John Saul, an American author of suspense and horror novels spoke at the 1988 Santa Barbara Writers Conference . Most of his books have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller List.

Prior to the start of his bestselling thriller career, Saul had around 10 books published under pen names, the first of which he wrote in one weekend after unexpectedly losing his job. His first book sale earned him just $200. Today he has over 60 million books in print.

In 1976, Dell Publishing contacted him about his writing a psychological thriller. The resulting novel, Suffer the Children, appeared on all the bestseller lists in the United States and reached the number one spot in Canada. In addition to his novels, Saul has had several one-act plays produced in Los Angeles and Seattle.