2025 KEYNOTE SPEAKER
MEREDITH BLEVINS
Meredith Blevins was a creative arts therapist, and she then transitioned to a financial columnist. At night, when the house was quiet, she wrote fiction. Imagining characters and relationships that were more than the ones she knew, she went to her first writers’ conference, manuscript in hand. Through writing, she found an editor, a new love, and a new life. Over the last twenty-five years, she has had ten books published, been an award-winning travel writer, and an editor. (She also has a big, complicated family.) Meredith lives and writes in the Southwest and experiences each day as a new adventure, filled with possibilities.
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For more information on this fascinating writer, please visit her website: www.meredithblevins.com
KEYNOTE TOPICS:
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Q & A: M’s Writing Journey – getting from there to here.
Meredith's will share her writing journey, how it started, and how it continues every day. In this session, attendees will get to know each other, their writing goals, and what pleases them when it happens. Meredith will answer questions from participants on anything about writing-related or about her.
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The Nuts and Bolts—how to keep going!
Imagine becoming a plotter, an outliner, and a seat-of-your-pants person combined. We’ll discover structure as your friend, the dreaded sagging middle, and what informs plot. Helpful writing habits. What to watch out for—paying attention to your physical reactions to feedback from editors and critique groups. Plus, a favorite: Setting as character.
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What’s the Scoop about Genres?
Meredith will talk about standard POV, length, tense, and audience for some of your favorite genres. Of course, we know, there are always exceptions—it’s your story, after all.
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Interactive Dialog Play
Let your flag fly wild, and get ready to take on new personas in given scenarios. This is also the time to get into your unique writing voice. Trust yourself and go with it. Each voice is beautifully unique—make it strong!
ENTERTAINMENT
Micki Fuhrman
Micki Fuhrman grew up in a river town in northwest Louisiana, where stories hung in the air at church picnics, back porch family singings, and country store counters. She was first published in the fourth grade–a poem in the school newspaper–and by her teens was a professional singer/songwriter, headlining the venerable “Louisiana Hayride,” recording for MCA Records, and twice guest-starring on “The Grand Ole Opry.” Micki has lived in Nashville for many years and expanded into literary writing in 2014. Her western short stories (written as Vonn McKee) have been named finalists for both the Western Writers of America Spur Award and Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Award.
A retired engineer and commercial construction project manager, Micki performs nationally as a Western singer and musician, both solo and as a member of the award-winning band, Gone with the West. She is a contributor and copy editor for Roundup magazine, the trade publication for Western Writers of America. She loves road trips, antiquing, photography, anything historical, and cooking for family and friends.
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