Category: Member Book News

Book News from Iris Craver

1/20/2023

My latest book titled "Do Lizards Have Lips? And Other Tall Tales From Toronto, Kansas" is in publication with Ice Cube Press. Early orders are available through the publisher's website at:

Order from Ice Cube Press

Based loosely, or tightly (who knows for sure) on some real truths about life in and around the small town of Toronto, Kansas. These Lizard Lips stories will leave you smacking your own lips and wanting more–sweet romances and spicy adventures. You will learn about the importance of chocolate and what to do with old cans of Spam. There are local recipes for serving up a good time and Rumpledethumps. Why there’s even a remedy for using cow dung mixed with molasses for curing headaches! You might discover where to find lunch for $1, the tallest stack of pancakes, and dinner-plate-sized cinnamon rolls. And, of course, a whole menu of characters likely to show up on a Sunday afternoon at the Lizard Lips Gas Station Deli and Bait shop in Toronto, Kansas. Pick up a copy of this book and head on over to your nearest lake and discover some tall tales.

“In a casual, down-home, winking voice, Iris Craver spins her tall tales in Do Lizards Have Lips? Toronto, Kansas, a real place, is made more genuine and true for the tales told here, stories of character and characters, of missed chances, and odd romances. Craver preserves place and people by presenting fictions.”
--Thomas Fox Averill, Professor Emeritus, Washburn University, author, Found Documents from the Life of Nell Johnson Doerr

“Pack your bags and head to tiny Toronto (Kansas) in this rambunctious romp that mixes fact and fiction and a sense of old-time Kansas in the 21st century! Nonsense and common sense combine (or maybe collide?) Do Lizards Have Lips? offers up a thoroughly enjoyable read. Iris Craver’s true and maybe-not-so-true characters will stay in your imagination long after you put this book down.”
--Priscilla Howe, storyteller, author, Clever, Kind, Tricky and Sly

“Iris Craver’s fascinating collection of local folktales brings together vivid vignettes, tender humor, and lively portraits of small-town life with plenty of memorable and quirky characters. All circling around Toronto, Kansas, these tales will delight, surprise, and move readers while making visible the magic and promise of a place somewhat off the map. These stories, which make the mythical visible and sometimes whimsical, is also an homage to the enduring power of making art, making friends, and making community.”
--Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, author, The Sky Begins At Your Feet

Iris Craver grew up in a family of storytellers. As she says, “Well, some people would call us liars. The bigger the exaggeration, the better!”

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Member Nancy Glenn pens second book about former member Irma Wassall

1/13/2023

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Irma Wassall was a woman ahead of her time: a poet, musician, dancer, model, actress, and seductress. With her life spanning 103 years (1909-2012), she experienced the spectrum of the 20th century. She herded cattle as a girl in New Mexico, built aircraft in World War II, and held a variety of secretarial jobs - all while writing for national publications and helping build a cultural scene in her longtime home of Wichita, Kansas.

About the Author

Nancy Glenn is the author of a poetry book, Don't Ask Me for the Moon, and a book on her hero and mentor, Kansas poet Irma Wassall, Fierce Ones: The Love and Art of Irma and Fred Wassall, a Unique Couple in the Wrong Place. Nancy was active for many years with the Kansas chapter of the National League of American Pen Women and Kansas Authors Club. She likes to travel and spend time with family. She's working on a full biography of Irma.

Nancy has been a member of Kansas Authors Club since 1993. She was a long-standing leader of District 5.

Buy the Book

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Books by New Member Steve Linder

1/2/2023

Welcome, Steve Linder, to Kansas Authors Club!

Steven Linder lives in Wichita, Kansas and writes novels of western history, adventure, and suspense.

SHATTERED WORLD, a suspense novel available in Kindle and Paperback on Amazon.

ISBN 9798352812 631

LOST CREEK, a western novel available in Kindle and Paperback on Amazon.

ISBN 9798361190584

Visit Steve's Author Page on Amazon

D6 Member, Gina Laiso, Publishes Illustrated Children's Book

12/13/2022

Gina Laiso (D6) and Kim Martin have collaborated to published their first illustrated children's book, Braven, ISBN: 979-8-9873479-0-4. Braven is an inspiring story about a confident young boy from the mesas of New Mexico who overcomes personal challenges to find bravery and strength within his own voice.

