PAST CONFERENCES
In 1993, a small group of Colorado writers put on the inaugural Pikes Peak Writers Conference. These first PPW volunteers were determined to provide conference attendees with the best speakers and presenters in the world of commercial fiction. Thus began the tradition of excellence in service, programming, and volunteerism that continues to distinguish Pikes Peak Writers and PPWC today.
We encourage you to wander through the Pikes Peak Writers Conferences of yesteryear and see how this tradition came to be. Get a feel for our history and excited about making yourself a part of our present and future. Welcome.
PPW Conference 2021
PPW Conference 2020
Cancelled due to Covid-19.
PPW Conference 2019
The 2019 PPWC was held May 3- 5, 2019 at the Colorado Springs Marriot. The director was Laura Hayden. Our keynotes include four top, best-selling authors: John Gilstrap, Rachel Howzell Hall, Anne Bishop and Susan Wiggs. Our list of Agents and Acquiring Editors featured Rachel Howzell Hall, Susan Wiggs, Stacey Barney, Rachel Diebel , Victoria Doherty Munro, Becky LeJeune, Tim Hoeler, Faith Black Ross, Lesley Sabga, and Suzie Townsend. Authors and Specialists included Stacy Barney, Debbie Maxwell Allen, Carol Berg, Fleur Bradley, Eric Carlson, Trai Cartwright, Margo Catts, Deb Courtney, Rachel Delaney Craft, Jason Dias, Jason Evans, Chris Goff, Dan Grant, Polly Letofsky, Stant Litore, Chris Mandeville, Bonnie McCune, Kendra Merritt, James Persichetti, Veronica (Calisto) Roland, Rebecca Rowley, Cindy Skaggs, David Slayton, and Sarah Storme. The PPW Conference Volunteer award went to Becki Davis and the PPW Volunteer of the Year award went to Amy Armstrong. In addition, PPW awarded the Legacy Award to Jared Hagen.
PPW Conference 2018
The 2018 PPWC was held April 27-29, 2018 at the Colorado Springs Marriott. The director was Karen Fox. The keynotes included Laurell K. Hamilton, Jonathan Maberry, Mary Robinette Kowal and Bob Mayer. Our list of Agents and Acquiring Editors featured Martin Biro, Steve Saffel, Kelsy Thompson, Deb Werksman, Stacy Whitman, Melissa Edwards, Angie Hodapp, Gabrielle Piraino, Quressa Robinson, Justin Wells and Maximilian Ximenez. Authors and Specialists included Debbie Maxwell Allen, Terry Banker, M.H. Boroson, Fauzia Burke, Trai Cartwright, Liz Colter, Jason Evans, Kerrie Flanagan, Therese Francis, Larry Grimaldi, Lisa Hawker, Laura Hayden, Darby Karchut, Sam Knight, Deanna Knippling, Mariko Tatsumoto, Cindi Madsen, Jenny Marts, Pam McCutcheon, Kendra Merritt, Rod Miller, April Moore, Aaron Michael Ritchey, MB Partlow, Megan Rutter, Callie Stoker, and Johnny Worthen. The PPW Conference Volunteer award went to Torie Fox-Phillips and the PPW Volunteer of the Year award went to Linda Tschappat. In addition, PPW awarded the Legacy Award to Karen Fox. PPW also gave an extra award of appreciation to Todd Gleason for all his work on moving the PPW website.
