Workshop Speakers, Class Info, and Bios for the 2022 conference
Jeff Wheeler – Master Class Presenter
Worldbuilding 505: Stop Living in Your Head and Start Writing the First Chapter and The How of Creativity
Jeff Wheeler
Jeff Wheeler, a Wall Street Journal bestselling author of entryway fantasy, will keynote the 2022 Southwest Washington Writers Conference at Centralia College Saturday, Sept. 10. The Wall Street Journal bestselling author of more than 30 young adult/fantasy books will discuss “Your First Million Words.” His books have sold more than 5 million copies.
“I’ve discovered on my journey that I had to write and toss my first million words before I’d practiced the craft enough to be successful at it,” Wheeler said. He described the keynote as “finding the will and the time to pursue the lonely road walked by writers.”
He’ll also teach two workshops on Saturday. In The Five Questions (aka Wowing the Editorial Board), writers will learn how to make it easy for publishers and editors to say yes to your manuscript using five questions and answers that Wheeler employs each time he pitches a book or series.
“Even if you are an indie author, knowing the answers to these questions can help improve the story before it’s even written,” he said.
The second workshop will focus on Understanding Amazon. Face it, Amazon is the gorilla in the publishing world today, selling more books than anyone else among its other products. This workshop will help writers understand the indie publishing market, the difference between Kindle Direct and Kindle Unlimited, the way royalties are paid, and what it’s like to work for an Amazon Publishing imprint.
Wheeler, a prolific writer of three or four books a year, conveniently lists a reading order on his website at https://jeff-wheeler.com/reading-order for the more than 30 books he’s authored.
Historical Fiction Writing: Bringing the Past Alive
James Shipman
A Union soldier fighting in the Civil War. A social worker helping Jewish children escape the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. Prisoners who lead a revolt at the Auschwitz concentration camp.
These are all real characters brought to life through the pages of novels by bestselling author James D. Shipman, an Everett attorney and mediator who will teach “Historical Fiction Writing: Bringing the Past Alive” at the Southwest Washington Writers Conference Saturday, Sept. 10.
He will describe his journey to becoming a published fiction writer and explore the process of preparing for and crafting a historical novel. He will address his research methods, travel to historical locations, his interviews with people who have historical knowledge, and the historical novel creation process.
The bestselling historical fiction writer with Kensington Publishing has penned seven novels, including “Going Home: A Novel of the Civil War,” which was based on his family’s history; “Irena’s War,” about Polish resistance fighter Irena Sendler and the Gestapo agent who hounded her; “Constantinopolis,” a historical military adventure; and his latest title, “Beyond the Wire,” based on the October 1944 prisoner revolt at Auschwitz.
He and his wife have a blended family of seven children (thankfully adults) and live in Snohomish with Kevin the cat and Frank the dog.
Kathy Campbell
5 Keys to a Professional Book Cover Design
Kathy Campbell
Many readers do judge a book by its cover, so learn the “5 Keys to a Professional Book Cover Design” from experienced designer Kathy Campbell, who creates captivating covers for Gorham Printing in Centralia and operates a freelance graphic design company in Olympia.
During the afternoon workshop, Kathy will address how to design a professional, eye-catching cover and focus on cover design concepts and genres, color, and imagery as well as typography and what elements make up a book. The five key topics crucial in designing a cover that sells books include image choices (what and where), color, concept, and typography.
For almost 30 years, Kathy has designed book covers and interior text for publishing companies large and small, as well as independent authors. She specializes in many genres including history, fiction, nonfiction, and memoir. She loves watching writers evolve into published authors.
Getting Your Books Into the Amazon Top Ten Within Your Category
Building Your Platform with Your Best Website
Julie Bonn Blank
Julie Bonn Blank, an author, web designer, and marketing professional who has moved books into the top ten in Amazon categories, will teach two workshops at the Southwest Washington Writers Conference. A marketing professional, Julie has been designing websites for clients for years.