Kim Martin is a community volunteer and activist in the Four Corners Region, a retired college educator, proud wife, mother, and loving grandmother of Braven and five other equally spirited grandchildren.

Gina Laiso is a graphic designer and nationally recognized book creator, illustrating from the heart of Kansas and beauty of Southwest Colorado.

This 24 page children's book is available by contacting Gina via email at gina@integritaproductions.com ($15.99 plus tax and S&H.)

2022 Coffin Memorial Fiction Book Award - Honorable Mention

11/12/2022

J. Donald & Bertha Coffin Memorial
Fiction Book Award

Honorable Mention to
We the House
by Warren Ashworth and Susan Kander

Note from Judge Strnad:
I was asked to evaluate the Science Fiction and Fantasy books that were submitted for the J. Donald & Bertha Coffin Memorial Award for Fiction. I judged the books according to my experiences in reading many other books in the science fiction/fantasy genre and many of the sub genres. The titles given to me from which I chose were in the sub-genres of fantasy, ghost story, mythological high fantasy, techno thriller, and space opera. From these I selected We the House by Warren Ashworth and Susan Kander as the winner.

“We the House” tells the story of a family by way of the house and, specifically, a portrait that is located in the dining room and watches the comings and goings of the family members in the course of the one hundred plus years it has hung in that one spot. The subject of the portrait, mistakenly identified as Mrs. Speale, is an interlocutor of the first stripe. She is observant and understanding, even while she keeps a sharp eye on the people who occupy the house. As an interlocutor she interprets and filters what is said and done by the various family members down through the years. Mrs. Speale is full of witty repartee, loving acceptance of humanity, and educated explanations that keep the “house,” and the reader, engaged and on their toes. Mrs. Speale, the house, and the inhabitants come to life in the hands of these authors. The novel could have become convoluted and overstuffed, but the authors created a cozy warm place, not without its tragedies, that draws the reader in by using spare text along with a tricky literary device to tell a conventional story in an unconventional way.

Benita Strnad
2022 J. Donald & Bertha Coffin Memorial
Fiction Book Co-Judge

Benita Strnad has thirty years of experience in McLure Education Library at the University of Alabama as first, the Curriculum Materials Librarian and then as Education Reference Librarian. She holds the academic rank of Associate Professor. She has served on numerous American Library Association committees as a member and chair and is the author of several publications. Prior to her career as an academic librarian she served as a K-12 librarian in rural Kansas. She holds a Master’s of Library Science from Emporia State University, a Master’s in Education from Fort Hays State University and a Bachelor’s degree in Education from Kansas State University.

2022 "It Looks Like a Million" Book Design Award

11/10/2022

“It Looks Like a Million” Book Award
Janey Olsen, Famous Artist of the Beach
by H.C. Friesen

Note from the Judges:
Janey Olsen, Famous Artist of the Beach is our choice for the “It Looks Like a Million” Book Award. The book has a fresh, cohesive look. Title, cover (including the notes on the back cover), chapter headings, illustrations, and lessons on how to use watercolor pencils all present a story of the growth of a young artist. The illustrations of author/illustrator H.C. Friesen flow with the plot and highlight the setting, i.e., a beach (with yellow beach house) and surrounding points of interest in North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The original paintings of the 9 to 10-year old Grace Baity track the artistic growth of 9 to 10-year old Janey Olsen. The layout integrates text and illustrations smoothly. The typeface is easy to read. The watery blue endpapers reflect the setting. A simple family tree of the main characters, a map of the Outer Banks, a pronunciation guide, and “How to” advice from Janey herself provide appropriate resources for young readers. Overall, the book has the feel of a children’s book that takes children’s talents seriously.

Jenny Russell and the Team at JenRus Freelance
2022 “It Looks Like a Million” Book Judges

Jenny Russell grew up in Glen Elder, Kansas, and graduated with a degree in Business, Communications and Marketing, from Bethany College. Russell has now worked in Economic Development, marketing, advertising, and websites for almost fifteen years. The company also provides graphic design services through their 314 Graphic Design division. This time included five years with Brush Art Corporation, a marketing and advertising agency out of Downs, Kansas, and now nine years in Economic Development. An emphasis in working with and structuring websites led Russell to Internet Marketing and the establishment of JenRus Freelance Marketing in 2008.

