2026 Conference
October 15 – 17, 2026
Phoenix, Arizona
2026 Conference Workshop Presenters
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15
Special Add-On Thursday Afternoon Workshop
DR. LAURA TOHE
Arizona Poet Laureate
“The Poems, Stories, and Songs in and Around Me”
2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
$30/member; $35/nonmember
Dr. Laura Tohe is Diné. She is Tsénahabiłnii, Sleepy Rock People clan, and born for the Tódich’inii, Bitter Water clan. She grew up at Crystal, New Mexico near the Chuska Mountains on the Diné homeland. A poet, writer, and librettist, Dr. Tohe is an ASU Professor Emerita and is an “Arizona Speaks” presenter for Arizona Humanities, which awarded her the 2006 Dan Schilling Public Scholar award. In 2015 Laura was honored as the Navajo Nation Poet Laureate for 2015-2017. In 2026, Dr. Tohe was appointed as Poet Laureate for the State of Arizona.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16
Injecting Play Into Your Writing Process
Stephanie West Allen and Lynn Downey
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM
In this energizing morning session, play is explored not as something silly or frivolous but as an improvisational way of writing that brings freedom within structure and invites writers more fully into their story. During conversation, action, and demonstration, participants will experience a way to shift from stuck to productive, becoming more receptive, adventurous, and willing to risk each time they enter their writer’s mind.
Stephanie West Allen
Stephanie West Allen’s career path includes candy maker, probation officer, lawyer, and teacher (high school, college, and law school). She has presented workshops to a variety of audiences, including writers, and has written articles for a number of audiences, both legal and general. Stephanie often draws on her work in neuroscience and her training in improvisation to enliven her workshops—and her own writing. A fifth-generation Californian, she spent a number of years in Santa Fe, and currently lives in Colorado.
Lynn Downey
Lynn Downey is the Past President of Women Writing the West. She is a WILLA Award Winner, a Finalist for the LAURA Short Fiction and DOWNING Journalism awards and has also been honored by Western Writers of America and the Arizona Historical Society. She is a consulting historian, and her clients include the Charles M. Schulz Museum, Beaulieu Vineyard, Beringer Vineyards, and the Sigler Western Museum. She lives in Sonoma, California and grows Pinot Noir wine grapes in her backyard.
Homespun Marketing: What Worked and What Didn’t
Candace Simar and Krista Soukup
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM
This workshop is for writers at all levels who face the challenges of marketing once the book is published. Come and learn inexpensive ways to promote your books and increase sales–right where you live.
Candace Simar
Minnesota writer, Candace Simar, has published eight historical novels, a poetry book with her sister, and numerous short stories. Her work has received awards from Women Writing the West, Western Writers of America, Western Fictioneers, Will Rogers Gold Medallion, Midwest Book Award, Northeast Minnesota Book Award, and Catholic Media Award. For more information see www.candacesimar.com
Krista Soukup
Krista Soukup is a literary publicist and owner of Blue Cottage Agency. In 2009 after her book club’s discussion of Abercrombie Trail, she approached Candace Simar about marketing her book. Together they forged a friendship that launched Simar’s writing career and birthed the Blue Cottage Agency. With degrees in business and marketing, Krista continues to support authors across the country in promoting their work and growing their brand.
Talking About Unmentionables:
How Do Writers Research Personal Topics Which Were Taboo? A Brief History of Feminine Hygiene, Contraception, and Health
Kimberly Burns
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Participants will learn about the feminine health, hygiene, and contraception theories, techniques, and vernacular used in the American Old West, as well as where to source that information. A brief exercise and group discussion will help participants practice how and when to include these topics in their writing.
Kimberly Burns grew up in Colorado hearing stories about the colorful characters of the Old West. Her debut novel The Mrs. Tabor won numerous awards. Her latest release, The Redemption of Mattie Silks, was a finalist for both the Western Writers of America’s Spur Award and the CIBA Laramie Book Award for American and Western Fiction. She lives with her husband in Florida and Virginia where she enjoys writing and researching the strong, unknown women of American history.
Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur: The Successful Author-Publisher
Nicki Ehrlich and Joyce Sherry
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Should I self-publish my book? Learn the must-dos, the freedoms, and the possibilities of self-publishing from two people who have done it, enjoy the process, and want to make the road clearer for others.
Nicki Ehrlich
Nicki Ehrlich’s author-published debut novel, Ellis River, won the Independent Book Publishers Association’s Bill Fisher Award for Best First Book – fiction. The sequel, Zephyr Trails, won a Gold IPPY (Independent Publishers Book Award). She likes to call the genre “Literary Western.” Nicki loves the writing life and delights in sharing the whys and wherefores of author-publishing with other write-minded folk. She is currently at work on the third book in the Ellis River trilogy, launching later this year.
(nickiehrlich.com)
Joyce Sherry
Joyce Sherry speaks candidly about the creative and logistical realities of building an indie author career. A lover of all things strange and tender, she writes supernatural fantasy where ghosts speak, vampires brood, and hope refuses to die—even after death. Her award-winning, author-published novel, A Tale for the Shadows, continues to garner rave reviews. Joyce lives on California’s Monterey Bay with her musician husband and a household of expressive animals who insist on cameos in every story.
(joycesherryauthor.com)
Artificial Intelligence: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Clarissa Willis
3:15 PM – 4:15 PM
This session helps participants understand the differences between AI enhanced, AI generated and AI platforms. Participants will familiarize themselves with various AI tools and discover how to use AI ethically to enhance and improve their own writing.
Clarissa Willis
Clarissa Willis is the author of eight picture books and an award-winning chapter book! Carrie Ingalls, The Forgotten Sister, won the Western Writers of America SPUR Award for best juvenile nonfiction (2025). Her tale, Bloomers on Pikes Peak (2024), won a Will Rogers Medallion and was a Finalist for the Women Writing the West 2025 WILLA Literary Award. Previously, Clarissa was the head of publications and intellectual property development for Kaplan Early Learning Company and currently owns Solander Press.
Courage and the Power of Connection: Exploring Personal Leaps and
Divine Nudges to Uncover the Power of Connection in Our Narratives
Kate Hamberger Yakis
3:15 PM – 4:15 PM
When we do something courageous, something that pushes us far beyond our comfort zone, it often stems from the need for connection with someone else or with a community. This workshop will help you identify and use those times to inform our writing and create connection, mystery, and wonder for the reader.
Kate Hamberger Yakis
While in college, Kate Hamberger spent her summers working as a wildland firefighter on several hotshot crews and a helicopter crew on historic wildfires. In 2024, she published her award-winning memoir, Dances With Fire, where she describes the physical and mental demands of the job and the complex dynamics within male-dominated crews. In 1990, she graduated with a BA in Journalism from the University of Oregon. She resides in Silverton, Oregon, and enjoys traveling, teaching, and being outside with friends.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17
AI as a Writer’s Assistant: Practical Systems for Protecting
Creative Time
Kristine Renae Brorman
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM
You don’t need AI to write your book—you need it to manage everything around it. Learn practical, ethical ways to use AI for brainstorming, organization, and writing systems so you can spend more time doing what only you can do: tell the story.
Kristine (KR) Brorman
Kristine (KR) Brorman writes contemporary Western romance inspired by life on the Texas High Plains, where grit and grace go hand in hand. A former event planner turned author, she blends agricultural authenticity with emotionally driven storytelling. She serves as Programs Director for Texas High Plains Writers and Education Director of the New Frontiers in Writing Conference. Kristine loves helping writers build practical systems that make space for creativity—and stories that stay with readers.
Saddle Up for Self-Publishing: Your Trail Guide to Going Indie
Jayme Mansfield
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM
From wrangling a polished manuscript to crafting a cover that turns heads, this session rides through every stage of the indie publishing journey. You’ll get the lay of the land about print-on-demand and marketing strategies while we talk straight about costs, royalties, and what to expect along the ride, and we just may have a little fun!
