Please Note: Class times, titles, and descriptionS may still change.
Virtual fall conference WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE September 15th, 2021 CONFERENCE PREPARATION
Meet the Agents, Publishers and Producers Taking Pitches at PNWA’s 66th Annual Conference.
There will be a panel, followed by Spotlights on Tule Publishing and The Wild Rose Press.
Agent, Editor, Publisher, and Producer Panel with Moderator Robert Dugoni 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Spotlight On Publishers Times Coming Soon
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WORKSHOP 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. PDT 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. MDT 2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. EDT
Virtual Conference Do’s and Don’ts Ever wonder if there’s a certain etiquette you should be following at a professional conference? Does it apply in person as well as online? Join us and find out. Presenters: Pam Binder, Jennifer Douwes, Scott Douwes, Adam Russell, TBA
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------2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. PDT 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. MDT 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. EDT
How to Get over Your Fear of Rejection and Pitch Your Story Too many writing careers are ended before they ever had a chance to really begin simply because a new author feared the mortal sting of rejection. No writer loves to have his or work rejected. It always feels better when someone says yes instead of no. But rejection need not be the awful, soul-killing experience writers fear it will be. In this workshop, William Kenower author of Everyone Has What It Takes: A Writer’s Guide to the End of Self-Doubt, shares his own stories of hundreds and hundreds of rejections, and how he overcame them, learned from, and went on to publishing success. Everyone goes through this, and, in truth, everyone can handle it. Presenter: William Kenower William Kenower is the author of Fearless Writing: How to Create Boldly and Write With Confidence, Write Within Yourself: An Author’s Companion, and Everyone Has What It Takes: A Writer’s Guide to the End of Self-Doubt. He is the Editor-in-Chief of PNWA’s Author magazine and a sought-after speaker and teacher. In addition to his books, he’s been published in The New York Times and Edible Seattle, Writer’s Digest, Parent Map, Tiferet Journal, and has been a featured blogger for the Huffington Post. His video interviews with hundreds of writers from Nora Ephron to Amy Tan to William Gibson are widely considered the best of their kind on the Internet. He also hosts the online radio program PNWA Author2Author where every week, he and different guests discuss the books we write and the lives we lead. ------Plan Ahead How to get the most out of a virtual conference, and what to do if you have technical difficulties. Presenters: Pam Binder, Jennifer Douwes, Scott Douwes, TBA ------3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. PDT 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. MDT 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. EDT
Pitch Fest & Practice Your Pitch Writing a pitch can be daunting. Gerri Russell will teach you how to write and recite your pitch in a way that feels and sounds natural. Bring your pitch to this class, aiming for two minutes or less, and be ready to go into breakout sessions to polish it and get it ready for primetime. Note: PNWA’s pitches will be five minutes long in a one-on-one session with the agent, editor, publisher or producer of your choice. We’ll be contacting attendees in August to arrange their appointment. Presenter: Gerri Russell and Guest Authors
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Gerri Russell has done it all when it comes to writing; she’s worked as a broadcast journalist, newspaper reporter, magazine columnist, technical writer and editor, instructional designer, which all finally led her to follow her heart’s desire of being a romance novelist. Gerri is an award-winning and bestselling author of twenty novels and two novellas. You can find her most days splitting her time between writing adventurous and emotionally intense novels set in the twelfth to seventeenth century Scotland and fun and flirty contemporary novels set in the Pacific Northwest. ------6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. PDT 7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. MDT 9:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. EDT
A Conversation with Charles Johnson Join Eliana West with Charles Johnson in a conversation on writing, race, and diversity. In this one-hour dialogue we will be discussing Professor Johnson’s book The Way of the Writer, focusing on character development, writing secrets, and self-care for authors. We’ll be talking about finding your path as a writer, and not being afraid of taking an unexpected fork in the road. Presenters: Charles Johnson and Eliana West Charles Johnson is a novelist, essayist, literary scholar, philosopher, cartoonist, screenwriter, and professor emeritus at the University of Washington in Seattle. A MacArthur fellow, his fiction includes Night Hawks, Dr. King’s Refrigerator, Dreamer, Faith and the Good Thing, and Middle Passage, for which he won the National Book Award. In 2002 he received the Arts and Letters Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Eliana West is the founder of Writers for Diversity (https://www.facebook.com/groups/writersfordiversity). Since its creation in 2017, Writers for Diversity has provided a safe space for thoughtful and respectful dialogue, growing to over 1,000 members from around the world and encompassing all genres. Her life experience and DEI training fuels her commitment to an empathetic approach in her engagement with writers. Eliana West writes contemporary interracial romance. Eliana’s Heart of Colton series is published through Tule Publishing. Eliana West holds a certificate in Leading Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences at Northwestern University. www.elianawest.com 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop
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THURSDAY SCHEDULE September 16th, 2021 Pitch to Agents and Publishers (Registered attendees will receive their personal schedule for this event) 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PDT 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. MDT 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. EDT
Each registration includes one pitch. We will be contacting our registrants to discuss appointment times. ------Noon to 1:00 p.m. PDT 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. MDT 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. EDT
Plot a Story This Weekend: Day One – Introduction to the Story Engine Deck. (Day Two and Three will be on Saturday and Sunday) Say goodbye to writer’s block. In class one, we will discuss the difference between idea, premise, and plot. We will find your plot and begin using the Story Engine Deck to help you plot your story. We will touch on character development. No need to come with a plot or even a story idea – that’s what we’re here to help you find. However, if you have a partial story concept or plot (fully developed worlds, characters, or ideas for a new story), we will apply them to the Story Engine Deck to create the initial spark for a story. By the end of class one, you will know what the story and plot are about and have a rough idea of what characters are needed. Cards are available for free for download (link coming soon.) Peter Chiykowski, the creator of Story Engine Deck, Scott Douwes, and Sonja Griffing will help you create a plot for your story with the aid of a deck of writing prompt cards that might change the way you write forever.
Presenters: Peter Chiykowski, Scott Douwes, Sonja Griffing. Bios coming soon.
30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop
------Special Event (Ticket Required) TEA PARTY – Legends & Scandals With guest appearance by Julie Quinn 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. PDT 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. MDT 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. EDT
Legends & Scandals
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Along with being a delicious warming beverage, tea has a rich and colorful history. Enjoy tasting a selection of teas while we explore fun and fascinating stories. When was tea first discovered and enjoyed? How did tea actually make its way through the world, and why did it end up popular in some countries and not in others? In this class, we meet the legendary characters that helped shape our modern customs and enjoyment of tea—and taste teas they loved or would have loved! We learn about legends of thwarted love, alleged spies, royalty, courageous aristocrats, and more! Presenter: Roberta Fuhr with guest appearance by Julie Quinn Julia Quinn is the author of 18 consecutive New York Times bestsellers with over 10 million copies of her books in print. On December 25th, 2020, Bridgerton, a Shondaland/Netflix original series based on her most popular series of books, made its debut to record ratings and critical acclaim. Bridgerton was Netflix’s fifth most successful series debut of all time. Julia is an ardent supporter of military families and gives away copies of her novels to service members, veterans, military spouses, and Gold Star Family members each Veterans Day.
