Conference 2023 Presenters

Angie Hodapp* is the Director of Literary Development at Nelson Literary Agency. She holds a BA in English and secondary education from the University of Northern Colorado and an MA in English and communication development from Colorado State University. A graduate of the Publishing Institute at the University of Denver, she has worked in professional writing, editing, and education for more than twenty years. A frequent presenter at writing conferences and events, and the author of Query Craft and Do You Need a Literary Agent, she loves helping writers improve their craft and learn about the ever-changing world of publishing.

Workshops: The Wordsmith’s Guide to Voice and Style; Idea to Concept to Premise to Plot

Shannon Baker is proud to have been named Writer of the Year by Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers…twice. She writes mysteries set in the iconic landscapes of the American West, from the Colorado Rockies to the Nebraska prairies, to the deserts of southern Arizona, where she’s roamed in rafts and kayaks, backpacked, hiked, cycled, and skied. Despite nearly daily declarations she’s giving up writing forever, Baker managed to have published over fourteen novels in three mystery series, two stand-alone suspenses, and a few contemporary romances. She might have moved to the desert on the edge of Tucson, but RMFW will always be her writing family.
www.shannon-baker.com

Workshops: Building the Ark; It Ain’t No Crime

Erica Bauman* represents a wide variety of authors across middle grade, young adult, and upmarket adult fiction. She is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and has worked in the publishing industry since 2012. Prior to Aevitas, she worked at Spectrum Literary Agency. Based in New York, Erica is most interested in commercial novels that feature an exciting premise and lyrical, atmospheric writing; imaginative, genre-blending tales; speculative worlds filled with haunting, quietly wondrous magic; fresh retellings of mythology, ballet, opera, and classic literature; sharply funny rom-coms; graphic novels for all ages; fearless storytellers that tackle big ideas and contemporary issues; and working with and supporting marginalized authors and stories that represent the wide range of humanity.

Workshop: Query Letter Workshop

Carol Berg writes epic, mythic, and adventure fantasy novels and short fiction under her own name and her pseudonym, Cate Glass. Her eighteen novels have won national and international awards, including four Colorado Book Awards and the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature. Carol is a regular presenter at writers’ conferences and fantasy/sf conventions and is a two-time Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Writer of the Year. All of this is amazing to a former software engineer who majored in math at Rice University and computer science at the University of Colorado to avoid writing papers. Carol/Cate’s most recent work is A Summoning of Demons. She lives in Colorado in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
www.carolberg.com

Workshops: Tactical Writing; Myths, Ghosts, and Gods: The Divine in Speculative Fiction

Becoming an “overnight writing sensation” after twenty-five-plus years, Chuck Brownman’s short crime fiction has been published in several anthologies, including the “Eyes of Texas” (Down & Out Press) and Volumes 4 and 5 of the annual “Death Edge Tales” anthology. He’s a past winner of the Arizona Mystery Writers Short Story Contest, and was a finalist in the Criminal Element.com short fiction contest. In addition to Shotgun Honey, his latest stories appear in the “Mysteries to Die for” podcast/anthology (tgwolffcom.wordpress.com) and on the Kings River Life website (www.kingsriverlife.com).

Workshop: Copyrights, Trademarks and Protections… Oh My!

John M. Campbell joined RMFW in 2016 and has been a member of the Aurora critique group ever since. The group offered valuable critiques which improved his writing and in 2021, his short story, “The Tiger and the Waif,” won first place in the Writers of the Future contest for the fourth quarter of 2020. As a contest winner, he received a $1000 prize and earned a spot in the week-long writer’s workshop in Hollywood with airfare and hotel paid for. He joined other winners he met at that event to form a publishing company called Calendar of Fools. They created a Kickstarter project to fund their first book, an anthology of short stories called “Inner Workings.” In 2022, his story, “Racing the Marineris,” was published in the RMFW anthology, Bizarre Bazaar.
www.JohnMCampbell.com

Workshop: Start Your Publishing Career with Short Fiction (Saturday, 10 to 10:50 AM)

