Moderator, Perie Longo, Santa Barbara Poet Laureate, 2007-2009, has published 4 books of poetry, the latest Baggage Claim (2014) and poems in numerous literary journals. This June will be her 40th year teaching poetry at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference. She’s thrilled and awed to be still poeting and standing. Melinda Palacio, current Santa Ba…

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 lo…

Author Matthew Pallamary discussed shamanic practices and ceremonies in the jungle, including the use of psychedelic plant medicines like ayahuasca. He detailed a 10-day program he does in the jungle that involves a cleansing diet and various visionary plants. "Your perception gets more refined. It gets very clear. You start having telepathic exper…

Moderator: SBWC faculty member, Marla Miller works with writers on the road to publication, and beyond. Her popular SBWC workshop, Hooking Readers, covers both crafting and marketing tips. Brook Ashley, is the author of Dare Wright and The Lonely Doll, which features more than four hundred of Dare’s own photographs and an array of other illustratio…

Podcasts & Audiobooks with Lois Phillips, Yvette Keller, Claudia Dunn, and Matthew J. Pallamary Audiobooks and podcasts are a fast-growing area of publishing. Join this team for an insightful seminar on how to accomplish the goals of getting your bookद्वारा Matthew Pallamary

Podcasts & Audiobooks with Lois Phillips, Yvette Keller, Claudia Dunn, and Matthew J. Pallamary Audiobooks and podcasts are a fast-growing area of publishing. Join this team for an insightful seminar on how to accomplish the goals of getting your bookद्वारा Matthew Pallamary

Be Your Own Best Publicist Melinda Palacio & Lida Sideris This session offers wisdom from the trenches from award-winning authors on promoting your project. You’ll get practical marketing advice on aspects of building an author platform and putting yourself and your book out there.द्वारा Matthew Pallamary

Shannon Pufahl is the author of On Swift Horses, her critically acclaimed debut novel which takes place in the mid-century American West. The New York Times Review of Books said this about her novel: “The spaces she creates for her characters — San Diego’s languid Chester Hotel, hiding in plain sight, and Tijuana rendered as an underworld — have th…

Moderator: SBWC faculty member, Trey Dowell, is a novelist and a short story aficionado. His expertise in writing effective query letters has helped numerous writers get their projects reviewed by agents and publishers. Mary Hill-Wagner, is the author of Girlz ‘n the Hood, a memoir of what it was like to grow up on some of the meanest streets in Am…

This session focuses on sparking curiosity and building anticipation. Proven query strategies and methods will be discussed. Bring your own in-progress queries—we’ll read them aloud and offer feedback. SBWC faculty member, Trey Dowell, is a novelist and a short story aficionado. His expertise in writing effective query letters has helped numerous w…

Publishing Options Holly Kammier, Patricia Marshall, Chryss Yost, Angela Borda This seminar features 4 publishers, each with a different take on publication. Each provides an overview of their methods. The following discussion will be a deep dive into the subject. Bring your questions.द्वारा Matthew Pallamary

Hosted by George Noory Guest: Matthew Pallamary Tuesday - November 14, 2023 About the show Author, editor, and shamanic explorer Matthew Pallamary has been searching the globe for the truth about reality. In the latter half, he spoke about the nature of expanding consciousness, as well as why he believes the veil between the worlds is thinning and …

Thirty years in the making, Judith Turner-Yamamoto’s award-winning novel, Loving the Dead and Gone, is part of a trilogy drawing upon memories of her red-dirt childhood. She was born into a family of storytellers in rural North Carolina. Publishers Weekly called it a bittersweet, fantastical must-read debut. A poet, journalist, art historian and in…

Panel moderator SBWC faculty member Norm Thoeming (aka August Norman) is author of two literary thrillers and mysteries, Come and Get Me and Sins of the Mother. Barnaby Conrad III, is author of Jacques Villeglé and the Streets of Paris. His other books are Absinthe: History in a Bottle, Ghost Hunting in Montana, and The Martini. He’s also written m…

Demystifying Publishing Options Holly Kammier & Associates. This seminar covers pros and cons of publishing options today: traditional publishing, small publishers, self-publishing, vanity press, and hybrid publishing. Understanding of the range of options facilitates reaching your publication goals. Holly Kammier is the international best-selling …

This seminar covers aspects of the traditional publishing process, how it works, how long it takes, dealing with rejections, contracts, publicity, platform building, blurbs, signings, podcasts, nominations, and more.द्वारा Matthew Pallamary

Mary Hogan is the author of Two Sisters, and Left, a love story about a woman who slowly retreats into a fantasy world as she loses her once whip-smart husband to dementia. Her historical novel based on the Johnstown Flood of 1889, The Woman in the Photo, tells a resonant story of class and catastrophe. Previous young adult novels include The Serio…

