Lunch and Networking beforehand from 12:00 – 1:00 MT
1:00 – 2:00 Program MT
2:15 – 3:00 – Business Meeting MT
Program Zoom events are a non-refundable $10 fee for non-members)
All events are also posted on the chapter’s Facebook page.
Meetings are on Saturdays: 1/10, 2/7, 3/7, 4/4, 5/2, No June meeting, 7/11, 8/1, 9/12, 10/3, 11/7, No December meeting
2026
May 2: Promotion vs Marketing with Award-Winning Mystery and Romance Author, Paty Jager at Valley Center Building, Boise Writers Den (Suite 204), 4948 W Kootenai St, Boise at 1:00 pm MDT. Networking and lunch begins at 12:00.
We’re having a no-host lunch delivered from Cafe Zupas. If you wish to participate, email your lunch order from the menu to Tracie Lee ([email protected]) by Monday, April 27th. We’ll settle up at the meeting with Venmo, cash or PayPal.
Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 65 novels, 11 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband recently moved from a ranch in rural SE Oregon to town life in NE Oregon. She not only writes about the Western lifestyle but has also lived it. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Author’s Guild, Alliance of Independent Authors, and NIWA.
Program Description: Ever wonder what the difference is between promotion and marketing? We’ll talk about what they are, how they are similar, and how to use them.
Non-members are welcome to attend in-person or on Zoom for the non-refundable fee of $10.
Presenter 1: Sierra Hunt, 1 – 1:15pm,Custom Painted Book Edges
Description: Stenciled and Sprayed Edges are taking over the publishing industry and social media these days. This session will cover how to create your own custom painted book edges – from design to the painting process – so you can turn any book you own into a special edition.
Bio: Sierra Dunning writes contemporary romance with an element of fame. She has wanted to be an author since she was about 6 years old and is finally following through on that dream. Sierra holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and a bachelor’s degree in French. When she’s not writing, she’s working at her law enforcement day job, calculating statistics to analyze her reading, or spending time with her cat, Finley.
Presenter 2: Melanie Olsen, 1:20 – 1:35pm, How to make Book Jewelry
Description: Melanie will share a brief how-to on turning book covers into jewelry along with a list of supplies and a guide for those interested in turning their work into wearable art.
Bio: Anna August writes romantic suspense and contemporary romance. She enjoys writing imaginative characters with complicated backgrounds. She cherishes books with plot twists, humor, and happily ever after’s.
Born and raised in California, Anna has also lived in Illinois, Texas, North Carolina, Idaho, and England. She served as a military spouse alongside her active duty husband in the US Air Force for twenty-one years. She holds a bachelors degrees in English and also in Geology, after discovering her love of rocks during a camping trip to a gold mine as a child.
When she’s not writing, she enjoys spending time with her husband, her two adult children, and her golden retrieve puppy at their home in Boise, Idaho. She also enjoys gardening, gluten-free baking, and random home improvement projects.
Find her at http://www.annaaugustbooks.com
Presenter 3:Janis McCurry, 1:40 – 1:55pm, Social Media Engagement via Current Trends in Videos.
Description: A consistent presence on social media platforms is vital to the nasty “algorithms” that determine how visible you are to readers. Videos have taken over the top spot for visibility. Janis will show what type of videos get the most views.
Bio: Janis McCurry has always loved writing contemporary love stories. These are tales about people in their 30s finding connection, navigating career and life changes, and falling head over heels in unexpected ways. Lately, she’s been drawn more and more to characters with a little more mileage. People who’ve lived, loved, lost, and kept going. That’s why she’s shifting her focus to seasoned romance.
Seasoned romance is about characters who are in their 40s, 50s, or beyond. There’s something incredibly compelling about two people who aren’t looking to be rescued, but instead find someone who sees and appreciates them exactly as they are.
She’s still bringing the same slow burns, deep emotion, smart heroines, and stubborn, lovable men. But now, the heat and heart come wrapped in a little more life experience. These are romances for readers who know that falling in love doesn’t have an age limit and that sometimes the best chapters are the ones we never saw coming.