Trai Cartwright, MFA, is a 30-year entertainment industry veteran and creative writing specialist, and has stepped into the world of psychic mediumship. She teaches, produces, and writes screenplays, and can be found at www.craftwrite.com. While in Los Angeles, she was a screenwriter, independent film producer, and story consultant and development executive for HBO, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, New Lines Cinema, and 20th Century Fox. Trai currently teaches screenwriting and creative entrepreneurship for University of Denver’s low-residency master’s programs, writers groups, conferences and cons, and one-on-one as a development and story editor. She is the producer of several short-form projects and four independent films. She also served as the President of Women in Film and Media Colorado, and currently runs the Denver Screenwriters Meetup (450 members). She also shows people their past lives, clears their stubborn energies and heals their houses, all of which opens the channels to enhanced creativity.
www.craftwrite.com

Workshops: Creating Your New Media Self; Healthy Relationships with Writing

Kate M Christensen is a bilingual speech language pathologist, climate activist and writer. She lives in Colorado with her husband, their two kids, their high-maintenance dog, six chickens, and a wild garden. She received her master’s degree from the University of Colorado in 2005. In 2019, she graduated from the Lighthouse Writers Workshop Book Project. Her joy comes when she can bridge her varying interests, like helping other speech therapists make the connection between environmental justice and child language development, or gardening with her kids while making up silly poems about worm poop. She’s emerging from the darkness of climate despair and writing towards a future where all beings thrive. The first step in building a habitable future is imagining it.

Workshop: Imagining a World that Survives (and Thrives) Past the Climate Crisis

Tasha Christensen believes the best love stories are found in the geekiest places. Her Itaska High series chronicles the romantic shenanigans of a high school marching band in Minnesota. When not composing tuba closet make-out scenes, she enjoys performing music, getting way too competitive about board games, and exploring the gorgeous Rocky Mountains. Tasha lives with her husband, daughters, and an overly affectionate dog named after her favorite Stranger Things character.
www.tashachristensen.com

Workshops: Writing for Today’s Teens with Rachel Delaney Craft (Saturday, 10 to 11:50 AM); Using Fanfiction to Improve Your Writing (Saturday, 1:30 to 2:20 PM); Birds of a Feather: YA/MG with Rachel Delaney Craft (Saturday, 2:30 to 3:20 PM); Market Your Book with Radio and Podcasts (Saturday, 3:30 to 4:20 PM)

Josh Clark is a writer, graphic designer, and bookseller. His short fiction has been published by Pikes Peak Writers, Black Hare Press, Trembling with Fear, and received a Silver Honorable Mention in the Writers of the Future Contest. His life is filled with words professionally and recreationally, so if he’s not writing or reading you’re likely to find him at author events, science fiction conventions, writing conferences, or out in nature brainstorming his next novel. You can find him on Twitter @joshofclark

Workshops: How to Get Your Book onto Bookstore Shelves; Judging a Book by Its Cover

Rachel Delaney Craft writes YA, MG, and speculative fiction. Her short stories have appeared in publications such as Cricket, Spider, and Cast of Wonders, and her novels have won the Colorado Gold and Zebulon Contests. She also co-edited RMFW’s 2020 anthology, Wild, a finalist for the Colorado Book Award. She lives and writes in Colorado with two dogs and a succulent collection that is slowly taking over her house. Find her on Twitter @RDCwrites or at www.racheldelaneycraft.com.

Workshops: Narrative Distance 101; Vivid & Visceral Sensory Details; Writing for Today’s Teens with Tasha Christensen; Birds of a Feather: YA/MG

Rachel Dempsey is a writer of horror, mystery and thrillers living in Denver. Her short fiction appears or is forthcoming from Shacklebound Books, Brigids Gate Press, Timber Ghost Press and Twenty Bellows. She holds a BFA in Drama and English from NYU’S Tisch, a Master’s in Journalism from Georgetown and is pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing from Regis.

Workshops: Writing with a Body Positivity Lens; Nothing to Fear: How to Scare Even the Bravest Readers

Sue Duff is an author and award-winning, best-selling author of 11 titles including a five book Fantasy/Sci-Fi series The WEIR CHRONICLES, has contributed to 4 anthologies including RMFW’s FALSE FACES, and has a growing list of published short stories. She has Indie published under CrossWinds Publishing and Wicked Ink Books.
www.sueduff.com

Workshop: How to be the Architect of Your World

Brenna English-Loeb* joined Transatlantic in 2019 after working for several years at Janklow & Nesbit Associates and Writers House, where she had the pleasure of working with New York Times bestselling and award-winning authors across multiple genres. Brenna grew up in beautiful Upstate New York and studied English and Theatre at Bucknell University.

