2024 Colorado Gold Writers Conference

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2024 Colorado Gold Writers Conference

Welcome, writers! If you have any questions about the schedule or the conference at large, please refer to the conference website at rmfw.org/conference or email conference@rmfw.org. To view the conference floor plan, select or click on map from the menu.

1:30pm MDT

Unsilent Screams: Maintaining Voice and POV in Action Scenes

Friday September 27, 2024 1:30pm - 2:20pm MDT

Conference Room II

Don’t let your character lose their voice while running from monsters! We’ll go beyond the basics of good action scenes and delve into how we balance action, narration, and perspective as well as use transitions to keep the momentum up.

Speakers

Kendra Griffin

Author

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... Read More →

Friday September 27, 2024 1:30pm - 2:20pm MDT
Conference Room II

Conference Room II

Topic Workshop
Audience Intermediate
Subject Craft
Area Hybrid

2:30pm MDT

Mastering Suspense: Crafting Compelling Narratives Regardless of Genre

Friday September 27, 2024 2:30pm - 3:20pm MDT

Conference Room II

Suspense isn’t just for thrillers—it’s a fundamental element that can elevate any work of fiction or nonfiction. It’s the element in any story that creates mental uncertainty and variable outcomes that turn your readers into addicts, unable to stop turning pages regardless of your genre.

Speakers

LS Hawker

USA Today Best Selling Author

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... Read More →

Friday September 27, 2024 2:30pm - 3:20pm MDT
Conference Room II

Conference Room II

Topic Workshop
Audience Intermediate
Subject Genre, Craft
Area Hybrid

3:30pm MDT

Audiobooks in an AI World

Friday September 27, 2024 3:30pm - 4:20pm MDT

Conference Room II

Audiobooks are a great way to tap into readers who might not otherwise discover you. But this comes at a price which to offset, some authors are utilizing the cost and time savings offered by artificial intelligence. What is the impact of using AI narration on your copyright, brand, and bottom line?

Speakers

Sandra Murphy

Award-Winning Actress

Sandra Murphy is an award-winning actress who has narrated over 100 audiobooks across a wide range of genres, authors, and accents. She is sought-after for embodying uncomfortable topics, such as human trafficking, mental health issues and domestic violence. On the lighter side, Sandra... Read More →

Friday September 27, 2024 3:30pm - 4:20pm MDT
Conference Room II

Conference Room II

Topic Workshop
Audience Advanced
Subject Publishing
Area Hybrid

4:30pm MDT

Intimacy, Consent & Sex in Fiction

Friday September 27, 2024 4:30pm - 5:20pm MDT

Conference Room II

Are you interested in writing better romantic relationships? In this session, you will learn why love, intimacy, and consent go hand in hand to build healthier, happier characters your readers will care about.

Speakers

Rachael Bush

Author

Rachael Bush published her fourth book, Love on Location, with The Wild Rose Press in 2018 under her pen name, September Roberts. As September, she writes romance that's smoking hot and always happy ever after. As Rachael, she writes the Botany for Everyone series, because everyone... Read More →

Friday September 27, 2024 4:30pm - 5:20pm MDT
Conference Room II

Conference Room II

Topic Workshop
Audience Intermediate
Subject Genre, Craft
Area Hybrid

8:00am MDT

Writing Scenes With Multiple Characters

Saturday September 28, 2024 8:00am - 8:50am MDT

Conference Room II

This session will help participants understand how to craft scenes with multiple characters while also building plot and developing distinct character voices. Help your reader focus on your story, not on figuring out who is speaking!

Speakers

Kendra Griffin

Author

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... Read More →

Saturday September 28, 2024 8:00am - 8:50am MDT
Conference Room II

Conference Room II

Topic Workshop
Audience Intermediate
Subject Craft
Area Hybrid

9:00am MDT

Wordsmith's Workshop: Mastering Word Choice

Saturday September 28, 2024 9:00am - 9:50am MDT

Conference Room II

Does all your dialogue begin with “Oh” or “Well”? Do you regularly avoid selecting one vivid word by using five vague ones? Have editors told you your prose needs elevating? Your problem may be poor word choices. But do not despair—it’s not fatal. Come to this workshop for the cure.

