September 6-9 2018Colorado GoldPage 1
Colorado Gold
September 6 – 9, 2018
Denver Renaissance Hotel
Welcome
Welcome to Colorado Gold 2018!
t’s hard to imagine RMFW members have been meeting since 1983 (first as Rocky Mountain Romance Writers, then as Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers) to support one another, network, and share knowledge! Along the way, an annual conference was organized. Today, Colorado Gold has become our hallmark, the point where we come together to expand our expertise and rekindle our drive.
We hardly need to tell you that conference needs and experiences change over time and are unique to each individual. For many, it begins with a thirst for learning…an eagerness to develop our craft and gain wisdom from those who have honed their skills and reached the milestone of publication. As we develop and attend more often, we recognize the energy of Colorado Gold and its power to revive us as well as the unique kinship that pulls us together as only a family can.
This year, we introduce two new programming options: aThursdayIntensive and a Teen Trackon Sundaymorning, designed to meet the ever-diverging needs of our attendees. We again offer a wide option of concurrent sessions—group workshops and one-on-one mentoring as well as Master Classes, Critique Workshops, and Pitch Appointments. And, as usual, we expect many to simply congregate and renew one another. It is our hope that this conference provides you with all it always provides us.
We hope you’ll join us in honoring 35 years of supporting one another and leave Colorado Gold with everything you need to build another successful and productive year for yourself.
Pam Nowak & Susan Brooks
Conference Chairs
Table of Contents
Contents
Keynote Speakers
James Scott Bell
Kate Moretti
Christopher Paolini
Agents and Editors
ElayneBecker
Faith Black Ross
Bess Cozby
Melissa Edwards
Hannah Fergesen
Moe Ferrara
Mark Gottleib
Melissa Jeglinksi
Brittany Lavery
Elizabeth May
PatriciaNelson
Amanda Roberts
Lauren Spieler
Special Guests
Janet Fogg
Keir Graff
Sami Lein
Tiffany Yates Martin
Special Workshops, Meetings, and Panels
Writing a Novel They Can’t Put Down
Agent / Editor Panels
Writer of the Year Panel (WOTY and IWOTY)
False Faces: Anthology Panel
IPAL Meeting
PAL Meeting
New Attendee Meeting
Friday Morning Master Classes
Seven Building Blocks of Bestselling Fiction
Congratulations! You Get to Do Marketing!
Taming the Scrivener Beast
You Had Me at Hello: Write a Stellar Book Opening
I’ve Written a Book…Now What?
Finding the Perfect Story Structure
Mentor Room / Pitch Coaching
Workshops and Panels
7 Secrets to Writing Bloodcurdling Monsters
A Novel Journey: From Submission to Shelf
All the World’s a Stage – Writing Vivid Settings
Anatomy of an Edit Part 1: From Draft to Submission
Basic Tools for Novel-Building: Story Question, Theme, and Scene Goal
Beat Procrastination and Become a Productivity Master
Become an #1 Amazon Bestseller
Become a Narrative Pro
Being Seen as a Business in the Eyes of the IRS
Beyond Goal+Conflcit: A Better Way to Get Tension on Every Page
Beyond the Trope: Writing Epic Female Characters
Birds of a Feather
Character Building with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Cosplay Your Written Characters for Marketing and For Fun
Cultivating the Online Persona
Death by PowerPoint: Public Speaking for Authors
Diving into a Deep Pov (Point of View)
Dreaming of the Red Carpet? Beats and Structure for Screenplaysversus the Hero's Journey
Endgame: The Final Pages
Expand! Contract! The Dance of the Well-Paced Story
First Sale Panels
Creating Intimate Details Without Following Your Characters into the Bedroom
Gender Isn’t the Issue | Emily Singer
Giving Voice to the People in Your Head