Workshops: Roundtable Critique; Methods for Visualizing Structure and Pacing

Jason Henry Evans is from Southern California, graduating from UC Santa Barbara in 1996. He moved with his wife to Denver in 2004. After discovering a passion for storytelling, Jason had his first short story published in 2014. Eight short stories, four novels, an editor’s credit on an anthology, as well as a collection of short stories of his own, Jason continues to write and publish. In addition, blogged for Pikes Peak Writers and RMFW, while becoming a fixture at local conventions as a panelist. From 2016 to 2018 Jason was the President of Shiny Garden Non-Profit Corporation, an organization that produced three local conventions: Myth & Legends Con, WhimsyCon, and Hexacon. Jason currently sits on the board of RMFW as Education Chair.
www.jasonhenryevans.com

Workshop: Avoiding the Rabbit Hole: Research in Historical Fiction

Claire L. Fishback is an author coach and story strategist, a published author, project manager, amazing wife, and dog mom. When not helping other busy authors create the writing lives of their dreams, she writes horror (and more-er) in the Rocky Mountain foothills where she lives with her husband and their pit bull mix, Kira.
www.clairelfishback.com

Workshop: Create the Writing Life of Your Dreams with the CAN DO Formula

Bowen Gillings is an Amazon.com bestselling and award-winning author writing to bring fun back to fiction. His latest release is the humorous paranormal thriller Exceptionals. Bowen has been featured in Journeys into Possibility and Fresh Starts anthologies, Allegory e-zine, and on Stories Live! and Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing YouTube channels. Also, he’s facilitated workshops for RMFW and Pikes Peak Writers. He is an active member of both organizations plus The League of Utah Writers. Bowen holds five martial arts black belts, is an Army veteran, loves travel, cooking, and a fine adult beverage. Learn more at storiesbybowen.com.
www.storiesbybowen.com

Workshops: Longing Your Short: Tips for Transforming a Short Story into a Novel; And… ACTION! Fighting and Fight Scenes 101

Ryanne Glenn started writing short stories when she was ten and was first published in Fruita’s local newspaper. She took her first creative writing class in high school, and was inspired to expand her writing into poetry and longer stories. After struggling with depression in her first year at college, she turned back to writing as a healthy outlet for her emotions. She wants to write strong female role models and is excited to share her stories with the world. Ryanne Glenn works in Denver for a digital pathology company. She loves to golf, though after playing for twelve years, her handicap should be much lower than it is. Between writing and classes, she often visits her hometown of Fruita, Colorado to spend time with her family and dog, Captain Carl.
www.ryanneglenn.com

Workshops: Conquering the First Draft; Critique Partner Roundup; Hard vs. Soft Magic Systems

Award-winning outdoor romance author Stacy Gold would rather be in the middle of nowhere than almost anywhere else. She’s run more than 50 rivers in three countries, been heli-dropped into remote ski huts, worked as a ranger for the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, and spent years as a commercial river guide and whitewater kayak instructor. A reformed copywriter and marketing strategist, her last “real job” was Communications Director for a state-wide mountain biking non-profit. When she’s not busy playing in the mountains with her husband and happy dogs, Ms. Gold writes about independent, badass women finding love and adventure in the great outdoors. Her latest release, Wild at Heart, was a 2022 Publishers Weekly Booklife Prize finalist. www.stacygold.com

Workshops: Opening the Door–Why, When, and How to Write Sex Into Your Stories; Finding Your Author Voice (And How It’s Different from All the Other Voices in Your Books)

Andre Gonzalez is the author of all things thriller and horror. He has penned the Wealth of Time series and the Insanity trilogy. You’ll likely find him buried under a long to-do list or his three young (and energetic) children.
www.andregonzalez.net

Workshops: Thursday Intensive: Build Your Foundation with Facebook Ads; PANEL: Ask a Pro, Hosted by PAA; PANEL: Censored; Birds of a Feather: Horror/Thriller; PANEL: Independent Publishing Q&A; Optimizing Your Amazon Sales Page

