I was sitting in a workshop at a writer’s conference in Seattle. The instructor was handing out sheets of paper with a large, bold title at the top: “Where do I see my Writing Career Going?” I’ve long-since lost that piece of paper, but there are a few goals that have stuck with me for over a decade since then. These were more than just targets to hit. These were dreams, big dreams, challenging fate and circumstance and probability with talent, drive, and luck. There was no guarantee that I would accomplish any of them. Ever.
Gradually, I started turning some of those dreams into reality. Publishing books. Winning awards. Making an arbitrary yet oddly specific amount of money in book sales in a single day. But there was one dream that until very recently still felt like it was in some murky far off place on the horizon. Something that felt so distant, so intangible that I wasn’t sure I would reach it until the end of my career.
I wanted to be a keynote speaker at a writers conference.
Inspirations
The first writer’s conference I ever attended was in 2009 in Seattle, Washington. The keynote speaker was Terry Brooks, one of the founding fathers of contemporary fantasy fiction.
I was starstruck. I’d grown up seeing his name on books on the shelves of my middle and high school library, and suddenly there he was, larger than life, standing in front of a crowd of authors encouraging us to follow our dreams.
Many years later, I actually met Terry in person at World Con while selling my own books and got to chat with him about that first writers conference. You can check out the video below to see how that went.
Over the years, I saw many more keynote speakers that inspired me deeply. Robert Dugoni, Jeff Wheeler, CC Humphreys… Each one had a unique style and personal story that galvanized their audiences to not only write, but to write what they love. I watched and listened to each of them, longing to one day be one of them.
The Invitation
Last September, I was back in Seattle at another PNWA writers conference. I was there to teach my “Novel in Four Drafts” master class and to shop around a new manuscript I’d completed with the hopes of finding an agent interested in working with a hybrid self-published author.
While chatting with folks at the award dinner, I was approached by the president of the Write on the River writers conference. She’d heard good things about my master class, and asked if I would be interested in being a keynote speaker for her organization’s upcoming conference in 2026. I could hardly believe it was real. I remember her asking me if I would be available in the last weekend of May.
“For a keynote, I’ll make myself available,” I said.
This is Really Happening
So now, here we are. All the details are locked in, my face is on the website, and the date is approaching really, really fast.
As I mentally try to prepare myself for this, my emotions are high. Some are positive. Excitement. Anticipation. Good old-fashioned nervousness. But there’s also a part of me that feels a little like an imposter. I don’t feel like the towering figures of literature I saw early on in my writing career. I compare myself with that idealized image I created and feel like I fall short when it comes to the kind of professional accomplishments and accolades that I envisioned a keynote speaker should have.
Then again, as I’ve pondered my creative writing journey up to this point, I find myself envisioning a glacier.
Now, usually describing something as glacial means it’s moving agonizingly slow, and perhaps that’s a fair description. But there are other words that come to my mind when envisioning a glacier. Powerful. Important. Gradual. Inexorable. The impact of my writing career may be hard to notice day by day, but over time it has forever changed the landscape of my life.
I’m certainly not the person I was when I attended that writers conference fifteen years ago and dreamed of being an author one day. I’ve experienced professional and personal milestones that have deeply impacted my craft, my career, and my character. So that’s what my keynote will be about.
I’ve spent my entire life in pursuit of a dream to create and share stories that inspire, uplift, and entertain myself and others. I’ve experienced what every writer at that conference has felt. Passion for their craft. Dreams and disappointments. Fear and hope for the future.
When I take that podium and speak at my first ever keynote, my goal won’t be to pretend to be more than I am. I plan to do my best to be me, where I am, where I’ve been, and where I dream of going next.
Wish me luck.
I’d love to see some familiar faces in the audience for this major milestone. If you’re a writer in the area (or just want to join the celebration), come hang out with us at the conference!
