Blog Archives

Welcome, new District 2 member Elmer Fuller

10/29/2024

Elmer Fuller began writing freelance articles in 1984 during a ministry career. He self-published a short, non-fiction book in 2000. His writing paused during a career change in 2001. After adventures in the corporate training and IT worlds, Elmer returned to writing in retirement, but changed his focus to historical fiction. He stays active writing, speaking, and volunteering. Elmer resides in Overland Park and enjoys family, faith, travel, and watching the St. Louis Cardinals baseball and Kansas City Chiefs football teams. More information is available at www.elmerfuller.com.

Welcome, Elmer - glad to have you!

Michael Poage's Heart: Collected Poems 1975-2024

10/28/2024

Book Announcement by Wichita member, Michael Poage:

With gratitude I introduce you to my COLLECTED POEMS 1975 - 2024. It is published by Spartan Press, Jason Ryberg, Kansas City, Missouri. Available at [email protected], bluecedarpress.com, michaelpoage.com, Barnes and Noble, Watermark Books, Bookshop.org, and other independent book stores. $50.00 Thank you. Support the poets!

2024 Nelson Poetry Book Award

10/26/2024

Insomnia in Another Town

by Lisa M. Hase-Jackson

"The cover of this book attracted me right away, and that was only the beginning. Hase-Jackson does a beautiful job of turning memory into poetry. She uses a variety of forms including pantoum, free-verse, and even prose poetry to give insight into family, farming, and the human soul. A beautiful collection."

Judge Kat Fox, English Faculty at Emporia State University

Lindsey Bartlett and Lisa M. Hase-Jackson

Insomnia in Another Town

Created by Raymond and Margaret Nelson – Dr. Raymond Nelson and Margaret Nelson joined KAC in 1979. Both served in various offices, including state president, Raymond from 1984-1986, and Margaret Nelson from 1994-1995. The couple began awarding the Nelson Poetry Book Award in 2002.

2024 Coffin Award for Nonfiction

10/26/2024

Three Lost Worlds

by Jim Gilkeson

"Gilkeson tells the story of his fascinating journey from San Francisco to Germany and the Netherlands with humor. This is a book you can’t put down. I enjoyed every word."

-Judge Dillion O’Keefe, history professor at Emporia State University

Three Lost Worlds

Jim Gilkeson and Lindsey Bartlett

The J. Donald Coffin Memorial Book Award was established by Mrs. Bertha Coffin to honor the memory of her husband, a long-time member and officer of KAC, after his death on September 6, 1978. The J. Donald Coffin Award is intended to honor the best published book written by a member of Kansas Authors Club, excluding Kansas history, Kansas memoir, poetry, and children’s books, which have their own contests. Beginning in 2022, this contest provides two awards, one in fiction and one in nonfiction.

2024 Coffin Award for Fiction

10/26/2024

Our Mothers' Ghosts

by Marilyn Hope Lake

"This is a novella of linked stories about the complex, but loving, nature of women’s relationships with their mothers, daughters, aunts, and nieces. The protagonists (Boots, Helen, Sis, and Megan) are flawed, but compelling, doing their best to survive in the 20th century male dominated society. Days later I found myself still thinking about these women and their lives and triggering my own memories of the complicated but important relationships with other women in my own life. The writing is accessible and thought-provoking."
-Judge Michelle Zumbrum

Marilyn Hope Lake joins us via Zoom (top right projection image) for the 2024 Book Awards, with Tracy Million Simmons & Lindsey Bartlett.

Our Mothers' Ghosts

2024 Martin Kansas History Book Award

10/26/2024

Remembering Martha

by Jerilynn Jones Henrikson

"Remembering Martha is a fascinating read that is difficult to put down. Henrikson takes the limited source material that she has and provides a compelling monograph that leaves the reader wanting more. Although classified as fiction, Henrikson paints a picture of small-town Kansas that give insight into what it means both geographically and chronologically to live in Neosho Rapids Kansas around the turn of the 20th century. Remembering Martha takes the information obtained from an oral history interview and in the same spirit as historians who work with the stories of race and the color line around the turn of the century fills in the gaps. Henrikson does this in such a way that it can satisfy even a demanding historian."
–Judge: Steve Bellavia, history professor at Emporia State