During her morning workshop, “Getting Your Books into the Amazon Top Ten Within Your Category,” she will discuss pricing and promotions. Learn about the different audiences drawn to different price points and how to compete. Understand how to research categories and change the place a book is listed. Discover how to approach your traditional publisher about promotional opportunities. She will also provide a list of the best promo opportunities for the best price and additional resources such as #booktok and other social media, consistent reviews, speaking opportunities, newsletter, book tours, and more.
At her afternoon workshop, Julie will teach “Building Your Platform with Your Best Website.” Learn the components to include in an author’s or publisher’s website and how to best use those components for search and sales. Discover which platforms to avoid— all-in-one-options that aren’t search-engine friendly or place limits on platforms, which actually can hurt self-branding and book sales. Learn to create the best website without breaking the bank and maintain it easily without paying someone else to do it. Understand the opportunities that come with a great website functioning as it should. Learn to draw traffic to the site, highlight your writing, track results, create a mailing list, and more.
Julie, the author of “Innocent Lives,” “Rose,” and “Penny,” speaks as an advocate against domestic abuse and teaches nationwide. She lives in of Forest Grove, Oregon. Find out more about Julie at https://juliebonnblank.com.
Pamala J. Vincent
Got a film idea? Screenwriting 101: the basics!
75 Ways to Sell Your Book Successfully
Pamala J. Vincent
Learn about screenwriting and 75 successful ways to sell your books at two workshops taught by Pamala J. Vincent, a speaker, and author of 21 self-published books who will teach two workshops at the Southwest Washington Writers Conference Saturday, Sept. 10. Her latest book, Dare to Be a Badass: Find Your Voice, Find Your Power, Find Your Purpose, won the Silver Writer’s Award from the Non-Fiction Authors Association. She writes for Huffington Post: GPS for the Soul, She Owns It, Addicted 2 Success, The Good Men Project, Ten to Twenty Parenting, (to name a few) online magazines. Learn more at her websites: DareToBeABadass.com or BetweenARockAndATeenager.com.
In “Got a Film Idea? Screenwriting 101—the Basics!” Pamala will introduce writers to the film industry and how to push your screenplay past the first reader. She’ll discuss industry-standard software, formatting tips and tricks, and provide an overview of Acts 1, 2, and 3.
“With the forced move to home due to Covid, the movie industry has exploded,” she said. “The world is hungry for quality films that inspire hope. Film writing, like novel writing, has an industry standard.”
During her afternoon workshop, 75 Ways to Sell Your Book Successfully, Pamala will teach writers how to discover their niche, find where their readers hang out, and understand their readers’ needs to better reach them.
Writing a book takes blood, sweat, and tears but that’s only the first step to getting your message out there. Marketing, particularly a self-published book, takes the next step of earning an income to the next level. You have to out-wit, out-play, out-last all the other books on the market. Creativity is vital to successfully getting your book in the hands of your readers. Pamala will cover 75 conventional and unconventional ideas to getting noticed.
“Marketing is a tough monster, and I’m eager to help others self-published or otherwise at least walk away with new ideas to selling to more than family and friends,” Pamala said. “I believe if you’ve spilled your heart and guts into a book, the message needs to be heard and we need to earn an income so we can continue to write.”
Wendy Kendall
Writing Novellas
The Art of Mystery
Wendy Kendall
Learn “The Art of Mystery” and all about “Writing Novellas” from Wendy Kendell, who has a passion for purses, mystery, and romance. Her cozy mystery “Kat Out of the Bag” introduces Katherine Watson, purse designer/sleuth, investigating murder at her gala opening. The prequel, Purse-Stachio Makes a Splash, delves into a chilling cold case. Her newest, Snow Kiss Cookies to Die For is an intriguing tangle of mystery and love.
During her morning workshop, “Writing Novellas,” Wendy will teach about novella story structure, different novella types (literary, inspirational, and genre), and ways to use writing novellas to your advantage as an author. Learn what publishers are seeking, what readers want, and marketing options for novellas.
“The novella is surging in popularity with publishers and readers,” she said. “We’ll also discuss the opportunities and challenges to the writing craft that novellas present.”
