Guest Speakers 2008
See the schedule for complete details on event times and public ticket availability. For additional presentations, see Panels and Presenters.
Saturday
Ray Bradbury, author of The Martian Chronicles, Farhenheit 451 and successful playwright, poet, short story writer and screenwriter, once again opens the conference with his inspiring talk about writing and love. Ray has been with us every year since SBWC was founded in 1972, and has had an enormous impact on the thousands of writers who had heard him over the years. In 2007, Ray turned 87, was awarded a special distinguished-career citation from the Pulitzer Board, and published Now and Forever, a collection of the never-released novellas Somewhere a Band is Playing and Leviathan ‘99. SBWC’s 2005 book, A Tribute to Ray Bradbury: Thirty Three Years of Inspiration at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, will be available for purchase and signing at the conference. Mr. Bradbury is scheduled to speak Saturday, June 21 at 7:30 p.m. [website]
Sunday
Joseph Wambaugh, a former LAPD detective sergeant, is the bestselling author of seventeen prior works of fiction and nonfiction. He has won a number of awards, including the Edgar Allan Poe award and the Rodolfo Walsh Prize for investigative journalism. Wambaugh’s unique perspective on the realities of police work led to his first novel, The New Centurions, which was published early in 1971 to critical acclaim and popular success. The success of the early books happened while Wambaugh was still working in the detective division. He reportedly remarked “I would have guys in handcuffs asking me for autographs.” Soon turning to writing full-time, Wambaugh was prolific and popular starting in the 1970s, mixing novels (The Blue Knight, The Choirboys, The Black Marble) with nonfiction accounts of crime and detection a.k.a. “true crime” as in The Onion Field. Later books included The Glitter Dome (a TV-movie adaptation starred James Garner and John Lithgow), The Delta Star, and Lines and Shadows. In 2003, Fire Lover: A True Story brought Wambaugh his second Edgar Award, for Best Crime Fact book, and in 2004 he was the recipient of a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award. He returned to fiction with Hollywood Station (2006), his first book depicting life in the LAPD since The Delta Star (1983). Recently, Wambaugh also began teaching screenwriting courses as a guest lecturer for the theater department at the University of California San Diego.
Bob Mayer is the NY Times Best-Selling author of over 35 books, both fiction and non-fiction. He is a West Point graduate, served in the Infantry and Special Forces (Green Berets), including commanding an A-Team and as an instructor at the JFK Special Warfare Center & School. He’s successfully applied what he learned in Special Operations to the civilian world for both organizations and individuals. Bob earned an MA in Education after graduating West Point. His books have hit the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, USA Today and other best-seller lists. He has over 3 million books in print. He’s the author of The Novel Writers Toolkit: A Guide to Writing Great Fiction and Getting It Published; and Who Dares Wins: Special Operations Tactics for Building Your Winning A-Team. [website]
Monday
Jane Heller launched her own career as a successful novelist after nearly a decade of promoting writers. Her comic, breezy tales are now entertaining millions of readers around the world. Her first novel, Cha Cha Cha, published by Kensington in 1994, was a selection of the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club and was optioned for a television movie by Columbia/TriStar. Her second novel, The Club, was released by Kensington in 1995 and was chosen as a People magazine “Beach Book of the Week.” Her third, Infernal Affairs, a 1996 release from Kensington, was optioned by Disney/Touchstone for a feature film, was re-optioned by CBS for a TV movie and was picked as a People magazine “Page Turner of the Week.” Princess Charming, Jane’s fourth novel, was issued by Kensington in 1997, was chosen as a selection of the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club, was optioned by Disney for a feature film, and was named a People magazine “Beach Book of the Week.” Crystal Clear, novel number five, was published by Kensington in ‘98. In 1999, Jane moved to St. Martin’s Press for her sixth novel, Sis Boom Bah, a People magazine “Beach Book of the Week” that was optioned by Julia Roberts’s Shoelace Productions for a feature film. Name Dropping, published by SMP in 2000, was optioned by Miramax for a feature film. Female Intelligence, a SMP release in 2001, was optioned by CBS for a television movie. In 2002, SMP published The Secret Ingredient, Jane’s ninth novel. A March 2003 release in paperback, the book was optioned for a feature film by Atmosphere Productions. In April ‘03, SMP published Lucky Stars, which was optioned for a feature film by Lakeshore Entertainment. It was followed in February ‘04 by SMP’s publication of Jane’s eleventh novel, Best Enemies, a March ‘05 release in paperback. Her twelfth novel, An Ex to Grind, was a William