Tracks & Tales: A New Mexico Storyathon
October 23 @ 11:00 am – October 25 @ 3:00 pm
Event Description
Board the train. Find your story. Become a published author.
What if your writing retreat began the moment you stepped onto the platform?
This one-of-a-kind weekend event combines the romance of rail travel with the creative energy of the beloved Short Storyathon. You’ll board Amtrak’s Southwest Chief — consistently ranked one of the most scenic train routes in America — departing from Albuquerque’s historic Alvarado Transportation Center and arriving in Las Vegas, New Mexico, where high desert plateaus and expansive open landscapes of Northern New Mexico unfold outside your window. The journey itself is your first writing sprint.
Upon arrival, you’ll step off the train and directly into the Castañeda Hotel — Fred Harvey’s very first trackside hotel, built in 1898 and the beginning of America’s first hospitality empire. Each of the hotel’s twenty-two unique rooms is decorated with Victorian antiques and named after an animal or a Fred Harvey historic site — the perfect backdrop for the story you’re about to write.
Here’s how the weekend unfolds:
10/23 – Friday Morning — All Aboard Board the Southwest Chief at 11:32 AM in Albuquerque and settle in for the ~3-hour journey to Las Vegas, NM. Use the ride to brainstorm ideas, journal, and absorb the landscape that has inspired storytellers for generations. Check in to the Castañeda, get oriented, and join your fellow writers for a kickoff session covering the essentials of short story structure and how to generate compelling ideas.
10/24 – Saturday — Writing Day Wake up in a piece of history and write. Morning writing sprints and hourly check-ins will keep you moving. Midday sessions cover book cover design using Canva or working with a professional artist. The afternoon brings peer reviews and revision sessions. By evening, send your first three pages to our professional editors — feedback included in your ticket.
10/25 – Sunday — Publishing Day Final polish, edits, and then the moment you’ve been building toward: publishing your story on Amazon (any time, even on the train). Learn how to craft an irresistible blurb, choose the right categories, and hit “publish” — right there in the same hotel where Teddy Roosevelt once celebrated with his Rough Riders. Leave Las Vegas, NM at 11:37 AM and arrive in Albuquerque at 3 PM.
What’s included:
- Round-trip Amtrak Southwest Chief train ticket (Albuquerque ↔ Las Vegas, NM)
- Two nights at the historic Castañeda Hotel
- All Storyathon sessions and resources
- Professional editing for your first three pages
- A finished writing project
Why here? Why now? There’s something about motion — the rhythm of the rails, the desert scrolling past — that unlocks the writer’s mind. Pair that with one of New Mexico’s most storied destinations, and you have the conditions for a story that could only be written in this place, on this weekend.
Only 18 (17 as of 6/11) seats are available. Don’t miss the train.
Want to bring a friend, partner, or someone to share a room and participate in the event?
Want to bring a friend, partner, or someone as moral support and share a room? (ie. they won’t be participating in the writing sessions)
Your Facilitator
Led by Sonja Dewing — award-winning thriller author, founder of the Women’s Thriller Writers Association, and named Best Author in New Mexico 2024. She’s led the Short Storyathon for over ten years, and has helped hundreds of authors to finish and publish!
Refund: If you cancel within 30 days, you’ll receive a refund minus a nonrefundable deposit ($100).
FAQ
Q: What if I don’t want to publish my story to Amazon?
A: You don’t have to! I like to encourage everyone to use that story that they worked so hard on! Maybe send it to a journal, a magazine, or use it as your freebie offer on you author email list…
Q: What if I’m coming with a friend, partner, etc. and we want to share a room? Is there a different price for that?
A: Yes.
If your +one is there for moral support, then the price is $700;
if your +one is attending to share a room with you and participate in the writing sessions, then the price is $976. Keep in mind there is only one room left with 2 queen beds – the rest are rooms with single king beds.
Q: Does the story have to be thriller related?
A: No! Even though it’s hosted by the Women’s Thriller Writers Association, I (Sonja Dewing – CEO) encourage everyone to write what they want in any genre.
Q: Do I have to write a short story?
A: No! It’s your writing time. If you are compelled to work on that novel that’s been begging to be written, then feel free to write it!
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