During her afternoon workshop, “The Art of Mystery,” Wendy will present an analytical approach to a highly popular and diverse genre and teach how to build a better mystery, thriller, or suspense novel. Learn about the different mystery genres: hard-boiled or soft-boiled PI, cozy or traditional, paranormal, suspense, legal, historical, police procedural, and more. Wendy will focus on six mystery categories: legal thrillers, police procedurals, forensics, cozies, private detective stories, and historical.
First, know what you’re writing to do it well and pitch it successfully to the right agent, acquisitions editor, or target market. What are the essential ingredients in a good mystery? Learn the most important question a writer can show when plotting and developing a mystery.
“It’s only one word, but it’s the most important word—why,” Wendy said “It drives the question all mystery readers want answered, and for all mystery/suspense/thriller writers must exploit when writing a work of suspense. Answer this one question about your protagonist and antagonist, and pave the way to deeper, richer, and better writing.”
The Edmonds, Washington, author is also a blogger, YouTube podcaster, speaker, project manager, and syndicated columnist.
Carolyne Wright
Bringing Lives to Life: The Alchemy of Memory
Carolyne Wright
Award-winning Seattle poet, author, and memoirist Carolyne Wright will present a workshop on “Bringing Lives to Life: The Alchemy of Memory” Saturday morning at the Southwest Washington Writers Conference on Sept. 10.
“Writers of all genres employ and transform memory in their work,” said Carolyne, whose latest books are Masquerade, a memoir in poetry (Lost Horse Press, 2021) and This Dream the World: New & Selected Poems (Lost Horse, 2017), whose title poem received a Pushcart Prize and appeared in The Best American Poetry 2009.
During the interactive workshop, participants will read memoir excerpts and explore life experiences, journal entries, family history, and reflections—sources of memory we interrogate, embellish, assemble, and re-assemble.
“Through this creative alchemy, we will turn memories, observations, and insights into story, bringing lives to life through our writing,” Carolyne said. “Our writing may be poetry or prose.”
Explore inner lives and those of characters, historical as well as fictional. Develop new perspectives on voice and voices. Generate new writing in voices other than your own, which is useful for nonfiction and fiction writers as well as poets.
A Seattle native who has lived and taught all over the country and on fellowships in Chile, Brazil, India, and Bangladesh, Carolyne has 16 earlier books, chapbooks, and anthologies of poetry, essays, and translation. A contributing editor for the Pushcart Prizes, Carolyne has received NEA and 4Culture grants. A Fulbright Scholar Award will take her back to Bahia, Brazil, post-Covid-19. She has won awards for memoir essays (PEN/Jerard Fund Award; Crossing Boundaries Award for Nonfiction; Summer Literary Seminars Award in Nonfiction).
Alan E. Rose
Plotting Techniques for the Beginning Writer
Alan E. Rose
Most stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end—though they don’t necessarily have to be in that order. The same story can be told in a multitude of different ways. Plotting is the organizing of a story to achieve the writer’s desired effect, whether romance, humor, horror, suspense, or tenderness and tears.
In this workshop, “Plotting Techniques for the Beginning Writer: Finding the Story You Want to Tell, and then Deciding How Best to Tell It,” Alan will offer concepts, tools, and techniques to help the writer find the story, and then explore ways to most effectively tell it. He will discuss:
1) Story Spinning—right- and left-brain techniques to generate a story from the seed of an idea.
2) Plot Playing—ways to disassemble a story by breaking it down into components parts, and then reassembling the parts in different combinations to achieve different effects.
3) Scenic Construction—ways to further organize the story to enhance its emotional impact through the use of narrative arcs, pacing, and conflict.
Alan E. Rose is the author of three published novels and one novella. His novel about the AIDS epidemic in the Pacific Northwest, As If Death Summoned, won the 2021 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year award (LGBT category.) Book reviewer for the Columbia River Reader and host of KLTV’s “Book Chat” program, Alan also coordinates WordFest Northwest, a monthly gathering of writers and readers in Southwest Washington and has conducted many writing workshops and classes. More information can be found on his website at www.alan-rose.com.
Investing in Your Writing Career
From Body Language to Brawls
Lindsay Schopfer
Olympia author Lindsay Schopfer will teach two workshops at the Southwest Washington Writers Conference Saturday, Sept. 10, and sit on a Friday panel about the Ins and Outs of Publishing.
