Southwest Writers Workshop

Benedictine University Mesa Campus

Join Us for the 2025 SW Writers Workshop!

Are you ready to take your writing to the next level? Mark your calendar for Saturday, March 1, 2025, and joins us from 9 AM to 5 PM at Benedictine University in Mesa, Arizona, for a day of inspiration, growth and connection.

The 2025 SW Writers Workshop features 9 master authors teaching 9 unique classes on the craft of writing, marketing strategies and the ever-changing book industry. Whether you’re just starting out or a seasoned writer, this workshop is designed to equip you with the tools you need to polish your skills and propel your work-in-progress (WIP) toward success.

woman teaching adult learners in a classrom

Enjoy a 1.5-hour lunch break to recharge! Explore one of the charming local eateries on Main Street or stay on campus to network with fellow writers—brown bag lunch optional!

What to bring: Your WIP, a laptop, or good ole paper and pens, your curiosity, and your drive to learn.

What to expect: Practical lessons, personalized, and the opportunity to connect with a supportive community of fellow writers.

Don’t miss this chance to polish, shine, and prepare your story for the world. Space is
limited, so reserve your spot now and get ready to transform your writing journey!

Event Details

Benedictine University Logo

When:
March 1, 2025
9AM-5PM

Registration beings at 8:30am

Lunch is 1.5 hours. Take advantage of the charming local eateries downtown Mesa or stay on campus to network with other writers—brown bag lunch is optional.

Where:
Benedictine University Mesa
225 E Main St, Mesa, AZ 85201

Cost:

  • $45 for ANWA Members
  • $50 for General Public

Class Descriptions

Melinda Carroll

Melinda Carroll

Go for the Winning Goal: Creating Goals for Every Level of Your Story

If you’ve ever read a book and found your mind wandering and wondered why–or worse, found yourself losing interest in your own story—this workshop is for you. You’ve probably heard that conflict drives the story. But conflict, boiled down to its simplest terms, is the opposition your characters face while trying to accomplish their goals. Strong conflict starts with a strong goal. This class will cover what it takes to create those goals in the overall story, for each character, and scene by scene. Bring your WIP and be prepared to workshop what your manuscript needs to score that winning goal.

Instructor Bio:

Melinda Carroll writes both romantic comedy and domestic suspense, because sometimes love is a fairytale and sometimes it’s a nightmare. She lives in the sweltering Arizona desert with her husband and four kids who insist on getting older despite her protests. Melinda served many years as both a board member and as president of the American Night Writers Association, a national non-profit writing organization. Her novel, The Cowboy Who Stole My Heart, is available on Amazon along with her short stories, Love or Bust and Lucky Girl.
Arianne Costner

Arianne Costner

Navigating Trends in the Middle Grade Market

The middle grade market is always shifting, and understanding what’s trending can help your story connect with both readers and publishers. In this class, we’ll break down popular themes, format preferences and what’s driving sales. You’ll also get hands-on with a plot workshop, where we will brainstorm and develop ideas based on Save the Cat plot beats.

Instructor Bio:

Arianne Costner is an Arizona native and former English teacher who firmly believes that authors should crack up at their own jokes. When she’s not tripping over scattered toys, she’s probably reading to her four dis or working on her next middle-grad novel. Her debut, “My Life as a Potato,” and her second book, “Confessions of a Class Clown,” were published by Random House Children’s Books in 2022 and 2022, respectively.
Pam Eaton

Pam Eaton

Book Marketing 101

There are many avenues for marketing your book(s): Amazon ads, newsletters, Facebook ads, social media, Patreon, reader magnets, book blurbs, and more. Depending on your genre and audience, different marketing techniques might work better than others. In this two-hour workshop, we’ll dive into a variety of different methods. We’ll look at ways to market for free, on a small budget, or a larger budget. Our goal is to leave this class with a plan, resources, and actionable steps.

Instructor Bio:

Pam Eaton lives in the deserts of Arizona but will always consider herself a New Englander at heart. She graduated from Arizona State University with degrees in Education and History. While she loves history, itll always take a backseat to the fictional world she stumbled into as a young girl. Its a chaotic life with her husband, three kids and loveable labs, but she wouldnt have it any other way. Especially since they let her read an insane number of books and watch way too many Food Network shows.
Donna Hatch

Donna Hatch

The 21 Deadly Sins of Writing Romance OR How to Write a Romance

A snarky discussion of overdone cliches of romance novels that drive readers crazy, and how to write a fresh new page-turning romance readers love. We will workshop attendees WIP’s!

Instructor Bio:

Award-winning author, of over two dozen best-selling historical romances, Donna Hatch is a master storyteller of captivating tales revealing courage, second chances, redemption, and everlasting love. Donna’s style weaves virtue and values into her tales while including plenty of chemistry to fearless heroines and swoony heroes for a glorious happily ever after. When she’s not writing or researching, Donna loves to dance—ballroom and hula are her favorites—sing, play the harp, hike, hang out at the beach, and add to her collection of books. Donna and her husband of over thirty years have raised six children and are discovering the new world of empty nesters and grandchildren, nestled in the mountains of Arizona.
Rebecca Irvine

Rebecca Irvine

Self-editing Helps for Improving Your Manuscript

Most authors don’t write their books perfectly on the first draft. The real magic happens when they edit, restructure, refine and rewrite so that the manuscript is as compelling as possible. If you’ve ever used a developmental editor, you know how thorough this process can be—and how expensive. In this workshop we will take six passes through your current WIP, using helpful strategies and short-cuts to fix some of the common mistakes writers make.

