Owen Laukkanen. I was one of the lucky writers who managed to sneak into a “blue pencil” session with Owen because had a cancellation, and we had a brilliant conversation and a few laughs. But, Owen also told me what worked and where I could prolong the tension to create more suspense in the first chapter of my new novel. It was a first draft of a scene I’d written two days before so I’d have something to present for critique. Who better than a maritime thriller writer to comment on a B.C. lighthouse novel? And he bought a copy of my book!

For Owen’s take on the Surrey International Writers Conference, read  So Surrey | Home | Project Nomad then sign up for next year’s conference because what he says is true. SiWC is truly “one of North America’s premiere writing conferences.”