"It Looks Like A Million" Award Winners

2022 Nelson Poetry Book Award Winner

11/10/2022

Nelson Poetry Book Award
Gravedigger’s Daughter
by Cheryl Unruh

Note from the Judge:
Cheryl Unruh’s Gravedigger’s Daughter stands as a testament to how great writing uses particulars to capture the universal. While few readers may have helped to prepare graves as a child or know what the summer sky looks like from their depths, Unruh’s beautifully crafted reflections unearth the relatable joys and confusions of youth, love, and loss. While each poem preserves a carefully honed memory, the collection as a whole carries the reader through a lifetime with touching humor and heartbreaking grace. It is an intimate look into a specific family, but it stirs familiar emotions that have the magic to conjure readers’ own pasts.

Dr. Julia Galm
2022 Nelson Poetry Book Judge

Dr. Julia Galm is a Communications instructor at Cloud County Community College, where she works with budding writers to help them hone their skills and voices. She has helped to revitalize CCCC’s creative and artistic journal, The Silver Lining, and she is a board member of the Brown Grand Opera House. Though a recent transplant to Kansas, she has fallen in love with the rolling grasslands of her new home.

Nelson Poetry Book Award Winners

Kristine Polansky, 2022 Vice President of Kansas Authors Club, presents Cheryl Unruh with the Nelson Poetry Award and the Martin Kansas History Book Award for Gravedigger's Daughter.

2022 Coffin Memorial Fiction Book Award Winner

11/10/2022

J. Donald & Bertha Coffin Memorial
Fiction Book Award

Opulence Kansas
by Julie Stielstra

Note from Judge Varnadore:
I have been very impressed with the exceptionally high quality of the work represented by this year’s authors across such different genres as crime fiction, historical fiction, and young adult fiction. This has made the job of judging this year’s winner quite a task but also a genuine pleasure. As the novels represented so many different genres, my approach was to evaluate each work according to the conventions of those genres as well as execution of craft and finally, readability. Based on these criteria, I am pleased to select Opulence Kansas by Julie Stielstra as my choice for the J. Donald & Bertha Coffin Memorial Award for Fiction.

Stielstra’s 15-year-old protagonist Kate, reeling from the suicide of her father and the subsequent investigation into his shady financial dealings, leaves her high-rise Chicago condo for rural Kansas, to stay with her father’s estranged older brother and his wife. This relocation seems to be the respite Kate needs from the chaos back in Chicago and she settles in well, observing her new surrounds through the lens of her burgeoning talent for photography. As her relationship with her newfound family blossoms and she becomes more deeply embedded in the small-town community, she begins to appreciate a slower pace and living close to the land. Katie also meets Travis, a young man with a troubled past, who seems initially stagnate and destined to see life pass him by; however, Kate and Travis, with the help of her family and the local community, begin to heal their personal traumas and find redemption from the sins of their fathers.

Stielstra writes with humor and compassion, and her characters are subtle and layered. The tone of the work manages to be uplifting but never sentimental or saccharine. The prose is witty and energetic, and the world she creates is beautifully observed. In Stielstra’s capable hands, rural Kansas itself takes on a vivid character of its own.

Heather Varnadore
2022 J. Donald & Bertha Coffin Memorial
Fiction Book Co-Judge

Heather Varnadore was born and raised in Atlanta but currently lives in the Flint Hills of Kansas with her family. She received her M.A. in English from Kansas State University in 2008 and her M.F.A. in fiction writing from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in 2012. She has previously taught at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and currently teaches at Kansas State University. She is the recipient of the Seaton Fellowship for Creative Writing, the Umass MFA Fellowship for Poets and Writers, the Cara Parravani Memorial Award in Fiction, the Delaney Fellowship for Fiction and multiple teaching awards. She is currently finishing work on a novel.

Coffin Memorial Book Award Winners

Note from Contest Manager:
Due to the number and heft of this year’s fiction entries, I divided them between two co-judges. Judge Varnadore and Judge Strnad both identified contenders for the award from the books they read. Tie-breaker judge Linda Knupp made the final decision. After 20 years of service, Knupp retired a year ago as director of the Manhattan Public Library and the North Central Kansas Library System. She remains active with the state-wide Friends of Kansas Libraries (FOKL) and urges all of you to join your local library’s Friends group as well as groups like the Kansas Authors Club. Judge Knupp was impressed with the clear narrative structure of Opulence Kansas, which takes the main character through a summer of changes and revelations after the tragic death of her father. “Thoughtful and resilient characters deal with a number of challenges during this time without losing their compassion for others, hope for the future, and their appreciation for the small rural community of Opulence.” According to Judge Knupp, author Julie Stielstra “certainly has a future in the wide field of YA literature.”