Kendra Griffin is a professor, developmental editor, and author who has never met a good dog or a good underdog she didn’t love. Kendra has an MA in literature, teaches creative writing for Aims Community College, is a member of RMFW and Borderlands Writers, and edits for Status Quill. She coaches authors of all levels through community programs, local libraries, and professional conferences. Kendra has indie-published three teen novels and currently pens several popular serials on Amazon Vella.
www.kendragriffin.com

Workshops: Pacing Pointers: How to Keep Your Scenes from Stalling; Viewing Yourself Through the Page: Gaining Perspective for Self-Editing

LS Hawker is the author of the thrillers THE DROWNING GAME, BODY AND BONE, END OF THE ROAD, and THE THROWAWAYS. THE DROWNING GAME is a USA Today bestseller and finalist in the ITW Thriller Awards in the Best First Novel category. Her novels have been translated into eight languages. Hawker grew up in suburban Denver and received her B.S. in journalism from the University of Kansas. She had a radio show called “People Are So Stupid,” produced fitness videos, and outfitted airports and travel agencies with computer equipment for a major airline. Her extensive media background includes everything from public affairs director at a Denver radio station to television sports intern to website designer. She’s got a hilarious trophy husband, two brilliant daughters, and a massive music collection. She lives in Colorado but considers Kansas her spiritual homeland.
www.lshawker.com

Workshops: Revising Your Novel: Turning Your Word Swamp into a Bellagio Fountain; Let’s Make Marketing Fun!; Birds of a Feather: Suspense; Building a Website in a Weekend for the Technophobic

Amber Herbert* is a published author from Colorado Springs. She holds a BA in English Literature and has worked as an editor for six years. She writes adult high fantasy, science fiction, horror, and contemporary YA. Lipstick Covered Magnet was her first novel. She is currently querying her sophomore book, After Wendy, and drafting up the first book in her Doors of Annwyn trilogy.
www.amberherbert.com

Workshop: Querying Writer Support Group

Traci L Jones was raised in Denver, Colorado. She has a BA in Psychology from Pomona College and a M.S. in Advertising University of Denver. Her debut novel, Standing Against the Wind, was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) in 2006 and won the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award in 2007. FSG would also publish Finding My Place (2010) and Silhouetted by the Blue (2011). In 2018 she signed with Metamorphosis Literary Agency. Her fourth book, Ransoming the Captive, was published by Black Rose Writing in 2022. In 2016, Jones joined the Mile Hi MFA in Creative Writing program at Regis University in Denver, Colorado, where she teaches young adult fiction. In the summer of 2020, she joined Lighthouse Writers Workshop as a YA instructor. She also teaches a YA literature and pop culture class for the University of Colorado at Denver Honors Program.
www.traciljones.com

Workshop: Thursday Intensive: Main Character Writing: Richer, Rounder, Fuller

In addition to serving as current RMFW Conference Co-Chair, Kate Jonuska is a freelance writer, indie author, and part-time yoga teacher based in Boulder, CO. Her novel, Transference, was a finalist for the BookLife Prize and a Denver Post Staff Pick, and she often teaches workshops based on her non-fiction book, The Dictionary of Fiction Critique at Cons and conferences. Find out more at katejonuska.com.

Workshop: Yoga for Writers

Nicole Kramer is a YA Author in the query trenches with her first novel and working through revisions on her second. She is an alumni of Writing With the Soul and she holds a Masters of Communications and Media Management from Colorado State University. She teaches about social media strategy, content creation, and conviction at conferences, workshops, and retreats.
www.nkramerwrites.com

Workshop: Images as Beautiful as Your Words: Photography for Authors

Cath Lauria is a full-time author, editor, and nerd. With over fifty publications under her belt in every genre from romance (as Cari Z) to sci-fi to non-fiction, she’s worked through good times, bad times, and even really weird times like we’re in right now. As an IP writer, she’s worked with Marvel Entertainment, CMON Games, and Arkham Horror, among others. Her latest novel, Silver Sable: Payback, came out in March of 2023.
www.authorcariz.com