Roberta Fuhr is a Certified Tea Specialist and owner of Experience Tea Studio in Issaquah, Washington. Her passion is as much in teaching tea classes as it is in sourcing and sharing wonderful teas with customers. Roberta’s business, Experience Tea Studio, is celebrating 10 years of success in 2021. She offers weekly Tea Discovery classes ranging in scope from an introductory Tea Discovery Class, to various Tea & Food Pairing classes, Tea Blending Workshops, Children’s Tea & Etiquette class, and much more. In 2020 Roberta helped Girl Scouts of Western Washington develop an online self-study program about tea called Tea: The World in Your Cup.“I love to help people of all ages discover tea and learn about the dimension it offers, plus sharing the delight in tea cultures around the world.” In addition to professional training, Roberta has traveled to many areas of China, Japan, Sri Lanka and Taiwan, picking and processing tea, meeting with and learning from notable tea professionals, and experiencing the cultures of tea. ------Special Event (Included in Registration) With Terry Brooks and Shawn Speakman The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Writers and the New Types of Books that have immerged.
5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. (PDT) 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. (MDT) 8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. (EDT)
Presenters: Terry Brooks and Shawn Speakman Terry Brooks was born in Illinois in 1944. He spent a great deal of his childhood and early adulthood dreaming up stories in and around Sinnissippi Park, the very same setting for Running with the Demon.
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He received his undergraduate degree from Hamilton College, where he majored in English Literature, and went on to earn his graduate degree from the School of Law at Washington & Lee University. A writer since high school and heavily influenced by William Faulkner, it took him seven years to finish writing The Sword of Shannara, which published in 1977. It became the first work of fiction to ever appear on the New York Times trade paperback bestseller list, where it remained for over five months. He published The Elfstones of Shannara in 1982 and The Wishsong of Shannara in 1985, both bestsellers. Since that time, he has written numerous novels in the Shannara, Landover, and Word/Void series, including being hand-selected by George Lucas to write the novelization of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, which hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. The Shannara Chronicles, a first season 10-episode TV show, premiered January 5, 2016 on MTV. It adapts The Elfstones of Shannara and features the creative talents of Jon Favreau, Al Gough, Miles Millar, Jonathan Liebesman, and Terry Brooks as an Executive Producer.What more does Terry have in store for us in the future? Visit his website’s What’s Next? page for the most updated magic only Terry can create. Terry Brooks lives with his wife Judine in the Pacific Northwest and on the road meeting his fans. To read a more comprehensive biography of Terry Brooks, read his memoir/writing book, Sometimes the Magic Works.
Shawn Speakman grew up in the beautiful wilds of Washington State near a volcano and surrounded by old-growth forests filled with magic. After moving to Seattle to attend the University of Washington, he befriended New York Times best-selling fantasy author Terry Brooks and became his webmaster, leading to an enchanted life surrounded by words. He is also the webmaster for authors Naomi Novik and David Anthony Durham. Shawn was a manager at one of the largest Barnes & Noble Booksellers in the country for many years and now owns the online bookstore The Signed Page and is a freelance writer for Suvudu.com, the Random House science fiction & fantasy website. He also contributed the annotations for The Annotated Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks, published in November 2012. And in July 2013, he edited the bestselling fantasy anthology, Unfettered. Shawn is a cancer survivor, knows angel fire east, and lives in Seattle, Washington. The Dark Thorn is his debut novel. ------Extra Add-On Feature Event 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. PDT 8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. MDT 10:00 p.m. – Midnight EDT
We are working away on networking opportunities. Stay tuned.
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FRIDAY SCHEDULE September 17, 2021
Pitch to Agents and Publishers (Registered attendees will receive their personal schedule for this event) 7:00 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. PDT 8:00 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. MDT 10:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. EDT
Workshops/Panels 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. PDT 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. MDT 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EDT …and… 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. PDT 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. MDT 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. EDT ------MASTER CLASSES 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. PDT 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. MDT 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT …and… 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. PDT 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. MDT 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. EDT
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Special Event (Included in Registration) Bestselling Authors and Industry Experts Panel 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. PDT 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. MDT 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. EDT Marilyn Atlas, Rhonda Penders, Kevin O’Brien, with moderator Robert Dugoni ------Special Event (Ticket Required) Movie Night: Day of the Jackal hosted by Damon Suede
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5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. PDT 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. MDT 8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. EDT ------What follows is a listing of all events planned for Friday, September 17, 2021. Individual times are listed in Pacific Daylight-Saving Time (PDT). For the convenience of our members joining us from elsewhere, headers marking Mountain Daylight Saving Time (MDT), Eastern Daylight-Saving Time (EDT). ------WORKSHOP/PANELS 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. PDT 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. MDT 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EDT
Exploring Point of View Description: Who is telling your story? Is it a first-person account? Is it being told second hand? Is there some omniscient narrator who knows and sees all? This class will explore how to figure out what point of view is best for your novel or story. We'll discuss what point of view is, why it's important to your novel, and how to apply it well. Point of view slips can cause a manuscript to be rejected, can cause a reader to become confused, and can create an unreliable narrator. This class will help attendees gain a firm grasp on one of the more difficult, yet fundamental, aspects of fiction. Presenter: Terry Persun Terry Persun writes intelligent, tech-forward fantasy and science fiction with clearly drawn characters and thought-provoking themes. His novels have been winners and finalists in over a dozen awards, including a Book Excellence Award winner, a Silver IPPY winner, a New Apple Book Award winner, a Cygnus finalist, and multiple Foreword Book of the Year Award finalists. He is a former airborne navigation equipment specialist and electronics engineer presently freelancing for science and technology magazines. As a cross-genre author, Terry writes everything from mainstream fiction to mystery/suspense to fantasy. ------First Impressions We have all heard that you only get one chance to make a good first impression. This is also true when you write your novel. A reader might choose your book because of the cover or a recommendation, or from the back cover blurb. But what keeps them reading past the first page? Join Pam Binder as she discusses, the first meetings between characters, how you introduce the plot, the first hook, the setting and much more. Presenter: Pam Binder Pam Binder is a New York Times, USA Today and Amazon bestselling author of romance, fantasy, young adult and time travel novels and novellas. She has over fifteen published novels and novellas,
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with a new release scheduled November 8, 2021.Gingerbread Knight and The Immortal in 2022. Publishers Weekly has said: "Binder gracefully weaves elements of humor, magic and romantic tensions into her novels." Pam received the Romantic Times Book Reviews' Pioneers in Romance award in 2018 and blends historical events, characters, and myths into everything she writes. She is also a conference speaker and president of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association. ------Writing Real Versus Reality Description: Reality is factual, what happened, when, where, how, and to whom. When written, it is accurate, journalistic reporting. Yet, as creative writers, we want our readers to feel deeply, to experience the real intensity of actions, to know the internal agony, elation, desolation, and joy our characters feel when reality strikes. Through literary examples and writing exercises, this workshop will focus on methods and choices used to expose the personal impact of an event, versus a merely factual description. Join award-winning author, Donna Conrad, in an exploration of how to convey reality’s affect on characters in ways that will captivate the reader. Presenter: Donna Conrad Donna Conrad is an award-winning author, journalists, activists, and teacher. Her core values revolve around individual empowerment, a sustaining ideal running through the books she writer, as well as her varied interest in the arts and sciences. Her memoir, House of the Moon; Surviving the Sixties has received critical acclaim. The first of her four-book historical fiction series, The Last Magdalene, is scheduled for publication April 2022. ------Scene and Sequel – The Rhythm of Fiction Every story has a heartbeat. This workshop gets up close and personal with the bones of bestselling fiction based on Dwight Swain’s revolutionary approach to storytelling. Whether you call it “scene and sequel” or action and reaction,” this basic storytelling pattern allows you to pace your plot, escalate your action, and find your story’s heat and flow with a clear structural strategy that simplifies the process of planning, drafting, and revising your book. Presenter: Damon Suede Damon Suede grew up out-n-proud deep in right-wing America and escaped as soon as it was legal. He has lived all over and along the way, he's earned his crust as a model, a messenger, a promoter, a programmer, a sculptor, a singer, a stripper, a bookkeeper, a bartender, a techie, a teacher, and a director... but writing has ever been his bread and butter. He has been happily partnered for over a decade with the most loving, handsome, shrewd, hilarious, noble man to walk this planet. Beyond romance fiction, Damon has been a full-time writer for print, stage, and screen for almost three decades, which is both more and less glamorous than you might imagine. He's won some awards but counts his blessings more often: his amazing friends, his demented family, his beautiful husband, his loyal fans, and his silly, stern, seductive Muse who keeps whispering in his ear, year after year. 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop.