Member Book Now Available on Audio

11/4/2022

The #1 Best Seller, THE HILLS BE SHAKEN novel is now available on audio through iTunes and Audible!

When disaster strikes Kansas, the FBI needs an engineer. His name is Mose Haley.

https://www.audible.com/pd/B0BKJK12NJ

2022 Coffin Memorial Nonfiction Book Award

11/3/2022

Note from the Judge:
Arguably, nonfiction books are more divergent than any other type of writing. The following questions provide a practical approach for judging such books: (1) Would a person interested in the subject pull the book off the shelf? (2) Would they want to look inside? (3) Would they be tempted to explore the book further? (4) If they read the book, would they find accurate, up-to-date facts and would their expectations otherwise be met? (5) Does the book provide a bonus—something unexpectedly satisfying?

If you are a cat-lover, you likely would pull A Cat Named Fatima by James Kenyon DVM from a shelf. Being a sensitive and intelligent person (as are most cat-lovers), you would be attracted to the cover art of the book—the soft, warm colors in the picture of a young girl watching a cat; the playfulness of the cat paws worked into the title; the subtitle, “Tales of 23 Cats & the People Who Loved Them;” and, on the back cover, proof the book is, indeed, written by a “DVM”—a veterinarian who obviously loves cats. Open the book, skim a few pages and be prepared to want to explore the book further. As you read, your initial impressions will be confirmed.

However, James Kenyon has not written an ordinary cute cat book. Each cat is introduced with an ode containing hints of what will follow. Kenyon slips in facts about cats and gives his readers insight into how veterinarians approach medical issues. Throughout the book he shows compassion for pets and pet owners and respect for his readers’ intelligence and their ability to handle technical terms and concepts. The cartoon-like illustrations of artist Thomas Marple add to the book’s charm. This, indeed, is a book filled with unexpectedly satisfying bonuses.

Cecilia Harris
2022 J. Donald & Bertha Coffin Memorial
Nonfiction Book Judge

Cecilia Harris resides in the historic town of Abilene where she has been a professional freelance writer for over 30 years, specializing in travel writing for the Kansas Tourism Division and other travel industry entities. In KANSAS! magazine alone, she has written over 250 articles featuring over 700 locations in the state. She also has written both state and area visitors guides, blogs about Kansas cuisine, arts, culture and heritage and Abilene attractions and events, online articles, and two books, Historic Homes of Abilene and Abilene’s Carousel. Also using her services have been the President Dwight D. Eisenhower Foundation, Meredith Corporation, Madden Media, the Kansas I-70 Association, the Kansas Society of Association Executives, and 10 regional magazines.

James Kenyon accepts the Coffin Memorial Nonfiction Book Award from Kristine Polansky

Coffin Memorial Book Award Winners

2022 Children's Book Award Winner

11/3/2022

Note from the Judge:
The recipient of the Kansas Authors Club Children’s Book Award is Janey Olsen, Famous Artist of the Beach, written and illustrated by H.C. Friesen with original paintings by Grace Baity. Janey Olsen shares with its readers what it means to be an artist. The protagonist, who turns ten during this formative summer vacation, is inspired by her innate desire to create art, and she is supported in her efforts by other artists in her family, including a mother who makes and sells jewelry and a cousin who is an emerging photographer. These are people who understand, take seriously, support, and value this child’s artistic impulses. Janey experiments with different media while aspiring to be recognized at the upcoming Festival of the Arts, and we are privy to her development as we turn the pages of the volume and see the charming and engaging pictures that she is making. Almost every page has some visual enhancement, nurturing and perpetuating the theme of the novel. In the process of honing her craft, Janey learns how to see others more clearly, becoming a kinder and more generous person and learning to value collaboration and community rather than competition. Friesen offers a strong sense of her novel’s setting, North Carolina’s Outer Banks, including visual attributes such as a map, photographs, and evocative illustrations throughout the volume. Moreover, her volume offers wonderful resources in its back matter, including Janey’s own list of tips for “How to Be a Famous Artist of the Beach” as well as Friesen’s rich resource unit for drawing and coloring a lighthouse, among other materials. Beautiful endpapers enhance the total design of her volume. Altogether, this is a well-unified and beautiful book, and its form astutely enhances its themes.

