Colorado SunFest Panel: So You Want to be an Author
The Colorado Sun welcomes literacy experts to Colorado Sunfest 2025, Friday, May 16th, 2025. Tickets available at coloradosun.com.
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When: 10-11 a.m.
Where: Room TBD, University of Denver
Whether you’ve simply had the makings of a story stuck in the back of your mind or a half-finished manuscript stuck in neutral, this panel of experts can help you kickstart your creative process. Inspiring personal experience. Tools to take your writing game to the next level. Real-world expertise on how to get published. This panel offers an encouraging nudge — and tangible tips — to the author within.
Moderator: Kevin Simpson, Colorado Sun Writer, Editor, and Co-Founder
Speakers:
Cynthia Swanson
author and editor
Cynthia Swanson writes psychological suspense, often using historical settings. Her debut novel, “The Bookseller,” was a New York Times bestseller, and is slated to be a motion picture produced by Julia Roberts. Her second novel, “The Glass Forest,” was a USA Today bestseller. Her third novel, “Anyone But Her,” was named 2024 Best Mystery/Thriller by the Indie Author Project. Swanson was the editor of the 2023 Colorado Book Award-winning anthology “Denver Noir.”
Andrea Dupree
co-founder and program director of Lighthouse Writers Workshop
Andrea Dupree has worked for Lighthouse Writers Workshop from the beginning and gets her thrills finding new programs that bring literary excellence to the Lighthouse community. She teaches fiction workshops and has had short fiction published in a variety of publications. She’s been honored to receive two MacDowell fellowships for her fiction.
Shana Kelly
writer, editor and former literary agent
Shana Kelly was a literary agent at the William Morris Agency in New York and London for 10 years. She currently works as a book editor, writer, and publishing consultant, and teaches at Lighthouse Writers Workshop. In 2024, she won an Emmy for writing “A Towering Task: The Story of the Peace Corps,” a historical documentary that aired on PBS in September 2023.She is currently writing a historical documentary about the League of Women Voters.
Join the conversation with on social media with the hashtag #SunFest2025.
