Women Writing the West

Kindred spirits: DiAyn Revis and I with the Women Writing the West’s motto.

October Conference in Colorado.

I made a new friend at the Sisters (OR) Book Festival last month. Ms. Jane Kirkpatrick is the award-winning author of over 40 books that have sold over two million copies. Jane’s stories are set in the West and portray western history with riveting tales of strong characters and their calls to adventure. I’m currently enjoying her book based on an actual person: The Healing of Natalie Curtis. You can meet Jane at www.jkbooks.com. She encouraged me to attend the Women Writing the West conference. Curious and wanting to meet women who write with a western theme or setting, I flew to Denver.

I’m glad I took a chance. The first person I met was DiAyn Revis, a writer in her mid ‘70’s. I was drawn to her to her energetic, free spirit and she reminded me of my mom who passed 11 years ago. Besides a physical resemblance, DiAyn (pronounced like Diane) shares the same kind of pluck and love for the outdoors. DiAyn is not afraid to start new life chapters. I about choked on my drink when she told me she just bought 2 draft horses to round off her collection of nine horses. She also has alpacas and a cat to keep her company on her ranch. As she described her new team of draft horses her expression lit up. Love for her animal friends was evident as she talked.

I made another friend, Annie Sellman, a writer/rancher from Nebraska with a stunning collection of turquoise that accented the color of her eyes. She pitched her book idea to agents and editors and received invitations to submit her writing, which is music to every writer’s ear. Annie and I talked about the ups and downs of ranch life. Never having lived on a working ranch, I learned about ranch etiquette as she laughed about a common faux pas: Did you know it’s actually rude for city dwellers to ask ranchers how many acres they have or how many head of cattle they own? I never thought about it from a rancher’s perspective, but it’s the equivalent of asking, “How much money you got?” So rude. I laughed with her, but I’m glad I didn’t ask!

Meet Annie at her website: www.AnnieSellman.com

On Saturday afternoon when my energy flagged, I sat to visit with Suzi Minor, from Wickenburg, Arizona. I found both her voice and her presence soothing. Others must too because she has a growing podcast audience with listeners from around the world (the UK, Germany, France, Belgium, Philippines, and all across the US). She asked me if I’d ever been a guest on a podcast. I haven’t, but after talking with her, it may be in my future. Suzi is gearing up to lead a women’s retreat at a dude ranch. A writing retreat with horses?! Where can I sign up?  Suzi’s not afraid to try new things either as she volunteered to be a candidate to lead the Women Writing the West organization as next year’s president. She’s got my vote!

 Meet Suzi at her website: www.suziminor.com

At Saturday night’s banquet where they announce the winners of the WILLA literary award, I introduced myself to Spence Shishido. She sat across the table so we didn’t get much chance to visit, but when I went to her website later, I was amazed. One can almost see the positive energy this young woman emits. She is a true lover of people of all nations. In fact, she actually worked for the United Nations!

Meet Spence and check out her stunning photos on her website: www.spenceshishido.

I met too many wonderful women to mention them all, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you who I shared a taxi with to return to the airport: Ms. Kim Taylor Blakemore, author of 7 books in 3 different genres. On the drive, I was to learn that not only is she a writer from the Portland area, but she also leads a group of mostly fiction writers called the Novelitics Writers Collective. You can see Kim’s books on display at the annual Portland Book Festival on Saturday, November 2.

Meet Kim at her website: www.kimtaylorblakemore.com

And as for my meetings with editors and publishers, I was offered an interesting proposition. I’ll share more when I know more.