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 -----------LUNCH BREAK------------- 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 Updated July 15th, 2021 1 Please Note: Class times, titles, aNd desCriPtioNs may still ChaNge. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Updated July 15th, 2021 2 Please Note: Class times, titles, aNd desCriPtioNs may still ChaNge. 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 Updated July 15th, 2021 3 Please Note: Class times, titles, aNd desCriPtioNs may still ChaNge. 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 Updated July 15th, 2021 4 Please Note: Class times, titles, aNd desCriPtioNs may still ChaNge. 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.