PPW Conference 2017
The 2017 PPWC – our Silver Jubilee celebrating our 25th year, was held April 27-29, 2017 at the Colorado Springs Marriott. The director was Laura Hayden. The keynotes included Kevin Hearne, Tess Gerritsen, Darynda Jones and Donald Maass. Our list of Agents and Acquiring Editors featured Mike Braff, Kate Brauning, Cheryl Klein, Esi Sogah, Lisa Abellera, Heather Flaherty, Natalie Lakosil, Sam Morgan, Kristin Nelson, and Sharon Pelletier. Authors and Specialists included Jodi Anderson, Carol Berg, M.H. Boronson, Fleur Bradley, Becky Clark, Colleen Collins & Shaun Kaufman, KL Cooper, Deb Courtney, Laura DiSilverio, Todd Fahnestock, JL Fields, Therese Francis, LS Hawker, Travis Hermann, Patrick Hester, Kevin Ikenberry, Darby Karchut, Sam Knight, Shannon Lawrence, Stant Litore, Chris Mandeville, Jennie Marts, Michelle Major, Pam McCutcheon, MK Meredith, Barbara Nickless, MB Partlow, Meagan Rutter, David R. Slayton, Robert Spiller, Gregg Taylor, Michael R. Underwood, and Lana Williams. The PPW Conference Volunteer award went to two winners– Sergey Barbotko and Charise Simpson and the PPW Volunteer of the Year award went to Stacy Jensen. In addition, PPW awarded the Legacy Award to Shannon Lawrence. PPW also gave an award of thanks to Bill May for his many years of service in the onsite bookstore.
PPW Conference 2016
The 2016 PPWC was held April 15-17 at the Colorado Springs Marriott. The theme was “Dare to Dream.” The director was Jason P. Henry. The keynotes were Kevin J. Anderson, Rachel Caine, Joe R. Lansdale, Jeff Lindsay, Wendy Corsi Staub. Agents and Acquiring Editors were Annie Berger, Caitlin Dareff, Melissa L. Edwards, Angie Hodapp, Jennifer Letwack, Patricia Nelson, Renee Nyen, Steve Saffel, Alec Shane, Elaine Spencer, Suzie Townsend. Authors and Specialists were Jerry Ackerman, Jodi Anderson, Carol Berg, Becky Clark, Evangeline Denmark, Jason Dias, Warren Hammond, J.T. Evans, Lisa Hawker, Jason P. Henry, Kevin Ikenberry, Julie Kazimer, DeAnna Knippling, Shannon Lawrence, Michelle Major, Susan Mitchell, Anita Mumm, MB Partlow, Magdalena Anya Rakoczy, Aaron Michael Ritchey, Judith Robbins Rose, M.L. Rowland, Aimie K. Runyan, Angel Smits, Andra Watkins, Johnny Worthen. The PPW Conference Volunteer was Karen Fox and the PPW Volunteer of the Year was Donnell Bell.
PPW Conference 2015
The 2015 Pikes Peak Writers Conference was held April 24 – 26 at the Colorado Springs Marriott in majestic Colorado Springs, Colorado. The conference theme was “Choose Your Writing Adventure.” The 2015 director was MB Partlow. The keynote speakers included Mary Kay Andrews, Andrew Gross, R.L. Stine, and Seanan McGuire. The faculty also included agents Margaret Bail (Inklings Literary Agency), Melissa Flashman (Trident Media Group), Sandy Lu (L. Perkins Agency), Renee Nyen (kt literary), Mary Sue Seymour (The Seymour Agency), Andrea Somberg (Harvey Klinger Inc.), Kate Testerman (kt literary), and Jennifer Udden (Donald Maass Agency). Attending editors included Dana Isaacson (Ballantine Books), Tricia Narwani (Del Rey), and publisher Liz Pelletier (Entangled).