Moderator: Eric Myers has a depth of knowledge of the publishing industry and is an expert who is generous with sharing his advice for both fiction and nonfiction authors. A graduate of UCLA and the Sorbonne, Eric entered publishing as a journalist and author before becoming an agent. He’s a member of both the Authors’ Guild and the Association of …

Known for her wry social commentary, Elinor Lipman is the author of 14 novels, including her latest, Ms. Demeanor, which has received praise from authors Tom Perrotta, Wally Lamb, and Cathleen Schine. In 2008, her debut novel, Then She Found Me,(1990), was adapted into a film starring Matthew Broderick, Colin Firth, Helen Hunt, and Bette Midler. Sh…

Sojourner Kincade Rolle is a poet/playwright and Santa Barbara Poet Laureate Emerita (2015-2017). Free at Last: A Juneteenth Poem was released May 2022 to great acclaim, in time for the first national celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the USA. It made the New York Public Library’s list for Best Kids’ Books 2022, the School Library Jou…

Moderator: Lorelei Armstrong leads a Pirate Workshop at SBWC. She is a novelist and has an MFA in screenwriting. Deborah Holt Larkin, is author of A Lovely Girl, a true story of intrigue, murder, and eccentricity, set against the backdrop of iconic 1950s small town California life. Filled with dark humor and bumbling killers, this sometimes heartbr…

Author Websites & Social Media Lisa Angle & Matt Pallamary. This Monday afternoon panel from June 19, 2023 discussed how to deploy an effective book marketing plan and how to design an author website that is integrated social media strategies. Lisa worked as stage crew for Ensemble Theatre, produced a weekly newsletter for the Santa Barbara County …

Santa Barbara Writers Conference Monday morning panel June 19, 2023 - Interviews, Journals, & Reviews with David Starkey, Chryss Yost, and Brian Tanquay discussing approaches to being interviewed, starting a literary journal, both online and in print, how to write a review, and how to get your book reviewed.…

Tonight, Tuesday on FADE to BLACK: Mathew (Mateo) Pallamary is with us to talk about shamanism, visionary experience, entheobotany, plant medicines, consciousness, and altered states of consciousness. Matthew J. (Mateo) Pallamary frequently visits the mountains, deserts, and jungles of North, Central, and South America pursuing his studies of shama…

Listen to Monte Schulz's Santa Barbara Writers Conference opening night keynote talk on June 18th 2023 discussing Metropolis, his sixth novel which is a dystopian narrative of love in a time of war and moral disintegration. Regency College senior Julian Brehm’s uneventful student life is derailed when he falls for Nina Rinaldi, a beautiful young re…

Shamanism & Death Author, editor, and shamanic explorer Matthew Pallamary has been searching the globe for answers to the truth about reality. In the first half, he discussed his visionary experiences, shamanism, and writing, as well as his work on attitudes about death. His book "Death: A Love Story," was published at the outbreak of the pandemic,…

Gayle Lynds along with her prolific and talented multi-genre husband Dennis Lynds have been long time supporters and members of the Santa Barabra Writers Conference for many years. Dennis has passed on and is sorely missed, but Gayle continues being an inspiration to the SBWC family. Gayle is an American former journalist, editor and author and is …

Here is a talk from Dorothy Allison from the 2012 Santa Barbara Writers Conference. Allison's writing focuses on class struggle, sexual abuse, child abuse, feminism and lesbianism. She has won a number of awards for her writing, including several Lambda Literary Awards. Her first novel Bastard Out of Carolina was published in 1992 to great acclaim,…

Fannie Flagg, is an American actress, comedian and author. She is best known as a semi-regular panelist on the 1973–1982 versions of the game show Match Game and for the 1987 novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, which was adapted into the 1991 motion picture Fried Green Tomatoes. She was nominated for an Academy Award for the screen…

Simon Van Booy is the award-winning, bestselling author of more than a dozen books for adults and children. He is the editor of three volumes of philosophy and has written for The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Washington Post, and the BBC. His books have been translated into many languages and optioned for film. Raised in rural North Wal…

Starshine Roshell is a journalism professor, magazine writer, award-winning columnist and overwhelmed mother of two. Named for a song in the 1960s musical “Hair,” in which her father starred, Starshine grew up in Los Angeles on the soap opera sets and in the Sunset Strip nightclubs where her parents worked. She graduated UCLA cum laude and wrote fo…

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…

Lee Goldberg is known for his bestselling novels Lost Hills and True Fiction and his work on a wide variety of TV crime series, including Diagnosis: Murder, A Nero Wolfe Mystery, Hunter, Spenser: For Hire, Martial Law, She-Wolf of London, SeaQuest, 1-800-Missing, The Glades and Monk. In 2007, Goldberg wrote and produced the pilot for a German telev…

David Viscott was an American psychiatrist, author, and media personality who founded the Viscott Center for Natural Therapy in Beverly Hills, Newport Beach and Pasadena, California. In 1980 Viscott began presenting his own full-time show on talk radio, and was notably one of the first psychiatrists to do so. He screened telephone calls and gave co…

