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WES ALBERS has spent 18 years in law enforcement and is a veteran sergeant with the San Diego Police Department. A decorated officer who has been commended by the SDPD, the San Diego City and District Attorney's Offices, the California Legislature, the Governor of California, and the Department of Homeland Security, he has consulted internationally on policing issues and recently spoke at a legislative conference with representatives from the U.S. and Mexico. His written work has been used as source material for U.S. Department of Justice publication. Additionally, his work has been used for Department training and operations manuals. Wes's latest book, Black & White, generated immediate agent interest and is being shopped as a series. His next book is already under way.

• WORKSHOPS: "Law & Disorder: The Facts and Falacies of Police Work" (w/Richard Craig Anderson) and "Writing for Real: Shoot, Don't Shoot"

RICHARD CRAIG ANDERSON is an award-winning freelance writer and long-time member of Writers Haven Writers. Rick’s literary novel, Light . . . Precious Light became a regional bestseller soon after its debut in 1992, and his mystery thriller Rivers of Belief has just been released to critical acclaim. Rick’s geo-political commentaries and historical perspectives on WWII have appeared in a variety of media, and his book on Truman’s decision to unleash atomic weapons was published in 2007. He has devoted nearly 35 years to public safety, beginning as a firefighter and paramedic in suburban Baltimore. He went on to become a highly decorated Maryland State Trooper, and he is currently a “soon-to-be-retired” Federal agent. Rick’s proudest achievement is the refugee children’s center he established during the waning days of hostilities in Bosnia.

• WORKSHOPS: "Law & Disorder: The Facts and Falacies of Police Work" and "Self-publishing for Success: One Author's Journey" (w/Wes Albers)
ADVANCE SUBMISSION CRITIQUE: Adventure and literary fiction, up to 20 pages double-spaced

TOM BASINSKI is a veteran police officer and retired homicide detective who, during his 35-year law enforcement career, published over 125 true crime stories in various publications. San Diego Magazine declared him "The next Joseph Wambaugh," and indeed Tom's first book, No Good Deed, chronicling the three-year investigation into an unsolved murder, garnered the reviews to prove it. His anticipated follow-up, Cross-Country Evil (Berkley True Crime), tracks a 1988 San Diego homicide that remained unsolved until 2005, when a tireless police investigation ended in a conviction of the killer.

• WORKSHOPS: "Murder, He Writes"

MARK A. CLEMENTS' first horror novel, 6:02, was nominated for a Bram Stoker award. It was followed by Children of the End and Lorelei, both of which received multiple nominations and awards. As with his The Land of Nod, all of his books have been optioned for film, for which he also the script for an original short, Dreamweavers, starring Robert Carradine and Frank Gorshin. A read & critique workshop leader for the SCWC for over 20 years, Mark is currently at work on his latest novel, The Black Queen.

• WORKSHOPS: Rogue Read & Critique

LAUREL CORONA is the author of The Four Seasons: A Novel of Vivaldi's Venice (Hyperion/VOICE 2008). "Corona shines when showing musicians at work," Publishers Weekly says, while Booklist praises the "charming, exquisite, and poetic" depiction of "the dazzling light of Venice and…two orphaned sisters full of ambition, heart, and steadfast love." Corona is also the author of YA and trade nonfiction including Until Our Last Breath: A Holocaust Story of Love and Partisan Resistance (with research contributed by Michael Bart), published in 2008 by St. Martin's Press. Corona is a professor of Humanities at San Diego City College.

• SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER
• WORKSHOP: "Writing Fiction About Real People"

EDWIN DECKER is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in The San Diego Union Tribune, San Diego Reader, Modern Drunkard Magazine, Real Deal, Seattle Stranger, Tucson Weekly, Creative Loafing in Atlanta, Cleveland Scene, Exit Magazine, Smash, No Cover, Out of the Gutter, The National Pist (Canada) and elsewhere. His satiric and sometimes controversial column, "Sordid Tales," runs every other week in San Diego CityBeat, and as a popular performance poet, his Barzilla and other Psalms collection is recently out from Puna Press. His website: www.EdwinDecker.com.

• WORKSHOP: "Interactive Poetry Cram: On The Page and In Your Face"
Note: Each participant is required to bring at least 2 poems that will be read aloud. This is not a workshop for those seeking kudos, or who are sensitive about constructive criticism. Address questions to Edwin Decker here.