Group Hypnosis: Engage Subconscious, Engage Imagination, Experience Your Character Under Hypnosis
High Concept Explained
How Book Reviewing Makes You a Better Writer
How to Get Your Money’s Worth Form a Developmental Edit
How to Find a Literary Agent
How to Hit the Bestseller Lists with Ebook Preorders
How to Host Your Own Facebook Takeover or Multi-Author Event
How to Up the Stakes in Manuscripts and Queries
How to Write Authentic African-American Characters
How to Write an Effective Hook
How to Write Kick-Ass Action Scenes
In Defense of Fan Fiction
Increase Your Book Sales with Bookbub
Interviewing Your Characters
Introduction to Ebook Self-Publishing
Leave the Magic Wand at Home: The Realities of the Author-Agent Relationship
Let Your Characters Do the Plotting
Louis L’Amour to Longmire: Westerns, Learning for the Old and New
Make Your Readers Come to You
Marketing Q&A
Monsters Under the Bed
Not Your Granny’s Romance Novel
Page Turning Secrets of the Pros
Perfect Pages - How to Start Your Novel with Style
Pique Those Ears! An Author’s Guide to Audiobooks
Plotting and Worldbuilding
Point of View: Options, Benefits, and Pitfalls
Power Revision
Put the Pizaaz in Your Character’s POV
Q&A with Conan the Grammarian
Science Fiction 101: Understanding Sub-Genres and Where Your Story
So, You Want to Write A Mystery (Thriller, PI, Police Procedural, Suspense, etc)
Spycraft: Essentials for Writers
Strip-searching Your Prose
Submission Netiquette
Tactical Writing: Structuring Your Prose to Bring Out the Story You Want |
Take Off the Exposition Hat: How to Set Up Your World and Characters Efficiently While Avoiding the Dreaded Infodump
Techniques and Tools for Prolific Writers
The 15 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes
The Art of Writing Authentic Dialogue
The Essentials of Voice in Fiction
The Itty-bitty Nitty-gritty of Making Prose Pretty
The Kidlit Crash Course
The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success
Top 10 Trends Impacting the Future of Publishing
The Power of Tropes in Popular Fiction
Thinking Outside the Card Catalogue: A Different Approach to
Torture the One You Love: Values, Beliefs, and the Major Reversal
Trauma for Writers: Realistically Portraying Character Trauma
Two Writers One Book
Under-utilized Forensic Details
What Makes a Novel Young Adult?
What Next? From Rejection Letters to Big Success
What's Your Canoe? Identifying and Fixing Your Manuscript's Achilles Heel
Why I Hate Self-Publishing: A Snarky Guide by a Happy Self-Published Author
Words, Words, Words
Write on Fire!
Writing and Editing
Writing Suspenseful Fiction in Every Genre
Writing a Traditional/Cozy Mystery Series
Writing Characters from Cultures That Are Not Your Own
Writing Mindfully: Using the Five Senses to Enrich Your Fiction
Writing the Alpha Male in the #MeToo Era
Writing Victorian Violence
Writing Without Fear
Presenters
Jim Azevedo
Sarah H. Baker
Laura VanArendonk Baugh
Piper Bayard
Carol Berg
Kay Bergstrom
Caitlin Berve
Andrea Catalano
Conan the Grammarian
Curtis Craddock
Denise [Deni] Dietz
Sue Duff
Jason Evans
Gwen Florio
Therese Francis
Warren Hammond
Brenda M Hardwick
Easton Harrison
LS Hawker
Sue Hinkin
Angie Hodapp
Linda Joffe Hull
Kevin Ikenberry
Kate Jonuska
Christine T Jorgensen
Michelle Kellogg
Terry Kroenung
Cynthia Kuhn
Karen Lin
Laurence MacNaughton
Laura Manual
Anne Marie
Bernadette Marie
Sharon Mignerey
Mandy Mikulencak
Steven Moores
Anita Mumm
Cindi Myers
Corinne O’Flynn
Anne Randolph
Stephanie Reisner
Liz Roadifer
J. Rose
Kerry Schafer
Emily Singer
Janet Smith
Maggie Smith
Susan Mackay Smith
Peggy Waide
Heather Webb
Tim Weed
Kevin Wolf
General Information
Workshop Levels
Wifi
Parking
Jasmine Award
About RMFW
Journal Donations
Audio Recordings
Notice of photography, audio and video recording
Need help? Lost?