Here is a talk from Ashleigh Brilliant when he spoke at the 1984 Santa Barbara Writers Conference. Ashleigh is an English-born American author and cartoonist is best known for his Pot-Shots, single-panel illustrations with one-line humorous remarks, which began syndication in the United States in 1975 and is still being published today.…

Prior to his massive success with Roots Alex Haley was another unknown struggling writer until the Santa Barbara Writers Conference founder Barnaby Conrad connected him with the right people and became responsible for getting Alex published. Barnaby was a bestseller at the age of twenty nine for his novel Matador and he bought a bar in San Francisc…

Listen to Robert Gover speaking about Sharpening Your Dialogue at the 1983 Santa Barbara Writers Conference. Robert Gover (November 2, 1929 – January 12, 2015) was an American journalist who became a best-selling novelist at age 30. His first novel, One Hundred Dollar Misunderstanding, a satire on American racism, remains a cult classic that helped…

Dennis Lynds was married to Gayle Lynds who is known as the Queen of Espionage Fiction for her spy fiction or spy thrillers novels and the co-founder of International Thriller Writers. Gayle was featured in episode 36 of the Mystic Ink Voices of the Masters Series. Dennis was a generous, thoughtful, and prolific writer that most writers only dream …

COAST TO COAST SHOW NOTES Author, editor, and shamanic explorer Matthew Pallamary has been searching the globe for the truth about reality. In the latter half, he spoke about his latest work looking at how various sciences, disciplines, nature, and ancient wisdom relate to the idea of the Golden Mean (the middle between two extremes). Through his v…

Gayle Lynds along with her prolific and talented multi-genre husband Dennis Lynds have been long time supporters and members of the Santa Barabra Writers Conference for many years. Dennis has passed on and is sorely missed, but Gayle continues being an inspiration to the SBWC family. Gayle is an American former journalist, editor and author and is …

Santa Barbara resident and SBWC regular Sue Grafton was an American author best known as the author of the "alphabet series" ("A" Is for Alibi, etc.) featuring private investigator Kinsey Millhone in the fictional city of Santa Teresa, California , which was based on Santa Barbara . Before her success with this series, she wrote screenplays for tel…

Ray Bradbury kicked off the Santa Barbara Writers Conference for the first thirty seven years, and anyone who attended, came back again and again to listen to his inspiring, passionate talks. In the first year of the conference he came to the Cate School where the conference began and brought his sleeping bag and stayed up late into the night regal…

Robert McKee is an author, lecturer and story consultant who is known for his "Story Seminar", which he developed when he was a professor at the University of Southern California. McKee is the author of Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting, Dialogue: the Art of Verbal Action for Stage, Page and Screen, Storynomics:…

Fannie Flagg, is an American actress, comedian and author. She is best known as a semi-regular panelist on the 1973–1982 versions of the game show Match Game and for the 1987 novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, which was adapted into the 1991 motion picture Fried Green Tomatoes. She was nominated for an Academy Award for the screen…

Santa Barbara resident T. C. Boyle was a keynote speaker at the 1996 Santa Barbara Writers Conference. Also known as T. Coraghessan Boyle, he is an American novelist and short story writer. Since the mid-1970s, he has published sixteen novels and more than 100 short stories. He won the PEN/Faulkner award in 1988, for his third novel, World's End, w…

We had a great Part 2 show on Friday night 8/12/22 on Night Dreams Talk Radio with Gary Anderson interviewing Matthew J. (Mateo) Pallamary "On Crazy Things In The Paranormal". On the show they discussed altered states of consciousness and psychedelic substances, among them DMT, Psilocybin, LSD, Cannabis, and Ayahuasca, as well as shamanic plant die…

Elmore (Dutch) Leonard was a talented novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. His earliest novels, published in the 1950s, were Westerns, but he went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which were adapted into motion pictures. In this 1996 interview Dutch discussed his experiences turning novels into screenplay…

Anne Lamott is an American novelist and non-fiction writer whose nonfiction works are largely autobiographical. Lamott's writings, marked by their self-deprecating humor and openness, cover such subjects like alcoholism, single-motherhood, depression, and Christianity. Her best selling Bird by Bird had just been published when she spoke to the 1996…

*DEATH: (A Love Story) is an Award Winning Finalist in the 2020 International Book Awards.* WARNING! YOU COULD DIE LISTENING THIS BOOK! When's the last time you had an intimate heart to heart chat with your death? Have you ever? Now is your chance. Hi, I am your Death and I am here for you. No wait, don’t go! Aside from the fact that you can’t get …

Matthew J. (Mateo) Pallamary frequently visits the mountains, deserts, and jungles of North, Central, and South America pursuing his studies of shamanism for over twenty five years. He has seventeen books in print in multiple genres and has taught a Phantastic Fiction workshop at the Southern California Writers Conference and the Santa Barbara Writ…