SWC 2026: 4:00PM Panels

Panel
Room Five
4:00pm- 50 minutes

Jenn Labuz

You leave a conference feeling energized, inspired, and ready to tackle any project—only to hit a slump as soon as you return to your daily routine. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to bridge the gap between conference hype and real-world action. Together, we’ll identify your key action steps, create a personalized schedule to stay on track, and explore effective strategies to keep you focused and motivated as you transition back into your routine.

Presentation
Room One
4:00pm- 50 minutes

Kris Bock

A cliffhanger chapter ending can add impact to a dramatic scene and leave the reader desperate to find out what happens next. Learn how to identify your best cliffhanger moments and make them even more dramatic through pacing and paragraphing. Even when you have to end at a quieter moment, you can drive the story forward by leaving your character—and the reader—with a sense of anticipation or worry.

Panel
Room Three
4:00pm- 50 minutes

Kendra Drake, Bob Nelson

It's one of the hottest book festivals in 2026. Get updated on the planning and growth of the next Mesa Book Festival.

Panel
Room Two
4:00pm- 50 minutes

Suzanne E Flaig

Anna Dalhaimer Bartkowski, Margaret C. Morse

Could cozy and humorous elements help engage your readers' personal emotions? Can murder be humorous... a way to lighten the mood in a mystery? 

A review of cliche overuse, cozy tropes, and humor with an analysis of how these can warm up other genres or help you write in the cozy and/or humorous genres. Attendees will have the opportunity to write down cozy and/or humorous elements that could enhance their stories.

Panel
Room FourRoom Four
4:00pm- 50 minutes4:00pm- 50 minutes

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is here. It is a very hot and debatable topic. But is it all negative? Does AI offer opportunities for the publishing industry?

Erica McBeth, Ron Dungan, Lordes Leiner