Workshop: PANEL: How AI is Affecting Writers and Writing

T.H. Leatherman is a writer and humorist from Firestone, Colorado. He enjoys science fiction, fantasy, puns (lots of puns), winemaking, and the Rocky Mountain lifestyle. When not busy writing his next book, he can be found hiking with his wife and two sons or walking his rescued dogs. He has worked as a stockbroker, street performer, and volunteer wrangler. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Regis University with a degree in Business Management and a minor in Psychology.
www.thleatherman.com

Workshops: Birds of a Feather: Science Fiction; Aliens and Fairies: Writing Believable Non-Human Races; Audiobooks Really Speak to Me: How to Publish Your Next Book on Audio; Just a Flesh Wound: How to Write Fantastic Battles; PANEL: Independent Publishing Q&A; PANEL: How AI is Affecting Writers and Writing

Karen A. Lin is a hopeless foodie, award-winning novelist, produced screenwriter and writing coach. Many of her stories are inspired by her experience marrying into a Taiwanese family. Mu Shu Mac & Cheese and American Moon: A Chinese Immigrant Story are available on Amazon. She, her husband, and their two boys have traveled the world as she researches recipes for a literary cookbook. She teaches for Princess and Celebrity cruise lines and writers conferences in Colorado where she’s part of a rich author community.
www.karenalbrightlin.com

Workshops: Screenwriting 101: This Story Would Make a Great Movie!; Tools of the Pitch: One Line, One Paragraph, One Page

Kelley J. P. Lindberg writes award-winning fiction for adults and young adults, with stories appearing in literary magazines such as The Baltimore Review and The Citron Review, anthologies such as RMFW’s Bizarre Bazaar and Pikes Peak Writers’ Journey into Possibility, and in the Tellables app for the Amazon Alexa platform. She loves talking about writing with other writers and book lovers, and she leaves her audiences with plenty of “takeaway” information and tips they can use the very next day. When she isn’t writing from her home in Colorado, she’s traveling as far and as often as she can. Visit her website and blog (and sign up for her newsletter) at www.KelleyLindberg.com.

Workshops: Twist the 5 Love Languages to Develop Characters and Build Tension; Critique Like a Boss: Tips for Getting the Most from Your Critique Group; PANEL: Censored

Courtney E. Morgan is the author of The Seven Autopsies of Nora Hanneman, a finalist for the Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Award. Her writing has also appeared in Pleiades, Lunch Ticket, American Book Review, and others. She is the founding editor of The Thought Erotic literary journal on sexuality and gender. Morgan received her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she has also taught. She currently teaches at Lighthouse Writers Workshop, as well as at outreach writing programs in local homeless shelters, hospitals and libraries. She is a writing and creativity coach and teaches personalized in-person and online creativity and writing courses. Morgan is also the Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of the nonprofit, Sidewalk Poets, bringing empowerment- and healing-oriented writing and storytelling workshops to underserved populations. She is currently working on a literary speculative novel.
www.courtneyemorgan.com

Workshop: Thursday Intensive: World as Character: Bringing Your Setting to Life

Patricia Nelson* is a literary agent with Marsal Lyon Literary Agency representing all genres of young adult and middle grade fiction, as well as women’s fiction and romance. Her clients include bestselling and award-winning authors, and her recent sales include books placed with Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster, among others. She holds master’s degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Southern California and has previously taught literature and writing at the college level.

Workshop: 8 Rookie Submission Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)

Pamela Nowak’s historical fiction tells the stories of real women whose stories have been forgotten via a deft combination of research and character development. She’s won a Will Rogers Gold Medallion and a Laramie Award as well as being a dual Feathered Quill finalist and a finalist for the NM-AZ Book Award. Her historical romance novels have garnered critical acclaim for her ability to weave fictional relationship stories into historical settings and events and have been awarded a Colorado Book Award, multiple HOLT Medallion Awards, and a WILLA Finalist Award. Pam was also honored as the RMFW Writer of the Year. She has a B.A. in history, is a member of the Paper Lantern Writers, and works part-time as the Executive Director of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association.
www.pamelanowak.com

Workshops: Birds of a Feather: Historical Fiction; PANEL: RMFW Honors Its Founders; Complications of Culture: Avoiding Cultural Appropriation in the Historical Novel; What a Liar! Creating Historical Fiction Characters from Unreliable Sources