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WORKSHOP/PANELS 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. PDT 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. MDT 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. EDT
Bad, Bloom, Ripen, Rest Are you more productive at sometimes of the year than others? Do you struggle with goals in January, abandon them by spring, and feel guilty too much of the year? Try this new approach to setting goals and plans for your creative life that’s more in tune with our bodies and the natural world. Terrapsychology is a fancy word for our close alignment with the natural world and the seasons. Its mental and energy effects are real, and you can use it more mindfully to set goals by the season. Becoming better aligned with nature and your own inner schedules can boost your creativity and help you accomplish more. Join me to gain a new perspective on your creative work and set more playful, more practical goals you can better achieve. This session will include group discussion as well as individual reflection and writing, and participants will leave with a customized seasonal plan as well as the understanding to apply the concept elsewhere in their lives. Presenter: Joni Sensel Joni Sensel is the author of more than a dozen nonfiction titles for adults and five novels for young readers, including a Junior Library Guild selection and a Center for Children’s Books “Best Book.” One of her two picture books won the ASPCA’s Henry Bergh Honor. Joni holds an MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She served for four years as a co-regional advisor for the Western Washington chapter of the Society of Children’s Books Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI). Joni is an outdoors enthusiast, and her adventures have taken her to the corners of fifteen countries, the heights of the Cascade Mountains, the length of an Irish marathon, and the depths of love. Her latest book, Feeling Fate: A Memoir of Love, Intuition, and Spirit, will be published in April 2022. 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop. ------Creating Plots for Page Turners From your initial query letter to your published novel, the writer must convey that she understands classic story structure. Bob will teach the fundamental relationship between good stories and journeys and use in-class exercises and assignments to help students better understand story structure so they can evaluate their novel’s plot. Students will also be better equipped to make educated choices on such things as the opening chapter, to make critical judgments about the middle of their book, and to ensure that the ending brings into collision the forces the writer has set in motion to deliver an emotionally satisfying conclusion. Presenter: Robert Dugoni
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Robert Dugoni is the critically acclaimed New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal and #1 Amazon Internationally Best-Selling Author of 20 novels in The Tracy Crosswhite police detective series set in Seattle, the David Sloane legal thriller series, and the Charles Jenkins espionage series. He is also the author of several standalone literary novels including The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell and The World Played Chess as well as The Seventh Canon and The Cyanide Canary, a Washington Post best book of the year. Several novels have been optioned for television or film. Robert has been nominated for and won numerous awards. He has sold more than 7 million books in more than 25 countries and languages. 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop. ------Tips for Writing a Series Writing is hard but spanning a story across two or more novels can be even more difficult. In this workshop, attendees will discover what a sequel is, learn tips on how to make writing a sequel easier, and glean tricks on how to amp up the character’s dynamics and stakes over multiple installments. Each attendee will receive a hand-out over what is covered, and there will be time for Q&A. Presenter: Kellie Doherty Kellie Doherty (she/her) is an author of adult science fiction and fantasy. She pens novels, short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. She’s currently working on a five-book fantasy series, The Broken Chronicles. The first book, Sunkissed Feathers & Severed Ties, won a 2019 Rainbow Award, and the second book, Curling Vines & Crimson Trades is a finalist in the 2021 Imadjinn Awards. After obtaining her master’s degree in book publishing from Portland State University, she decided to move back home to the land of the midnight sun – Alaska. During the day, she’s an office assistant and freelance editor, and by night she’s crafting adventures full of magic and daggers…and maybe a few dragons, too. 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop. ------Masterminds, Minions and Monsters Every good story needs a bad guy. This workshop will introduce the three motivations (3 D’s) that form the Seven Deadly Villain Archetypes, the BOOM technique for creating compelling backstories, 20 ways to defeat a villain, and many more tools to craft villains your readers will love to hate. Presenter: Charles Kowalski Charles Kowalski’s debut thriller, Mind Virus, won the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Award, and was a finalist for the Adventure Writers Grandmaster Award, the Killer Nashville Claymore Award, and the PNWA literary award. His other works include the contemporary thriller The Devil’s Son, and the Japan-themed historical fantasy Simon Grey and the March of a Hundred Ghosts. He lives in Japan and has been a presenter and panelist at writers’ conferences on both sides of the Pacific. 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop. ------
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MASTER CLASSES 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. PDT 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. MDT 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT ------Editing: Why, How & Where to Find Your Editor You have finally reached the completion of your manuscript. Perhaps your friends and family have read through it, or you’ve found a beta reader or two to give you some feedback. But you have no idea what kind of editor you need, where to find them, or how to make sure they are right for you project. Julie Swearingen, owner of Quail Run Editorial, will give you a breakdown of types of editing, where to find qualified editors, and what questions to ask them before you hire them. Presenter: Julie Swearingen Julie Swearingen is the owner of Quail Run Editorial, LLC. She has a master’s degree from Portland State University’s book publishing program, where she focused on editing and marketing. Ms. Swearingen has been a professional editor since 2017 and has edited over twenty book manuscripts. Her portfolio is available at www.quailrun.co. 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop. ------Crafting Memorable Characters “Life is organic, sometimes writing is not.” Marilyn R. Atlas is the award-winning producer of, Real Women Have Curves, and author of Dating Your Character and believes that characters should be co- creators throughout the writing process. In this presentation, Marilyn R. Atlas will give a detailed look at what makes a character stick in the reader’s mind. Through the medium of television, she will give examples of characters and why some are more memorable than others. The main focus will be on crafting a character physically, psychologically, and sociologically, and how to make them relatable, fascinating, and mysterious. Attendees will learn how to create characters that remain in the reader’s mind long after they put the writing down. How to create a strong foundations within characters that will make writing the rest of the story much simpler and smoother and how to dissect their own characters as well as others to understand why they work or why they don’t. Presenter: Marilyn R. Atlas Marilyn R. Atlas is a talent and literary manager, author, and award-winning producer. Among her credits as a film producer are Real Women Have Curves for HBO, which won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival; A Certain Desire, staring Sam Waterston, and Echoes, which won the Gold Award at the Texas International Film Festival. In addition to producing a variety of programming for the cable/pay TV market, Marilyn has produced live theater. She co-produced the West Coast premier of the musical God Bless You Mr. Rosewater by Ashman and Menken (the writers of Enchanted and Tangled). In addition to Marilyn’s film/TV credits she has sold novels, Chasing the Jaguar to Harper