In his morning workshop, “Investing in Your Writing Career,” Lindsay will discuss how authors must spend money to make money. Both published and unpublished writers will benefit from this practical guide to investing in the writing craft without breaking the bank. Students will learn how to shop around for freelancers, how to manage their resources when choosing promotional options, and how to choose the best options for educating themselves in their craft.
In his afternoon workshop, “From Body Language to Brawls,” Lindsay will focus on action scenes.
“Action scenes are some of the most exciting, intense moments in our stories, but they can be tricky to get right,” he said. “Too little detail and the reader won’t be invested; too much, and the action will be lost in a sea of unnecessary details.”
During the workshop, participants will learn how to manage pacing, balance character reactions and event descriptions, and use effective word choice to keep the reader fully immersed in the scene.
Lindsay, the award-winning author of four novels including The Adventures of Keltin Moore, a series of steampunk-flavored fantasy novels about a professional monster hunter, teaches creative writing at South Puget Sound Community College and belongs to the Northwest Editors Guild. His second Keltin Moore novel, Into the North, won the OZMA Award for Fantasy as part of the Chanticleer International Book Awards.
You can learn more about Lindsay Schopfer at, https://lindsayschopfer.com/
Mary Stone
Power Pack Your Prose
Mary Stone
Learn how to “Power Pack Your Prose” with author and retired college instructor Mary Stone of Castle Rock.
“In ‘Power Pack Your Prose,’ participants learn how to craft sentences with oomph,” Mary said. “In-class exercises empower writers to create narratives that leap off the page.”
Word choice matters. Verbs offer writers an opportunity to grab readers’ attention and retain it throughout the story. Verbs can make characters and plot spring to life—or not. Certain words fashion a ho-hum experience for readers. Learn to kick extraneous words to the curb. It works wonders for writers wanting to write tight and pack a punch.
Attendees who bring two pages from their writing will find the workshop activities most helpful.
Mary earned her master’s degree in counseling from the University of Nebraska at Kearney and retired after three decades of teaching and counseling at Lower Columbia College. Her published works have appeared in “Ladies Home Journal,” “Mature Living, Seek,” “Evangel,” “The Salal Review,” “The Rambunctious Review,” and the anthologies: OakTara’s “I Choose You” and Bethany House’s “Love is a Flame.” Her nonfiction book, Run in the Path of Peace—the Secret of Being Content No Matter What, placed as a finalist in Oregon Christian Writers’ published book contest. This past year, Kindle Vella published Mary’s humorous work “In BeTWEEN TROUBLE.”
Mary teaches writing classes, and offers in-your-home group sessions—when Covid, or lack of it, permits.
She also writes a monthly devotional blog at https://marystonewriter.com.
Get Published: How to Find a Home for Short Stories, Essays, Poetry, or KidLit
Seattle author Alle C. Hall will help writers of short fiction and nonfiction find a place to publish those for a wider audience during her afternoon workshop, “Get Published: How to Find a Home for Short Stories, Essays, Poetry, or KidLit,” at the Southwest Washington Writers Conference Saturday, Sept. 10.
Writers new to submitting don’t need to have finished work to benefit from this workshop. More experienced submitters will also find gems: how to go about finding journals that are right for your work, tracking submissions, and recovering from rejection.
Learn effective techniques for successfully submitting essays/creative nonfiction, poetry, KidLit, or short stories. Understand the publishing industry and your place in it. Discover how to write a good query letter. Through discussion, examples, and exercises, the class will explore genre, magazines, journals, and query letters; destigmatize submission and rejection to move into rebound; and talk about money. Attendees will leave with a firm understanding of the publishing industry as it relates to their goals as a writer, a drafted query letter, and a list of 15 to 50 magazines to submit to.
“I am the poster child for the writer who started a career with no MFA, no connections, and very little money that I could bring to my writing life,” Alle said. “Through sheer hard work and developing rhinoceros-thick skin, I worked my way up to a book deal Over a 30-year span, I published first in the kind of tiny magazines that only the subscribers and maybe their families read; then in more notable publications; and finally, internationally known journals and the all-sought-after book deal for a first literary novel—at the age of 57!”