Remembering Martha

The Martin Kansas History Book Award was created in 2018 as a tribute to Gail Lee Martin, who was KAC State Archivist from 1995-2005. Gail Lee Martin joined Kansas Authors Club in 1992 and was a member of District 5. Martin enjoyed writing fiction, nonfiction, stories for children, journalism, history, and poetry. Martin’s work was published in numerous magazines. She also published two books: Clyde Owen Martin Family Memories of His Life and Times, and My Flint Hills Childhood, which was a winner of the Ferguson Kansas History Book Award in 2010. The funding for the Martin Kansas History Book Award comes from the Gail Lee Martin Memorial established in her name. This book award is open exclusively for Kansas history.

2024 Kansas Authors Club Children's Book Award

10/26/2024

Henry, Like Always

by Jenn Bailey

"It’s a great first chapter book for children detailing something with which all children struggle: a change to their usual schedule. It is so relatable for all children, especially those who dislike or resist change, and someone of any age could learn a lesson from it. The artwork is beautiful and meaningful, and the message of finding your own way to solve a problem and embracing what makes each one of us unique is applaudable"
–Judge Michaela Karr, professor and mom

Jenn Bailey with 2024 Book Contest Manager Lindsey Bartlett

Learn More: Henry, Like Always

The Kansas Authors Club Children’s Book Award was created in 2018 to honor the best book written with an audience of children in mind. The Children’s Book Award is sponsored in memory of Craig Grant. Craig was a champion of public education. He believed reading is basic to sharing our thoughts and feelings, understanding and accepting our differences and sameness, and helping us to learn about our world.

Buy a Ticket to view the 2024 Convention Recordings

10/26/2024

Did you miss the convention? Would you like the opportunity to watch the recordings of the workshops from the comfort of your own home? Grab a Virtual Convention Ticket today. For a limited time (through the end of 2024), you will have access to the 2024 workshop recordings. 16 workshops and the panel discussion on creative collaborations. Don't miss this chance!

Virtual Tickets Still Available!

What did you think of the 2024 Convention?
Members respond:

"Jenn Bailey’s keynote was incredible – incredibly insightful and incredibly funny. Her wisdom about “packing a lunch” was witty and true. It set the tone for the rest of the sessions and they did not disappoint. Not one weakling in the bunch. I filled pages and pages of my notebook with tips, tricks and takeaways for improving craft. But maybe the tool I’ll remember most from the weekend is the inspiration I found in the other members. I am brand new to the Kansas Authors Club but nearly everyone I met blew my mind! I had no idea there were so many creative, talented, hard-working Kansas authors out there. All ages, all backgrounds – everyone ‘doing the thing’ and sharing their experience so generously. It was awesome in the truest sense of the word."

--Gretchen Burch

"LOVED how dynamic and engaging the workshops were!! Deb's play writing workshop gave me the start to a piece I'd love to finish writing and Jillian's Dual Timeline workshop was fascinating and got me excited to start my next novel."

--Cat Webling

September Publishing News from Duane L. Herrmann

10/25/2024

In September 2024 Spillwords, Bookends Rev, and Poetry Festival each posted one poem. King Fisher Poetry Forum 2 posted three, and The Literary Yard posted five. The anthologies: Speak Easy Poets printed three poems, Minute Musings published two, and Gathering Poetry published one. The Adirondack Center for Writing posted his response to a weekly prompt. Funds for Writers posted an account of the life of his story, 'Missing Mother,' that has been nominated for: 'Best of the Net.' The summer issue of The Harnisch Acre published his short short story: 'Secret in Time,' and Canvas Rebel posted an interview with Herrmann.

Debut Novel by Member Abbi Lee

10/25/2024

Abbi Lee's debut middle-grade novel, Ghost Town Treasure Hunt, is the first installment in the contemporary adventure series, Geocache Club, published by Chicken Scratch Books. Eleven-year-old Layton Clark’s best friend moves away and he wonders if he’ll ever have another adventure. Then he meets Sherry. She introduces him to the treasure-hunting world of geocaching. A contagious thirst for adventure sends them hunting for mysterious geocaches popping up in random places—like an abandoned Kansas ghost town. Layton and Sherry must work together to unlock the clues in the strange geocaches, solve a 100-year-old mystery to clear a dead man’s name, and convince Layton’s archaeologist father the town is worth studying further so his family doesn’t have to move. With everything he holds dear at stake, Layton can’t afford to leave a single headstone unscrubbed, or geocache treasure undiscovered.