Speakers

LS Hawker

USA Today Best Selling Author

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... Read More →

Saturday September 28, 2024 9:00am - 9:50am MDT
Conference Room II

Conference Room II

Topic Workshop
Audience Intermediate
Subject Craft
Area Hybrid

10:00am MDT

Back to The Past: Writing Backstory

Saturday September 28, 2024 10:00am - 10:50am MDT

Conference Room II

Backstory can be a powerful tool in fiction, creating empathy with readers. It can also drain the energy from a piece, creating unnecessary complications and confusion. In this session, we’ll look at how to choose details from a character’s past and smoothly incorporate them into your work.

Speakers

Laurie Marr Wasmund

Author

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... Read More →

Saturday September 28, 2024 10:00am - 10:50am MDT
Conference Room II

Conference Room II

Topic Workshop
Audience Intermediate
Subject Craft
Area Hybrid

11:00am MDT

Focusing Your Audience

Saturday September 28, 2024 11:00am - 11:50am MDT

Conference Room II

Audience focus techniques with brand marketing profesh and novelist, Oliver Blakemore.

Speakers

Oliver Blakemore

Author

Oliver has been writing novels since he was twelve. He’s written fifteen books, and two of them may even be worth reading. He spent four years as a technical writer and six years in brand marketing as a content writer. His credentials include a hard head and nine Honorable Mentions... Read More →

Saturday September 28, 2024 11:00am - 11:50am MDT
Conference Room II

Conference Room II

Topic Workshop
Audience Intermediate
Subject Marketing
Area Hybrid

1:30pm MDT

Marketing Your Book to Success: Before, During, & After Pubilcation

Saturday September 28, 2024 1:30pm - 2:20pm MDT

Conference Room II

Authors know that marketing their books is 100% their responsibility but most don’t have the skillset or knowledge to create a winning marketing plan for their project. In this presentation, Jennifer S. Wilkov, the founder of Your Book Is Your Hook, LLC, will show you how to master the art of determining what belongs in your marketing platform – and what doesn’t – before, during, and after your book has been published.

Speakers

Jennifer S. Wilkov

Creative Consultant, Your Book is Your Hook

Jennifer S. Wilkov is a multi #1 international best-selling award-winning author, producer, an award-winning freelance writer, The Literary Agent Matchmaker™ and a respected book, business and entertainment creative consultant for nearly 20 years. Jennifer was selected as the Error... Read More →

Saturday September 28, 2024 1:30pm - 2:20pm MDT
Conference Room II

Conference Room II

Topic Workshop
Audience Intermediate
Subject Marketing
Area Hybrid

2:30pm MDT

Successful TikTok Sales

Saturday September 28, 2024 2:30pm - 3:20pm MDT

Conference Room II

TikTok Shop is officially here and people are buying in! Whether you’re a debut author trying to come out the gates swinging, or you have a great backlist to offer readers, the time to start sell books on TikTok Shop is now. Come learn the ins and outs of TikTok shop and how to sell loads of books!

Speakers

Z.S. Diamanti

Award-Winning Author

Z.S. Diamanti is the award-winning author of the Stone & Sky series, an epic fantasy adventure and the result of his love for fun and fantastical stories. His short works have been published in magazines, literary journals, newspapers, and books. He went to college for a very long... Read More →

Saturday September 28, 2024 2:30pm - 3:20pm MDT
Conference Room II

Conference Room II

Topic Workshop
Audience Intermediate
Subject Marketing
Area Hybrid

3:30pm MDT

Editing Beyond "Gut Feeling"

Saturday September 28, 2024 3:30pm - 4:20pm MDT

Conference Room II

Revising your work (or critiquing others’) can be overwhelming. Without specific elements to look for, it’s easy to fall back on our “gut feel,” which is hard to articulate and even harder to trust. Learn to evaluate 17 storytelling aspects to edit and strengthen any manuscript, including your own!

