How an Unexpected Encounter Shaped My Narrative
By Kate Hamberger Yakis
In September of 2024, two months after my memoir Dances with Fire: Lessons in Life, Faith & Firefighting was published, I met New York Times best-selling author Jane Kirkpatrick, a founding member of WWW. Jane has written 41 books and won at least 8 major literary and lifetime achievement awards. When I showed Jane my book, she offered to trade. Looking at my cover, she asked, “Are you a member of Women Writing the West?” When I said I wasn’t, she insisted that I should be and recommended that I attend the October conference in Denver.
I am so glad I listened to that divine nudge. While taking that personal leap (not knowing a soul) and attending the conference, I learned about the WILLA Literary Awards. I took another leap and entered my book. To learn that I was a WILLA Finalist was thrilling!
At that conference, I discovered the true power of connection. In every WWW member I met, I saw an ingrained understanding of how challenging times develop the grit and resilience we wear for the rest of our lives. I love how this group writes with passion for their beloved outdoor environments, weaving the landscape into the lives of their characters and shaping them into better people.
As a college student working as a wildland firefighter, I spent my summers working outside with mostly men in difficult circumstances—hot, steep terrain, smoke, snakes, ash, dirt, dust, and sheer exhaustion. Every day that I endured, I grew mentally stronger. That grit equipped me for my next job as a high school Language Arts teacher, managing classrooms bursting with energetic freshmen.
While guiding those students through the elements of a good story with classics like To Kill a Mockingbird and Romeo & Juliet, it eventually dawned on me that I had my own stories to share—even if they were almost 25 years old. That realization was the beginning of my writer’s journey.
With the help of a critique group, my firefighting journals, and a collection of books on craft and vulnerability, I began to write. I reached out to connect with the past, ultimately obtaining permission from over 40 firefighters to use their actual names. These men and women remembered the fires and situations, and each one had their own unique story to share. Essential companions on this journey included Brené Brown’s Daring Greatly, Mary Karr’s The Art of Memoir, Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew’s Living Revision: A Writer’s Craft as Spiritual Practice, and Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile’s The Road Back to You.
Our WWW community understands better than most that deep love for the land. Many of us know what it feels like to be chased by a mean rooster, bucked off a horse, to watch storm clouds roll in before the hay is off the field, or to lose a home or harvest to a wildfire. I’m proud to be part of this group and have been blessed by every book I’ve read by a WWW member. I invite you to join me at the WWW Conference on Friday, October 16th at 3:15 PM. Together, we’ll discuss the importance of connection, why it takes courage, and how to uncover these powerful elements in our own narratives.
Courage and the Power of Connection: Exploring Personal Leaps and Divine Nudges to Uncover the Power of Connection in Our Narratives
Kate Hamberger Yakis
3:15 AM – 4:15 PM Friday Oct 16
2026 Annual Women Writing the West Conference registration portal
While in college, Kate Hamberger spent her summers working as a wildland firefighter on several hotshot crews and a helicopter crew on historic wildfires. In 2024, she published her award-winning memoir, Dances With Fire, where she describes the physical and mental demands of the job and the complex dynamics within male-dominated crews. In 1990, she graduated with a BA in Journalism from the University of Oregon. She resides in Silverton, Oregon, and enjoys traveling, teaching, and being outside with friends.
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