Pikes Peak Writers Conference 2026: Full Schedule

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The 2026 Pikes Peak Writers Conference is in the books!
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2:00pm MDT

Story Spark Bootcamp: AI Hands-On Story Building Workshop

Friday April 17, 2026 2:00pm - 3:00pm MDT

Palmer

Grounded in Authors Guild guidance and current U.S. copyright guidance for AI-assisted work.

Bring your laptop or phone and your latest spark of an idea. In this live, hands-on workshop, you will work in real time with SimoneAI™, your Story Development and Market Positioning Coach. Through 20 Socratic questions, SimoneAI™ will help you shape your concept, test its market fit, and determine whether this is the story you should be writing now.

Walk away with a Story Starter Kit and Readiness Score you can use to move forward with clarity, confidence, and a story worth building.

Faculty

Ana del Valle

AI Creative Writing Academy

In alignment with U.S. Copyright Law and the Author’s Guild’s 2025 guidelines on ethical AI use, Ana del Valle is an award-winning novelist, technologist, and recognized authority on AI in fiction writing. She is the host of The Novelist Studio podcast and YouTube channel, and... Read More →

Friday April 17, 2026 2:00pm - 3:00pm MDT
Palmer

Writing Tools

Moderator Pam McCutcheon

4:45pm MDT

Middles and Try-Fail Cycles

Friday April 17, 2026 4:45pm - 5:45pm MDT

Douglas

Middles are often seen as the sagging portion of any story line, when in reality most of any piece of writing is spent in the middle. In this workshop, we learn how to set up and depict interesting try-fail cycles for your characters.

Faculty

Mary Robinette Kowal

Keynote

Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award winning alternate history novel The Calculating Stars, the first book in the Lady Astronaut series which continues in 2025 with The Martian Contingency. She is also the author of The Glamourist Histories series, Ghost... Read More →

Friday April 17, 2026 4:45pm - 5:45pm MDT
Douglas

Craft of Writing

Moderator Pam McCutcheon

4:45pm MDT

BookTok and Instagram for Writers

Saturday April 18, 2026 4:45pm - 5:45pm MDT

Academy

Ready to amplify your author brand and connect with readers in a fresh, exciting way? This workshop dives into the fastest-growing social platforms for storytellers, breaking down what works right now on TikTok and Instagram. Learn how to craft scroll-stopping videos, build an authentic presence, use trends without losing your voice, and turn followers into true fans. We’ll cover practical strategies, content ideas, and time-saving tools so you can show up consistently—without overwhelm. Perfect for authors at any stage who want to grow visibility, boost engagement, and have fun doing it!

Faculty

Jenny Kate

Director, Pike Peak Writers Conference

Jenny Kate is a professional communicator. She has been quoted by the New York Times, CNN, FoxNews, and Time Magazine, and wrote her first novel in the second grade. She is a member of Washington Romance Writers, Sisters in Crime, and freelanced for New York literary agent Ethan Ellenberg... Read More →

Saturday April 18, 2026 4:45pm - 5:45pm MDT
Academy

Business of Writing

Moderator Pam McCutcheon

10:15am MDT

Write Lore Your Readers Won’t Forget (2 hours)

Sunday April 19, 2026 10:15am - 12:30pm MDT

Douglas

Our mythologies shape and define us. Explore techniques for designing the stories behind the story you’re telling – the stories that your characters either carry in their hearts or resist with all their capacity. Lore is the engine that your characters (and readers) use to interpret the story they're in and the life they're living. Come join Stant Litore in exploring how to share the lore of your fictional world with the reader in entertaining and surprising ways.

Faculty

Stant Litore

Stant Litore is the author of Ansible, The Screaming of the Tyrannosaur (recently adapted into an Emmy-nominated episode of Love, Death, and Robots), The Zombie Bible, and Dante’s Heart. Besides science fiction and fantasy, he has written the writers’ toolkits Write Wo... Read More →

Sunday April 19, 2026 10:15am - 12:30pm MDT
Douglas

Craft of Writing

Moderator Pam McCutcheon

Pikes Peak Writers Conference 2026

2:00pm MDT

Ana del Valle

4:45pm MDT

Mary Robinette Kowal

4:45pm MDT

Jenny Kate

10:15am MDT

Stant Litore

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