Jeff Bailey and Laura Kostad Review the 2016 Rivers of Ink Writers Conference

Laura had the opportunity to meet and spend time with keynote speaker, Terry Persun. Terry Persun is a general writer of everything from poetry to Sci-Fi, but with a common philosophical thread of questioning the status quo. He has been writing for thirty years, plus. As a retired scientist, I particularly appreciated that Terry Persun is an engineer by trade. He might be an engineer, but he is as well spoken as a diplomat. Terry is a member of Pacific Northwest Writers Association. Laura was impressed with Persun’s use of quotes during his presentation. The quotes seemed to add a depth of understanding to the information. Laura told me how much she prizes her signed copy of Persun’s latest novel, The Killing Machine. I look forward to reading Laura’s review.

Laura particularly enjoyed Suzanne Selfors’ presentation and was struck by how genuine she was. Suzanne describes herself on her home page as, “a national best-selling author who lives on an island in the Pacific Northwest where rain falls like music and slugs frolic beneath ferns.” Suzanne’s discussion on the eliminating the guilt associated with multimedia marking hit home with us first novice authors. There’s just too much multimedia to deal with. Suzanne suggests that we do what we can and release the rest of it. No one can do it all. If we fall into the trap of trying to do it all, we never get time to write. We both identified with Suzanne Selfors’

One of the highlights of any writers’ conference are the workshops and Rivers of Ink didn’t disappoint. Laura said that she developed a valuable tool in Michelle Hanen’s workshop. Michelle guided the participants of her workshop through the process of developing a 30 second, ‘Elevator Pitch.’ As Michelle said, ‘we never know when or where we will be called on to ‘pitch’ ourselves or our books.’ We don’t want to sound like a stumbling idiot if we’re put on the spot. Oh, so true. I would find it interesting to hear some of the more interesting locations that authors have been accosted. I myself have been caught in a post office express line and in a health club swimming pool. We plan to practice our ‘pitch’ at the next writers guild meeting. We’ve heard good reviews of Michelle Hansen’s novel, Painted Blind.

We give five stars to the Rivers of Ink and their conference. Each writer’s conference that we attend seems to have a unique personality. Each seems to have material targeted to us, personally. The Rivers of Ink was no different. Maybe, by applying what we learn at from any given conference, we are more open to the new ideas of the next conference. I know that I learned a great deal from the 2016 Rivers of Ink conference and am looking forward to learning all new material at the Rivers of Ink in 2017.

Short stories by Laura Kostad: The Vision, Enigma, Name Your Price, and Heartbeat of  the Forest. Laura’s current project is a novel, The Highland Carbonado Golf Club Employee Handbook. Laura writes with the charm of Erma Bombeck and the wit Dave Barry.

My name is Jeff Bailey. I write nuclear thrillers for a reason, I’ve worked in nuclear related industries, from nuclear weapons to nuclear research, for fifty years. Deer Hawk Publications released my first book, The Defect in June of 2016. In The Defect, I tell the story of a terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant and why the government covered it up. The Defect is based on true events. Deer Hawk Publications is scheduled to release I’m a Marine in May of 2017. I’m a Marine is about a female aviation firefighter in the U.S. Marines who witnesses the murder of two M.P.s. She decides that it is her duty to stop them. Keep in mind that I write nuclear thrillers. The Chilcoat Project, to be released in spring of 2018, is about the theft of nuclear weapons secrets from a national laboratory. The Chilcoat Project is also based on true events. My current project, Wine Country, is based on the true story of the Radioactive Boy Scout, but with a more sinister twist.