Jayme H. Mansfield
Jayme H. Mansfield is an award-winning author of historical and contemporary novels where art and faith are common threads. As founder of Cowgirl Publishing—a publishing consultancy helping writers blaze their own trail—she brings hard-won expertise and a genuine passion for guiding others. When she’s not writing or consulting, Jayme is teaching the craft at retreats on her southern Wyoming ranch, surrounded by wide open skies and plenty of critters. For her, loosening the reins and leaning into a creative life isn’t just a philosophy—it’s how she lives.
The Courage to Write What We Fear
Kathryn Wilder
9:15 AM – 10:15 AM
An interactive session of writing rushes and ramblings with a focus on the changes we’re facing (aging, new physical or medical conditions, rejection, relationship status, horse getting too tall to mount easily, etc.), and how to write about what we most fear.
Kathryn Wilder
In a starred review of Kathryn Wilder’s The Last Cows: On Ranching, Wonder, and a Woman’s Heart, Booklist says that Wilder is “fearless in her prose and perspective.” This has won her a Western Heritage Award, Ellen Meloy Desert Writers Award, and Colorado Book Award, among others. Finalist honors include the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards and DOWNING Journalism Award. With an MFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts, Wilder writes, cowboys, and lives among mustangs in southwestern Colorado.
How True Stories Inspire Fiction:
What to Leave In and What to Leave Out…and Why
Natalie Bright, Cynthia Massey, Irene Sandell, Manuela Schneider
9:15 AM – 10:15 AM
Fiction is often inspired by true stories and writers often get stymied by wanting to stay so close to the truth that it makes the fictional narrative suspect and/or subject to legal repercussions. This panel will focus on when it is appropriate to use the name of a real person in your narrative; when and why to use fictional settings; gathering historical fact and weaving it into the storyline; and when and why to steer away from the real story.
Natalie Bright
Natalie Bright is a content creator and author. Her two history/cookbooks published by TwoDot won Gold from the Will Rogers Medallion Awards. Her article about a devastating Wildfire won first-place from the Academy of Western Artists. A Western fiction series, the Wild Cow Ranch, was a #1 Amazon HOT New Release and #1 bestseller. Bright holds a BBA in business and enjoys talking about writing and history. She and her husband Chris own a cattle ranch producing all-natural Angus beef.
Cynthia Leal Massey
Texas author Cynthia Leal Massey, a former corporate editor, college instructor, and magazine editor, has published hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles and is the author of ten books. Her literary awards include, among others, a WILLA Finalist Award, a Will Rogers Silver Medallion, and a Lone Star Award for Magazine Journalism. A former WWW President, Cynthia is also a recipient of a 2026 WWA Spur finalist award for Best Western Contemporary Novel for her crime mystery, Well of Deception.
Irene Sandell
Irene Sandell combines her passion for writing with her love of Texas by using the adventures of real people and true events to enrich her stories. Her latest novel, The Fossil Hunter, follows the lives of 3 generations of women against the backdrop of the events and cultural shifts of the 20th Century. Irene has written 4 other novels which have won several recognitions and awards, including The WILLA Literary Award and the Will Rogers Medallion.
Manuela Schneider
Schneider penned her first Western novel in 2017. To date, Schneider has published 20 books in English and German and won over 60 different awards with her books, movie projects, and song lyrics such as the Will Rogers Silver and Gold medallion and the Cannes World film festival two years in a row. Her newest movie, Dr. Goodfellow, is her first nonfiction historical feature and will premiere in Arizona in October, 2026. Schneider leads the international department of a German publishing house.
Writing from the Land
Susan J. Tweit, Dawn Wink, Deva Arani, Pam Olson
9:15 AM – 10:15 AM
We who write from different parts of our diverse region will consider two questions central to all writing from the West: How does the land shape our writing and our perspectives? How can we communicate the essence of the West—including its rich and sometimes thorny history and diverse present–in ways that convey the promise of our region?