Morrow/HarperCollins hardcover in July ‘05 and a July ‘06 release in an Avon trade paperback edition. Novel number thirteen, Some Nerve, was published in hardcover by Morrow in September ‘06. Jane entered the field of book publishing as an assistant in the publicity department at Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, and rose to the positions of publicity manager at New American Library, publicity director at Dell/Delacorte, and vice president and director of advertising, promotion and publicity at Jove. Authors with whom she worked include such bestselling novelists as Danielle Steel, Stephen King, Judy Blume, John Jakes, Mary Higgins Clark and Erica Jong. One of six children, Jane grew up in Scarsdale, New York, attended Scarsdale High School, and earned a B.A. in classics from the University of Rochester, where she received Summa Cum Laude honors and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society. The following year, she completed one year of a Master’s Program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School of Communications. Currently, Jane lives in Santa Barbara with her husband, an architectural photographer. [website]
Tuesday
Luis Alberto Urrea (“oo-Ray-ah”), 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist for nonfiction and member of the Latino Literature Hall of Fame, is a prolific and acclaimed writer who uses his dual-culture life experiences to explore greater themes of love, loss and triumph. Born in Tijuana, Mexico to a Mexican father and an American mother, Urrea has published extensively in all the major genres and is currently published by Little, Brown and Company. The critically acclaimed author of 11 books, Urrea is an award-winning poet and essayist. The Devil’s Highway, his 2004 non-fiction account of a group of Mexican immigrants lost in the Arizona desert, won the 2004 Lannan Literary Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the Pacific Rim Kiriyama Prize. A national best-seller, The Devil’s Highway was also named a best book of the year by The Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, Chicago Tribune, Kansas City Star and many other publications. Urrea’s first book, Across the Wire, was named a New York Times Notable Book and won the Christopher Award. Urrea’s most recent book, The Hummingbird’s Daughter, is the culmination of 20 years of research and writing. The historical novel tells the story of Teresa Urrea, sometimes known as The Saint of Cabora and the Mexican Joan of Arc. [website]
Wednesday
Sue Grafton is an international bestseller with a readership in the millions. Her readers appreciate her buoyant style, her eye for detail, her deft hand with character, her acute social observances, and her abundant storytelling talents. Over the past twenty-five years, Sue Grafton’s number-one New York Times-bestselling alphabetical mystery series starring private investigator Kinsey Millhone has become a cultural phenomenon. Grafton’s novels have earned her numerous awards, critical raves, and editions in twenty-six languages and twenty-eight countries. With each new novel in the Kinsey Millhone series, Grafton’s literary achievements as well as her ability to entertain have been increasingly noted by the critics. Grafton’s “B” Is for Burglar and “C” Is for Corpse won the first two Anthony Awards, which are selected by the attendees of the annual Boucheron World Mystery Convention. In 2004, Grafton received the Ross Macdonald Literary Award. Grafton’s most recent novel is “T” is for Trespass (December 2007). [website]
Kelly Lange will introduce and interview Sue Grafton as part of the Barnaby and Mary Conrad Founders Award presentation. Ms. Lange is the acclaimed author of a series of mystery novels featuring her sleuth, fictional television news anchor-reporter Maxi Poole. The first book in the series, The Reporter, came out in July of 2002, and the second, Dead File, came out in July of 2003. Paperback editions of both books are in print, from Warner Books. The third book in the Maxi Poole mystery series, Graveyard Shift, came out in May of 2005, also from Warner Books. She has written two other mystery novels, Trophy Wife and Gossip, from Simon & Schuster. Kelly’s 28-year history with NBC-4 from 1971 to 1999 made her an icon in local television news. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Emmy for Outstanding Achievement as a News Anchorperson in the only year the Academy gave that award, as well as several other Emmys and Los Angeles Press Club awards for Best News Reporting, Best Writing, and Best News Series. She began her broadcast career as a helicopter spot news and traffic reporter for KABC Radio, served as a reporter with KABC-TV, and joined NBC-4 in 1971. She was the first woman anchor on any of the NBC-owned TV stations in the country. She left NBC-4 in 1999 to co-host the television talk show Women 2 Women on CBS-2. She made the decision to leave news broadcasting on fateful 9-11, 2001, in order to focus on writing mystery novels. Kelly Lange was born in New York, and currently resides in Southern California.
While all guest appearances have been confirmed, special circumstances occasionally make it necessary to change scheduled events.