Our authors and specialists included Mike Befeler, F.T. Bradley, Trai Cartwright, Joe Charnes, Laura DiSilverio, Bree Ervin, JL Fields, Patrick Hester, Angie Hodapp, Kevin Ikenberry, J.A. Kazimer, Pete Klismet, Alex Kourvo, Cara Lopez Lee, Chris Lynn, Jennie Marts, Pam McCutcheon, MK Meredith, Rod Miller, Barbara (Samuel) O’Neal, Graves Paranormal, Aaron Michael Ritchey, Mohan Sagar, Jeffrey Scholes, Angel Smits, Jim Snell, Robert Spiller, Jane Stine, Lynn Troop, Brandy Vallance, and Josh Vogt. Special Programming included the Thursday PPWC Prequel which consisted of six traditional workshops (Author 101: Let the Journey Begin; Reading Like an Editor: Edit Your Novel Like a Pro; Blueprint for Building Your Dream: The Nuts and Bolts of Non-Fiction Writing; The Resonance of Writing: How Your Book Should Sound, and Why; Queries with Claws; and Romantic Fiction Bootcamp ) and two Life After Death workshops consisting of A Glimpse Beyond in the morning and Facts and Faiths in the afternoon. The Graves Paranormal group conducted ghost hunts in the Marriott on Thursday and Friday evenings.
The PPW Volunteer of the Year was Shannon Lawrence, the PPW Conference Volunteer was Jason Henry, and the PPW Legacy Award went to Susan Mitchell. A special recognition for all her work went to Jennifer LaPointe. The Zebulon announced the contest winners at the Saturday evening banquet. Jared Hagan offered an amazing deal on professional photography. Aaron Michael Ritchey was the emcee for the weekend. The partial payment plan continued to be very popular with those who used it.
PPW Conference 2014
The 2014 Pikes Peak Writers Conference was held April 25 – 27 at the Colorado Springs Marriott in majestic Colorado Springs, Colorado. The conference theme was “Write Here, Write Now… Make it Happen!” The 2014 director was MK Meredith. The keynote speakers included Gail Carriger, Jim C. Hines, Hank Phillippi Ryan, and Chuck Wendig. The faculty also included agents Amy Boggs (Donald Maass Literary Agency), Michelle L. Johnson (Inklings Literary Agency), Kristin Nelson (Nelson Literary Agency), Beth Phelan (Bent Agency), Gordon Warnock (Foreword Literary), and Carlisle Webber (CK Webber Associates). Attending editors included Terri Bischoff (Midnight Ink), Sarah Peed (Del Rey and Ballantine), Terese Ramin (Entangled Publishing), and Sara Sargent (Simon & Schuster).
Our authors and specialists included Tom Adair, Karen Albright Lin, Carol Berg, Aaron Brown with Delve, Trai Cartwright, Becky Clark, Deb Courtney, Jaxine Daniels, Evangeline Denmark, Kerrie Flanagan, Laura Hayden, Lynda Hilburn, Patrick Hester, Jennifer Jakes, Darby Karchut, Kimberly Killion, Pete Klismet, DeAnna Knippling, Mark Lefebvre, Jennifer Lovett, Cindi Madsen, Chris Mandeville with Delve, Pam McCutcheon with Delve, Jessica McDonald, Susan Mitchell, Cindi Myers, Kris Neri, Aaron Michael Ritchey, Linda Rohrbough, Kris Tualla, Brandy Vallance with Delve, Todd Wallinger, Robin Widmar, and Tiffany Yates Martin. Special Programming included the Thursday PPWC Prequel which consisted of six traditional workshops (Edit Yourself, Pitch Perfect, Telling Your Story with Non-Fiction, Write the Query Right, the 5 W’s of Indie Publishing, and Bring on the Buzz: Creating a Conversation about Your Book) and two interactive workshops involving processing a murder scene and solving the crime (Murder Seen to Murder Scene and The Mental Manhunt). The Killion Group hosted an attendee mixer on Friday evening and Friday night dinner was accompanied by a Steampunk themed costume party.
The PPW Volunteer of the Year was J.T. Evans, the PPW Conference Volunteer was M.B. Partlow, and the PPW Legacy Award went to Bonnie Hagan. The Zebulon announced the first contest winners at the Saturday evening banquet. Jared Hagan offered an amazing deal on professional photography. T-shirts were sold in the bookstore. Aaron Michael Ritchey was the emcee for the weekend. A partial payment plan was offered and well received.