MARIE ETIENNE is an author, artist and competitive springboard diver. On the eve of the release of her first book, Storkbites: A Memoir, the publisher went out of business. With retail orders unfulfilled, a national marketing campaign and author tour already in place, Marie reclaimed the rights to her work and added independent publisher to her resume. The San Francisco Chronicle called her debut "compelling... powerful and satisfying." Her heartbreaking, brutally honest and often hilarious follow-up, Confessions of a Bi-Polar Mardi Gras Queen (Alluvium Books, February), affirms the declaration in exploring the themes of love versus lust, the legacy of abuse and mental illness, the impact of murder and suicide among her siblings, the redemptive power of faith, magic, forgiveness and courage. She is currently working on a novel, Skating on Shattered Glass.

• SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER

PHYLLIS GEBAUER has written books, short stories, articles, and the scripts for four short films co-produced with her late husband. Her novel, The Pagan Blessing, was called by Ray Bradbury "a blessing indeed: a true delight." Hot Widow — a memoir about a women in her 60's who gets hot and bothered when she loses her mate, then finds out that men now consider her hot stuff — is her latest from Fithian Press. Thomas Pynchon (Against the Day) proclaims it, "Rollicking and heartbreaking evidence that little black dresses aren't just for graveside any more." An instructor at UCLA Extension since 1989, Phillis was named Outstanding Teacher in Creative Writing in 1992. She belongs to PEN U.S.A, Mystery Writers of America, and the Dorothy L. Sayers Society in Great Britain.

• WORKSHOPS: "Putting Story Down on Paper: Dramatic Scenes and Effective Transitions" and "Putting You Into Your Memoir"

TROY JOHNSON is the senior editor of Riviera magazine. For six years, he hosted and co-wrote Fox Rox, a television show about underground music, for which he won two Emmy Awards. He also hosted Outta Left Field, a pre-game TV show for the San Diego Padres. A former music editor for San Diego CityBeat, he appears regularly on the radio show These Days on KPBS. He has written for Billboard, Mojo, Paper, Rolling Stone, The San Diego Gay and Lesbian Times and Spin. He lives in San Diego and he loves his mother, which is more than evident in his hilarious new memoir, Family Outing: What Happened When I Found Out My Mother Was Gay (Arcade).

• WORKSHOPS: "Pitching Magazine Editors Story Ideas"

BOB MAYER is the best-selling author of 38 books published under his own and four pen names, including Robert Doherty and Greg Donnegan. With over 3 million books in print, many hitting the NY Times, Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal and numerous other bestseller lists, his genres range from political thriller to science-fiction to military techno-thriller and draw heavily from his background as a West Point graduate and former Infantry and Special Forces officer. His "Area 51" and "Atlantis" series are in development for film and TV, and his workbook, The Novel Writer's Toolkit, is a Writers Digest must-have. His most recent titles include Don't Look Down and Agnes and the Hitman, romantic adventures co-written with chic-lit author Jennifer Crusie. Lost Girls, as Doherty, is his most recent novel. A new nonfiction book, Who Dares Wins: Special Operations Tactics for Building Your Winning A-Team, will be published 2009 by Simon & Schuster.

• WORKSHOPS: "Outlining and Translating Idea Into Story," "Point of View: Solving Writers' #1 Stylistic Problem," "Setting & Dialogue: Establishing the Where, When and What" and "Troubleshooting the Idea: How to Tell What You Really Want to Write"
ADVANCE SUBMISSION CRITIQUE: Genre Fiction, first 20 pages double-spaced

VAL MCDERMID worked as a U.K. journalist for 14 years before her first crime novel was published in 1987. Since then, she has written 25 books, which include three different series: The Lindsay Gordon Mystery series comprised of Report for Murder, Common Murder, Final Edition, Union Jack, Booked for Murder and Hostage to Murder; The Kate Branningan Mystery series comprised of Dead Beat, Kick Back, Crack Down, Clean Break, Blue Genes and Star Struck; and the Dr. Tony Hill and Carol Jordan Mystery series which includes The Mermaids Singing, The Wire in the Blood — also made into a TV series — and The Torment of Others, which won the 2006 Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. She is also the author of two short story collections and a nonfiction book, A Suitable Job for a Woman: Inside the World of Women Private Eyes. A Darker Domain (Harper) is her latest.

• SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER

MATTHEW J. PALLAMARY's first novel, Land Without Evil, set in ancient Paraguay, has been acclaimed by readers and critics alike. Ray Bradbury declared "Bravo!" for Matt's The Small Dark Room of the Soul, a short story collection originally self-published. A memoir, Spirit Matters, chronicling his life-long search for truth, which took him from false faith on the bloody mean streets of Boston's Irish Catholic ghetto to the discovery of spiritual affirmation in the jungles of the Amazon, won a San Diego Book Award for Best Spiritual Book and was an Award-Winning Finalist in the autobiography/memoir category of the National Best Books 2008 Awards, sponsored by USA Book News.

• WORKSHOPS: "Read & Critique"
ADVANCE SUBMISSION CRITIQUE: Horror, Fantasy and Transformative Fiction, first 20 pages double-spaced

ANDREW PETERSON is the author of First to Kill, his debut conspiracy thriller recently out from Dochester Publishing imprint, Leisure Books. The first in a planned series featuring former Marine Corps sniper and ex-CIA operative Nathan McBride, novelist Ridley Pearson (Killer Weekend) proclaims him, “the most brutally effective thriller hero to appear in years.” And Publishers Weekly reports it "kicks off a series in fine style... complex and action-packed." Knowing full well the subject of what he writes, Andrew is a life-long competitive marksman having won numerous titles, earning Master classification status in the NRA’s High Power Rifle ranking system. Web: AndrewPeterson.com.

• WORKSHOPS: "Defining Hero: How Bad Can Your Good Guy Be?" and "Read & Critique"

FREDERICK RAMSAY's first novel, Artscape, was called by Publishers Weekly, "A thought-provoking examination of serious pastoral issues and a thoroughly entertaining mystery that succeeds on all levels without recourse to bombast or carnage." "Solid plotting and familiar characters make this a pleasant diversion," proclaimed Library Journal of his second Ike Schwartz mystery, Secrets. A former professor at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine where he taught Anatomy, Embryology and Histology, Fred engaged in research and served as an Associate Dean before being ordained an Episcopal priest and turning fulltime to the clergy. Upon his retirement, he begat books. Among them are Impulse, which Booklist called, "A touching reflection on the changes that come with growing older in a society prejudiced against the elderly," Judas: The Gospel of Betrayal and Buffalo Mountain. His latest is Stranger Room (Poisoned Pen Press), which received his customary raves from PW.

• WORKSHOPS: "Distinguishing Plot from Over-arching Story" and "Read & Critique"
ADVANCE SUBMISSION CRITIQUE: Mystery, Crime, historical, up to 20 pages double-spaced.

MIDGE RAYMOND won the 2004 Indiana Review Fiction Prize for her short story "First Sunday." Another, "Lost Art," was short-listed for the 2007 Raymond Carver Short Story Prize. Her work has appearded in numerous literary magazines, including the Bellevue Literary Review, the Indiana Review, the North American Review, the Ontario Review, Other Voices, and Witness, as well as in the Los Angeles Times’ West magazine. Her debut collection of short stories, Forgetting English received the Spokane Prize for Fiction and will be published by Washington University Press. Additionally, Midge has worked as an editor and copywriter for Penguin Putnam, Bantam Doubleday Dell, and Houghton Mifflin.

• WORKSHOPS: "Publishing Short Fiction" and "Revision: From Structure and Theme to Dialogue and Detail"

JUDY REEVES is a writer and educator with more than 20 years of experience as a workshop leader. She is the author of four books on writing, including A Writer's Book of Days, named a "hottest book for writers" by Writer's Digest magazine. The other books are Writing Alone, Writing Together, A Creative Writer's Kit, and The Writer's Retreat Kit. She teaches creative writing at UCSD Extension, holds private workshops, and speaks at writing conferences internationally. In addition to her work as a writer and writing provocateur, Judy co-founded The Writing Center, a nonprofit literary arts organization and is a founding board member and program director of San Diego Writers, Ink.

• WORKSHOPS: "Read & Critique"
ADVANCE SUBMISSION CRITIQUE: Memoirs and Women's Fiction; up to 20 pages double-spaced

KAREN RONNEY is the author of Proud Parents' Guide to Raising Athletic, Balanced, and Coordinated Kids: A Lifetime of Benefit in Just 10 Minutes a Day, recently out from Thomas Nelson. A former professional athlete, tennis pro and award-winning journalist, Karen was a staff writer for such prestigious publications as the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Daily News and San Diego Union, and had spent some 25 years coaching professionally, before bringing her meticulously crafted book proposal to the San Diego 21 conference where she landed an agent who sold it to the publisher in a five-figure deal.

