by Debbie Burke

Two weeks ago, I reviewed the 35th Annual Flathead River Writers Conference in Kalispell, Montana. If you missed that, here’s the link. There were too many great speakers and too much information to cram into one post. Today is a continuation of the conference summary.

Author, poet, and educator Jake Arrowtop

Fiction author and educator Jake Arrowtop wasn’t even interested in poetry until he realized that could be a positive influence at an alternative high school on the Blackfeet Reservation in Browning, Montana. With obvious affection, he describes his students who are either “fighting” or “giggling.” He encourages them to write poems as a release for the pent-up emotional energy of teenage angst combined with historical, intergenerational trauma. His male students especially struggle with “indigenous masculinity, the notion of a warrior who has nowhere to go.”

After Jake read a poem written by one dropout, his support inspired her to write more. Soon she had a stack. He printed her poems and bound them into a book—a piece of art she could proudly hold in her hands.

Another moving story came about when he took six boys to Yellowstone to hunt buffalo. The night before, the boys had crowded into Jake’s motel room to hang out, giggling, eating junk food, and goofing around until he finally shooed them to their own rooms at 2 a.m.

Early the next morning, they trekked to the “killing fields” outside the park boundaries where hopeful hunters wait for buffalo to emerge from the national park sanctuary. Jake honors the hunting tradition and appreciates the massive amounts of meat that sustain him and his community.

When he spotted a buffalo, he aimed his rifle and shot. Although it was a solid hit that should have been a kill shot, the buffalo leapt around like a jackrabbit for several seconds until Jake’s second shot dropped him.

The boys gathered around Jake, hooting and cheering.

Instead of celebration, guilt and regret overcame Jake. He broke down, crying in front of the surprised boys.

It took time for him to sort out and write about his complex feelings. Later, he realized the act of taking the boys to teach them hunting had connected him with the heritage of untold generations of nomadic, Native people, following buffalo across the plains. He felt the heavy grief, sorrow, and profound loss of their way of life. He says it was good for the impressionable boys to see him cry and that gave them freedom to express complicated emotions in their own poetry.

Jake works to channel the students’ energy away from fighting and instead to a positive, creative release through writing. “My biggest goal is to introduce kids to community-shared experiences.”

From listening to him, I’m certain he’s already achieving that goal as a teacher who makes a lasting impact on his students.

YA author Jess Owen Kara and graphic author Jonathan Fetter-Vorm

Jess Owen Kara attended her first Flathead Writers Conference at age 16. Now she’s featured at the conference as an award-winning author of YA fantasy series and contemporary realistic YA fiction. Her publishing routes include indie-publishing, crowd funding, and traditional. She offered words of advice for writers to sustain themselves on the long and sometimes frustrating journey.

Writers often see traditional publication as the magic bullet to fame and success. Jess puts that in perspective. Following traditional publication of her novel Furry Faux Paw, the boss at her day job asked how sales were going. Jess replied, “I’m still here.”

Her attitude of equanimity grows from realistic expectations and how she defines success. Rather than dreams of NY Times bestsellers and movie deals that are out of the writer’s control, she counsels writers to ask: “What is your idea of success today? It may be to write XX number of words.”

More wisdom: “Don’t compare yourself to other writers. Comparison is the thief of joy. Compare only to learn from others.”

Despite conventional advice to build a brand, Jess believes, “You are not a brand, not like shoes or cereal. Good storytelling is the most effective sales tool.”

She quotes Michelangelo at 85 who said, “Still I am learning.”

Last, “the only way to fail is to stop writing.”

Jess is a survivor. We’ll continue to hear from her for many years to come. 

A writing conference is a great chance to build a mailing list. I took the opportunity to encourage sign-ups for my list with a prize drawing—a hand-crafted wood pen inspired by my book, TheVillain’s Journey-How to Create Villains Readers Love to Hate. My good friend and TKZ emeritus Steve Hooley created the stunning pen.

Do contests work? The winner Bill Bond was thrilled and here’s the stack of sign-ups from the conference.

The upside of the Flathead Writers Conference: many excellent speakers. The downside: too many excellent speakers. A good problem to have even though it resulted in a jam-packed schedule with breakout sessions. I wanted to hear both speakers scheduled at the same time but couldn’t. Drat!

One session I missed was the panel with editor/publisher Cindy Spiegel (Spiegel and Grau), and literary agents Abby Saul and Julie Stevenson.

Literary agent Julie Stevenson

Later, I chatted with Julie and she shared her impressions: “It was such a wonderful weekend—so thoughtfully organized, and filled with warmth, inspiration, and a true sense of community. I came away feeling renewed and grateful to have spent time with such an engaged and generous group of writers and publishing professionals.” Julie graciously offered her assistance with future events, adding: “I’m a big fan of the conference and want to see it continue to thrive.”

Wow, how wonderful is that from a veteran agent?

As always, one-on-one appointments with agents and editors are popular. People can submit pages from their WIP in advance and receive individual professional feedback. Appointments always fill quickly, and writers come away with true insider perspectives to improve their work.

Did I mention the abundance of great information that came from this conference? As before in Part 1, this post is running long and I still haven’t covered all the high points. Come back in two weeks for Part 3 about the Flathead River Writers Conference, featuring memoirist Robert Petrone, graphic nonfiction author Jonathan Fetter-Vorm, and romantasy novelist J.D. Evans.

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TKZers: At a conference, have you ever had a private appointment with a publishing professional? What did you learn from it?

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