Bookstore
Room Location / Floor Levels
Hotel Maps
September 6-9 2018Colorado GoldPage 1
Keynote Speakers
James Scott Bell
James Scott Bellis the author of eleven thrillers, and is a winner of the International Thriller Writers Award for his novel,Romeo’s Way,and the #1 bestselling author ofbooks on the craft of writing. Jim served as fiction columnist for Writer's Digest magazine, to which he frequently contributes, and has written five craft books for Writer’s Digest Books:Plot & Structure,Revision & Self-Editing,The Art of War for Writers,Conflict & SuspenseandJust Write.HisWrite Your Novel FromThe Middlewas an instant #1 Amazon bestselling writing book.
Kate Moretti
Kate Moretti is the New York Times Bestselling author of four novels and a novella, includingThought I Knew You,While You Were Gone,Binds That Tie,The Vanishing Year, andBlackbird Season.Her first novelThought I Knew You,was a New York Times bestseller.The Vanishing Yearwas a nominee in the Goodreads Choice Awards Mystery/Thriller category for 2016 and was called "chillingly satisfying." (Publisher's Weekly)with "superb" closing twists (New York Times Book Review).
Christopher Paolini
Christopher Paolini is the author of the international bestsellersEragon,Eldest,Brisingr,andInheritance,along withEragon’s Guide to Alagaësia.He resides in Paradise Valley, Montana, USA.In 2011, the Guinness World Records recognized him as the “youngest author of a bestselling book series.”
Agents and Editors
ElayneBecker| Editor | Forge Books | Acquiring: historical fiction, fantasy, romance, contemporary fiction, young adult, middle grade, speculative fiction
Elayne Becker is an Associate Editor for Forge Books, Tor Teen, and Starscape. She works closely with books across multiple genres of fiction, but her heart lies with tales of history, myth, and magic. When she’s not dreaming of traveling the world, she can usually be found in a bookstore.The stories she like best are ones that take her to another world, whether that’s a fantasy realm, Ancient Rome, or London during the Great Exhibition of 1851. To that end, she's particularly interested in finding good historical fiction and fantasy. A unique twist on a classic fairy tale or a clever retelling of a myth are also up her alley. Gorgeous prose, body diversity, protagonists with disabilities, sibling stories, and good, swoonworthy romances are always pluses, as are animals and stories set in any stretch of wilderness such as the Appalachian Trail or the Rocky Mountains. For anything speculative, she's acquiring middle grade and young adult only. For contemporary fiction or historicals, I’m open to middle grade, young adult, and adult.
Faith Black Ross—Editor | Crooked Lane Books | Acquiring: mysteries, thrillers,
Faith Black Ross began her publishing career at Cambridge University Press, after receiving her BA from Williams College, her MA from Rutgers University and studying at Oxford University. From Cambridge she moved to Avalon Books where she became head of the editorial department overseeing a mix of mysteries, romances, and historical fiction. Faith then joined the editorial department of the Berkley Publishing Group/Penguin Random House publishing mysteries and historical fiction and working with bestselling and award-winning authors including Agatha Award winners and Edgar nominees. Faith then worked as an acquiring editor for Severn House in the UK before joining Crooked Lane in 2016.
Bess Cozby| Tor/Forge Books | Acquiring: historical fiction, women's fiction, YA thrillers, YA contemporary
Bess Cozby is an Editor at Tor/Forge books, where she is actively building her list with a focus on historical fiction for adult and young adult audiences. On the adult side, Bess is also seeking suspense and women’s fiction. For YA, she also would love to find fun, fast, or nail-biting thrillers and contemporary novels with a high-concept hook. A few things she is particularly interested in: fame and its effects on people, sibling dynamics, American history, and philosophy. An element of romance is always a plus. The intersection of commercial, heart-warming, and surprising is where she is building her list.
Melissa Edwards—Agent | Stonesong Literary | Acquiring: middle-grade and YA fiction, commercial women's fiction, mysteries, and thrillers
Melissa Edwardsjoined Stonesong as a literary agent in August 2016. Previously, she was a literary agent at the Aaron Priest Literary Agency, where she managed the foreign rights for a 40-year backlist. After graduating from Washington University in St. Louis and Vanderbilt Law School, Melissa began her career as a litigation attorney before transitioning into publishing. She is a tireless advocate for her clients and a constant partner during the publication process and beyond.Melissa represents authors of children’s fiction, adult commercial fiction, and select pop-culture nonfiction. She is looking for warm and timeless middle grade fiction and accessible young adult fiction. For adults, she is looking for fast-paced thrillers and smart women’s fiction. She can be found on Twitter @MelissaLaurenE, where she often tweets her active Manuscript Wishlist requests under #MSWL.