Learn more and join the adventure at https://abbileebooks.wordpress.com/publications/geocache-club-series/

Learn More and Join the Adventure!

Autumn Poems Contest by Choeofpleirn Press

10/25/2024

Choeofpleirn Press is hosting a harvest-oriented poetry contest this month, and will publish 8 poems selected from the submissions on our website, www.choeofpleirnpress.com, in November.

Writing News from Member Barbara Meier

10/25/2024

Barbara Meier from Lincoln, Kansas sends the following report:

Five poems published this week! (October 15, 2024)THE MUSEUM OF AMERICANA: A LITERARY REVIEW published my poem "The Sultan Of Storms" in issue 34. Dark Winter Press and Literary Magazine published three of my poems.The Swallows of Shady Bend; Reconciliation of the Dead; Peony Haiku. Finally Beach Chair Press, Issue 4, published my poem "Moonshadow Blue Jeans". It was a good week!

Congratulations, Barbara!

If you have news of writing events that would be of interest to all Kansas Authors Club members, or if you are a member (dues current) who would like to announce an achievement, please submit your news via this form.

#ReadLocalKS: The Last Rancher, by Robert Rebein

10/25/2024

Book Review by member Julie Stielstra

Book Review: Robert Rebein's contemporary western, Meadowlark Press, 2024

#readlocalks

Robert Rebein, son of a ranching family in southwestern Kansas, knows his people and knows this place. He has packed what he knows into a dense, loving, and clear-eyed saga, a contemporary western of the expected sweeping vistas, rural hardship, galloping horses, rugged (to a fault) men and indomitable (to a fault) women. These "typical" ingredients are layered in with heartbreak, suffering, exaltation, loss, endurance, addiction, aging, grave errors... and the possibility of redemption, starting over, understanding, and patience. Rebein's men and woman are complicated, difficult, sometimes downright infuriating, but they are all worth caring about.

I might have done without quite so much automotive product placement (their machinery is *extremely* important to the Bar W denizens); I worried more about what would become of the horses and dogs. But these people and this place are worth getting to know; those who already do know them will recognize them. Rebein knows them well, and paints them with vividness, understanding, and honesty.

What are you reading? Help us lift and share the good news about Kansas literature. Tag your book loves and reviews on social media with #ReadLocalKS and submit here to be posted on the Kansas Authors Club website.

The Rhino Keeper by Jillian Forsberg

10/24/2024

The Rhino Keeper is a uniquely entertaining historical story which begins in 1740. It focuses on an orphaned rhinoceros named Clara. Douwemout van der Meer finds himself mesmerized by a juvenile rhino and unexpectedly her owner. He employs Zubin, a boy, to help with her care. We follow their travels, trials, and joys from Calcutta, India, over sea and land. They travel around the Cape of Good Hope and settle for a while in the Netherlands. To provide for Clara’s care, Douwemout and Zubin take her on a tour of Europe, where they have encounters with royalty and common folk. Humorous events, endearing encounters, and danger await them as they travel.

This is a dual timeline novel. Andrea, reeling after her breakup with the man she hoped to marry, flies to The Netherlands, where she fills a position at Leiden University to preserve the history of a graveyard which must be relocated because of erosion. Almost from the time she arrives, chance happenings dictate Andrea will learn about Clara’s existence. She becomes embroiled in the fight to preserve the memory of the influence Clara had on Europe in the late 1700s.

