Southwest Washington Writers Conference
Master Class
Friday, September 11, 2026
8:30 a.m. Registration and light refreshments
9 a.m. Christine Pinto: Diamonds in the Rough: Effectively Using Research to Craft Compelling Stories
Noon Lunch
1 p.m. Shawn Inmon: Write, Publish, Prosper: How to Build a Successful Writing Career
Optional AAUW Evening with Authors in the TransAlta Commons: Doors open at 6 p.m. A moderated discussion by Doris Wood with Kristina McMorris, Rosanne Parry, and Shawn Inmon.
Southwest Washington Writers Conference
Saturday, September 12, 2026
8:30 a.m. Registration and light refreshments
9 a.m. Introductory remarks and logistics
9:15 a.m. “Paths to Success in Traditional Publishing” by Rosanne Parry
10 a.m. “The Accidental Author” by Kristina McMorris
11 a.m. Workshops
A) Writing Hacks from a Bestseller—Kristina McMorris (Auditorium)
B) Writing for Kids: It’s Not as Easy as It Looks—Mary Boone (Room 111)
C) Embedding Emotion in Characters and Narrative—Charlotte Chipperfield (Room 109)
D) Writing Short Mysteries that Hook Readers—Christina Suzann Nelson (Room 107)
E) Beyond “What Happened?”: Crafting Transformational Memoirs—Erick Mertz (Room 108)
F) Prologues, Notes, and Maps: Oh, My!—Maryka Biaggio (Room 110)
Noon Lunch (Rooms Set Aside by Genres)
1:15 p.m. Workshops
G) Finding the Gold in Your Story Setting—Rosanne Parry (Auditorium)
H) Page to Screen: Mastering the Art of Adaptation—Erick Mertz (Room 111)
I) Structuring Mystery Novels that Keep Readers Turning Pages—Charlotte Chipperfield (Room 109)
J) The Writer’s Toolkit: Comparing Programs to Actually Work—Christina Suzann Nelson (Room 107)
K) Blog, Newsletter, Substack—Do I Have To? Which Ones and How?—Sue Fagalde Lick (Room 108)
L) Show AND Tell: A Secret Weapon for Writers—Leslie J. Hall (Room 110)
2:30 p.m. Workshops
M) You Reading This, Be Ready: A Poetry Workshop—Derek Scheffield (auditorium)
N) Nonfiction Book Proposals that POP—Mary Boone (Room 111)
O) Mystery Within a Mystery—Patricia Crisafulli (Room 109)
P) From Hobby to Enterprise: Authoring as a Vocation—Aaron Ryan (Room 107)
Q) Keeping Your Fictional Facts Straight—Sue Fagalde Lick (Room 108)
R) Why Fantasy? Why Many of Us Read It and Why Some of Us Write It!—Dawn Shipman (Room 110)
3:45 p.m. Workshops
S) A Literary Agent on Query Letter Writing—Scott Eagan (Auditorium)
T) Book Buzz: Strategies for Author Publicity—Mary Boone (Room 111)
U) Small Stories that Tell Big Truths—Patricia Crisafulli (Room 109)
V) Tickle Your Reader’s Funny Bone: How to add humor to your writing—Larry Lehnerz (Room 107)
W) The View from the Ground: Storytelling and the Three Voices in Fiction—A. Muia (Room 108)
X) Letters as a Deepening Writing Practice in a Digital Age—Julie Merrick (Room 110)
5 p.m. Evaluation Drawing in Auditorium Followed by Book SigningBottom of Form