• WORKSHOP: "Selling Practical Nonfiction: The Package, The Pitch"

• SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER
• WORKSHOP: "The Art of Interviewing"

MICHELE SCOTT is an overnight success only ten years in the making. A graduate of the University of Southern California with a degree in communications with her eyes on being a reporter, she set out instead to write a novel. Enduring rejections of her manuscript for a decade, in March 2004 an agent signed her on and one month later Murder Uncorked sold to Berkley Prime Crime in a three-book deal launching Michele's Wine Lover's Mystery Series, which now includes Murder by the Glass, Silenced by Syrah, A Vintage Murder, and the upcoming Corked by Cabernet (Feb. 2009). Nine months later another three-book deal followed for a Equine Mystery Series, which debuted November '06 with Saddled with Trouble and now includes Death Reins In and Tacked to Death. Zamora's Ultimate Challenge, Michele's debut novel for children, will be released by Quake.

• WORKSHOP: "Writing Niche Mystery: The Broad Based Target Market" and TBA
ADVANCE SUBMISSION CRITIQUE: Mystery, Mystery Series Proposal, YA, Childrens (non-picture book) up to 20 pages double-spaced.

JULIE ANN SHAPIRO is a freelance writer, award-winning short story author and novelist. Her recent story collection, Flashes of the Other World (Pulp Bits) has been followed by a new novel, Jen-Zen and the One Shoe Diaries (SynergEbooks). Her short stories and essays have appeared in San Diego Union Tribune, North County Times, Los Angeles Journal, Pindeldyboz, Sacred Waters/Fire, Story South, Word Riot, Opium Magazine, Insolent Rudder, Elimae, Cezzane’s Carrots, Mad Hatters Review, Writers Post Journal, Spoiled Ink, Void, Footsteps to Oxford, Salome, Skive, Millennium Shift, Mega Era Magazine, Moon Dance, Science Fiction and Fantasy World, Green Tricycle, Long Story Short, All Things Girl, Ultimate Hallucination, The Glut, Somewhat, Uber, Moon Dance, The Quarterly Staple, Journal of Modern Post, Rumble, Cellar Door Magazine, Edifice Wrecked, Espresso Fiction, Flash Fiction — Coffee Cup Series, ISM Quarterly and elsewhere.

• WORKSHOP: "Flash Fiction: The Ultra-Quick Story Market"

MICHAEL THOMPKINS is a semi-retired psychologist who devotes most of his time to writing detective fiction. Gun Play, the first novel in his "Shooting Shrink" series, is out from new SterlingHouse imprint Pemberton Mysteries (read the review or listen to the radio ad). A long-time participant of the Maui Writers Conference, Michael has studied under screenwriting program director and author Chris Vogler, and was a finalist for the prestigious Rupert Hughes Award. He is currently working on his next book in the series, Big Island Play. His workshops on character structure played to packed rooms at SCWC Palm Springs and SCWC Los Angeles.

• WORKSHOPS: "Shrinking Fiction: Using Psychology to Write Great Characters" Parts 1 and 2
ADVANCE SUBMISSION CRITIQUE: Fiction, first 20 pages double-spaced

LYNN VANNUCCI's first novel, Coyote, was published by Bantam New Fiction in 1987. She has since written three more novels, a weekly newspaper column, nonfiction articles for various sailing lifestyle and other publications including the San Francisco Chronicle, romance fiction (under a pen name), and been included in an anthology of Italian-American women writers, The Voices We Carry (Guernica Press). As founder of Beat the Book, an editorial support program for writers, her clients include best-selling authors from Bantam and other top houses, and include such projects as Revolution in the Garden, the biography of feminist Dell Williams, and Green: Your Place in the New Energy Revolution (Palgrave-Macmillan).

• WORKSHOP: "Narrative Triage: The Practice of Applying Emotional Logic"

MARALYS WILLS is the author of a dozen published books in a variety of genres, including the techno-thriller Scatterpath, of which The New York Times said, "Her cockpit sequences all but put the reader at the controls," and four romance novels. Her nonfiction includes the critically lauded Higher Than Eagles: The Tragedy and Triumph of an American Family, which chronicles the loss of two of her sons and has been optioned for film five times, and Save My Son: A Mother and a Sheriff Unite to Reclaim the Lives of Addicted Offenders (with Michael Carona). Her latest titles include A Clown in the Trunk, a sequel of sorts to her light-hearted memoir, A Circus Without Elephants, and Damn the Rejections: Full Speed Ahead.