Hannah Fergesen| Agent | KT Literary | Acquiring:YA and MG fiction, or dark and lyrical speculative adult fiction
Hannah joined KT Literary as a New York-based agent after stints as a bookseller at the famous Books of Wonder in Manhattan, a literary assistant at Trident Media Group, and a freelance editor working with well-known authors. Thanks to her degree in Writing for Film and Television, she is attracted to stories with strong visuals and sharp dialogue, whether presented in edgy speculative or contemporary YA and MG fiction, or dark and lyrical speculative adult fiction.
Moe Ferrara| Agent | BookEnds Literary | Acquiring:middle grade, young adult, and adult readers in most genres
Becoming a literary agent was fitting for the girl who, as a small child, begged her dad to buy her a book simply because "it has a hard cover." Growing up, she had a hard time finding YA books outside of Christopher Pike and R. L. Stine, and instead tackled Tom Clancy or her mom's romance novels. Though her career path zigzagged a bit—she attended college as a music major, earned a JD from Pace Law School, then worked various jobs throughout the publishing industry—Moe was thrilled to join the BookEnds team in May of 2015 as a literary agent and thesubsidiary rights director.
Mark Gottleib—Agent | Trident | Acquiring: all genres
Mark Gottlieb has ranked #1 among Agents onpublishersmarketplace.comin Overall Deals and other individual categories. Using that same initiative and insight for identifying talented writers, he is actively building his own client list of authors. Mark is excited to work directly with authors, helping to manage and grow their careers with all of the unique resources that are available book publishing’s leading literary agency, Trident Media Group. He is actively seeking submissions in all categories and genres.
Melissa Jeglinksi| Agent | Knight Agency | Acquiring: Romance (contemporary, category, inspirational), Women’s Fiction, Middle Grade, Historical Fiction and Mystery
A graduate of Clarion University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in English with a writing concentration, Melissa began her career as an editor with Harlequin Enterprises. Looking to work with a variety of authors and genres, she joined The Knight Agency in 2008.With over two decades experience in the publishing industry, Melissa has fostered her clients to National prominence including a recent Newbery Honor. She is a member of RWA and AAR.
Brittany Lavery—Editor | HQN | Acquiring: general fiction and romance
Brittany Lavery started her publishing career in 2009 with an internship at a literary agency and never looked back, moving on to positions at the University of Toronto Press and Penguin Canada, joining Harlequin/HarperCollins in 2015. In her career, Brittany has worked in foreign rights and editorial; she’s worked with children’s and adult fiction, prize winners andNew York Timesbestsellers. She’s always on the hunt for a book that makes her ignore her life so she can read just one more page. When she doesn’t have her nose in a book, you can find her playing soccer, discussing baseball, or watching X-Files reruns.
Elizabeth May| Assistant Editor | Kensington | Acquiring: historical fiction, sci fi, fantasy, women's fiction, romance, mysteries
Elizabeth May is an Assistant Editor at Kensington Publishing Corp. She graduated from Emerson College with a degree in film and television production before belatedly realizing that the book is always better than the movie. She taught English as a foreign language abroad before finding her career in book publishing.
She is seeking a wide range of fiction. She loves the escapist aspect of books, and enjoys stories set in different worlds, whether it’s historical fiction or sci fi/ fantasy. She has a strong love of women’s historical fiction, and romance. But also enjoys dark twisty mysteries, or irresistibly quaint cozies.
You can follow her on Twitter at @LizMay05
PatriciaNelson—Agent | Marsal Lyons | Acquiring: all genres of young adult and middle grade fiction;women's fiction both upmarket and commercial; historical and contemporary romance
Patricia Nelson has been a literary agent with Marsal Lyon Literary Agency since 2014. Patricia's clients include bestselling and award-winning authors; recent sales include books placed with HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Candlewick, and St. Martin's Press, among others.Patricia holds a bachelor’s degree from the College of William and Mary,a master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Southern California and a master’s degree in Gender Studies from the University of Texas at Austin.