Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers

Margaret Mizushima is the author of the award-winning and internationally published Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries. Active within the writing community, Margaret recently served as president for the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. She was elected the 2019-2020 Writer of the Year by Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, and is also a member of Northern Colorado Writers, Sisters in Crime, and Women Writing the West. Margaret lives in Colorado on a small ranch with her veterinarian husband where they raised two daughters and a multitude of animals. She can be found on Facebook/AuthorMargaretMizushima, Twitter @margmizu, Instagram at margmizu, and her website at www.MargaretMizushima.com For video versions of these podcasts, follow: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBP81nfbKnDRjs-Nar9LNe20138AiPyP8 Intro Music by Moby Gratis: https://mobygratis.com/ Outro Music by Dan-o-Songs: https://danosongs.com/

Jon Christian-Rutigliano's credo is that individuals naturally gravitate toward the positive energy in life, and are at their best when left to their own devices. For good or bad, his work will always explore this proposition. When not writing, you can find Jon and his wife Krissy at their Colorado based ranch introducing his two rambunctious boys Dustin and Ryder to mother nature. Jon’s first novel, Reclamation, debuted in 2020.   More about Jon: www.jonchristianauthor.com For video versions of the Rocky Mountain Writer podcasts, follow: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBP81nfbKnDRjs-Nar9LNe20138AiPyP8 Intro Music by Moby Gratis: https://mobygratis.com/ Outro Music by Dan-o-Songs: https://danosongs.com/

Kelley J. P. Lindberg writes award-winning young adult and adult fiction, and she sometimes admits to having written several best-selling how-to books in her early career. When she isn’t writing or reading, she’s traveling as far and as often as she can. Kelley has spoken at numerous writing conferences and workshops, including the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers conference. Her fiction and essays have appeared in The Baltimore Review, The Citron Review, Chicken Soup for the Wine Lover’s Soul, and others, and in the Tellables app for the Amazon Alexa platform. Kelley has just signed with agent Lynnette Novak, of The Seymour Agency, for her first young adult novel, True Love Never. You can visit Kelley’s website at www.KelleyLindberg.com, where she blogs about writing craft and the writer’s life.   For video versions of these podcasts, visit The Rocky Mountain Writer on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-Z3EXJZHic&list=PLBP81nfbKnDRjs-Nar9LNe20138AiPyP8 Intro Music by Moby Gratis: https://mobygrati

A fan of all things fantastical and frightening, Shannon Lawrence writes primarily horror and fantasy. Her stories can be found in over forty anthologies and magazines, and her three solo horror short story collections and her nonfiction title, The Business of Short Stories, are available now. You can also find her as a co-host of the podcast Mysteries, Monsters, & Mayhem. When she's not writing, she's hiking through the wilds of Colorado and photographing her magnificent surroundings, where, coincidentally, there's always a place to hide a body or birth a monster.  More about Shannon: www.thewarriormuse.com For video versions of these podcasts, visit The Rocky Mountain Writer on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-Z3EXJZHic&list=PLBP81nfbKnDRjs-Nar9LNe20138AiPyP8 Intro Music by Moby Gratis: https://mobygratis.com/ Outro Music by Dan-o-Songs: https://danosongs.com/

Award-winning author Janet Fogg’s focus on writing began while she was working as CFO for the coolest architectural firm in Boulder. Fifteen writing awards later she resigned from the firm and soon after signed a contract for her first published novel, Soliloquy, a HOLT Medallion Award winner. Fast forward about a million words, and she’s published three more novels and three World War II military histories. Now penning two Kindle Vella tales with a third on her event horizon, Janet and Bob West recently celebrated acquisition of Twenty Miles of Fence–Blueprint of a Cowboy, by Bison Books, an imprint of the University of Nebraska Press. RMFW's 2018 Honored Guiding Member, Janet currently manages distribution of It's a Book, RMFW's promotional mailer to booksellers and libraries in the Rocky Mountain area. More about Janet Fogg: https://janetfogg.com/ For video versions of these podcasts, visit The Rocky Mountain Writer on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-Z3EXJZHic&list=PLBP81nfbKnDRjs-Nar9LNe20

Award-winning author Michele Packard comes from a military family and worked tirelessly as a cable tv executive before staying at home to raise her three children. She has written both fiction and non-fiction, using her experiences and sharp wit to share stories with others. When not writing, she is a frequent traveler with her husband and is the primary caretaker of the family's beloved labs.  Here latest novel, just out in December, is CounterIntelligence. More about Michele: www.michelepackard.com For video versions of these podcasts, visit The Rocky Mountain Writer on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-Z3EXJZHic&list=PLBP81nfbKnDRjs-Nar9LNe20138AiPyP8 Intro Music by Moby Gratis: https://mobygratis.com/ Outro Music by Dan-o-Songs: https://danosongs.com/