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Colins, Hungry Woman in Paris to Grand Central Publishing, Ave Maria Bed & Breakfast to Hachette Publishing, and the Last Ride to Caleb O’Toole to Source Books. Marilyn is currently developing a TV pilot based on the Gary Phillips series, High Hand and Shooter’s Point, featuring strong-willed African- American protagonist Martha Chainey. She is additionally developing a Chinese historical epic with the Metan Development Group, and Codebusters, a children’s show for TV. She is co-author of a relationship-based, screenwriting guide called Dating Your Character and is doing a project with The Wolper Organization at Warner Brothers. 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop. ------Conquering the Boring in Your Storytelling Description: TBA Presenter: Val Mathews Val M. Mathews is an editor with The Wild Rose Press as well as a freelance developmental editor. She is fiercely committed to helping writers conquer the boring in their stories and getting published. There’s a quote by Teddy Roosevelt that she loves to share: “Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground.” Val says, “to stay on the writer’s path, authors need both stars and steady feet. For a lot of writers, it takes a village.” As an editor, Val describes herself as one of a writer’s villagers. 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop ------How to Build a Website in Under A Day Your website is the centerpiece of your business, unifying promotion, outreach, newsletters, social media, and ads. It’s the definitive source on your brand, your persona, and what your author career means. A poor website confuses and dissuades potential readers, reviewers, and publishers, while a great website engages and excites, transforming strangers into contacts, allies, and fans. Together, we’ll explore the essential features of an author website, including how to express your brand with color, style, and quotable copywriting. We’ll also cover how to use your website to grow your fanbase and your network. Finally, we’ll detail your best options for getting a great website up and running fast. You’ll learn how to launch a great website in under a day. What to include, what to exclude, and how to organize it, as well as the strategies for using your website to sell books, grow fandom, and build buzz. Presenter: Mike Stop Continues. Mike Stop Continues is rebuilding the web with authors in mind. Having led both design and data teams in major tech organizations including the Huffington Post and NYU, he’s learned how to make websites that are both beautiful and powerful. Mike has spoken about technology, literature, and writing craft at Yale, Hunter College, and made numerous podcast appearances. He and his husband Alvaro are currently developing, SiteArcade, a new platform for professional author websites that keep themselves up-to-date automatically, promoting the right book at the right time. 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop.
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------Special Event (Included in Registration) Bestselling Authors and Industry Experts Panel 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. PDT 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. MDT 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. EDT
Friday Event with Best Selling authors, Publishers, and Industry Experts Presenters: Kevin O’Brian, Rhonda Penders, Marilyn Atlas, Robert Dugoni, TBA ------MASTER CLASSES 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. PDT 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. MDT 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. EDT
Indie (Self-Publishing) for Best Results Indie, or self-publishing, has gifted writers the opportunity to distribute their work without having to go through the traditional publishing houses. The benefit of indie publishing includes having total control over your book’s layout, cover art, and pricing. You can make changes whenever you wish and upload a new copy or new cover. No contract (except with Amazon or B&N), no one taking a large portion of your royalties, and no one asking you to change your characters, writing style, or theme. This class will cover all the key aspects of publishing your fiction, nonfiction, or poetry collection. We’ll start with answering why you might choose this path then move on to what is required of you as the publisher of your own book. This will include discussions on editing and proofreading, cover art, layout, and design, creating blurbs, organizing a launch, publishing options, and marketing. There’ll be plenty of time for questions and discussion along the way. Presenter: Terry Persun Terry Persun writes intelligent, tech-forward fantasy and science fiction with clearly drawn characters and thought-provoking themes. His novels have been winners and finalists in over a dozen awards, including a Book Excellence Award winner, a Silver IPPY winner, a New Apple Book Award winner, a Cygnus finalist, and multiple Foreword Book of the Year Award finalists. He is a former airborne navigation equipment specialist and electronics engineer presently freelancing for science and technology magazines. As a cross-genre author, Terry writes everything from mainstream fiction to mystery/suspense to fantasy. ------Failure to Launch Have you ever spent a year or two or ten writing a book, and then let it sit on your hard drive or in your drawer without ever sending it out? Have you ever gotten halfway through a book and then got bored or frustrated and started another? Do you routinely choose not to pitch at a conference, even though you’ve
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Please Note: Class times, titles, and descriptionS may still change. finished four novels? If so, you’re not alone. Many writers love to write but struggle to finish or submit their work. In this workshop, William Kenower, author of Everyone Has What It Takes: A Writer’s Guide to the End of Self-Doubt, offers advice and exercises to help writers of all genres and experience levels get out of their own way and share their work. Presenter: William Kenower William Kenower is the author of Fearless Writing: How to Create Boldly and Write With Confidence, Write Within Yourself: An Author’s Companion and Everyone Has What It Takes: A Writer’s Guide to the End of Self-Doubt. He is the Editor-in-Chief of PNWA’s Author magazine, and a sought-after speaker and teacher. In addition to his books he’s been published in The New York Times and Edible Seattle, Writer's Digest, Parent Map, Tiferet Journal, and has been a featured blogger for the Huffington Post. His video interviews with hundreds of writers from, Nora Ephron, to Amy Tan, to William Gibson are widely considered the best of their kind on the Internet. He also hosts the online radio program PNWA Author2Author where every week he and a different guest discuss the books we write and the lives we lead. ------Adapting a Book to a Netflix Series Have you ever thought your book would make an excellent series on a streaming platform? Have you watched Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO, and Disney Plus this last year and wondered how to turn your book into a script? In this master class, awarded and sold screenwriter, Kim Hornsby, will teach you how to turn a 300 page novel into a fifty five page Pilot. Learn the art of crafting that first episode to wow your audience, then how to fit your series into seasons. You’ll learn how to write the Series Bible, a tool to sell the premise that includes an outline of future seasons for your show. Don’t wait for your agent to contact you with the news that Netflix has called. Take action and adapt your own book to pilot to market to producers. Presenter: Kim Hornsby Kim Hornsby is an Amazon #1 Bestselling Author, having shared space on the top five bestseller list with J.D. Robb and Nicolas Sparks. Also, a USA TODAY Bestselling Author, Kim's Dream Jumper Series was optioned for film. The Dream Jumper’s Promise, won the Chanticleer Paranormal Mystery Thriller Award, was nominated as Best Indie First Book and was a finalist in the Rone Awards. Her screenplay for that book is a multi-award winner. Her Romantic Suspense, Necessary Detour, has reached top 5 in all Kindle Store. In her former life, Kim taught scuba in Fiji and Hawaii, as a singer opened shows for Jay Leno and Maya Angelou, once found a boa constrictor under her bed, has taken supplies to remote Nicaraguan villages, sang on 60 Minutes, scuba dived with dolphins, whales and sharks and was the host of an international infomercial. These days she writes books outside Seattle, overlooking a tree-lined lake. 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop. ------Self-Editing for Fiction Writers
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Description: Coming Soon Presenter: Elizabeth K. Kracht Elizabeth Kracht is a literary agent with Kimberley Cameron & Associates and the author of The Author’s Checklist: An Agent’s Guide to Developing and Editing Your Manuscript. She also works as a freelance developmental editor coaching writers. Elizabeth represents both literary and commercial fiction as well as nonfiction and brings to the agency her experience as a former acquisitions editor, freelance publicist, and writer. 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter after panel or workshop. ------
Movie Night (Ticket Required) 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. PDT 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. MDT 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. EDT Behind the Screen: Thriller Structure in Day of the Jackal
Behind the Screen Join us for a screening of the classic 1973 thriller adapted from Frederick Forsyth’s novel, with analysis and commentary. This will be 2½ hours of infotainment as we unpack thriller plotting, narrative pacing, adaptation issues, and the dramatic potential of POV...working our way through the movie in real time to see how the story elements generate suspense, tension, and unexpected emotion. Participants will receive popcorn, a copy of the novel to pre-read, and an invitation to a group screening during PNWA. Presenter: Damon Suede Damon Suede grew up out-n-proud deep in right-wing America and escaped as soon as it was legal. He has lived all over and along the way, he's earned his crust as a model, a messenger, a promoter, a programmer, a sculptor, a singer, a stripper, a bookkeeper, a bartender, a techie, a teacher, and a director... but writing has ever been his bread and butter. He has been happily partnered for over a decade with the most loving, handsome, shrewd, hilarious, noble man to walk this planet. Beyond romance fiction, Damon has been a full-time writer for print, stage, and screen for almost three decades, which is both more and less glamorous than you might imagine. He's won some awards but counts his blessings more often: his amazing friends, his demented family, his beautiful husband, his loyal fans, and his silly, stern, seductive Muse who keeps whispering in his ear, year after year.