Save years of disappointment by learning from Alle’s experience.
Her first novel, As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back, publishes in March 2023. An excerpt from it placed as a finalist for The Lascaux Prize. She also won The Richard Hugo House New Works Competition. A Best Small Fictions and Best of the Net nominee, Alle’s fiction appears in Dale Peck’s Evergreen Review, Litro, and Tupelo Quarterly, among others, and her essays in Creative Nonfiction and Hobart, ditto. Her business card reads, “Writer and Mom.”
Learn more about her at www.allehall.wordpress.com.
A Cup of Soup
Heidi Gaul
Heidi Gaul, a nonfiction writer from Albany, Oregon, who is published in eleven “Chicken Soup for the Soul” anthologies, will teach a workshop at the Southwest Washington Writers Conference Saturday, Sept. 10, on “A Cup of Soup.”
Learn to develop the skills necessary to write and successfully market a short and inspiring nonfiction piece. During the workshop, Heidi will look at the importance of verb choices and word counts, the arc that will hold reader’s and editor’s interest, and how to make a story more relatable to a large audience. Participants will leave with knowledge of concise and gripping writing, a story arc that captures readers, and a story general enough for wide relatability.
Heidi has contributed to eight Guideposts’ books, including the popular “Mornings with Jesus,” won an Oregon Christian Writers Cascade Award for devotionals, some of which have been featured in “The Upper Room.” She enjoys taking everyday events and turning them into teachable moments.
Learn more about her at www.HeidiGaul.com.
The Saturday Panel
Ellen King Rice, Lee French, Connie Jasperson, and Johanna Flynn
We can all learn from experience, and a panel of four indie authors with more than 30 years of combined experience will share writing tips and advice for authors in all stages of their careers, whether just starting out or old pros, indie or traditionally published.
During their Saturday afternoon workshop at the Southwest Washington Writers Conference Sept. 10, “What I Wish I Had Known,” the four veterans of the indie trenches share their insights into the pitfalls, pratfalls, and potholes in the publishing world.
Each panel member—authors Ellen King Rice, Lee French, Connie Jasperson, and Johanna Flynn—will spend three to five minutes describing unanticipated challenges in their writing journey. Be prepared to laugh, groan, and take notes on helpful tips as they describe tales of publishing adventures. Topics will include aspects of setting up business paperwork and selling
Ellen King
online and in person. Learn to avoid the pratfalls in selling at bookfairs, bookstores, and conventions. Identify and step around the potholes littering the marketing road. Stay clear of the pitfalls in the business end of writing.
Winner of multiple IPPY awards for Best Regional Fiction, Ellen King Rice of Olympia writes ecological thrillers set in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. She wants a world where there are more trophies and riches for those showing pluck and resilience (or misunderstood genius). Wander her woods at www.ellenkingrice.com and say “Hi” to the woman in a mushroom chapeau.
Lee French
Lee French is the USA Today Bestselling author of 50+ indie-published novels, novellas, and short stories in multiple fantasy and science fiction subgenres as well as romance and literary fiction. She is the owner and co-founder of Clockwork Dragon, an indie co-op and small press producing fantasy and science fiction anthologies. Best known for her young adult urban fantasy series Spirit Knights, she also writes for adults about challenging the patriarchy with snark and witty banter. Find more about her work at www.authorleefrench.com
Connie Jasperson
Connie J. Jasperson is a published poet and the author of nine fantasy novels. Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies. A founding member of Myrddin Publishing Group, she blogs regularly on both the craft of writing and art history. You can find her blog and sign up to receive her posts by email at: www.conniejjasperson.com or follow her on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/cjjasp.
Johanna Flynn
Johanna Flynn’s debut novel won the 2020 Nancy Pearl Award for Best Contemporary Fiction. Her second novel, We’re with the Band, launched this past December. Johanna likes to write contemporary and women’s fiction. Prior to writing fiction, she published nonfiction articles and award-winning research. Prior to that, she wrote really bad poetry. She can be found at www.johannaflynn.com.