• WORKSHOPS: "Masculizing Your Book for the Male Market" and "Tweaking: Making the Difference Between Good and Published "
ADVANCE SUBMISSION CRITIQUE: Memoir, Narrative Nonfiction, Novels,, first 20 pages double-spaced

DON WINSLOW's career spans acting and directing to being a safari guide and private investigator. Finally settling down as a screenwriter and author of 10 novels thus far, his first, A Cool Breeze on the Underground, was nominated for an Edgar. A later book, California Fire and Life, received the Shamus Award. The Death and Life of Bobby Z was turned into a feature film starring Paul Walker and Laurence Fishburne, and another, The Winter of Frankie Machine, is currently in production starring Robert DeNiro under the direction of Michael Mann (Miami Vice, The Insider). Newsday proclaims his latest, The Dawn Patrol (Knopf), "A high-octane tale featuring a private eye, equal parts lethal and laconic, and a lady lawyer with the quipping style of Katharine Hepburn ... Stellar." Publishers Weekly calls it, “A terrific thriller." And the San Francisco Chronicle hails, "The Dawn Patrol might be the best summertime crime novel ever."

• SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER

CLAIRE GERUS founded her own literary agency after having been editor-in-chief of two publishing houses and worked for seven major publishers, including Harlequin, Rodale, Random House, Doubleday, John Wiley, Kensington, and Adams Media where, as executive editor, she published the first biography of Laura Bush. Recently ranked no. 17 for "deal-making" out of roughly 90 literary agents in the U.S., Claire is particularly interested in both fiction and nonfiction that can change readers' lives for the better.

• AGENTS/EDITORS PANEL
• ADVANCE SUBMISSION CRITIQUE: Fiction and Nonfiction, synopsis and first 20 pages double-spaced SOLD OUT

KATHLEEN GILLIGAN is an editor with Thomas Dunne Books. Though having worked with lots of nonfiction, including Susan Konig's Why Animals Sleep So Close to the Road and I Wear the Maternity Pants in the Family, Senator Arlen Specter's NY Times bestseller Never Give In, and the South African hit Strange Nervous Laughter by Bridget McNulty, she is on the look-out for women’s fiction, "particularly with curious, genuine narrators whose quirks resonate with my own, moving literary fiction, or nonfiction projects that inspire me to cook delicious food!"

• AGENTS/EDITORS PANEL
ADVANCE SUBMISSION: Fiction, first 20 pages, double-spaced; nonfiction: overview, author bio, table of contents and sample chapter, double-spaced

JACQUELINE S. HACKETT heads the boutique agency Literary Works. A member of the Association of Authors' Representatives, her recent deals include: Daughters of Men: Portraits of African American Women and Their Fathers (Amistad/HarperCollins), Darker Mask: Superheroes of Color (Tor Books), Pecking Order, a novel by Omar Tyree (Simon & Schuster), A Spring Without Bees: How Colony Collapse Disorder Has Endangered Our Food Supply (Lyons Press), Saviors or Sellouts: The Promises and Perils of Black Conservatism, From Booker T. Washington to Condoleezza Rice (Beacon Press), Prince: How He Revolutionized Rock N Roll and Survived (St. Martins 2009), Let's Get Free: How Ordinary Citizens Can Take Back American Justice (New Press 2009) and Racial Performance (Oxford University Press 2009). Jacqueline is expecially interested in commercial nonfiction and fiction with a humorous/suspenseful plot and unique characters.

• AGENTS/EDITORS PANEL
ADVANCE SUBMISSION: Serious and Entertaining Nonfiction, Commercial Fiction, first 20 pages, double-spaced; double-spaced

JEAN JENKINS is a freelance editor (MsRewrite.com) and consultant to writers. Having worked with a number of authors, she has successfully shepherded to print both genre and mainstream novels for publishers such as Random House, Avon, St. Martins, Rutledge Hill Press, Tor and Donald I. Fine, and maintained her popular "Ask J.J." column for San Diego Writers' Monthly for several years. Jean also "moonlights" for KPBS, Public Broadcasting, various production houses and numerous attorneys. Several recent books that she has consulted on are nearing publication with major houses.