PPW Conference 2013
The 2013 Pikes Peak Writers Conference was held April 18 – 21 at the Colorado Springs Marriott in beautiful Colorado Springs, Colorado. The conference theme was “Writing from the Ashes: Never Lose Sight of Your Dreams.” The 2013 director was Bonnie Hagan. The keynote speakers included Amber Benson, Libba Bray, Barry Eisler and David Liss. The faculty also included agents Hannah Bowman (Liza Dawson Associates), Sorche Fairbank (Fairbank Literary), Barry Goldblatt (Barry Goldblatt Literary), Shannon Hassan (Warner Literary Group), Nicole Resciniti (The Seymour Agency), Kate Testerman (kt literary), and Pam Van Hylckama Vlieg (Larsen Pomada Literary). Attending editors included Mike Braff (Del Rey), Christopher Hernandez (HarperCollins Children’s Books), Pat Van Wie (Bell Bridge Books), and Deb Werksman (Sourcebooks).
Our authors and specialists included Jodi Anderson, Terry Banker, Donnell Ann Bell, Kathy Brandt, Becky Clark, Deb Courtney, Jaxine Daniels, Kathryn Eastburn, J.T. Evans, Todd Fahnestock, Matthew Frederick, Laura Hayden, Lynda Hilburn, Lisa Renee Jones, Stephen Graham Jones, Darby Karchut, DeAnna Knippling, Robert Liparulo, Max Maddox, Cindi Madsen, Chris Mandeville, Pam McCutcheon, Susan Mitchell, Chris Myers, MB Partlow, Twist Phelan, Laura Resau, Aaron Ritchey, Brian Schwartz, and Todd Wallinger. Special programming included the Thursday Add-on Workshops which covered writing memoir, personal essay, and creative nonfiction; writing for the YA and MG market; how to pitch; a marketing and PR bootcamp, nonfiction writing, writing and marketing historical fiction, crafting believable fiction, and writing query letters.
The PPW Volunteer of the Year was Shannon Lawrence, and the PPWC Volunteers of the Year were Jennifer LaPointe and MB Partlow. Aaron Michael Ritchey was the emcee for the weekend. A special announcement at the Awards Banquet heralded the return of the PPW Fiction Writing Contest in the fall of 2013.
PPW Conference 2012
The 2012 Pikes Peak Writers Conference was held April 19 – 22 at the Colorado Springs Marriott in beautiful Colorado Springs, Colorado. The atmosphere was festive as PPW celebrated its 20th Annual Conference. The director was Laura Hayden and the co-director was Chris Mandeville. The keynote speakers were Robert Crais, Jeffrey Deaver, Donald Maass, and Susan Wiggs. The faculty also included agents Rachelle Gardner (Books and Such Literary), Evan Gregory (Ethan Ellenberg Literary), Weronika Janczuk (Lynn Franklin Associates), Amanda Luedeke (MacGregor Literary), Taylor Martindale (Full Circle Literary), Kristen Nelson (Nelson Literary), and Paige Wheeler (Folio Literary Management). Attending editors included Lou Anders (Pyr Books), Debra Dixon (Belle Books), Leis Pederson (Berkley Publishing), and Steve Saffel (Titan Books).
Our authors and specialists included Mario Acevedo, Tom Adair, Esri Albritten, Jodi Anderson, Kevin J. Anderson, Donnell Ann Bell, Carol Berg, Becky Clark, Terri Clark, Mark Coker, Colleen Collins, Deb Courtney, Ronald Cree, Laura DiSilverio, Karen Duvall, Lindsay Eland, Bree Ervin, Todd Fahnestock, Kenny Golde, Beth Groundwater, Warren Hammond, Victoria Hanley, Darby Karchut, Shaun Kaufman, j.a. kazimer, DeAnna Knippling, Joe R. Lansdale, Karen Albright Lin, Marie Lu, Pam McCutcheon, Susan Mitchell, Rebecca Moesta, Chris Myers, Bonnie Ramthun, Linda Rohrbough, Charles Rush, Barbara Samuel, Angel Smits, Robert Spiller, Carrie Vaughn, Denise Vega, Michael Waite, and Nar Williams. Special programming included the Thursday Only Workshops: “So You Want to Write a Book” with Angel Smits; “Mile High Concept” with Karen Albright Lin and Esri Albritten; “Query Letter Secrets Revealed” with Kristen Nelson; a “Day on YA” track with various authors; and “Writing 21st Century Fiction” with Donald Maass. Thursday Night was our “Evening with the Stars” featuring a special dinner with the keynote speakers and a book signing with our entire faculty.
