Tag archives: writing

A writer’s conference might seem like an esoteric enterprise, considering that the actual act of writing is as solitary as such things go, save for maybe collaborating in a writer’s room for a TV sitcom, which is a lot less literary. The once-daunting barriers to entry to “seeing one’s work in print” have been obliterated […]

Santa Barbara-based FestForums hosts its seventh iteration on February 15-17, moving again this year – from the Music Academy to the Mar Monte oceanfront resort. The convention is a business-to-business gathering of festival producers, organizers, and industry leaders representing a wide variety of offerings – Coachella, SXSW, Sundance, Burning Man, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Woodstock, Austin City […]

Grace Rachow started her Santa Barbara Writers Conference (SBWC) journey as a student and budding scribe back in 1992, and soon became involved in its administration later in the decade before taking over as director in 2016. So she’s as thrilled as anyone to have the word-lover’s institution returning to an in-person gathering for the […]

As Time Goes By, the new novel from SBCC English professor emeritus W. Royce Adams, follows his protagonist called Old, who is now near death and reflecting on key life moments dealing with love, lust, friendships, betrayal, and illness. Working on his memoir, Old asks himself “playful existential questions with no pertinent answers,” examining whether […]

There are a number of reading programs for students in Santa Barbara, including several administered by nonprofits. Tina Hansen McEnroe is absolutely clear about what makes the McEnroe Reading and Language Arts Clinic at the Gevirtz School at the University of California, Santa Barbara, stand out from all the rest.  “How are we different? It’s […]

Writing is a process of exploration, discovery, and ultimately, learning. From the research required to study a subject, to the inspiration needed to find the words to describe it, writing is an active experience that guides the author through themselves and the surrounding world. And each year, the Raab Writing Fellows Program guides about 20 […]

Set on the shores of Southampton in the summer of 1957, On Gin Lane by Brooke Lea Foster is a charming story about Lee, a young socialite, and her handsome fiancé who sweeps her off her feet to a vacation amongst Society where he presents her with a hotel he has built and named after […]

Shaun Tomson, rated the number one surfer in the world in 1977, has lived in Montecito for the better part of 30 years, and has teamed up with Santa Barbara-based author-speaker-philosopher Noah benShea; the two have published The Surfer and the Sage, A Guide to Survive & Ride Life’s Waves. It’s a small, handsomely produced […]

First off, let’s visit a small town in Texas. In Samantha Jayne Allen’s Pay Dirt Road, waitress Annie is drawn into her family’s private investigation firm after a fellow waitress disappears from a party they both attended. Allen slowly builds her characters and the atmosphere of a recession-hit town with hardscrabble characters in grimy honky-tonks […]

Lawrence Spann writes every day in a Mead notebook — with a fountain pen. For him, this practice is more than journaling, it’s therapeutic introspection that allows the unconscious to become conscious. To accomplish this, he writes without an agenda, letting the pen rather than the mind lead the way. What results is a kind […]

Writing is oftentimes a multidisciplinary creative process, combining the mechanics of English with one’s understanding of the subject matter. Since 2017, the Raab Writing Fellows Program at UCSB has been giving students the opportunity to express their range of interests and explore the multidisciplinary skills that writing requires. Supported by author and educator Diana Raab, […]

The hustle-bustle of normal life has given way to a slower pace. My appointment book is empty. Social interaction is masked and brief. Even reliable distractions have lost their luster. With so much time for introspection, unresolved issues and negative thoughts are adding to the stress load. Instead of soldiering on, I’m choosing to use […]

Last Sunday, community godfather and Christmas Elf Dana Newquist organized the second Montecito-To-Unity toy and fundraising drive and caravan for delivery. A great group met up at the Upper Village in classic cars, ready to donate toys and funds for the second week in a row. Dana asked me to get up on the 1937 […]

My birthday happens to be in December (on the 9th), so my numerical age stays the same practically all through the calendar year. On my tenth birthday, in 1943, one of the presents I received was a “Five-year Diary,” with each small page representing the same calendar date on five succeeding years. So, each day […]

Michael DeVorzon grew up in Montecito, with a great family lineage in music, and carved his own way in film and TV. Still working actively during the lockdown, he is polished in defining the narrative of the hard work it takes to stay in the game, do it like a pro, and always with kindness. […]

A college education consists of more than just a degree and a major. University time allows a student to discover which issues are meaningful to them and develop the voice that will continue into their career. The Raab Writing Fellows Program within the Writing Program at UC Santa Barbara is helping students find that voice. […]

A shout out of gratitude to Realtor Dusty Baker for sponsoring this week’s Montecito Journal home delivery. Hemingway famously said, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter… and bleed.” Which certainly has been true for me on occasion. But on the positive side of the ledger, writing has […]

After six years of high school, I figured there was nothing else to learn. (Just kidding… it only took me five years to graduate.) But I was wrong. Soon I got a job and found I needed new skills. “So, I won’t be needing Algebra or English Lit?” “No, and you probably won’t need your […]