Speakers

Kelley Lindberg

Award-Winning Author

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... Read More →

Saturday September 28, 2024 3:30pm - 4:20pm MDT
Conference Room II

Conference Room II

Topic Workshop
Audience Intermediate
Subject Editing
Area Hybrid

4:30pm MDT

Heinlein's Five Rules of Writing

Saturday September 28, 2024 4:30pm - 5:20pm MDT

Conference Room II

A discussion of Robert Heinlein’s famous “Five Rules of Writing.” These pragmatic, practical and practiced directives are for the working author and are the very career-enabling tips that steered a blue collar scribbler to becoming one of the seminal voices of his age. But are they still valid?

Speakers

Johnny Worthen

Award-Winning Author

Johnny Worthen is an award-winning, multiple-genre author of novels and short stories.His best-selling science fiction series Coronam, beginning with Of Kings, Queens & Colonies, then Of Civilized, Saved & Savages and now complete with Of Heroes, Homes & Honey, is an epic tale in... Read More →

Saturday September 28, 2024 4:30pm - 5:20pm MDT
Conference Room II

Conference Room II

Topic Workshop
Audience Intermediate
Subject Craft
Area Hybrid

8:00am MDT

Emotional Intimacy in Fiction -- Your Key to Connecting with Readers

Sunday September 29, 2024 8:00am - 8:50am MDT

Conference Room II

The emotional connection between your characters and the connection your reader forms with your characters make the difference between a story readers merely enjoy to one they can’t forget. In this workshop we’ll explore why emotional intimacy matters and how to build it into your stories.

Speakers

Cindi Myers

Award-Winning Author

Cindi Myers became one of the most popular people in eighth grade when she and a friend wrote and illustrated their first romance novel. It would be another couple of decades before Cindi saw her first novel published, but since then she has published over 100 novels -- historical... Read More →

Sunday September 29, 2024 8:00am - 8:50am MDT
Conference Room II

Conference Room II

Topic Workshop
Audience Intermediate
Subject Craft
Area Hybrid

9:00am MDT

Not Your Mother's Tropes: How to Subvert without Alienating Your Readers

Sunday September 29, 2024 9:00am - 9:50am MDT

Conference Room II

Tropes are the building blocks of literary tradition, but the most exciting works of today are often subversive. Using examples and generative writing exercises, we’ll explore ways to balance reader expectations with innovation, how to make old familiar conventions fresh without alienating readers.

Speakers

Rachel Dempsey

Author

Rachel Dempsey is a writer of horror, mystery and thrillers living in Denver. Her short fiction has been published by Shacklebound Books, Brigids Gate Press, Timber Ghost Press and Twenty Bellows (Pushcart nominated, 2023). She holds a BFA in Drama and English from NYU'S Tisch, a... Read More →

Sunday September 29, 2024 9:00am - 9:50am MDT
Conference Room II

Conference Room II

Topic Workshop
Audience Intermediate
Subject Craft
Area Hybrid

10:00am MDT

Writing about Trauma Without Triggering the Victim

Sunday September 29, 2024 10:00am - 10:50am MDT

Conference Room II

Reading about violence and sexual assault is difficult for readers. As authors, we hope to draw readers closer to our characters and their pain. But how can we create empathy with our readers without distressing them?In this workshop, we will discuss non-graphic approaches to triggering content.

Speakers

Nanette Gamily

Author

Nanette Gamily’s debut Native American crime fiction novel, CRY FOR THE CHILD, is represented by Josh Getlzer at HG Literary. She’s an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation, a Tin House Finalist, a Regis University MFA graduate, and a guest blogger for Rocky Mountain Fiction... Read More →

Sunday September 29, 2024 10:00am - 10:50am MDT
Conference Room II

Conference Room II

Topic Workshop
Audience Intermediate
Subject Craft, Genre
Area Hybrid