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SATURDAY SCHEDULE September 18, 2021
WORKSHOPS/PANELS 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. PDT 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. MDT 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EDT …and… 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. PDT 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. MDT 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. EDT …and… 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. PDT 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. MDT 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. EDT
MASTER CLASSES 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. PDT 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. MDT 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT
What follows is a listing of all events planned for Friday, September 17. Individual times are listed in Pacific Daylight-Saving Time (PDT). For the convenience of our members joining us from elsewhere, headers marking Mountain Daylight Saving Time (MDT), Eastern Daylight-Saving Time (EDT) and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) are included. ------WORKSHOPS/PANELS 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. PDT 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. MDT 11:00 a.m. to Noon EDT
Navigating Kindle Direct Publishing Do you wonder what Kindle Unlimited is? How about Select, Kindle Lending Library or KOLL? Have you heard of Vella? ACX? If you’ve considered self-publishing on KDP and are confused about the many offerings at Amazon for publishers, let’s talk. In this workshop, USA Today Bestselling author of sixteen novels on Amazon Kindle, Kim Hornsby, will de-mystify the offerings of KDP to help authors/publishers gain traction for book sales. How effective are those five Free Days in Kindle Unlimited? Are there any tricks to getting more reviews for your book? Bring your questions to class as Kim outlines Amazon publishing and touches on Draft 3 Digital platforms as she gives up her tips and tricks to self-publishing.
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Presenter: Kim Hornsby Kim Hornsby is an Amazon #1 Bestselling Author, having shared space on the top five bestseller list with J.D. Robb and Nicolas Sparks. Also, a USA TODAY Bestselling Author, Kim's Dream Jumper Series was optioned for film. The Dream Jumper’s Promise, won the Chanticleer Paranormal Mystery Thriller Award, was nominated as Best Indie First Book and was a finalist in the Rone Awards. Her screenplay for that book is a multi-award winner. Her Romantic Suspense, Necessary Detour, has reached top 5 in all Kindle Store. In her former life, Kim taught scuba in Fiji and Hawaii, as a singer opened shows for Jay Leno and Maya Angelou, once found a boa constrictor under her bed, has taken supplies to remote Nicaraguan villages, sang on 60 Minutes, scuba dived with dolphins, whales and sharks and was the host of an international infomercial. These days she writes books outside Seattle, overlooking a tree-lined lake. ------Writing for the Game World Description: Coming Soon Presenters: William Kenower, Keith Leiker, TBA, with Scott Douwes as Moderator Bios Coming Soon William Kenower is the author of Fearless Writing: How to Create Boldly and Write With Confidence, Write Within Yourself: An Author’s Companion and Everyone Has What It Takes: A Writer’s Guide to the End of Self-Doubt. He is the Editor-in-Chief of PNWA’s Author magazine, and a sought-after speaker and teacher. In addition to his books he’s been published in The New York Times and Edible Seattle, Writer's Digest, Parent Map, Tiferet Journal, and has been a featured blogger for the Huffington Post. His video interviews with hundreds of writers from, Nora Ephron, to Amy Tan, to William Gibson are widely considered the best of their kind on the Internet. He also hosts the online radio program PNWA Author2Author where every week he and a different guest discuss the books we write and the lives we lead. ------Middle Grade Versus Young Adult: Is There A Difference? In this workshop, authors Avis M. Adams and Catherine Brown, will discuss the standard length, appropriate tones, characteristic differences, themes, and language of the growing middle grade and young adult markets. Also discussed, it how to develop a protagonist who will appeal to your target audience, industry standards, as well as agents and editors. Presenters: Avis M. Adams and Catherine Brugger-Brown. Avis M. Adams, writes young adult and middle grade fiction, picture books, and poetry that incorporate the Pacific Northwest. She has published many poems in local and online journals and has won several poetry awards. She has been a finalist in the PNWA Literary Contest in the picture book and young adult categories. She is an English Instructor at Green River College in Washington State, and a conference presenter.