Find her on https://linktr.ee/janismccurryauthor
March 7: Engage Your Audience in Person and Online with Matty Dalrymple at Valley Center Building, Boise Writers Den (Suite 204), 4948 W Kootenai St, Boise at 1:00 pm. Networking begins at 12:30.
In-Person (members only) or Zoom (non-members welcome for a non-refundable fee of $10). See below to register.
Matty Dalrymple is the author of the Lizzy Ballard Thrillers, the Ann Kinnear Suspense Novels, and the Ann Kinnear Suspense Shorts. She is a member of International Thriller Writers and Sisters in Crime.
Matty also educates and advocates for writers as The Indy Author. She is the host and producer of hundreds of episodes of The Indy Author Podcast and has spoken on topics related to writing and publishing at events such as the Writer’s Digest annual conference, ALLi SelfPubCon, Author Nation, Authors Guild webinars, International Thriller Writers’ CraftFest, and many more.
Matty writes nonfiction books for writers, and her articles have appeared in Writer’s Digest magazine. She is a Partner Member and team member at the Alliance of Independent Authors.
Matty lives with her husband, Wade Walton, and their dogs in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and enjoys vacationing on Mount Desert Island, Maine, and Sedona, Arizona, and these locations provide the settings for her novels.
Program Description: You have information to share, and you have the knowledge to back up your message. But excellent content alone is not enough to deliver an excellent presentation. The techniques you apply to share your material will determine whether your audience’s attention is riveted to you or drifts to their social media feeds.
Presenters need two important sets of presentation skills: the ability to engage an audience in person and in a virtual environment. And, regardless of the format, they must be prepared to handle the Q&A portion of their presentation effectively and gracefully.
Non-members are welcome to attend via Zoom for the non-refundable fee of $10.
February 7: The Shopify Update: The good, the bad, the ugly with Megan Bryce at the Valley Center Building, Boise Writers Den (Suite 204), 4948 W Kootenai St, Boise at 1:00 pm. Networking begins at 12:30.
In-Person (members only) or Zoom (non-members welcome for a non-refundable fee of $10). See below to register.
Megan Bryce has been self-publishing since 2012 and writes contemporary and historical romance (so far). She was a full-time author until 2021 and has been hanging on by her fingernails ever since then.
Program Description:
In October 2024, she pulled her books from Kindle Unlimited to open her own Shopify store, and this hour-long presentation will cover what she learned after one full year of selling direct to readers:
- the results
- the problems that never materialized
- the problems she never saw coming
- the plan for 2026
Non-members are welcome to attend via Zoom for the non-refundable fee of $10.
January 10: Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done IN-PERSON ONLY with Kyrsten Bell at Smoky Mountain Pizza, 415 East Parkcenter at 1:00pm
Kyrsten Bell is a business owner, grandma, unpublished author, serial productivity book reader and seeker of the secret to getting projects across the finish line.
Program Description:
Why do we give up on the goals we want most? Because the middle of the effort, like the sagging middle of a novel, is the hard slog when achieving a goal. Every big goal is a promise we make to ourselves and when we drop one, we lose a little of our integrity, making it harder to believe in ourselves next time.
This presentation will share tips on goal completion from “Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done” by Jon Acuff, “Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals” by Oliver Burkeman, and “Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout” by Cal Newport.
Non-members are welcome to attend the in-person only program for the nonrefundable fee of $10.
2025
November 1: Roadblocks, Weaklings, Vacuum Seals, and Clean Rooms: 10 Tips for Self-Editing Your Manuscript IN-PERSON ONLY with Tracie Lee at Smoky Mountain Pizza, 415 East Parkcenter at 1:00pm MDT.
Tracie Lee is a writer who loves editing, maybe a little too much. In addition to editing the OMintheNews.com academic blog since 2016, she has line edited dozens manuscripts across multiple genres.
Fun fact: Tracie sent so many corrections to a textbook publisher they hired her as a Subject Matter Expert.
When she’s not obsessing over punctuation and verb choice, she’s teaching statistics and supply chain courses at Boise State.
Program Description:
Before sending your manuscript to an editor, have you checked for roadblocks, weaklings, vacuum seals, and clean rooms?
