Authors Retreat to Rancho de los Caballeros

Author Mary Trimble, standing on viewers’ platform, watches Heidi Thomas make friends with a ranch horse. Image by Linda Mocilnikar

Women Writing the West’s 16th Annual Conference was an opportunity to reconnect, re-inspire, rejuvenate and relax. A retreat in every sense of the word. What better place to accomplish all these things than at a guest ranch, namely Rancho de los Caballeros in Wickenburg, Arizona, in the High Sonoran Desert. Set in the graceful hacienda of the ranch, this year’s conference was the best of both worlds.

Rancho de los Caballeros was an extraordinary western setting for a group who writes about the American West. The Gant family has operated the 20,000 acre ranch for nearly 60 years. The ranch’s name implies “gentlemen on horseback” and horseback riding is just one of many recreational opportunities. An 18-hole golf course is another, or there’s tennis, hiking, biking, or swimming in an outdoor pool.

A guest doesn’t have to ride horseback to enjoy the horses. Each morning we watched the “Running of the Horses,” a twice-daily event when about 100 magnificent horses–manes flying, hoofs pounding--run from where they’re stabled at night to the large ranch coral. A group of us enjoyed dinner in town before returning to the ranch for a Board Meeting.

The next day, Friday, many of us braved a “Morning in the Desert” tour to Hassayampa River Preserve. An amazing array of wildlife exists in the wildly changeable desert and our knowledgeable guide shared fascinating information. The hike wasn’t too vigorous, but the heat around high noon encouraged us to seek the shelter of the scrubby Smoke Trees. Rather than the desert tour, some of the group visited the Desert Caballeros Museum, also worthwhile from all reports.

Friday afternoon brought a wide selection of presenters and workshops. A colleague, Joyce Lohse, and I shared the spotlight with “Adventures in Freelancing,” sharing tips on submissions and war stories about the freelancing process.

Friday night’s event was truly a highlight with a hay ride to a cookout a distance from the ranch buildings. Afterward we sat around a bonfire and listened to Caroline Markham’s remarkable singing while she accompanied herself on the guitar. A very special evening.

Saturday’s itinerary was chocked full with more inspiring sessions. The WILLA Finalist Awards Luncheon and WILLA Awards Banquet dinner were both marvelous, well thought-out events. The prestigious WILLA Awards, named after Pulitzer-Prize winning Willa Cather, honors the best in literature that features women’s or girls’ stories set in the West.

Sunday morning it was my pleasure to introduce our Marketing Specialist, Mara Purl, who spoke on the importance of newsletters. After her presentation we held our annual WWW meeting.

As usual, all during the conference a bookstore sold books written by WWW authors. Members and hotel guests had ample opportunities to browse the varied selection of books.

Also during the conference, publishers, a magazine editor and a marketing specialist were available for private appointments to discuss attendee writing projects. This year, I again coordinated that event. My mother used to say that the more you put into something, the more you get out of it. I can vouch for that–it was again a pleasure to manage that part of the conference.

All in all, it was a marvelous conference with an amazing setting, inspirational presenters, and, most of all, comradery among a very special group of Women Writing the West members.

To learn more about Women Writing the West, visit www.womenwritingthewest.org

A Time of Renewal: Women Writing the West Conference

Carolyn Wing Greenlee with guide dog Hedy and Mary at UCLA

It’s a spiritual experience, our Women Writing the West annual conference. Seeing old friends and making new ones is enriching beyond words. Among these women, and a few men, too, we make friendships bound through our love of writing. We share writing experiences, our successes, our hopes and dreams.

This year’s conference was held on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles, a departure from previous conferences.

Throughout Friday and Saturday, inspiring panels and workshops broadened our world of writing as we learned what agents are looking for, what makes publishers notice our work, a wonderful session on the evolution of transportation in the west and the role women played. We learned about California’s untapped treasures, we were given the latest in marketing techniques. We all dream about having our work appear on screen and we were given practical approaches in presenting our work to producers. And finally, we were introduced to refreshing creative writing skills.

As we normally do each year, registrants have an opportunity to have one-on-one 10-minute appointments with agents, publishers, marketing specialists and a books-to-screen specialist. This year I coordinated that event. Again, I was reminded of the old saying, "the more you put into something, the more you get out of it." Working on the logistics of this task forced me to learn and work with spreadsheets beyond what I had previously learned. I worked with a great team and was gratified by their dedication and enthusiasm.

My own appointments with several of these experts helped refine my strategies for when my next book, Tenderfoot, is released within the next few months. Today’s marketing is so much more technical than when my last two books were published. Public appearances are still important, but marketing on-line is a vital piece of the process now.

Delightful speakers are always a part of the conference: the Friday evening buffet, Saturday luncheon celebrating the 2009 WILLA Literary Awards finalists, and Saturday dinner celebrating the WILLA winners.

Two tours were offered as "extras." I participated in the Friday morning bus tour of Hollywood and Beverly Hills. What fun! I couldn’t go on the Sunday tour–Getty Center Exhibition–because of my early afternoon flight home.

Many among the membership are successful writers with several books published, others have only one or two, some have never published a word. Yet all are welcomed with the kindness and warmth of a true sisterhood.

My heartfelt thanks to this year’s committee for a memorable conference. For more information on Women Writing the West, please visit www.womenwritingthewest.org

Writers' Conference

Picture Caption: Heidi Thomas, Treble Heart Publisher Lee Emory, Mary Trimble. Photo by Gwyn Ramsey

A real highlight for me each year is attending the Women Writing the West (WWW) conference, held in different parts of the country. This year’s conference, my tenth, was in San Antonio, TX. What a perfect venue with its rich history.

The unofficial start of our conferences are Friday morning guided tours, which gives us a feeling for the place. Sometimes I’ve written travel articles based on these tours, but this year I just sat back and soaked up The Alamo and other fascinating sites in San Antonio.

Getting together with old and new writing friends is inspirational. I see some of these friends during the year, but mostly our get-togethers are crammed into this 3-day event. I come away feeling uplifted by the dedication and success of these women. I also absorb a lot of information garnered in talks, panel presentations and individual discussions.

A wonderful feature at these conferences is an opportunity to talk one-on-one to agents, publishers, publicists and editors. This year I talked to David Balsiger of Grizzly Adams Productions about the possibility of making my first two books, Rosemount and McClellan’s Bluff, into movies. I suppose every writer dreams of her work made into a movie. After all, we see our stories so vividly in our minds.

But the big event for me was that publisher, Lee Emory of Treble Heart Books, offered me a contract for my new novel, Tenderfoot. What a thrill!

I’ll post from time to time on the publishing progress of this book.