The PPW Volunteer of the Year was Deb Courtney, and the PPWC Volunteer of the Year was Bonnie Hagan. Jodi Anderson and Todd Fahnestock were the emcees for the weekend, and a PPWC first was the flash mob performance of “Consider Yourself” from Oliver! during the welcome luncheon.
PPW Conference 2011
The 2011 Pikes Peak Writers Conference was held April 28 – May 1at the Colorado Springs Marriott in beautiful Colorado Springs, Colorado. The conference theme was “Blaze the Write Trail.” The director was Bonnie Hagan. The keynote speakers were Debra Dixon, John Hart, Beth Kendrick, and Linda Lael Miller. The faculty also included agents Sandra Bond (Bond Literary), Andrea Brown (Andrea Brown Literary), Natalie Fischer (Bradford Agency), Denise Little (Ethan Ellenberg Agency), Jill Marsal (Marsal Lyon Literary), and Joanna Volpe (Coffey Literary). Attending editors included Debra Dixon (Belle Books), Brittany Hamblin (Harper Perennial), Sharyn November (Firebird Books), and Kristine Pratt (Written World Communications).
Our authors and specialists included Tom Adair, Jodi Anderson, Hilari Bell, Carol Berg, Fleur Bradley, Becky Clark, Deb Courtney, Ronald Cree, Todd Fahnestock, Maria Faulconer, David MacInnis Gill, Bonnie Hagan, Elizabeth Hand, Laura Hayden, Ian T. Healy, Peter Husak, D.S. Kane, j.a. kazimer, Pat Kennelly, DeAnna Knippling, Eden Lane, Morgen Leigh, Karen Albright Lin, Chris Mandeville, Susan Mitchell, Chris Myers, Phillip Nutman, the Renaissance Scots, Aaron Ritchey, Linda Rohrbough, Barbara Samuel, Angel Smits, Bev Sninchak, Brenda Speer, Jeanne Stein, and Marti Verlander. Special programming included the Thursday Add-on Workshops which covered Goal, Motivation, & Conflict; screenwriting; how to pitch; memoir writing; The Heroine’s Journey; and Writing the Fiction Synopsis. PPWC 2011 also featured a reality track of workshops including paranormal investigation, writing fight scenes, cowboy & western writing, crime scene investigation, using bloodstains to solve murders, and seventeenth century Scotland.
The PPW Volunteer of the Year was Ronald Cree, and the PPWC Volunteers of the Year were Grant and Connie McKenzie. Jodi Anderson and Todd Fahnestock were the emcees for the weekend.
PPW Conference 2010
The 2010 Pikes Peak Writers Conference was held April 22-25 at the Colorado Springs Marriott in beautiful Colorado Springs, Colorado. The 2010 director was Laura Hayden. The keynote speakers included Donald Maass, Kelley Armstrong, Jodi Thomas and Tim Dorsey. The faculty also included agents Gary Heidt (Signature Agency), Scott Hoffmann (Folio Literary Management), Sara Megibow and Kristin Nelson (Nelson Literary Agency), Sarah Warner (Warner Literary Group), and Caryn Wiseman (Andrea Brown Literary Agency). Attending editors included Kate Gale (Red Hen Press), Kathleen Gilligan (Thomas Dunne/St. Martin’s), Betsy Mitchell (Del Rey), Allison Lyons (Harlequin) and Lisa Rector (First Draft).
