BILLOWING SAILS PUFFED WITH WISDOM

Three and a half literary-packed days have sailed  past  like a catamaran on a windy day in the Santa Barbara harbor.Now, only two days remain, forty-eight hours to catch the last morsel of knowledge and  ride that final epic crumb of wisdom. 
 

Each night  we listened to prominent authors who shared their stories.Sue Grafton and Elizabeth Berg allowed us aboard their literary journeys and, like a bonfire on the beach, they stoked our passion for writing. Jervy Tervalon entertained the crowd of authors with his dry wit while he shared the tragedies of his family.

Below is a photo at the poolside wine and cheese party, a great way to unwind from  the busy schedules of seminars, panels and meeting with agents. 

On my right, Carolyn Binkley. Be sure to check out her children's book, The Errand, http://bookstore.xlibris.com/Products/SKU-0098372017/default.aspx

Carol Binkly with her book, The Errand and Stinkbugs and Grasshoppers Green.
Nicole Archambeau, Prof. of Religous Studies at USBC,hold my second book, Going Home With A Cat And A Ghost.
And me, Judy Howard, with my first book, Coast To Coast With A Cat And A Ghost.

The photo below was taken poolside at the wine and cheese party,a great way to unwind from  the busy schedules of seminars, panels and meeting with agents. 

On my right.is Carolyn Binkley . Be sure to check out her childrens book, The Errand, http://bookstore.xlibris.com/Products/SKU-0098372017/default.aspx

Carolyn Binkley lives in the coastal town of Santa Barbara, California with her husband, two rescued dogs, one mischievous cat, and six happy hens. Her greatest passion, other than family, is writing inspirational prose, short stories, and poetry involving nature, life, and hope. Her book,The Errand… and stinkbugs and grasshoppers green,  details a young girl’s distractions with insects as she journeys through her neighbor’s yard on an errand. Writing this story, Carolyn was reminded of her own adventurous childhood and her life-long curiosity of creatures, great and small.

Carolyn and I picked up our friendship just where we left it  last year.  This conference is a family of writers.

On my left, Marla Miller, Marketing The Muse, represents the first and last words on marketing.She is the only one on the staff who boasts of her fidelity to the "Entrepreneurial Author" ( The self Published Author.) Her expertise and connections in the literary world makes her an invaluable contact and the high energy in her workshop will not allow you to doze no matter how exhausted you may be.Here's a quote from Marla's website. "During my years as Assistant Director of Santa Barbara Writers Conference, 2005-2008, I MC’ed many literary agent panels. Their denial of ‘change coming’ always astounded me. Did they think the web was just going to go away? Besides teaching at Santa Barbara Writers Conference, my favorite place to teach MarketingtheMuse workshops is at the Southern California Writers Conference.

On Marla's left is Kevin Bourke,  a Santa Barbara resident. His book, Make Your Money Last a Lifetime, should be an essential in your library if you are going to be an author.Make Your Money Last A Lifetime  And finally Mariam is an officiating minister in Santa Barbara and a good friend of Cork Millner http://www.corkmillner.com/ Cork delivers an informative seminar.

Jerry Camarillo Dunn and Judy Howard brag about their books after a seminar on travel writing. at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference. Jerry's book,My Favorite Place on Earth, the book he is holding up, 

is only one  of many, many.Jerry's credits are endless. Here's a short bio.

"I've worked with National Geographic for 25 years, first as an editor, writer, and columnist for National Geographic Traveler magazine, then as a guidebook author, most recently of The National Geographic Traveler: San Francisco. I've also written travel guides for the Smithsonian Institution and been a contributing editor at Islands magazine.
I have written hundreds of travel pieces for magazines and newspapers. The Society of American Travel Writers has recognized my feature stories with three Lowell Thomas Awards, the Oscars of the field. For twenty years, I've been presenting travel writing workshops in venues from the University of California to SBWC.
My latest book is My Favorite Place on Earth (National Geographic), for which I interviewed 75 remarkable people, ranging from the Dalai Lama to Will Ferrell."

So that is a wrap of the first days of the conference. More to come!!