Catherine Brugger-Brown writes flash fiction, short stories, young adult fantasy and women’s fiction
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that features magical adventure, whimsical humor, and unconventional possibilities. She is working on the first novel in a fantasy series for young adults. She is a member of the PNWA and The Flamingos Writing Group, which produces the writing craft podcast, Flamingos Write Now on YouTube. She works professionally as a pharmacist and has a background in technical writing. She has been published in the professional pharmacy textbook, The Clinical Practice of Drug Information, and has several published articles in the medical literature area. ------How to Write a Book Proposal Description: Coming Soon Presenter: Elizabeth K. Kracht Elizabeth Kracht is a literary agent with Kimberley Cameron & Associates and the author of The Author’s Checklist: An Agent’s Guide to Developing and Editing Your Manuscript. She also works as a freelance developmental editor coaching writers. Elizabeth represents both literary and commercial fiction as well as nonfiction and brings to the agency her experience as a former acquisitions editor, freelance publicist, and writer. ------
9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. PDT 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. MDT 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. EDT
What Makes a Good Scary Story? This fun and interactive workshop will provide tools so writers of horror and other scary tales can ramp up their stories. There will be discussions of what scares people psychologically and how those fears can be used in their writing. Other topics include studying haunted settings and object and why they are perfect, or not, for such stories. We will also discuss the structure of frightening tales and using words and phrases that can add to the emotion, as well as discussing spooky creatures from zombies to Hannibal Lector, and what makes them so fascinating and frightening. Empathized will be the use of originality to break the usual scare mold and avoid the pitfalls of bad scares. Participants will learn how to come up with creative creatures and villains, how to look outside of traditional settings to create something new and learn a better understanding of what makes good scares so effective. Presenter: Patricia Marcantonio Santos Patricia Marcantonio is the author of the Felicity Carrol mystery series published by Crooked Lane Books. Arte Publico Press, the largest US publisher of contemporary literature by US Hispanic authors, published her courtroom drama Verdict in the Desert. Her children’s book, Red Ridin’ in the Hood and Other Cuentos (Farrar Straus & Giroux) earned an Anne Izard Storyteller’s Choice Award and was named an Americas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature Recommended Title and one of the Wilde Awards Best Collections to Share. Stories from the book are also included in the National Geographic School Publishing textbook, “Inside Language, Literary and Content, and were turned into a children’s play by the University of Arizona’s Educational Theatre Company. Her screenplays took first
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place in the Willamette writers Kay6 Snow, Reel Women of the West, and Idaho Writers Guild contests. She received an Alexa Rose Foundation Grant to direct her original play. She is also a Newspaper Association of American New Media Fellow and has won several awards for her journalism, screenplays and short stories. 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop ------Plot a Story This Weekend Day Two – GMC - Goal, Motivation, and Conflict (Who, What, Why, and Why Not?) Continuing what we constructed on day one of this course, we will focus on the primary character’s Goal, Motivation, and Conflict. We will take a look at each character and, if needed, use the Story Engine Deck to help flesh out their Goals, Motivations, and Conflicts. Presenters: Scott Douwes & Sonja Griffing Bios Coming Soon ------Writing Diversity in Genre Fiction For the past two years, Eliana West, founder of Writers for Diversity, has been delivering her popular Writing Diversity in Genre Fiction seminar for standing room audiences and universal acclaim. Presented in a safe environment where thoughtful, respectful dialog guides the conversation, the Writing Diversity in Genre Fiction workshop provides attendees with the tools and confidence to incorporate diverse characters and settings into their stories. Joining Eliana is diversity advocate and Writers for Diversity Board Member, Carmen Cook. No question is off-limits in a Writers for Diversity workshop. And, because the workshop is not filmed and distributed, no one has to worry about something discussed in a safe space suddenly being distributed to the public and taken out of context. Combing humor, charisma, and real-world anecdotes, West and Cook draw from their own experiences to illustrate the key messages of the workshop—diversity isn’t just black and white. It encompasses race, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical ability and so much more. For romance writers to remain relevant it’s more critical than ever to be keenly aware of both the challenges and opportunities when writing diversity. From research, writing, marketing, and advocating for your diverse character to engaging agents, editors, and publishers, an author needs diversity tools to complement their writing. Writing Diversity in Genre Fiction is based on three main anchors: Racial identity, Building Your Story with Diversity and, Avoiding Stereotypes. But, those anchors are just a starting point. The workshop often goes into exciting and unanticipated directions as engaged audiences begin raising their hands to ask questions (often question they’ve long wondered about, but never had the opportunity to ask), share their own stories and begin imagining new directions their own writing can go in with the information at hand. Presenter: Eliana West Eliana West is the founder of Writers for Diversity (https://www.facebook.com/groups/writersfordiversity). Since its creation in 2017, Writers for Diversity
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has provided a safe space for thoughtful and respectful dialogue, growing to over 1,000 members from around the world and encompassing all genres. Her life experience and DEI training fuels her commitment to an empathetic approach in her engagement with writers. Eliana West writes contemporary interracial romance, her Heart of Colton series is published through Tule Publishing. Eliana West holds a certificate in Leading Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences at Northwestern University. www.elianawest.com 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop. ------MASTER CLASSES 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. PDT 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. MDT 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT
Unreal Estate: Building Worlds Worldbuilding isn’t just for paranormal, fantasy, and science fiction, even contemporary fiction and memoir deserve worlds worth visiting. With a solid foundation, every story local can do heavy lifting and provide fertile ground for your muse. Unforgettable settings can anchor character arcs, drive drama, and fascinate audiences long past the story’s end. In this 90-minute masterclass, you’ll learn to doge the hodgepodge and map an unforgettable environment full of narrative possibility. Whatever your tropes or subgenre, come develop a way with worlds. Presenter: Damon Suede Damon Suede grew up out-n-proud deep in right-wing America and escaped as soon as it was legal. He has lived all over and along the way, he's earned his crust as a model, a messenger, a promoter, a programmer, a sculptor, a singer, a stripper, a bookkeeper, a bartender, a techie, a teacher, and a director... but writing has ever been his bread and butter. He has been happily partnered for over a decade with the most loving, handsome, shrewd, hilarious, noble man to walk this planet. Beyond romance fiction, Damon has been a full-time writer for print, stage, and screen for almost three decades, which is both more and less glamorous than you might imagine. He's won some awards but counts his blessings more often: his amazing friends, his demented family, his beautiful husband, his loyal fans, and his silly, stern, seductive Muse who keeps whispering in his ear, year after year. 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop. ------Twisted: How to Create Plot Twists to Keep Readers Reading Plot twists are not about the readers. They are about the characters, their arcs, their motives and the story’s theme. This workshop is for anyone who is writing fiction or memoire. Attendees are asked to bring 20-30 pages of their work in progress (WIP). The workshop will encompass eight segments of instruction, two exercise, and class participation with attendees asked to volunteer to share their writing
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exercises. The workshop will include, what is a plot twist, what to know up front before creating a plot twist, and the plot twists that work and the ones that do not. Presenter: Valerie J. Brooks Valerie J. Brooks writes psychological femmes-noir thrillers and is the multi-award-winning author of Revenge in 3 Partsand Tainted Times 2. The first novel won the “Reader’s Favorite Award Honorable Mention” in the thriller category, was a finalist for Nancy Pearl Book Award, and is a finalist for the 2020 CIBA CLUE Award. She received an Elizabeth George Foundation grant and the Monticello Award for Fiction. She served as fiction editor for the Northwest Review, was a member on the board of directors for Oregon Writers Colony and was co-founder for the Willamette Writers Speakers series. Her residencies and fellowships include Playa Art & Science Residency Program, Vermont Studio Center, Soapstone, Hedgebrook Writing Retreat for Women, and Villa Montalvo for the Arts. Valerie writes about strong, gutsy women who make mistakes and have lots of baggage. As the saying goes, and she’s expanded upon, “Well-behaved women seldom make history – or good novels.” 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop. ------How to Treat Your Writing Career Like a Small Business For many of us, writing isn’t just a personal hobby. Yes, we write for ourselves, but we also write for our readers, and we want to make a profit. For the IRS to consider your writing a business, you need to take several steps. This interactive session answers the following questions: Why should you treat your writing like a business? How do you prove to the IRS that your writing isn’t a hobby? What tax deductions are available to writing businesses, and how has recent legislation changed them? Can you qualify for government assistance or unemployment as a writer? What financial and tax records do you need to keep? Peggy will also take questions, so come prepared with your concerns. Presenter: Peggy Doviak When Peggy Doviak’s mother got taken to the cleaners by an unscrupulous stockbroker, Peggy got mad. She was so angry she changed careers from corporate training to financial planning because she wanted to ensure that what happened to her mother never happened to anyone else. Now, a best-selling personal finance author and syndicated radio host of “Ask Peggy About Your Finances,” Peggy Doviak is a Certified Financial Planner TM practitioner and financial consumer advocate. She is active in her profession, making annual trips to Capitol Hill with the Financial Planning Association to promote issues, including a mandatory fiduciary standard for financial professionals. She is also a member of the Women in Finance (WIN) Initiative of the CFP Board. Additionally, her background in education has allowed her to spend fifteen years teaching CFP® certification classes and master’s level courses in financial planning. Peggy’s book, 52 Weeks to Prosperity, is available through online sources or at your local bookstore. COVID-19 has delayed the release of her second book. Learn more about Peggy at www.askpeggy.com.