Our authors and specialists included Jodi Anderson, Carol Berg, Deb Courtney, Ronald Cree, Laura DiSilverio, Todd Fahnestock, Kirk Farber, Janet Fogg, Beth Groundwater, Laura Hayden, Ron Heimbecher, Cicily Janus, Karen Albright Lin, Chris Mandeville, Pam McCutcheon, Susan Mitchell, Linda Rorhbough, Barbara Samuel, and Angel Smits. Special programming included the T3: Thursday Targeted Track– a series of longer workshops on beginning, intermediate and advanced levels and a special presentation by Donald Maass on Sunday, “The Fire in Fiction.”
The PPWC Volunteer of the Year was Susan Mitchell and the PPW Volunteer of the Year was Bonnie Hagan. In addition, the Legacy Award was presented to Laura Hayden, and “The Martha” award was named for and presented to long-time PPW veteran, Martha Lancaster. Jodi Anderson and Todd Fahnestock were co-emcees for the weekend.
PPW Conference 2009
The 2009 Pikes Peak Writers Conference was held on April 23-26 at the Colorado Springs Marriott in beautiful Colorado Springs, Colorado. The 2009 directors were Karen Fox and Pam McCutcheon. The keynote speakers included Jeffery Deaver, James N Frey, Barbara Samuel/Barbara O’Neal and Laura Resnick. The faculty also included agents Sandra Bond (Bond Literary Agency) , Nathan Bransford and Ginger Clark (Curtis Brown) Kirby Kim (Endeavor), Kevin Lyon (Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency) and Natanya Wheeler (Lowenstein-Yost Associates Inc.). Attending editors included Catherine Frank (Viking Children’s Books), Celia Johnson (Grand Central Publishing), Jennifer Pooley (William Morrow), Shelly Shapiro (Del Rey Books) and Leslie Wainger Book Doctor, Editor-at-Large.
Our authors and specialists included Jodi Anderson, Bill Brooks, Wendy Burt-Thomas, Deb Courtney, A.C. Crispin, Karen Fox, Allegra Johnston, Laura Hayden, Ron Heimbecher, R.T. Lawton, Deborah LeBlanc, Brian Mandabach, Pam McCutcheon, Susan Mitchell, Linda Rorhbough, Linda Seger, and Angel Smits. Special programming included a Thursday Optional Add-on Day– a series of longer workshops on beginning, intermediate and advanced levels. The PPWC Volunteer of the Year was Pam McCutcheon and the PPW Volunteer of the Year was Chris Mandeville. In addition, Linda Rohrbough was honored with a Legacy Award for her many years of contributions to the PPW NewsMag, and Duncan Mandeville was recognized for his volunteer service with a Special Youth Volunteer Award. Jodi Anderson was the emcee for the weekend.
PPW Conference 2008
The 2008 Pikes Peak Writers Conference was held April 25-27 at the Colorado Springs Marriott in beautiful Colorado Springs, Colorado. The 2008 director was Kristin Akens. The keynote speakers included Carol Berg, Vicki Lewis Thompson, David Liss, and Walter and Louise Simonson. Attending agents included Kate McKean (Howard Morhaim Literary), Lauri McLean (Larsen-Pomada Literary Agents), Rachelle Gardner (WordServe Literary Group), Pamela Harty (The Knight Agency), Victoria Skurnick (The Levine Greenberg Literary Agency), and Cherry Weiner (Cherry Weiner Literary Agency).
Attending editors included Toni Plummer (Thomas Dunne/St. Martin’s), Cecile Goyette (Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers), Rakesh Satyal (HarperCollins), Liz Scheier (Random House), Peter Senftleben (Kensington Books), and Abby Zidle (Pocket Books).