Stephanie Reisner makes her living as a full-time writer/publisher and is published both traditionally and independently, but with focus on her successful indie career. With four pen names, she has over 40 published novels in various genres to her credit and even more novellas and short stories. She is the author of the independently published, bestselling Gilded Lily series, recently rebranded as the Doms of Black Lily series. She is also multi-published in both shorter fiction and non-fiction (with over 50 non-fiction books to her credit). Most of her work is independently published. In 2018, her independent novel Thirteen Covens: Bloodlines Part One was a CIPA EVVY Award Winner (2nd Place/Horror) and she is the RMFW 2019-2020 Independent Writer of the Year award recipient.  Her books have been nominated for numerous awards and she has a B.A. in Creative Writing from MSUD. She also runs Darkerwood Publishing Group, a micro-press that publishes six additional authors under two successful imprints, DB Publishing (non-fiction) and Midnight Fantasy Press (steamy romance fiction).
www.sjreisner.com

Workshops: Thursday Intensive: Revision and Editing for Indie Authors; PANEL: Ask a Pro; Don’t Buy a Mansion Just Yet: Managing Your Writing Career for Longevity

A. D. Rhine is the pseudonym of Ashlee Cowles and Danielle Stinson. The authors are united by their military “brat” upbringing, childhood friendship spanning two decades, and love of classical literature. Ashlee holds graduate degrees in medieval history from the University of St. Andrews and theological studies from Duke University. Danielle holds a master of arts in law and diplomacy from Tufts University. Their adult debut Horses of Fire is the book they have always dreamt of writing together.
www.adrhine.com

Workshop: Co-Writing a Novel: Can it be Done and Why Might You Want To?

Amy Rivers is an award-winning novelist, as well as the Director of Writing Heights Writers Association. She was named 2021 Indie Author of the Year by the Indie Author Project. Her psychological suspense novels incorporate important social issues with a focus on the complexities of human behavior. Her novel, STUMBLE & FALL, is the second book in the A Legacy of Silence series. Amy was raised in New Mexico and now lives in Colorado with her husband and children.
www.amyrivers.com

Workshops: Thursday Intensive: Roll Up Your Sleeves: Doing the Grunt Work of Writing Your Novel; Embrace the Power of the Pen, But Write Responsibly; PANEL: Independent Publishing Q&A; It’s All About You: Author Branding Made Less Terrifying

Rob Samborn is an award-winning novelist of bestselling historical thrillers, including The Prisoner of Paradise, Painter of the Damned and The Swordsman of Venice. In addition to being a novelist, Rob is a screenwriter, entrepreneur and avid traveler. He’s been to forty countries, lived in five of them (including Italy) and studied nine languages. As a restless spirit who can’t remember the last time he was bored, Rob is on a quest to explore the intricacies of our world and try his hand at a multitude of crafts; he’s also an accomplished artist and musician, as well as a budding furniture maker. A native New Yorker who lived in Los Angeles for twenty years, he now makes his home in Denver with his family.

Workshops: Know Your Ending: How a Killer Outline Elevates Story; Successful Debuts 101: Avoid Pitfalls and Capitalize on Opportunities

Rebecca Scherer* began her publishing career at JRA in 2010 while earning a BA in English Literature, Political Science, and German from the Macaulay Honors College at Hunter. Immediately upon graduating, she was offered the unique opportunity to work within each department at the agency to gain a deep understanding of the business before going on to become an agent. A lifelong New Yorker with a true head for numbers, Rebecca bridges her taste in literature with her business acumen to comprehensively advocate for her authors.

Workshop: Roundtable Critique

Alec Shane* majored in English at Brown University, a degree he put to immediate use by moving to Los Angeles after graduation to become a professional stuntman. Realizing that he prefers books to breakaway glass, he moved to New York City in 2008 to pursue a career in publishing. Alec quickly found a home at Writers House Literary Agency, where he has been building his list since 2012.

