Master of Ceremonies
Kathy Dunnehoff
Keynote Speaker
Susan Purvis is an acclaimed author and renowned educator with over 25 years of public speaking experience. Susan began her writing career in 2007 at the Flathead River Writers Conference. With help from that strong community, in 2018, Susan launched her best-selling, award-winning memoir, Go Find: My Journey to Find the Lost — And Myself.
Her love for exploration, training K9’s to save lives, and teaching others to do the same put her in print and on-screen with Smithsonian, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, as well as on CNN, the BBC, and Discovery channels. She’s worked at the hottest, coldest, and highest places on the planet, lived with indigenous cultures in the Amazon, Nepal, Africa, and Mexico. She’s traveled by foot, bike, skis, camel, Cessna, and dugout canoe to capture stories of the human spirit. Website
Editor and Featured Presenter
Val M. Mathews is a big-hearted, fun-loving acquisitions editor at The Wild Rose Press, a small traditional publishing house in New York, and an editorial consultant for CRAFT Literary, a well-established online literary magazine. She also teaches courses in editing for the University of California Berkeley Extension, Queen’s University in Ontario, and the Editorial Freelancers Association in New York City. Val earned an MA in Professional Writing from Kennesaw State University and a BFA from the University of Georgia. Fun fact about Val: She’s been an FAA-certified flight instructor for over twenty-five years, and in the past, she flew Lear jets for a living.
Agent
Lynnette Novak is an agent with The Seymour Agency. She has vast experience in
promoting and polishing new and experienced writers and has an expansive background in
editing. She holds a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Manitoba and now
lives in Minnesota with her husband, twin girls, and many pets. She loves dark and
suspenseful novels with mysterious twists, unique worlds, light and funny, a good love
story, and lots of voice. Lynnette is always looking for diverse and LGBTQ+ authors. Website
Film and TV Producer
As founder of Snowfall Films, Inc. Suzanne Lyons has produced twelve features. She has
worked with talent that includes Christopher Walken, Naomi Watts, Alfred Molina, James
Caan and Susan Sarandon. Her films have won a BAFTA, a premier at the Directors
Fortnight at Cannes and acceptance into the Toronto, Berlin, LA, and Montreal Film
Festivals. Suzanne founded Flash Forward Institute, with a focus on marketing oneself in
the industry. She’s been a guest speaker at over seventy industry events and is a member of
the PGA. Suzanne has written a book on “Indie Film Producing,” and has a Film Producing
Masterclass with a number of webinars on IFHacademy.com. Website
Poetry
Lowell Jaeger (Montana Poet Laureate 2017-2019) is the founding editor of Many Voices Press
and edited New Poets of the American West, an anthology of poets from eleven western
states. Jaeger is a graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, winner of the Grolier Poetry
Peace Prize, and recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the
Montana Arts Council. Lowell was awarded the Montana Governor’s Humanities Award for
his work in promoting civil civic discourse. He is the author of seven collections of poems,
the most recent of which is Or Maybe I Drift Off Alone (Shabda Press 2016). Website
Business
Connie Cermak, Owner and Creative Director at Social Nectar, LLC, knows how to tell a
story. After all, she’s been writing other people’s stories for 20 years as a marketing
consultant, content strategist, social media expert, web designer, writer, and artist. Her
clients range from best-selling authors to start ups, mid-level markets and enterprise
companies. Though she considers herself somewhat of a not-so-social social media
strategist, she’ll help you discover your own story, target your market, and incorporate the
best social media platforms to garner the attention of your audience and win their loyalty
through a big picture, online marketing strategy. Website
YA
Jess E. Owen is a professional author and artist residing in the mountains of northwest
Montana with her husband and doggo. She is a current board member and past president of
Authors of the Flathead, and a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and
Illustrators. She published the indie YA fantasy series, The Summer King Chronicles, as well
as a contemporary coming-of-age with Page Street Books titled A Furry Faux Paw. A second
title is due out in the spring of 2023. Jess's stories, whether fantastic or contemporary, are
Noblebright at their core woven with a spirit of determined hope, belief in the power of
kindness, and the faith that good will overcome. Instagram, Twitter and Facebook Website 1, Website 2
Audiobook
Actor and audiobook narrator Eve Passeltiner combines East-coast savvy, a Western soul,
and a wry sense of humor. She has created countless characters on stage and in
audiobooks, narrating for USA Today and NY Times best-selling authors. Her work has
been nominated for numerous awards including the annual Independent Audiobook
Awards, the Audie Awards and Society of Voice Arts awards as well as the Webby Awards
for her voice work for The Washington Post. Eve is a member of both acting unions: Actors
Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA, and is a member of the Audiobook Publisher’s
Association. Originally from Manhattan’s West Side she now resides in Whitefish, Montana.
Maintaining a Healthy Body and Spirit
Dr. Erika Putnam is an author, chiropractor, and yoga instructor advocating for healing in
a pro-active environment that includes physical, emotional, and energetic well-being. She is
co-author of The Ultimate Guide to Self-Healing Techniques, available through her website.
Outside of work, Erika enjoys road biking, hiking, hunting, outdoor sporting, snowshoeing,
cooking, yoga, writing, babies, and her dogs - Zen and Carhartt. Website