Nancy Houser-Bluhm has lived in the foothills west of Denver for over 20 years with her husband and miscellaneous pets. She hails from Michigan but always had a longing for the mountains after growing up watching Bonanza. Authentic communication with herself and others has been an ultimate life quest.  Nancy has had numerous prompted memoir-based articles in a local mountain newspaper. After working forty years as a Speech-Language Pathologist, both in the schools and health care, she retired from being a full-time worker bee. It was then she began a blog and ventured into the arena of writing her first novel, Whispers for Terra. More about Nancy: https://www.nancyhouserbluhm.com/ For video versions of these podcasts, visit The Rocky Mountain Writer on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-Z3EXJZHic&list=PLBP81nfbKnDRjs-Nar9LNe20138AiPyP8 Intro Music by Moby Gratis: https://mobygratis.com/ Outro Music by Dan-o-Songs: https://danosongs.com/

A life-long writer, Terri Benson's fiction is both traditionally and self-published, with nearly a hundred additional articles and short stories published – many award winning. She was the Education Chair for Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers for more than seven years, is an irregular blogger (in more ways than one), member of Sisters in Crime, presents workshops at writer’s conferences, and teaches night classes at Western Colorado Community College. Terri spends her non-writing time working at a Business Incubator, camping, jeeping, and dirt biking with her junior-high-school sweetheart/husband of 40+ years and a succession of Brittany spaniels. You can find more information on her at https://www.terribensonwriter.com/ On the podcast, Terri talks about her new book coming out on April 1, The Pickup Artist. She also talks about a workshop she’s giving on January 15 (in Grand Junction) about using a “Story Bible” to keep her details organized as she writes. More about the January 15 workshop here: https://rmfw.

As a middle child, Melissa Payne was born to tell stories. What started with blaming her brother for breaking the car window evolved to a graduate thesis that she desperately wishes she could rewrite to blogging on motherhood and marriage. Now she likes to create stories set in wild and beautiful places with characters in flawed and imperfect relationships, whether that’s between a mother and a daughter, friends or strangers. And imagining all of it with just a hint of the ethereal, a whisper of something beyond what we can see and a sense that it’s all for a purpose. Melissa Payne’s latest novel, just out this fall, is The Night of Many Endings. Mre: https://www.melissapayneauthor.com/ For video versions of these podcasts, visit The Rocky Mountain Writer on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-Z3EXJZHic&list=PLBP81nfbKnDRjs-Nar9LNe20138AiPyP8 Intro Music by Moby Gratis: https://mobygratis.com/ Outro Music by Dan-o-Songs: https://danosongs.com/

Nicole Sullivan's love of all things books and reading led her to open BookBar in Spring of 2013. After studying Culinary Arts at the Colorado Art Institute, she knew books, food, and wine would make a great combination. She is the founder and president of BookGive, BookBar's non-profit organization, and BookBar Press, launched in 2020.    Additionally, she serves on the Board of Directors for Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association. She holds a BA in Anthropology from the University of Colorado and lives just a short cruiser bike ride from her store with her husband Ryan, two children, and way too many (but also not enough) pets. Nicole loves big ideas and small spaces.  More about BookBar: https://www.bookbardenver.com/ Intro Music by Moby Gratis: https://mobygratis.com/ Outro Music by Dan-o-Songs: https://danosongs.com/

Kate Jonuska is an indie author, freelance writer, and yoga teacher who is currently serving as Vice President of the RMFW Board as well as Conference Co-Chair. Her debut novel (Transference) was a finalist for the 2017 BookLife Prize. And the second edition of her non-fiction book, Dictionary of Fiction Critique, published in 2020. As a part of the critique group 30th Street Fiction, she's published three anthologies, including Broken: A 30th Street Fiction Anthology, currently available in paperback and ebook.    More: https://30thstreetpress.com/ More: https://katejonuska.com/ Intro Music by Moby Gratis: https://mobygratis.com/ Outro Music by Dan-o-Songs: https://danosongs.com/

John M. Campbell has made a career in the aerospace industry. Now, he speculates on the worlds currently unknown to us that science and engineering may unlock. He is compelled by the promise technology offers to address many of the issues facing human survival. The prospect of extraterrestrial life in our solar system and the outer planets fascinates him.  He finds intriguing the likelihood that machine intelligence will likely surpass mankind’s ability to control it in this century. Inspiration for his stories often comes from the strange realities of quantum physics and cosmology. He hopes his stories will inspire careers in science and engineering as the authors he read inspired his career. John is an active member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers as a coordinator of the Aurora critique group. He lives with his wife in Denver, Colorado. This year, John’s story "The Tiger and the Waif” won first place in the Writers of the Future contest for the fourth quarter of 2020. It joined the first, second, and thir

