Tag Archives: Northern Colorado Writers

Save the Date: April 26-27 Northern Colorado Writers Conference

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I am so excited for this year’s NCW Writers Conference. We’ve been pretty much planning this conference since last summer—it’s gonna be good! (And not just because actor, author, and director, Andrew McCarthy is going to be our keynote speaker) . . . it doesn’t hurt though, does it? The theme, The Art of Writing, is definitely up  my alley and myself and the rest of the Conference Creative Team are hard at work. . . We’ve decoupaged canvases with book pages and have picked famous artists to inspire us. It may not look like much now, but I’m going for an Alphonse Mucha thing here . . .

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I’ll unveil this sure-to-be-a-masterpiece 😉 when it’s finished. Or burn it. We’ll see. Anyway, this conference (like the previous ones) are going to be one hell of a good time and I encourage all you writers to register and head on out to Fort Collins, CO April 26-27. Did I mention you’ll receive a copy of Andrew’s book, Longest Way Home? And get an opportunity to have him sign it? Well, you will. Looking forward to seeing you!

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Oh, and while I’m at it, I want to remind folks about the Top of the Mountain Book Award that we will be giving out at the conference. You do not have to attend the conference to win, but it’s a great opportunity to swagger your bad-ass writer self on stage and be recognized for your amazing writing talent in front of your peers, agents, and editors. Check out the link above for contest rules. Deadline is March 1. Good luck!

How I Retreated and Came Back with a Story to Tell

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A couple of times a year, my husband takes a week off to go fly fishing in Montana. The days, sometimes weeks, leading up to these fish n’ beer excursions, he’s a little on the grumpy side because his mind is on the river and typically, there’s a lot to wrap up at work before taking off. Just a couple of weeks ago, he returned from those healing Montana waters, a new man. Little did I realize, that I myself had begun to morph into Oscar the Grouch the days leading up to my writer’s retreat. With a lot on my plate (not all of it appetizing) I haven’t found much time to write, let alone, relax. I had been struggling with starting a new novel, so the retreat called to me, not unlike the way trout call out to my husband.

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This was the third consecutive year I’ve gone on the Northern Colorado Writers retreat up at the Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch, and each time, I made great progress on whatever project I had going. This year, I didn’t have anything in particular to work on since I’m in between projects. For the first hour or so, I sat in my room and stared at the wall. Another one of the attendees suggested I try these story cubes . . .

They may be geared toward kids, but they’re worth a shot. I ended up jotting down some short story ideas from them, but resumed my wall-staring for a while. Then, thanks to a few writing prompts from Writer’s Digest, I hooked into a story. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist). I hand wrote several pages of ideas, then  plotted out the structure using the Plot Line Skeleton.

Based on the skeleton plot line, I then wrote a three-page outline. Before I left, I had nearly the first two chapters written. Since I’ve already started the book, I’m obviously not participating in NaNoWriMo, but I’m going to certainly write like I am. My goal is to reach the halfway mark by Christmas. So what’s the moral to this story? If you find yourself wanting rip the heads off kittens, please don’t. Take a time out to recharge and regroup. Your friends and family will thank you, and you’ll most likely end up with a new project that you otherwise wouldn’t have come up with.

It also didn’t hurt that we had plenty of wine to help reduce those high stress levels:

Top of the Mountain Book Award

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As contest coordinator, I’m thrilled to announce the Northern Colorado Writers are now accepting submissions for the 2nd annual Top of the Mountain Book Award. The contest is open to unpublished works of fiction, creative/narrative nonfiction, and nonfiction. The contest is open until march 1, 2013. Winners receive a $100 and a framed certificate, as well as recognition at the NCW Conference April 26, 2013. Get the submission guidelines HERE and good luck!

7th Annual Northern Colorado Writers Conference

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There is nothing like a writers conference to get that writing fire lit. Like any type of conference, being surrounded by like-minded people, can get you excited about learning new things, and then implementing them into your work.  This is the third NCW conference I’ve attended, and the second one I’ve helped organize. The conference is located in Fort Collins (where I live), is typically capped at 125-140 participants, and a great deal of thought goes into the details. The presenters are always top notch, and this year, we had a particularly outstanding group of faculty. They were personable, friendly, and eager to talk with participants outside of the workshops. For a good time (in the most professional sense) call Adriana Dominguez of Full Circle Literary, Nicole Resciniti of The Seymour Agency, and Steve Metee of Quill Driver Books if you are a conference organizer.

One of the (many) highlights was our keynote speaker and NCW member, Jim Davidson, co-author of The Ledge. Have you read this book!? It’s fantastic and Jim is such a high energy, dynamic speaker.

Classes included: Writing & Publishing Your Memoir, The Difference Between Selling & Slushing, Dealing with Self-Sabotage, and The ABCs of Writing for Children, just to name a few. There were 28 different workshops and classes in all, as well as an opportunity to pitch to an agent or editor.

It’s hard to believe we’re already discussing our plans for next year’s conference, held in March. This year’s theme was Take the Road Less Traveled. To see yours truly make a fool of herself, you can see “Writer vs. Wild,” a video I co-wrote (and starred in) with my fellow Conference Creative Team member, Jenny Sundstedt.  I apologize in advance.