This is a must read for historical fiction fans.
#readlocalks #ksauthors #debutnovel #readersoninstagram #WhatToRead #histfic

Remembering Martha Review by Amy Kliewer

10/20/2024

Remembering Martha, a memoir by Jerilynn Jones Henrikson, provides the reader with a realistic glimpse of life on the Kansas prairie in the early 1900s. Henrikson writes about her Grandmother Martha who helped her father and siblings manage the household after her mother dies in childbirth. At a young age, Martha learns to cook, clean, and tend the garden. Her father is strict and austere but not without love for his family. He demands much from his children to survive the difficulties and dangers of pioneer life. The community helped Martha by offering her ways to earn additional money for her treasures of ribbons or fabric. The author includes believable dialogue and humorous stories several of which made me laugh out loud. I recommend this slim volume to anyone who is curious about this era of early American life. This book won the 2024 Martin Kansas History Book Award presented by the Kansas Authors Club for the best book about Kansas history published in that year. #KSAuthors #ReadLocalKS

Writing from the Center: 2024

10/18/2024

The Writing from the Center Zine: 2024, Theme: Friendship, edition is available as a PDF file for downloading. Instructions for purchasing physical copies are found below.

Thank You to our Members who have volunteered their time to make this project possible.

2024 Kansas Authors Club Zine
Editor: Curtis Becker
Assistant Editor: Lindsey Bartlett

Editorial Board:
Toni Cummings
Angel Edenburn
Nancy Julien Kopp
Janice Northerns
Barbara Waterman-Peters
Brenda White

All members receive a complimentary PDF copy of this issue via email.
Links will be provided in mid-November.

Mark your calendar!
Guidelines for 2025 Zine: Submissions March 1 - April 30
Scroll down. It is the 3rd item on the page!

All members receive a complimentary PDF copy of this issue via email.
Purchase a physical copy at the links below.
2024 (Full Color) - $30 + shipping
2024 (B&W) - $20 + shipping

Words in the Wind (Topeka) Featuring Lindsey Bartlett

10/16/2024

Words in the Wind open mic, presented by Kansas Authors Club, District 1, will feature Emporia writer Lindsey Bartlett during its October open mic, Wednesday, Oct. 23 at Round Table Bookstore.

Located in: NOTO Arts Center
Address: 826 N Kansas Ave, Topeka, KS 66608

Words in the Wind rotates monthly between prose/storytelling and poetry. This month, bring some prose or a story to present.

Lindsey teaches composition and literature at Emporia State University. An Emporian by choice, she lives in the Flint Hills region of Kansas, where she spends her days writing in various coffee shops, holed up at home with a good book, or driving the countryside for good photo opportunities.Bartlett has published one poetry collection, Vacant Childhood. Her writing and photography have appeared in The Milk House: A Rural Writing Collective, The Write Bridge, Flint Hills Review, and 105 Meadowlark Reader. Her essay, “Reframing My Rural Past” was recently nominated for “Best of the Net.”

Welcome, Catherine Robertson from District 1

10/14/2024

Catherine Robertson (Cathy) lives in Topeka, Kansas with her dog, Chewy. She was a freelance court reporter for 24 years in Wichita and Topeka. She has grown children: one lives in Emporia and the other one has just moved to Germany for duty in the United States Army. She loves to travel, tent camp, and kayak.

In the last three years, Cathy has had five short stories and two books published – and she is also a published photographer. The short stories are a mix of fiction and speculative fiction. The two books are are the start of a four-book speculative fiction series. She has "finished" the third book -- it's ruminating -- and is currently writing the fourth book. She has also finished a memoir and has begun looking for a publisher.

She is looking forward to meeting other authors and gaining a lot of knowledge. She attended the KAC Writers' Conference at Rock Springs. It was informative, fun and relaxing!

Member News from Nancy Julien Kopp

10/14/2024

Note from Nancy:

My poem, Wrapped in Grief and Relief, was published in the October issue of Well Read Magazine.

Read Nancy's Poem at Well Read Magazine

Congratulations, Nancy!

Annual Meeting of the General Membership - October 19

10/14/2024

Please join us for the Annual Meeting of the General Membership

October 19, 2024
1:30 p.m.

Zoom Link will be sent to members via the state newsletter.

Zoom link also available on our member pages (sign-on required).

Program includes membership awards, membership recruitment recognition, and voting for your 2025 State Officers.

<<Previous

Insomnia in Another Town

Three Lost Worlds

Our Mothers' Ghosts

Remembering Martha

Henry, Like Always

Categories

Archives