• WORKSHOP: "Essential Elements of Crime Fiction"
ADVANCE SUBMISSION CRITIQUE: Mystery and Mainstream Fiction, up to 20 pages double-spaced

MARLA MILLER's first book, All American Girls: The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team, published by Simon & Schuster, enjoyed three print runs. She is editor-in-chief of Location 3 Magazine, a lifestyle quarterly magazine that circulates in Newport Coast, California. For 18 years, she penned three columns for the Orange County Register's lifestyle magazine. She has written for the Los Angeles Times, Oxygen.com and co-hosted a radio talk show on a NPR affiliate. A former nurse practitioner, she writes about health and consults on several health care websites. Her travel pieces appear in regional magazines. Miller teaches marketing-to-writers workshops at several conferences. She also has taught narrative nonfiction workshops at the University of California, Irvine - Extension. Of her freelance editing clients, two have authored best-selling books with Miller as editor. In her monthly column, "Early Years" in Writer Magazine, she talks to notable authors about their early years in this business.

• SESSIONS: "Pitch it to Me: Let's Fix Your Book Pitch!"
Note: This workshop focuses on fixing the author's book pitch to agents and editors, in effort to secure a manuscript request. Participants should bring 1 to 3 pages to read so that Marla can openly troubleshoot.
• ADVANCE SUBMISSION: Narrative Nonfiction, Fiction up to 20 pages double-spaced

JEFF MOORES joined Dunow, Carlson & Lerner in Manhattan after assisting Gail Hochman of Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents. He is currently building his own client list while assisting all agents, including representing ancillary and foreign rights. His interests include quality contemporary fiction and literature, narrative nonfiction, memoir, politics, current affairs, journalism, graphic novels, gay & lesbian, popular culture and popular science. Jeff is not interested in romance, mystery or crime/police procedurals (unless particularly literary) or prescriptive nonfiction (self-help, how-to, etc.).

• AGENTS/EDITORS PANEL
ADVANCE SUBMISSION CRITIQUE: Fiction and Narrative Nonfiction up to 20 pages double-spaced

LYNN PRICE is editorial director of Behler Publications, an independent publisher with an impressive variety of award-winning titles. A 2007 Independent Publisher Book Award recipient herself, for her novel Donovan's Paradigm, Lynn's passion for working with some of the most exciting new voices in American literature, on subjects tackling medicine, aging, family issues, death, abandonment, love, prejudice and more, has produced for Behler a growing list of poignant, lauded personal journeys in both fiction and nonfiction. Recent books include Kate McLaughlin's Mommy I'm Still In Here: Raising Children with Bipolar Disorder, Chip Jacob's Wheeling the Deal: The Outrageous Legend of Gordon Zahler, Hollywood's Flashiest Quadriplegic and Douglas Light's East Fifth Bliss.

• WORKSHOPS "I’ve Written ‘The End’ – Now What?" and "Today's Publishing Options: What's Best For Your Book?"
• AGENTS/EDITORS PANEL
ADVANCE SUBMISSION CRITIQUE: Narrative Nonfiction, Fiction up to 20 pages double-spaced

JENNIFER SILVA REDMOND is Editor-in-Chief of Sunbelt Publications, which specializes in producing a wide variety of books related to California and the Baja California peninsula. She will discuss the importance of succinct, well-crafted queries and proposals. In addition to explaining the difference between the two, she'll give reasons to begin with a query, how to follow up with a targeted proposal, and share both tips and pet peeves from her seven years of receiving queries and submissions.

• WORKSHOPS: "Crafting Queries, Proposals & Synopses that Sell"
• EDITORS PANEL
ADVANCE SUBMISSION CRITIQUE: Fiction, Nonfiction, Short Stories, first 20 pages double-spaced

ADRIENNE ROSADO is an agent with PMA Literary and Film, based in New York and Los Angeles. Her bio is coming.

• EDITORS PANEL
ADVANCE SUBMISSION CRITIQUE: Fiction, Nonfiction, YA, first 20 pages double-spaced SOLD OUT

MIKE SIROTA is a freelance editor and author of 19 published novels including The 22nd Gear, Bicycling Through Space and Time, Demon Shadows and The Well, from such publishers as Bantam Books, The Berkley Publishing Group, Pocket Books and Zebra Books. Among his most recent client successes: Michele Scott's Tacked to Death, Jeff Sherratt's The Brimstone Murders and Dr. Paul Bernstein's Courage to Heal. He was the long-time editor and award-winning feature writer for a San Diego newsmagazine, and he presently evaluates and edits manuscripts professionally.

