- To Colorado Gold conference co-chairs Mira Landry and Kate Jonuska, I say well done. Very well done. The 2021 edition of Colorado Gold had great energy and many new features. The kickoff / welcome gathering was terrific. What a great idea. The lunchtime agent panel was frank and funny. What a blast. The keynotes were great, the workshops in abundance and of all variety. The banquets were smooth, unpretentious, and dignified.
- To all the workshop presenters who carried on with dedication and commitment whether there were 10 people in the room or a 100, you are awesome. Thanks for sharing. For teaching. For inspiring.
- To all 75 first-time attendees at last month’s Colorado Gold conference in Denver, I say hell yeah. That’s right, 75 of the 250 conference attendees were newcomers. They will bring fresh ideas to the organization, to the conference, to the blog, to the monthly workshops. The industry is changing on a nearly weekly basis. Why shouldn’t one of the best writing groups in the country also morph, shape, grow, and change?
- To Andre Gonzalez, heading up the merger of PAL and iPAL under the new Professional Author Alliance, I say go. Published authors can help each other. There are specific needs that writers have once they have been published. It will be awesome to see what PAA accomplishes.
- To all the winners of the Colorado Gold Rush Literary Awards contest, I say good on you. That’s a fantastic point on your resume. Exploit it for all its worth. By the way, if you didn’t “win,” it doesn’t matter. You got involved. You might have been a finalist. Or not. Doesn’t matter. It means you’re engaged. You’re working at it. You’re on the road. Take whatever feedback you got that makes sense to you, whether you were a finalist or even if you won. Freaking ignore the rest. That’s all that matters.
- And, finally, to you all you dedicated #NaNoWriMo types I say go. Go get ‘em. Crank out those words. Have a fantastic month. (I don’t get it and I never will. But it doesn’t matter what the hell I think.)
Category: Blog
I loved this post, and loved your voice in it also. Well said all around, and ditto, especially, re Mira and Kate.
It was such an honor to be a fourth-time attendee and first-time presenter at the Colorado Gold. I have so much respect for this wonderful volunteer organization, and RMFW (along with PP) has been integral to my growth as an author. I know this is true for so many others. We writers do a great deal of quiet, private, sometimes lonely work, and meeting up once a year in solidarity is such a crucial (and fun!) event to look forward to!
Crucial is right! Thanks, Kendra.
Thanks, Mark! We had a blast.
My father used to say, “to HAVE a good time, GIVE a good time.” And you guys did.
I’m glad it was so successful! I couldn’t attend in person, but was thrilled to be part of the process for the Colorado Gold Contest. Thank you for summing it up!
Thanks, Kris!
I agree with all of this, but especially with the congratulations and thanks to Mira and Kate.
It was a great conference and I love your take-aways!
BTW Do you have more pictures somewhere? Thanks!
Yes ! Scroll down just a bit for many, many photos on the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RMFictionWriters