October 17 – 18, 2025
We are proud to announce our presenters for the 2025 conference
Martin J. Smith is a veteran journalist and magazine editor who has won more than fifty newspaper and magazine writing awards, and his crime novels have been finalists for three of the publishing industry’s most prestigious honors, including the Edgar Award, the Anthony Award, and the Barry Award.
A former senior editor of the Los Angeles Times Magazine, Smith was editor-in-chief of California’s Orange Coast magazine between 2007 and 2016, during which time the Western Publishing Association five times named Orange Coast the best city/metropolitan magazine in
the western U.S. As an editor Smith worked with a diverse group of writers, including Amy Tan, Anne Lamott, Joseph Wambaugh, Walter Mosley, Martin Dugard, Janet Fitch, Edward Humes, and James Ellroy.
Smith’s essays and stories have appeared in many major American newspapers, as well as national and regional magazines. In 2017 The Los Angeles Review of Books called Smith “a master of the essay and human interest profile form” and “one of the best nonfiction writers today.”
In addition to his five novels, Smith has written five nonfiction books, including “Going to Trinidad: A Doctor, a Colorado Town, and Stories from an Unlikely Gender Crossroads.” That book was a finalist for a 2022 Colorado Book Award. A new edition of “The Wild Duck Chase,” Smith’s 2012 book about the strange and wonderful world of competitive duck painting, was the basis for the award-winning documentary film “The Million Dollar Duck.” A new edition of the book has just been released by Open Road Media.
Smith has been a staff member of California’s venerable Community of Writers since 2002, and for six years taught an undergraduate workshop course called “Writing the Novel” at Chapman University. He lives in Granby, Colorado.
Martin will be speaking on how to “Pressure Test your Novel Idea,” “Writing Personal Essays,” and a joint session with Mark Obmascik on “The Art of Interviewing.”
Mark Obmascik is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of three bestselling nonfiction books.
His first book, “The Big Year,” was turned into a Hollywood movie with Jack Black, Steve Martin, and Owen Wilson. His second, “Halfway to Heaven,” was winner of the National Outdoor Book Award for Outdoor Literature. His third book, “The Storm on Our Shores,” was featured on 60 Minutes and highlighted by the Japanese American National Museum.
He was winner of the National Press Club Award for Environmental Journalism, cited for outstanding service by the 7th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army, and lead writer for the Denver Post team that won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Columbine High School massacre.
He and his wife live in Colorado. They have three sons.
Mark will be speaking on “Writing and Selling NonFiction” and a joint session with Martin J. Smith on “The Art of Interviewing.”
