz 1989 - Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction Charles (Sparky) Schulz of Peanuts fame was a regular at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference. We hope you enjoy this talk from him at the 1989 SBWC.

Here is an inspiring talk at the 1985 Santa Barbara Writers Conference by Nicholas Meyer, known for his best-selling novel The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, and for directing the films Time After Time, two of the Star Trek feature films, the 1983 television film The Day After, and the 1999 HBO original film Vendetta.

Meyer was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976), where he adapted his own novel into a screenplay. He has also been nominated for a Satellite Award, three Emmy Awards, and has won four Saturn Awards. He appeared as himself during the 2017 On Cinema spinoff series The Trial, during which he testified about Star Trek and San Francisco.

Mystic Ink Publishing Voices of the Masters Series - Nicholas Meyer - Santa Barbara Writers Conference 1985 - Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction Mystic Ink Publishing Voices of the Masters Series - Nicholas Meyer - Santa Barbara Writers Conference 1985

From the vaults!

Hail to the Chief! Barnaby Conrad discusses THE DEATH OF MANOLETE at the 1986 SBWC - Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction Santa Barbara Writers Conference founder Barnaby Conrad discusses "The Death of Manolete" at the 1986 SBWC.

After another great Santa Barbara Writers Conference and my 6th appearance on the Coast to Coast radio show, I am happy to announce that I received an email this morning informing me that my new short story collection The Thinning Veil is an Award Winning Finalist in the short story category of the International Book Awards.
:)

Day 6 Newsletter Images.

Santa Barbara Writers Conference announces a great addition to our lineup of speakers: Lorissa Rinehart & Paul Levine.

Santa Barbara Writers Conference
The most frequent question coming in this week: “Is there still room at the SBWC?” Yes, we still have some spaces, and there is still time to register. if you would like to experience an amazing gathering of creative energy, you can sign up at the link in the comments.

Aloha Friends! Kailua’s cool local bookstore, “Bookends” now has my dark humor novel, “Soaring to New Lows:Confessions of a Rock Star Wife’s Hilarious Road to Ruin and Redemption.” Woot! Mahalo Bookends! 🙏 🩷

It is also now at “The Book Loft” in Solvang, CA and the legendary “Chaucer’s Books” in Santa Barbara’s Loretta Plaza, where I’ll be doing a reading and signing event at 6 pm tomorrow, June 5,2024.

And at SBWC June 12th on the first book panel and signing from 4:00 -6:00 pm at Mar Monte hotel.

You’re all invited! Hope to see you there! 🙌🤩🤪🤘

Santa Barbara Writers Conference
Writers tend to be talented in myriad ways. That’s why we wind down at the end of the conference with a talent show. Only rules are, it has to be reasonably legal and anything but writing. We sing, we dance, we do improv, and upon occasion, we whirl magical lights. Bring your talent and show it off after the awards banquet.

Want one-on-one help building your author platform, writing a winning book proposal, deciding if self-publishing is your jam, or getting down to business and making your writing career happen? If you are attending SBWC, you may meet with one of SBWC’s 5 author career consultants. All appointments are made directly with the consultants in the Fireside Room during the week of the conference, June 9-14.

Anonymous was never able to speak at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, but he did attend many times as an aspiring writer. He has had a surprising amount of fame and success, despite his shyness and lack of a good publicist.

Want one-on-one feedback on your work in progress? If you are attending SBWC, you may meet with one of SBWC’s seven manuscript consultants. All appointments are made directly with the consultants in the Fireside Room during the week of the conference, June 9-14.

The ever popular poolside reception at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference 2023. We‘ll do it all again this June 9-14.

Santa Barbara Writers Conference June 9-14, Mar Monte Hotel
Is your book completed or nearly so? You might want to attend our publishing & marketing seminars. They cover much about a very necessary area in an author’s road to publication.

In celebration of poetry in the Santa Barbara community and in tribute to Perie Longo, who will have been teaching poetry at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference for 40 years, we are having our first Santa Barbara Poets Laureate Panel on opening day. This event will be free to the public and will focus on the positive impact of poetry on all types of writing.