Our authors and specialists included Jodi Anderson, Carol Berg, Gordon Carroll, Stephen Coonts, Giles Carwyn, Kenny Golde, Alane Ferguson, Lee Lofland, Bob Mayer, Kent Nelson, Mark Ortler, Kim Reid, Laura Reeve, and Lynda Sandoval. Special programming included manuscript evaluations by Pat LoBrutto and Steve Saffel. The PPWC Volunteer of the Year was Martha Lancaster and the PPW Volunteer of the Year was Beth Groundwater. In addition, Charlie Rush was awarded the first ever Legacy Award for outstanding achievement over the course of his long history with Pikes Peak Writers. Jodi Anderson was the emcee for the weekend.
PPW Conference 2007
The 2007 Pikes Peak Writers Conference was held April 20-22 at the Colorado Springs Marriott in beautiful Colorado Springs, Colorado. The 2007 director was Laura Hayden. The keynote speakers included Eric Maisel, Mary Jo Putney, Jim Butcher and Robert Crais.
Attending agents included Andrea Barzvi (ICM), Lilly Ghahremani (Full Circle Literary), Anita Kushen (Anita Kushen & Associates), Daniel Lazar (Writers House), Kristin Nelson (Nelson Literary Agency, LLC), and Andrea Somberg (Harvey Klinger, Inc).
Attending editors included Debra Dixon (BelleBooks), Sarah Durand (Morrow/Avon) Cecile Goyette (Alfred A. Knopf), Mary-Theresa Hussey (Harlequin/Silhouette), Denise Little (Tekno Books/Five Star), Krista Marino (Delacorte Press) and Anne Sowards (Berkley). Special programming included manuscript evalutions by Laurie Wagner Buyer and Steve Saffel.
Our authors and specialists included Daniel Abraham, Jodi Anderson, Shannon Butcher, Gordon Carrol (and K-9 partner Max), Sybil Downing, Christine Goff, Beth Groundwater, Victoria Hanley, Laura Hayden, Tara Janzen, Page Lambert, R.T. Lawton, Pam McCutcheon, Jeff Santelli, Maggie Sefton, John Shors, Robert Spiller, Deb Stover and Shanna Swendson.
The PPWC Volunteer of the Year was Laura Hayden and the PPW Volunteer of the Year was Dawn Smit Miller. Jodi Anderson was the emcee for the weekend.
PPW Conference 2006
The 2006 Pikes Peak Writers Conference was held April 21-23 at the Colorado Springs Marriott in beautiful Colorado Springs, Colorado. The 2008 director was Laura Hayden. The keynote speakers included Johnny D. Boggs, Diane Mott Davidson, Wendy French, and Dan Simmons.
Attending agents included Rolph Blythe (Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency), Lilly Ghahremani (Full Circle Literary), Emily Sylvan Kim (Prospect Agency), Margaret Marr (ICM), Kristin Nelson (Nelson Literary Agency, LLC), Linn Prentis (Linn Prentis Agency), Laura Rennert (Andrea Brown Literary) and Michelle Wolfson (Artists and Artisans.)
Attending editors included Erin Clarke (Knopf Books for Young Readers), Stacy Creamer (Doubleday and Broadway Books), Shana Drehs (Crown Publishers), Diana Gill (Eos), and Peter Joseph (St. Martin’s Press).
Our authors and specialists included Kage Baker, Jodi Beyes/Dawson, Kathy Brandt, Laurie Wagner Buyer, Ally Carter, Giles Carwyn, Debbie Dadey, KJ Erickson, Todd Fahnestock, Karen Fox, Laura Hayden, R.T. Lawton, Pam McCutcheon, Dawn Smit Miller, David C Moja, Lucia St. Clair Robson, Barbara Samuel, Suzann Strempek Shea, Deb Stover, Faith Sullivan and Elizabeth A Vaughan. The PPWC Volunteer of the Year was Kirsten Akens and the PPW Volunteer of the Year was Jennifer Webster-Valant. Jodi Anderson was the emcee for the weekend.