Featured Speakers for the Roaring Twentieth PSWA Conference
I’m pleased to announce the featured speakers for the next PSWA Conference, July 17-20, 2025 at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. The outstanding lineup is as follows:
Friday morning:
Mike Brandt: “Rolling Out a Story”
What are some of the tricks to perfecting a dynamite story and an ending that will knock the reader off the seat of their chairs? After a long career in LAPD as a homicide detective specializing in gang crimes, Michael Brandt (AKA Brandon Michaels) was then the Director of a Health Care Fraud Department for 15 years. Along the way he ran marathons on all seven continents and climbed mountains in various parts of the world. He’s also an accomplished writer, having written articles, short stories, and novels. Join this esteemed writer, speaker, adventurer, and retired LAPD homicide detective as he shows you how to create that perfect story-line that will entertain and keep readers turning those pages to reach the stunning climax.
Friday afternoon:
Bob Doerr: “From OSI to NCIS to CID—Law Enforcement in the Military”
Ever wonder how much of what you see on TV’s NCIS shows is real and how much is pure fiction? Retired Air Force colonel and author Bob Doerr will set the record straight by taking you through an explanation of law enforcement in the various branches of the military organizations and how they work. Having served in the Air Force for 28 years, specializing in criminal investigations and counterintelligence all over the world, his work brought him into close coordination with the security agencies of many countries. Forget what you see those TV military cops doing, Bob is the real deal and he’ll set the record straight.
Saturday morning:
Scott Ellis-“From Print to Audio-Producing an Audio Book”
Scott Ellis is an audiobook narrator having narrated over 100 audiobooks! He and his wife, Josie, own Ellis-Audiobooks, an audiobook production company having produced over 250 audiobooks. Additionally, they have helped many authors bring their first projects to audio and they look forward to speaking to you. After 30 years as an educator and actor, Scott is all about performing and teaching. Scott is pleased present at this conference and discuss the ins and outs of audiobook production, everything from understanding the different platforms, the payment lingo, narrator/author responsibilities, as well as being a part of helping authors think through all options of putting their stories in audio.
Saturday afternoon: Joshua Lee- “Navigating the Dark Web-What You Need to Know”
Many of us have heard of the sinister Dark Web and the dangers it presents. Well, wonder no longer. Police sergeant Joshua Lee, of the Organized Crime, Human Trafficking, and Complex Financial Crimes Division of the Mesa, Arizona Police Department, will take you on a walk on the wild side as he gives you an inside look at the Dark Web and what it takes to navigate this largely unexplored and dangerous territory. You don’t want to miss this one.
Sunday: TBA
Workshop Lessons, July 17, 2025, 9:00 AM to 3:15 PM:
- Potholes and speed bumps on the road to a professional manuscript (Victoria Weisfeld)
This workshop will focus on grammar. We may have left “grammar lessons” behind in high school, but they were just the starting point for creating a manuscript in which every word counts. Grammar, word usage, common errors, AI (grammar checkers). We’ll cover them all as we reveal how your manuscript is much more than the sum of its parts–that is, word count—and why it matters.
- Subplots (Kelli Peacock)
This workshop is all about subplots. Do you need one in your novel? The plot of our life is loaded with subplots. Life is complex. It’s messy. We’re told to complicate our characters’ lives. One way to do this is by introducing many layers of plot, and not just for your protagonist but for your secondary characters as well.
- Managing Your Series (Frank Scalise)
This workshop focuses on two aspects: (a) Managing a single series over time, including: how to handle characters changing (or not), exploring issues such as continuity, keeping things fresh, and creating emotional anchors, and (b)managing multiple series, including character crossover (or not).
- Developing Your Author Brand (Colin Conway)
This workshop will discuss developing your author brand – Your books, personality, and more impact your success in today’s marketplace—either positively or negatively. Learn how to compete in today’s publishing world by focusing on your author brand.
Critiques (optional)
- Attending authors may elect to have their work critiqued.
- Authors who sign up for the critique will be contacted by workshop personnel and assigned to a critique instructor.
- Authors will be responsible for getting their work to the critique instructor on or before the designated cutoff date – May 31, 2025.
- Authors may send up to 7000 words, formatted in Times New Roman, 12 point, double-spaced in a document compatible with MS-Word (critique comments and suggestions will be provided via the Track Changes feature).
- This critique is FREE. However, using standard market rates, this critique is conservatively estimated to have a $350 value.
Hotel Reservations Information:
Discount codes for rooms rented during the conference will be posted here as soon as the information is available. In the meantime, call The Orleans at (855) 212-1725 to make reservations over the phone, or go to https://theorleanshotel.guestreservations.com/orleans-casino/booking.