A SPECIAL REPORT: O.C. AUTHORS

SUCCESS: Whitney Otto’s novel, “How to Make An American Quilt,” is still a bestseller and Marti Leimbach’s “Dying Young” is now a hot summer movie. What do Otto and Leimbach have in common? They’re both alumni of UCI’s graduate program in fiction writing. . . . The two-year program is now nationally recognized--and popular. A record number of writers (232) applied for the mere six openings this fall.