30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop.
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------Conquering Your Pre-Launch Checklist All systems go with this comprehensive book launch checklist! From ISBNs to blurbs and cover design to preorders, learn how to launch your next book like a pro. Veteran indie publisher Doug Walsh runs attendees through every stage of a successful book launch. Learn how to schedule tasks, how to calculate your ideal book release date, and how to build momentum leading up to launch day. All attendees receive a customizable book launch checklist guaranteed to keep you on track with your next launch. Presenter: Doug Walsh Doug Walsh is an award-winning indie author whose books have earned consistent praise from Kirkus Reviews, Writer’s Digest judges, and readers around the world. Through his stories, Walsh combines his passion for adventure travel with a fascination for discovering how romantic relationships respond to the improbable. As the owner of Snoke Valley Books, Walsh began his indie publishing career in 2014 with the travel memoir, One Lousy Pirate. He has since launched additional titles to the top of Amazon’s Bestseller rankings in time travel romance and business memoir. When not writing, Walsh enjoys mentoring other indie authors on the many facets of book design, marketing, and promotion. Originally from New Jersey, Walsh moved to the mountains of the Pacific Northwest in 2002. Following a lengthy career authoring video game strategy guides for Penguin imprint, BradyGames, Walsh embarked on the multi-year around-the-world bicycle tour that inspired his debut novel, the time travel romance, Tailwinds Past Florence. Walsh’s upcoming novel, Shadows of Kalalau, is a coming-of-age romantic thriller set in a majestic, untouched corner of Hawaii. 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop. ------In Pursuit of the Perfect Logline A novelist must distill her story into a one-sentence logline, or she will fail to sell her book and will end up alone in a padded room. Anyone pitching a book can relate to the angst of writing a logline, the single short sentence that captures the essence of your story. In one breath, you must command the attention of an agent, editor, or producer. You have five seconds (maybe ten) and you likely won’t get a second chance. But, no pressure. This interactive workshop will take you through the steps to create the perfect logline. Presenter: Julie Carrick Dalton Julie Carrick Dalton is a graduate of the GrubStreet Novel Incubator. As a journalist, she has published articles in dozens of publications, including The Boston Globe, BusinessWeek, Inc. Magazine, and The Hollywood Reporter. She holds a Master's in Creative Writing from Harvard Extension School, and her short stories have appeared in The MacGuffin, The Charles River Review, and the anthology Turning Points: Stories about Choice and Change. Her first novel manuscript won the 2017 William Faulkner Literary Competition and the 2017 Writer’s League of Texas contest. She is represented by Stacy Testa at Writers House. Mom to four kids and two dogs, Julie runs a 100-acre family farm and loves to ski,
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Please Note: Class times, titles, and descriptionS may still change. kayak, cook vegetarian food, and dig in the dirt. 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter after panel or workshop. ------WORKSHOPS 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. PDT 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. MDT 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. EDT
Make the Impossible Possible: How to Create a Fresh and Vivid World Science fiction and Fantasy let us wonder what might be by creating alternate realities teeming with mythical creatures or fantastic technology – usually while examining a controversial issue of the day. But no matter the subject or sub-genre, successful writers get their readers to suspend disbelief. In this workshop, we will discuss ways to come up with original ideas and world building -- how to make it feel fresh and how to make it feel real. Presenter: Kat Falls Award-winning novelist Kat Falls writes fast-paced science fiction for tweens and teens. In her Dark Life series (Scholastic Press), Kat takes middle school readers on action-packed adventures under the sea. The series was featured on The Today Show; translated into 18 languages; and optioned for film by Disney. Her YA series, Inhuman (Scholastic Press), a dystopian romance, received a starred review from Kirkus and made the Tome It List for “clean” teen reads. Kat teaches at Northwestern University and presents at schools and writing conferences across the country. Find out more at katfalls.net. 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop. ------Queer Lands Queer Lands will focus on facilitating open conversations about the representation of LGBTQ+ characters within fiction and how we, as writers, can improve our understanding and portrayal of this community. The presentation will focus on deconstructing fear, skill development of description and language, and how to empower writers and authors to be part of positive social change through their words.
Presenter: Lindsay Pierce Lindsay Pierce is an author and mental health therapist with a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology. Her background includes a wide range of educational and professional seminars, workshops, and speaking engagements on anti-oppression and the LGBTQ+ community. She is the Own Voices author of Trans Liberty Riot Brigade, published by NineStar Press in 2017, featuring intersex and LGBTQ+ characters in a dystopian future. She is also the author of the zombie apocalypse chicken saga Of Flesh and Feathers, self-published in 2020. She is also a current member of the Pacific Northwest Writers
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Association and co-host of the Olympia Writers Group. 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop ------Nevertheless, We Persist: Lessons from a Journey to Publication What is the difference between those who succeed in publishing and those who don’t? The road to seeing your book in print can be long. As two newly published fiction authors, we will share our experiences and the five key lessons we’ve learned along the way. Learn the importance of critique groups, conferences and writing classes. Learn how to find an agent, the difference between self- publishing versus traditional, as well as small, medium and large publishers. Most important, learn how to keep writing. Presenters: Linda Norlander and Roxanne Dunn Linda Norlander is the author of A Cabin by the Lake mysteries series including Death of an Editor and Death of a Starling. She has written several award-winning books on end-of-life care including To Comfort Always: A Nurses Guide to End of Life Care. In addition, she self-published a book of humor entitled, Trouble in Paradise: How We Moved to the Country and Back Again. She has experience as both a national keynote presenter and workshop presenter. Roxanne Dunn has studied writing in Paris and Seattle and writes a monthly column for Pacific Yachting magazine. Murder Unrehearsed is her debut novel, and she is currently working on the next two. As a manager and project manager in a large healthcare organization, she regularly prepared and delivered presentations to audiences ranging in size from twenty to over a hundred. 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop. ------How to Make the Most of Your Author Instagram Description: Coming Soon Presenter: Alison Kimble Alison Kimble began writing because she loves stories and believes in their power to shape our world and ourselves. Her writing blends the real and the fantastical and crosses genres of horror, fantasy, and sci-fi. She has written one novel, Strange Gods, and is working on her next.As a reader, she enjoys books featuring unique worlds and new magic systems, or worlds like ours with a few magical twists. She loves competent characters who are tested to their limits, who have to make tough choices and pull off impossible feats with unexpected solutions. She likes novices who become experts and turn from victims of their circumstances into proverbial bosses. Her book, Strange Gods was released, July, 2021. ------AWARDS CELEBRATION 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. PDT 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. MDT 9:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. EDT
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------Extra Add-On Feature Event We are working away on networking opportunities. Stay tuned. 8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. PDT 9:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. MDT 11:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m. EDT
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SUNDAY SCHEDULE September 19th, 2021
Pitch to Agents and Publishers (Registered attendees will receive their personal schedule for this event) 7:00 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. PDT 8:00 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. MDT 10:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. EDT
WORKSHOPS/PANELS 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. PDT 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. MDT 11:00 a.m. to Noon. EDT …and… 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. PDT 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. MDT 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. EDT
KEYNOTE WITH DAMON SUEDE 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. PDT 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. MDT 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT
What follows is a listing of all events planned for Friday, September 17. Individual times are listed in Pacific Daylight-Saving Time (PDT). For the convenience of our members joining us from elsewhere, headers marking Mountain Daylight Saving Time (MDT), Eastern Daylight-Saving Time (EDT) and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) are included. ------WORKSHOPS/PANELS 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. PDT 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. MDT 11:00 a.m. to Noon. EDT
Pride, Prejudice, and Mr. Darcy Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy is one of the most adored romantic heroes ever. He is handsome, clever, and rich, but he is also arrogant and meddling. What is it about Mr. Darcy, that appeals to so many despite his flaws? Join Gerri Russell as she guides you through snippets of three on-screen adaptations of Pride and Prejudice. We’ll discuss character, dialogue, costume, pacing, setting, sexual tension, and ultimately decide which Mr. Darcy is the best in what is sure to be a lively discussion.
