By Leslie Budewitz

So the kids are back in school. You bought their pens and pencils, their crayons and computers, their notebooks and Netbooks. And every evening you talk about what they did that day and what they learned.

What about you? What are you doing for your own writerly education?

Well, I have an idea. Take yourself the 24th Annual Flathead River Writers Conference, sponsored by the Authors of the Flathead, on Sat-Sun, Sept. 27th-28 at Flathead Valley Community College in Kalispell. Registration for both days is $160; for one day, it’s $90. (Lunch included)

We’ve got a terrific lineup. Romance writer Margie Lawson uses her background as a psychologist to help writers dig deeper and take their characters, plots, and language further than they thought possible. Classes at “Margie U” are legendary. Thriller writer James W. Hall taught writing at Florida International University for decades — and knows how to tell stories that will scare the bejeebers out of you. Outdoor writer, magazine editor, and mystery writer Keith McCafferty will focus on story in fiction and nonfiction. Film maker Adam Pitman will talk screenwriting and horror. Agents Bree Ogden and Jim McCarthy will be on hand, sharing wisdom about the marketplace. And AofF alumnae Kathy Dunnehoff and I—both Montana Women Writers members and bestselling authors—will teach Sunday afternoon. Kathy will teach her course “Start Your Screenplay Today!” And in my workshop, “Building Character,” we’ll focus on discovering what matters most to your characters and using that to build compelling fiction.

Pack your pencil bag and join the fun.

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the national bestselling Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries. Death al Dente won the 2013 Agatha Award for Best First Novel, followed by Crime Rib (July 2014). She is the only author to win Agatha Awards for both fiction and nonfiction.