Instructor Bio:

Rebecca Irvina is a graduate of Brigham Young University with both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communications. She worked as a marketing research analyst for various ad agencies and PR firms. In addition to a love of writing, Irvine followed in her father’s footsteps and became a college professor, currently teaching communication course at Benedictine University and Scottsdale Community College. Rebecca is married and the mother of three amazing grown-up kids. Reading, walking and binging on Jane Austen films are some of her favorite activities.
Randy Lindsay

Randy Lindsay

So, You Want to Podcast

Maybe you have a book that needs an audience. Or maybe you want to grow your fanbase. You might have a passion that you want to share with the world, or maybe you just want a bunch of people to know what a beautiful face you have and how awesome you are.

Be prepared to workshop with your classmates. Discover how to transform your writing skills into compelling podcast content. Explore the essentials of content creation and podcast development. Find the format that best suits your style and creative vision. The essentials of podcasting on the YouTube platform. And learn the basics of monetization, from sponsorships to subscription models.

Instructor Bio:

Randy Lindsay is a world traveler, which sounds impressive until you realize the worlds he visits exist only in his mind and on the pages of his novels. He claims to prefer this method of sight-seeing because he can stop at any time, go to the kitchen, and indulge his ice cream addiction. When he isn’t busy making things up, he likes going to movies with his wife to watch what other people have made up and plays board games with his children who are in the habit of making up the rules as they go along. Randy’s award-winning book, “The Milkman’s Son,” continues to be a classic seller along with his six book Gathering Series, and numerous middle-grade books, horror and science fiction fantasies.
Brad McBride

Brad McBride

Where did that come from? Finding Inspiration from you Writing

Both fiction and non-fiction writers live in search of ideas. Brad explores idea generation and tack the myth of writer’s block. Part lecture/discussion and hands-on workshop to turn on the wellspring of ideas and keep it flowing. Whether you’re searching for a starting point or stuck on you WIP, learn how to break the log jam and get moving.

Instructor Bio:

Brad McBride is known as a semi-prolific blogger at www.thuswesee.com. Some of you long-time readers might even remember the old days of Middle-aged Mormon Man. He’s blogged for more than 14 years and written 1400+ articles, mostly of a religious nature.Trying to maintain a blog and a business doesn’t leave a lot of time to become a novelist, but he made his first foray into fiction by writing a Christmas novella, Up on the Housetop, A Christmas Story,” released in 2021. It went so well; he followed up in 2023 with the novella “The Year We Stole Christmas.” After two novellas, (both available on Amazon) Brad figured it was time to man up and write a novel, hence an action thriller, Papa Range, just released in December 2024. You’ll find Brad in Arizona with his sweet wife of 36+ years. They have 5 kids, 4 bonus kids, and 8 grandkids (and counting). They love to explore new places and things through travel and movies, and he is always planning a new trip in his head.”
Amy Standage

Amy Standage

Instagram Reels 101: An Author's Guide to creating content.

In today’s literary market, frequent social media marketing is essential. For both the independent and the traditionally published author, social media algorithms are optimized when users post video content. Unfortunately, this means introverted authors who want to maximize their audience reach will have to sacrifice their dignity and learn how to make Instagram Stories and Reels. But it’s not all goofy dances and begging for readers. In this class we will learn how to brainstorm ideas for creating content coinciding with your author brand, as well as review the mechanics of lighting, filming, and editing within the Instagram platform. By the end of the course class members will complete a Reel to post online!

Instructor Bio:

I write under the name L. L. Standage, but my first name is Amy. I’m a wife, a mom to the three best kids on earth, and a native Arizonan. I love traveling, reading, running (when I need to plot novels), eating food, getting pedicures, chatting, and hanging out with my husband. I got my degree from BYU-Idaho when I was thirty-four (which goes to show you’re never too old) and was seven months pregnant with my third baby when I graduated. Herbal tea, crio bru, and Diet Coke are my drinks of choice, and I am a chocolate chip addict. I love, love, love England. The history, the architecture, the people, the authors… you guys, I even love the food. Also… I’ve never eaten a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in my life. True story. Find her books, “They Call Me Henbane,” and her three book Fathom Series, “Fathom,” Chasm,” and “Reach,” on Amazon.
Kate Stradling

Kate Stradling

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

If you write, chances are you’re a liar. Deception is a tool of the trade when you fabricate characters, settings, scenes, and those delectable plot twists everyone adores. The good news? Your readers want to be fooled. The bad? They’re constantly, instinctively looking for your tricks.

This class explores the dynamics of deception in the written word: why less detail is often more effective, how barrier objects hurt your credibility, and the cooperative principles you can harness to your advantage. Learn the tells of a poor liar and the skills of an accomplished one so you can put away those flame-retardant trousers and lie like a pro.

Instructor Bio:

Kate Stradling is a language-structure fanatic who adores historical and descriptive linguistics. She graduated from Brigham Young University with her BA in English and completed her MA in English at Arizona State. Her published work spreads across the fantasy spectrum, from dystopia lite to fairy tales to kingdom adventures. Devoted to token winters and scorching weather, she lives in sunny Mesa, Arizona.
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