Susan J. Tweit
A self-described “sagebrush girl” and plant geek, Susan J. Tweit is a botanist and award-winning freelance writer. Her 14 books include Bless the Birds: Living With Love in a Time of Dying, winner of the Sarton Award for memoir, and the forthcoming Earthbound: A Year of Mindful Connection in Nature, due out in October (in time for the conference!). She lives in the aromatic ocean of Western Colorado’s sagebrush sea, in a valley full of organic orchards and farms.
Deva Arani
Deva Arana is the author of Integration Alchemy: The Real Ceremony Is Your Life and The Mother Ache: Healing the Wounded Daughter Within. Raised in the foothills of the Colorado Front Range, her writing is shaped by landscape, memory, and the complexity of relational life. She holds a B.A. in English and a J.D. in Law, and her work explores embodiment, family dynamics, and lineage repair. She lives in the foothills above Boulder, Colorado, where she continues to write and teach.
Pam Olson
Pamela Olson is a native Utahn living on the Sandy Bench of the Salt Lake Valley, in the shadow of the Wasatch Mountains. A former regional magazine editor, a food blogger for Ski Utah, and a current feature writer for local publications, Olson’s primary passion was flowers until recently, when she sold her 20-year floral business to begin a new chapter as a full-time writer. A lifelong nature enthusiast, Olson is working on a memoir about how life intertwined with birds and birding adventures.
Dawn Wink
Dawn Wink’s work explores multilingualism, language, landscape, wildness, beauty, and imagination. Wink’s publications include “Constellations: Decolonizing multilingualism through Lilyology, Scholarly Personal Narrative, wildness, beauty, and imagination,” “Language, culture, and land: Lenses of lilies,” Meadowlark, and Teaching Passionately: What’s Love Got to Do with It? (Joan Wink). Wink serves as Professor of Language and Literacy at Eastern New Mexico University and presents regularly on landscape and language, multilingualism, creative writing, ecolinguistics. She loves flowers, running, dark coffee, sunrises, and sunsets.
Pitch Perfect: Cut the Noise, Land the Hook
Casey Cowan, President & Creative Director, Roan & Weatherford Publishing
2:15 PM – 3:15 PM
Pitching a book doesn’t have to be intimidating when you know how to present your story with clarity, confidence, and professionalism. This workshop shows you how to deliver a concise, compelling, and professional pitch that highlights your hook, stakes, and value… without the rambling that loses attention.
Casey Cowan
Casey Cowan brings three decades of experience in writing and design to Western publishing. He co-founded Roan & Weatherford Publishing Associates, an award-winning independent publisher of genre fiction and nonfiction, in 2013, and Saddlebag Dispatches, a leading magazine devoted to the American West, in 2014. He works closely with authors to develop distinctive voices and shape stories built for today’s market.
Writing on History’s Sex Workers: A Feminist Approach
Janelle Molony and David Grassé
2:15 PM – 3:15 PM
Molony and Grassé address the lit trend of exploiting women from the demimonde. Molony shares briefly on escaping “the weaker sex” narrative, and Grassé shares lessons learned from writing about the historical woman’s experience, as a man.
Janelle Molony
Janelle Molony, M.S.L., WWW member and WILLA Literary Award Winner, is a prolific nonfiction writer with stories about Women, Wars & the West. Her work promotes the active preservation of women’s voices and the equitable representation of their perspectives on matters of U.S. history. Molony creates vibrant YouTube content and has garnered a fun and friendly following as the “Hottie Historian.”
David Grassé
David Grassé, B.A., author of Red Light Districts of Tucson (McFarland & Co., 2026), is a 3rd-generation Arizonan and history enthusiast. He has written five books on Arizona History and authored numerous magazine, newspaper, and journal articles. Grassé is a member of the Wild West History Association and the Arizona Historical Society. When he’s not writing, he serves as a reference librarian in Payson.