Kate Lansing lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband, daughter, and a chair-napping tabby cat named Maple. Her love for mysteries began when she devoured From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler as a young girl, and has grown from there. An award-winning short story author, her work has appeared in the Brave New Girls Anthology and the Crossing Colfax Anthology. She writes the Colorado Wine Mystery series—the third book in the series, Mulled to Death, was released in late October and the the fourth book of which, Till Death Do Us Port, will be out fall 2022 from Berkley! More on Kate Lansing: https://katelansing.com/ Intro Music by Moby Gratis: https://mobygratis.com/ Outro Music by Dan-o-Songs: https://danosongs.com/

This time on the podcast, the Writer of the Year speech by Sue Hinkin and the Independent Writer of the Year speech by Andre Gonzalez — both delivered at last weekend’s Colorado Gold conference in Denver.  First up is Sue Hinkin and at the beginning she references the news that PAL, the Published Authors League and IPAL, the Independent Published Authors League, will merge into one group to be known as Published Authors Alliance and to be led by the aforementioned Andre Gonzalez.  Apologies for the clanking dishes and glasses but there’s not much you can do about that background noise at a banquet.  And thanks to all the organizers of Colorado Gold, who put on a terrific weekend of workshops, networking, awards, keynote addresses, and much much more. Intro Music by Moby Gratis: https://mobygratis.com/ Outro Music by Dan-o-Songs: https://danosongs.com/

Jon Marcantoni is the Local Author Coordinator at Tattered Cover as well as the founder of LCG Media, a publishing and multimedia company. He is the author of five books, including the award-winning Kings of 7th Avenue. His work has appeared in Latino Rebels, Warscapes, Across the Margin, PANK Magazine, The New Engagement, Minor Literatures, 3 AM, Label Me Latino, and he has been featured in the Huffington Post, Washington Post, El Nuevo Dia in Puerto Rico, The LA Times, and NPR's Frontera series. On the podcast, Jon talks about the system he has set up to accept independently published books at the Tattered Cover.  The Tattered Cover staff will be on hand to run the bookstore at Colorado Gold, coming up in Denver from Oct. 15 - 17.  More: https://www.tatteredcover.com/local-authors Intro Music by Moby Gratis: https://mobygratis.com/ Outro Music by Dan-o-Songs: https://danosongs.com/

Andre Gonzalez is the international bestselling author of the Wealth of Time Series. He writes time-travel, thriller, and horror books after spending many years reading and studying the works of Stephen King and Dean Koontz. Keeping readers up late and their hearts pumping a bit faster than normal is his ultimate goal when cracking open one of his books. Andre is the recipient of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers 2021 Independent Writer of the Year award. When he’s not writing, you can find Andre buried underneath a long to-do list and/or his three hyper children. He and his wife are raising their family in their hometown of Denver, CO. Stay tuned after the interview for the audio version of the first chapter from Wealth of Time. More: https://andregonzalez.net/ Intro Music by Moby Gratis: https://mobygratis.com/ Outro Music by Dan-o-Songs: https://danosongs.com/

Tasha Christensen believes the best love stories are found in the geekiest places. When not composing tuba closet make-out scenes, she enjoys writing music, getting way too competitive about board games, and exploring the gorgeous Rocky Mountains. Tasha lives with her husband, daughters, and an overly affectionate mutt named after her favorite Stranger Things character. As You Were, her debut novel, launched in August and on the podcast she talks about getting ready for NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month, coming up in November - and a workshop she’s leading on Sept. 25 to help other writers get ready for it.  More: https://www.tashachristensen.com/ Intro Music by Moby Gratis: https://mobygratis.com/ Outro Music by Dan-o-Songs: https://danosongs.com/

David R. Slayton grew up in Guthrie, Oklahoma, where finding fantasy novels was pretty challenging and finding fantasy novels with diverse characters was downright impossible. Now he lives in Denver, Colorado and write the books he always wanted to read.  His latest novel, due out in October, is Trailer Park Trickster. NOTE!  Stay tuned after the interview for the audio book version of chapter one from his first novel, White Trash Warlock.  More: https://davidrslayton.com/ Intro Music by Moby Gratis: https://mobygratis.com/ Outro Music by Dan-o-Songs: https://danosongs.com/

A conversation with RMFW president Sue Duff Loeffler about the protections being put in place for the Colorado Gold conference coming up Oct. 15 - 17 in Denver. More about the conference: https://rmfw.org/conference-2021/ Intro Music by Moby Gratis: https://mobygratis.com/ Outro Music by Dan-o-Songs: https://danosongs.com/