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We here at the Maui Writers Conference are very proud of our traditions and our achievements over the past 14 years. We are especially proud of our success with getting attendees published. Many hundreds who have attended the Conference and Retreat have found agents, editors and had their books published through our help and guidance.
We also are proud of our tradition of bringing great writers to our event to speak and to teach. But what makes us prouder still is when one of our successful attendees returns to present at our event. Perhaps our greatest success story so far is the prolific novelist James Rollins. He was discovered at one of our first Retreats and was immediately signed to a three-book deal by one of the major publishers at our event and almost simultaneously signed a deal for another book series in yet another genre (hence he also writes under the name James Clemens). This past year his thriller, 'Map of Bones', broke onto the "New York Times' bestseller list. Let me tell you, we all gave quite a hoop and a holler when we heard the news. And we absolutely raised the roof when James agreed to return to Maui to teach at this year's Retreat and Conference. That's another tradition among our great writers - they love to give back and James is an exceptional teacher with a genuine dedication to his students. Welcome home, James!
Also, returning again this year is a familiar friend - Sam Horn. Sam has been our commanding mistress of ceremonies and the heart of the Conference since its inception. I met Sam some 16 years agao at a local writing seminar I was giving. Sam came to it hoping to write her first book. I gave her some direction and sent her on her way. And the rest is history. Sam may be the prototypical successful writer. Toiling relentlessly at her craft, building her audience and her career as she goes - book by book, speech by speech, article by article, book signing by book signing. Those who have been to the MWC before know that Sam is a consummate speaker and a much sought-after keynoter throughout the country. This year we have the privilege of having her open and close the Conference with presentations featuring her new breakout book 'POP!' It will be quite a show to watch this master at work. If you want to learn how it's done, no one's career is more worthy of watching than that of this smart, savvy, hard-working lady.
Joe Ortiz is another writer who came to me to help him launch his first book. Joe has some very funny sotories about how I scorched his early writing. "You're not working hard enough?" was one of my oft-quoted exhortations to him. Joe survived my tutelage and has published many books and spoken before audiences thoughout the country. This year he and I will teach a class here at the Conference. It will be both an honor and a special treat for me to share the podium with this talented and hard-working entrepreneur.
I guess on reflection the one common denominator of all the successful writers we have hosted over the years is that they all work very, very VERY hard. In fact, they're almost fanatical about it. Georja Skinner, another one of our success stories, who this year published her holiday memoir, 'The Christmas House', kept telling me throughout the long, arduous process of rewrite after rewrite, "I had no idea it was this much work to write a book." I just nodded my head having suffered her fate some fifteen times on my own books. Writing a book is a lot of hard work.
So I guess that would be my message to all of you. You've made the not unsubstantial effort to come to Maui to work on your book. Now go home and work harder than you have ever worked before. When you get done with your current book or screenplay, or article, or poem, start another one. And then another. When you find yourself working as hard as, say, James Rollins, you just might find yourself on the 'New York Times' bestseller list - and on the faculty of the Maui Writers Conference. Nothing would make me prouder than to see our faculty filled with former attendees.
Aloha and good luck with your writing,
John and Shannon Tullius
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