• WORKSHOPS: TBA
ADVANCE SUBMISSION CRITIQUE: Mainstream, adult and Y/A novels, up to 20 pages double-spaced

KAREN SYED is the owner of Echelon Press Publishing. Having published more than 100 novels for some of the freshest voices in the industry, Echelon's quest is and always has been to bring dedicated authors, who are determined to succeed, onto their team. Occupying a comfortable place in the mystery/suspense genre, Karen is actively seeking submissions of all lengths, from short stories to full-length novels, with word counts ranging from 2,500 to 90,000 words. She is also especially interested in expanding Echelon's growing e-book line.

• WORKSHOP: TBA
• AGENTS/EDITORS PANEL
ADVANCE SUBMISSION CRITIQUE: Mystery, suspense, and cutting-edge fiction; serious and narrative nonfiction, first 20 pages double-spaced

LAURA TAYLOR's acclaimed novel, Honorbound, received endorsements from authors Pat Conroy, W.E.B. Griffin, and Stephen King. The recipient of two Maggie Awards, as well as a Career Achievement Award, a Reviewers Choice Award, a lifetime achievement Award and Best Contemporary Mainstream Award from Romantic Times, she has written 22 books ranging in genre from romance to mainstream fiction, works as a freelance editor and is currently writing a true crime book.

• WORKSHOPS: Read & Critique
ADVANCE SUBMISSION CRITIQUE: Mainstream and genre fiction, first 20 pages double-spaced

SALLY VAN HAITSMA is an agent for the Castiglia Literary Agency, which represents an international client database and has successfully placed numerous significant nonfiction and fiction titles with major publishers by first-time authors. With several award-winning writers included, these sales have also extended to film, audio, foreign, commercial and electronic rights where appropriate. Actively seeking unrecognized authors, Sally is interested in ethnic, commercial, literary and women's fiction, offbeat mysteries, narrative nonfiction, health, science, parenting, biography, architecture, interior design, current affairs and niche books.

• AGENTS/EDITORS PANEL
• ADVANCE SUBMISSION CRITIQUE: Fiction (no sci-fi or fantasy) and Nonfiction. First 12 pages, cover letter and synopsis (synopsis mandatory) SOLD OUT

NATANYA WHEELER is a new agent with 30-year-old full-service agency Lowenstein-Yost Associates, which represents over 150 authors from New York Times bestsellers to Pulitzer Prize nominees. The agency handles most all genres, excluding cookbooks and children's books. Eager to expand her list, Natanya is specifically looking for both literary and commercial fiction, with a special interest in multicultural viewpoints, narrative nonfiction, memoir, and erotica.

• AGENTS/EDITORS PANEL
• ADVANCE SUBMISSION CRITIQUE: Fiction and Narrative Nonfiction, synopsis and first 20 pages double-spaced, cover letter and synopsis (synopsis mandatory) SOLD OUT

MICHAEL STEVEN GREGORY is an independent filmmaker and WGA screenwriter of material ranging from mainstream drama and bio-pics to animated action-adventure and videogames. He has scripted series for Fox, UPN and HBO, directed television and features in a variety of genres, and been involved as a writer, producer or director in over 150 short films. His recent longform projects include the award-winning doculogue We, The Screenwriter, the romantic-comedy A Valentine Carol, and groundbreaking Don King Presents: Prizefighter for 2K Games.

• Executive Director, SCWC

WES ALBERS has spent 18 years in law enforcement and is a veteran sergeant with the San Diego Police Department. A decorated officer who has been commended by the SDPD, the San Diego City and District Attorney’s Offices, the California Legislature, the Governor of California, and the Department of Homeland Security, he has consulted internationally on policing issues and recently spoke at a legislative conference with representatives from the U.S. and Mexico. His written work has been used as source material for U.S. Department of Justice publication. Additionally, his work has been used for Department training and operations manuals. Wes’s latest book, Black & White, generated immediate agent interest and is being shopped as a series. His next book is already under way.

• Director, SCWC

CHRISSIE BARNETT
• Assistant Director

CRICKET ABBOTT
• Associate

EDWIN DECKER
• Associate