In this interactive workshop, we’ll go through 10 tips to strengthen your manuscript and get more out of your editor’s time and expertise.
If you’d like hands-on practice with your own work, bring a 3 to 5 page printed example of your writing.
Non-members are welcome to attend the in-person only program for the nonrefundable fee of $10.
October 4: A Monster Calls: Monsters in Story, Ancient, New, and Yours with Paula Chaffee Scardamalia at the Valley Center Building, Boise Writers Den (Suite 204), 4948 W Kootenai St, Boise at 1:00 pm.
In-Person (members only) or Zoom at 12:30-1:00 for networking before the presentation begins.
Non-members on Zoom only (see below for registration)
Program Description: Literature throughout the ages is filled with monsters, both obvious and hidden. Monsters like the Minotaur, or Nessie of Loch Ness, or Frankenstein, and more. They live in myth, fairy tale, and modern film and story, encompassing the good, bad, and ugly.
This workshop gives participants a knowledge of the categories and roles of monsters throughout the ages, how some creators have used them, and how attendees can use a modern version of monsters to add depth to character, whether villain or hero, and increase conflict and drama in story. Includes handouts.
Yes, a monster calls. You’re invited to respond.
Paula Chaffee Scardamalia is an author and book coach who loves helping other writers write their stories and life discoveries using her experience and knowledge as well as intuitive tools such as dreams and the tarot.
She’s the author of the forthcoming mythic contemporary romance, The Tempting Voice, and a romantasy, In the Land of the Vultures. She also has written three nonfiction books on writing and the creative life, Enchanting Creativity, Tarot for the Fiction Writer, and the award-winning Weaving a Woman’s Life: Spiritual Lessons from the Loom.
Divine Muse-ings is her weekly newsletter on writing, creativity, dreams, and tarot. She lives with her husband in an 1840s Greek Revival farmhouse, constantly in need of TLC, in the foothills of the Catskills.
Socials: diviningthemuse.com
diviningthemuse.com/blog
youtube.com/paulascardamalia
facebook.com/paula.scardamalia
instagram.com/diviningthemuse
pinterest.com/pcscardamalia
paulamuse.bsky.social
Guests are welcome to attend the ZOOM meeting for the non-refundable cost of $10.
September 6: Caring for the self through meditation and other mindfulness practices in-person only with Burma Naylor, Reiki Master, Medical Reiki Master ™, Certified Yoga Teacher, RYT 200 at Smoky Mountain Pizzeria, 415 E. Parkcenter, at 1:00 pm MDT.
It all started during a reawakening in southern Baja….a story best shared in person!I truly enjoy mala making as an outlet for creative energy. While hand tying the malas, you’ll find me listening to mantra, where I’ve discovered the most profound and deepest meditations.
Inviting Reiki and connecting to this Source allows each mala to be infused with the highest and best intention for each recipient. As a decades-long recipient of Reiki, I’ve experienced its many benefits firsthand. I am honored to offer this healing modality, along with crystal and sound healing, as a way to bring more peace and calm, and harmony into the lives of others.
I help people relax and find and feel peace– no matter how far from your current reality that may seem. This is done through intuitive energy work. We’ll bring attention to the words you use and the energy you carry. I’m here to help add tools to your toolbox.
Website:http://WanderlustMalasAndReiki.com
Socials:https://www.facebook.com/WanderlustMalasAndReiki, https://www.instagram.com/wanderlustmalasandreiki/
Program Description:
In this session, we’ll explore how authors can care for the self through meditation and other mindfulness practices. Discover how deepening your mind–body connection can quiet the mind, release tension, and invite inspiration. Learn how Malas can assist your mindfulness practice to cultivate presence and inspiration.
Non-members are invited to attend IN-PERSON ONLY for the non-refundable fee of $10.
Cristen Iris is an experienced book publishing professional who has worked for traditional and hybrid publishers of fiction and nonfiction and alongside literary agents as a developmental and substantive editor, book proposal consultant, ghostwriter, and talent scout. Learn more about Cristen.
Program Description: