PPWC 2026 - Day One - Afternoon

This year's conference was a huge success. I spent an entire blog article talking about the morning of the first day, Friday, April 17. I continue now with the rest of my day. Each session offered six or more options. These are what I chose.

Lunch: The food was better than in previous years. The service was more swift. The entertainment was rollicking good fun. The lunch panel was a gameshow-style contest with agent Bowen Gillings acting as emcee. Panelists included editor / publisher Casey Cowan, and the three keynote speakers, Mary Robinette Kowal, Pippa Grant, and Reavis Z. Wortham.

After lunch, I attended The First 10 Pages with agent Jessica Berg. She gave the audience the harsh truth of the quantity of submissions her agency receives, and the speed with which she must make her decisions. When is the moment the reader gets emotionally or intellectually snagged? It had better be in the first line, on the first page.

Berg gave us tactics to draw a reader in immediately. Much has to do with raising a question that must be answered. Berg advised to drop the reader in mid-beat, as close as possible to the inciting incident. She defined what "the stakes" are that writers often here are a must. As in "raising the stakes." Stakes are the consequences of our actions. If nothing is at risk, nothing matters. 

After learning the importance of the beginning of a novel, I went to the next session on editing the completed novel. Jessica Snyder presented Ten Editing Hacks. Even if you have a professional editor, writers must self-edit their manuscripts. Jessica made this sometimes difficult and tedious task easier with a checklist, and explanation of each step.

I wrote about the benefits of volunteering in my April 21 blog. The next session offered me nothing in return for being the moderator. Or so I thought. 

H. Y. Gregor took pitches from aspiring authors. I wasn't seeking publication. Got that covered. And the 5 minute or so session with each writer were private. As private as you can be in a corner of the book room. What was in this for me?

Hearing the writers hoping to pitch their work to an editor. The seating encouraged conversation, and it did flow! Most were younger than me. A lot younger. I was encouraged to learn their hopes and dreams for a future as an author. The younger generations are inventing their own genres and mediums. They have a lot to say, and we should listen.

The PPWC tradition is to dress up for the Friday dinner according to that year's theme. This being Saddle Up and Write!, the clothing choices were obvious. Many of us Coloradans simple raided our closets for the cowboy and cowgirl attire.

I sat at a table with my entire critique group. We'd gone our mostly separate ways all day, attending sessions that appealed to our needs. Now we could share what we'd learned and unwind. I feel so blessed to have friends who share my passion for writing. 

Sessions continued after dinner. I was not staying at the hotel this year, so I reluctantly opted to go home after the meal.

Saturday would be a long, full day. I needed to grab a few hours sleep before heading into Day Two of PPWC 2026.

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