Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers

Cynthia Swanson is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the psychological suspense novels The Bookseller, The Glass Forest, and Anyone But Her, and the forthcoming short story collection This Isn’t New: Women’s Historical Stories. Cynthia was named 2025 Indie Author of the Year by the Indie Author Project, has received the Colorado Book Award (twice) and the WILLA Literary Award,...

Kelly Pollard resides in Loveland, CO. She was recognized by NoCo Style’s 30 Under 30 in 2024 for her debut YA novel, Shattered Streams. When she isn't writing, you can find her in nature, traveling, or cozying up with a book and her cat, Cleo. Check out her website: www.kellypollardbooks.com Visit her on Instagram: www.instagram.com/kellylaurapollard

Nikki Carrero (she/her) is an assistant agent at The Rights Factory. She has a background in education, marketing, publishing, and bookselling, and loves to see people fall in love with stories. Her love for the written word began when her grandmother brought her to the bookstore as a kid to pick out new books. She hasn’t stopped reading since and is currently building her own personal home librar...

This episode is about inspiration. Farrah Frances writes weird girl fiction and spec fic under the pen name A.Z. Sultana. Her prose can be found scribbled on the walls of many bathroom stalls across the nation. She holds a PMP certification, a Bachelor’s in general studies with a focus on Marketing from Gonzaga, and a Master’s in Library Science from North Carolina Central University. You can find...

Kevin Wolf’s novel, THE HOMEPLACE is the winner of the 2015 Tony Hillerman Award.  The novel was a finalist for the 2016 Strand Critics Award for Debut Mystery. Western Writers of America selected his short story, BELTHANGER as the 2021 Spur Award Winner for Best Short Fiction. The great-grandson of Colorado homesteaders, he enjoys fly fishing, old Winchesters, and 1950's Western movies.  He l...

Jacquelin Cangro worked at Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster for more than twenty years. Now, as an independent developmental editor and book coach, she reviews novel manuscripts in many genres, including historical, YA, women’s fiction, romance, and upmarket, providing writers with feedback to revise their stories. She teaches creative writing at GrubStreet and The Loft. Her short fiction...

David Rodeback was born in Boulder, Colorado, and lived in southeast Idaho and upstate New York before settling in American Fork, Utah, near the end of the past century. He studied at Brigham Young University, Cornell University, and the Pushkin Russian Language Institute in Moscow, USSR, and taught writing and Russian language and literature at Cornell, BYU, and elsewhere. By day he's Chief Marke...

I talk with Celina about the 2025 RMFW Gold Conference. If you’ve got a book coming out, and you are interested in being interviewed, you can email me at rmfwpodcast@gmail.com or DM me on Instagram at a.z.sultana if you have any questions. This Saturday is the YA Birds of a feather meetup from 1-330 at the Valdez-Perry Library in Denver. I know I’m going to try to make it. If you have any question...

GRETCHEN FELKER-MARTIN is a Massachusetts-based bestselling horror author and film critic. Her debut novel, Manhunt, was named the #1 Best Book of 2022 by Vulture, and one of the Best Horror Novels of 2022 by Esquire, Library Journal, and Paste. Her sophomore novel, Cuckoo, debuted on the USA Today bestseller list. You can read her fiction and film criticism on Patreon and in TIME, The Outline, Po...

Rob Samborn is the award-winning author of six novels, including the Painted Souls dual-timeline thriller series and the upcoming spy thriller series, Diplomatic Security. In addition to being a novelist, Rob is a screenwriter, entrepreneur, and avid traveler. He’s been to forty-two countries and lived in five of them. As a restless spirit who can’t remember the last time he was bored, Rob is on a...

Today, our guest is Chelsea Pennington. Chelsea lives in Colorado with her husband and their dog, Pippin. Her first story was Pokémon fan fiction in kindergarten, and she's been writing ever since. When she's not writing or reading, you can probably find her listening to podcasts or bird watching. You can connect with Chelsea online at www.chelseapenningtonauthor.com. A Gardener's Guide to Love an...

Bestselling author Mariah Ankenman lives in the beautiful Rocky Mountains with her two rambunctious children and loving spouse who is her own personal spell checker when her dyslexia gets the best of her. Mariah loves to lose herself in a world of words. Her favorite thing about writing is when she can make someone’s day a little brighter with one of her books. To learn more about Mariah and her b...

Laura Resau is the author of The Alchemy of Flowers, her debut novel for adults coming summer 2025 with Harper Muse, and eleven acclaimed books for young people. Her books have won five Colorado Book Awards and spots on “best-of” booklists from Oprah, the American Library Association, and more. Trilingual, she’s lived in Provence and Oaxaca, and studied cultural anthropology and languages. She tea...

The son of two librarians, Mark Stevens has worked as a reporter, as a national television news producer and in public relations. Mark Stevens is the author of No Lie Lasts Forever (Thomas & Mercer, 2025), The Fireballer (Lake Union, 2023) and The Allison Coil Mystery Series including Antler Dust, Buried by the Roan, Trapline, Lake of Fire, and The Melancholy Howl. Trapline won the Colorado Book A...