Workshop: Your Opening Pages: How to Make That First Chapter Stand Out

Susan Mackay Smith a.k.a. Mackay Wood, a.k.a. Conan the Grammarian Susan has been RMFW’s contest chair, critique chair, anthology editor for Broken Links, Mended Lives (with Jeanne C. Stein and Janet Lane), and president. For a decade, she wrote Conan the Grammarian for the Rocky Mountain Writer, the then-monthly newsletter. She won the Jasmine Award in 2009 and was honored as a Guiding Member in 2019.

Workshops: Tactical Writing; Don’t Bungle the Beginning

Bestselling author Bernadette Soehner (writing under Bernadette Marie) writes contemporary romances and believes in Happily Ever After. The married mother of five believes in love at first sight, quick love, and second chances. An avid martial artist, Bernadette Marie is a certified instructor and holds a second-degree black belt in Tang Soo Do. She loves Tai Chi, traveling to Disney parks, and having lunch with friends. When not writing, or running her own publishing house, Bernadette is probably immersed in a Rom Com, from which she will often quote one-liners.
www.bernadettemarie.com

Workshops: Thursday Intensive: Knowing Your Publishing Options as an Indie Author; PANEL: Ask a Pro; Dialogue and the Back Story Dump; The Art of Writing Romance; S.S.D.D. (Same Story Different Direction); PANEL: Independent Publishing Q&A

Mark Stevens is the author of The Fireballer and five books in The Allison Coil Mystery Series, host of the Rocky Mountain Writer podcast, and previous RMFW Writer of the Year (2016).
www.writermarkstevens.com

Workshops: The White Hot Core of Character Motivation; PANEL: Meet the Writer of the Year Finalists

Kilah Storm is an author, illustrator and professional puppeteer. She has published a zine collection titled The Canine Bible and has hundreds of fans who follow her fan fiction Avatar: Strife and Harmony. She has built her fan base through fan fiction, zines and puppetry and has been able to take her stories from the Denver Performing Arts Center to comic cons in multiple different states. When not writing or storyboarding her next puppet script, she can be found working at her local bookstore, hiking with her husband and dog or drinking tea.
www.kilahstorm.com

Workshop: Zines: The Low Risk Way to Finding Your Self-Publishing Voice

Kristina Sutton Lennon* is a bilingual, Latiné, media executive and the CEO/Co-Founder of Focused Artists. As a Literary Manager for Focused Artists, she has facilitated book deals with publishers for clients, pitched content to producers, studios and networks, and has projects in various stages of development with production companies. She prides herself on her diverse slate of content and has a proven track record in sourcing material, script development, and talent scouting.

Prior to delving into producing and management, Kristina was an actor (SAG-AFTRA) and educator, teaching acting and improv at the college level. She previously served as a film/tv agent and the Director of the Louisiana Division for a talent agency headquartered in Atlanta. Kristina recently served as the Director of Media Rights at Context Literary Agency and currently serves as a Talent Manager for Citizen Skull.

Workshop: Roundtable Critique

Cynthia Swanson is the Denver-based author of the psychological suspense novels The Bookseller and The Glass Forest. An Indie Next selection, New York Times bestseller, and winner of the WILLA Literary Award, The Bookseller is slated to be a motion picture produced by Julia Roberts. Cynthia’s second novel, The Glass Forest, was noted in Forbes as being one of “Five Novels with a Remarkably Strong Sense of Place.” Cynthia’s work has been translated into 18 languages. Cynthia is also the editor of the anthology Denver Noir, which features dark, morally ambiguous stories set in and around Denver, written by 14 notable literary and mystery authors. Find Cynthia online at www.cynthiaswansonauthor.com and follow her on Facebook (Cynthia Swanson, Author) and Instagram (cynswanauthor).
www.cynthiaswansonauthor.com

Workshops: Setting as Character; Kill Your Darlings

Nikki Terpilowski established Holloway Literary in 2011. She represents award-nominated and best-selling authors in romance, southern fiction, mystery and suspense. Nikki is based in North Carolina.

Workshop: The Mindful Writer: Techniques for Tapping Into Your Inner Creativity

Tiffany Quay Tyson is an award-winning novelist, humor writer, and teacher. She is the author of two novels including The Past is Never, winner of the Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction, the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize, the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award for Fiction, and the Mississippi Author Award. Her debut novel, Three Rivers, was published in 2015 and was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award and the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award for Fiction. Humor pieces appear in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, The Rumpus “Funny Women” column, The Belladonna Comedy, The Establishment, Slackjaw, and more. Shorter fiction can be found at SmokeLong Quarterly, The Ilanot Review, The Tulane Review, and elsewhere. Tiffany is a native of Jackson, Mississippi. After college, she worked for a brief stint as a newspaper reporter in the Mississippi Delta, where she received the Frank Allen Award for Journalism. She is the recipient of two Heartland Emmy Awards including one for writing for a children’s public television program. She is a faculty member at Lighthouse Writers Workshop and was the recipient of the Beacon Award for Teaching Excellence in 2021. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado.
www.tiffanyquaytyson.com

Workshop: Thursday Intensive: Let’s Get Intimate: Working with Narrative Distance

Laura VanArendonk Baugh writes award-winning fantasy of many flavors as well as non-fiction. She has summited extinct, dormant, and active volcanoes, but none has yet accepted her sacrifice. She lives in Indiana where she enjoys Dobermans, travel, fair-trade chocolate, and making her imaginary friends fight one another for her own amusement. Find her at www.LauraVAB.com.

Workshops: Avoiding Common Mistakes of Self-Publishing; The Sagging Middle of My Career

#1 Amazon bestselling author Peggy Waide entered her first book in the Colorado Gold. The editor offered a contract. She has published four romances with Dorchester. Montlake now publishes her books. She is shopping an amateur sleuth and contemporary romance. She’s also been a trainer, coach and speaker.

Workshops: Observe, Create, Write; Create Motivated Characters; Word Choice Matters

Laurie Marr Wasmund has worked as an editor, community college instructor, and writing workshop presenter. Her short stories have appeared in magazines such as CIMARRON REVIEW and WEBER STUDIES. She is the author of MY HEART LIES HERE, a novel of the Ludlow Massacre; CLEAN CUT, A Romance of the Western Heart; and the WHITE WINTER TRILOGY. The third book of the Trilogy, To WALK HUMBLY, was a 2020 finalist for the Mainstream/Literary award from the Colorado Authors League. It also received a 2020 EVVY third-place award in Historical Fiction from the Colorado Independent Publishers Association. Laurie is currently the Vice President of Colorado Authors League.
www.lauriemarrwasmund.com

Workshops: Point (of View) Taken; Writing War: The Hero’s Journey Through Hell

Rachel Weaver is the author of the novel Point of Direction, which Oprah Magazine named a Top Ten Book to Pick Up Now. Point of Direction was chosen by the American Booksellers Association as a Top Ten Debut for Spring 2014, by IndieBound as an Indie Next List Pick, by Yoga Journal as one of their Top Five Suggested Summer Reads and won the 2015 Willa Cather Award for Fiction. Prior to earning her MFA in Writing and Poetics from Naropa University, Rachel worked for the Forest Service in Alaska studying bears, raptors and songbirds. She is on faculty at Regis University’s low-residency MFA program, and at Lighthouse Writers Workshop where she won the Beacon Award for Teaching Excellence in 2018. Her work has appeared in The Sun, Gettysburg Review, CutBank, Blue Mesa Review, River Teeth, Alaska Women Speak and Fly Fishing New England.
www.rachelweaver.net

Workshop: Thursday Intensive: How to Get Your Plot Working as a Whole

Katy L. Wood is a queer author and illustrator from Colorado. She does a mix of traditional and self-publishing.
www.katy-l-wood.com

Workshops: Working with an Illustrator; Kickstarter for Authors

Johnny Worthen is an award-winning, multiple-genre, tie-dye-wearing author, voyager, and damn fine human being! Trained in literary criticism and cultural studies, he writes upmarket fiction, long and short, mentors others where he can, and teaches writing at the University of Utah. His best-selling science fiction series beginning with OF KINGS, QUEENS & COLONIES, and now with OF CIVILIZED, SAVED & SAVAGES is an epic tale in the vein of Frank Herbert’s DUNE. It is available from Flame Tree Press. Like Johnny’s many other titles these are available wherever better books are sold.
www.johnnyworthen.com

Workshops: PANEL: Censored; Writing Young Adult; Zen Lessons for Writers