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Please Note: Class times, titles, and descriptionS may still change.
Presenter: Gerri Russell. Gerri Russell has done it all when it comes to writing; she’s worked as a broadcast journalist, newspaper reporter, magazine columnist, technical writer and editor, instructional designer, which all finally led her to follow her heart’s desire of being a romance novelist. Gerri is an award-winning and bestselling author of twenty novels and two novellas. You can find her most days splitting her time between writing adventurous and emotionally intense novels set in the twelfth to seventeenth century Scotland and fun and flirty contemporary novels set in the Pacific Northwest. 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop. ------Let’s Talk Dialogue Basics Dialogue is an art that relays information and emotion. Unfortunately, there are pitfalls to using it to get a great plot, fresh theme, and interesting characters across to readers. This interactive presentation will identify and help correct some of those pitfalls while upgrading your dialogue skills. Some issues under discussion will be tags and action beats, subtext, pacing, exposition, and he said, she said. Bring questions. Presenter: DeeAnna Galbrieth DeeAnna Galbrieth is a freelance editor and travel agent for happy endings (romantic suspense, women’s fiction, children’s picture books and mysteries). She writes and teaches for the love of it, has never met a dog she did not want to pet, or a pie she did not want to taste. She tries to live life without props. 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop. ------Making Your Writing Career Jade and Wilnona will take attendees through the process of a writing career. Starting with a simplified outline for a book, an explanation of hybrid, traditional, vanity, and indie publishing, they will give a summarization of what a literary agent does, going into a brief understanding of marketing, scratching the surface of Pr, and an understanding of goals author need to set. Example of goals: New York Time Bestseller, USA Today Bestseller, or Amazon Bestseller.
Presenters: Jade and Wilnona
Jade and Wilnona are awarded poets. Jade is the 2019 poet of the year for Iala. They founded the IWLMJ Awards & Thoughtful Book Awards. They own the 25 Hottest Author Magazine. 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop. ------10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. PDT 11:00 a.m. to Noon. MDT 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. EDT
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Please Note: Class times, titles, and descriptionS may still change.
Once Upon a Time: The Deepest Roots of Stories Fairy Tales are primal storytelling, rooted deep in the human imagination, their rich legacy is a part of the foundation of all literature. The magic words, “Once Upon A Time” are just the beginning. Alma Alexander will take a closer look at the fairy tale and the component parts that give them power. Attendees will learn the importance of the fairy tale as a basic building block of all storytelling, how to recognize a fairy tale, it’s language, its structure and its message and how to create or re-create a fairy tale of your own. Presenter: Alma Alexander Alma Alexander’s life so far has prepared her for her chosen career. She was born in a country which no longer exists on the maps, has lived and worked in seven countries on four continents, has climbed mountains, dived in coral reefs, flown small planes, swum with dolphins, and touched two-thousand- year-old tiles in a gate out of Babylon. She is a novelist, anthologist and short story writer who currently shares her life between the Pacific Northwest and the fantasy worlds of her own imagination. Alma has over twenty published books. Her current book, Fractured Fairy Tales, was published in April, 2021. 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop ------The Bullet Proof Query: Creating a Query Letter Agents Will Love By using her own experience as a newly-published novelists, Mindy Uhrlaub, will share the story of the nearly 200 queries she sent out before her book, Unnatural Resources, was published. Mindy will describe the ten important elements of a successful query, and why some agents pass, and some say “yes”. During this presentation, Mindy will discuss everything from editors to writing communities. Authors will have an opportunity to share their own queries and receive feedback in real-time. In this presentation, writers will learn where to find an agent, how to write a successful query letter, and how to create a query-tracker to keep submissions organized. Presenter: Mindy Uhrlaub Mindy Uhrlaub has traveled with Human Rights Watch and Eve Ensler’s V-Day to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and has taken testimony of rape survivors and child soldiers. Her interest in preventing the pillage of resources in Congo has also led her to visit Virunga National Park and to sit on the committee for Human Rights Watch’s Voices for Justice Dinner. Mindy wrote and produced Stalled, a feature-length film, distributed by Concorde New Horizons. She was also a music reviewer and copy editor for Denver’s PULP magazine, plays keyboards in 40th Day, a band that has toured with Kansas, performing with groups like The Smashing Pumpkins. She is a contributing author in the anthologies Mamas Write and She’s Got This, named 2019 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Finalist, Kindle Book Awards Reader’s Choice, and Best Book Awards Finalist. Mindy has given talks to: Human Rights Watch, The Weinberg Newton Gallery, The Larkspur Library, The San Anselmo Public Library, Barbara’s Bookstore, San Francisco’s Litquake and has been featured on The Bonkers Brit podcast. Her novel, Unnatural Resources, was published in November, 2020 by The Permanent Press. 30-minute informal chat and/or reading with presenter(s) after panel or workshop
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Please Note: Class times, titles, and descriptionS may still change.
------Plot a Story This Weekend Day Three - The Lay of the Land: Mapping the Important Story Beats (Plot Milestones) Building on what we’ve created on day one (plot) and day two (character’s GMCs), we will start to map out the essential scenes a story needs. We will begin with the normal world your characters live in, find the midpoint, and figure out the end of your story. If there’s time, we’ll get more granular and address additional necessary scenes using various teachings to guide us. From Save the Cat to Story Engine Deck to Invisible Ink and so many in between, we will help you discover how to find the right tools to keep in your writing toolbox. Presenters: Scott Douwes & Sonja Griffing Bios Coming Soon ------CLOSING KEYNOTE ADDRESS WITH DAMON SUEDE Noon to 1:00 p.m. PDT 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. MDT 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT
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