Professor Anne K. Phillips
2022 Kansas Authors Club Children’s Book Judge

Anne K. Phillips is Professor of English at Kansas State University. A specialist in children’s and adolescent literature, she has published and edited numerous works on authors such as Louisa May Alcott, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Louise Erdrich, Andrew Clements, and others. She teaches courses such as illustration in children’s literature, film adaptations of children’s classics, American history through family sagas in children’s literature, and more. A Past President of the international Children’s Literature Association, the Modern Language Association’s division on children’s literature, and the Louisa May Alcott Society, Phillips has served on the Kansas Notable Books Committee and the William Allen White (Kansas children’s choice award) Selection Committee.

H.C. and Rob Friesen: Holly is the author of Janey Olsen Famous Artist of the Beach, winner of the 2022 Kansas Authors Club Children's Book Award.

Kansas Authors Club Children's Book Award Winners

2022 Kansas Martin History Book Award

11/3/2022

Note from the Judge:
Cheryl Unruh’s Gravedigger’s Daughter is an insightful, generous-spirited book that creates a vivid sense of both place and time by telling the story of growing up in Pawnee Rock, a small town in Barton County during the 1960s and ‘70s. Unruh’s relationship with her father, an unassuming yet extraordinary man, is affectionately and unsentimentally rendered. The author’s understanding of the character of her father and hometown is delineated by an original writing style that is lean, colloquial, and understated while at the same time detailed, colorful, and intense; the language is both plain-spoken and elegant. The natural and cultural history of the place are woven into the narrative in fresh and surprising ways that enable the reader to experience multiple dimensions of Kansas history while following the ups and downs of the lives of the people featured in the story.

Ron Parks
2022 Martin Kansas History Judge

A fifth-generation Kansan, Ron Parks grew up in Minneapolis, Kansas, where he graduated from high school in 1967. Ron was executive director of the Kansas Eisenhower Centennial Commission from 1988 through October 1990. He also served for eight years as director of the Kaw Mission State Historic Site. Published by the University of Oklahoma Press in 2014, his book, The Darkest Period: The Kanza Indians and Their Last Homeland, 1846-1873, won both the 2014 Prairie Heritage Book Award and the Santa Fe Trail Association’s Louis Barry Writing Award. The Darkest Period was selected as a 2015 Kansas Notable Book. Ron has also written numerous historical articles about Hays, Council Grove, and Minneapolis.

Kristine Polansky, 2022 Vice President of Kansas Authors Club, presents Cheryl Unruh with the Nelson Poetry Award for Gravedigger's Daughter.

Martin Kansas History Book Award Winners

News from Blue Cedar Press

10/6/2022

Wichita's indie press, Blue Cedar Press, has published 5 books in 2022, 4 by Kansas authors.
Order from bluecedarpress.com, B&N online, or your favorite bookstore.

31 Days (Nights): Memoir of Living Black in America by Reginald D. Jarrell (Jarrell’s work as a TV and print news reporter and columnist, a university assistant professor, an attorney, and a janitor—and his experiences living across the Midwest, in California, D.C., and Mississippi inform his short, memorable essays.)
ISBN: 978-1-7369112-7-3 (paper)
ISBN: 978-1-7369112-8-0 (ebook)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022930901

Dark Crossings, a novel by Gretchen Eick (Prose Writer of 2021 for the Kansas Authors Club, author of 2 histories and 5 novels)--2nd in her Crossings series
Richard and Keisha by 2019 are parents of two teens, professors living happily together until everything changes with an act of random violence, plunging their family into disfunction and despair. Extended family may not be enough to pull them through their grief. But DNA discovery of another branch of the family tree may at least distract them and lead them into the darkness of Philadelphia's attack on the MOVE community and another family murder. Aug. '22
ISBN: 978-1-958728-01-7 (paper) $20
ISBN: 978-1-958728-00-0 (ebook) $6.99
Library of Congress LCCN: 2022940932

Maybe Crossings, a novel by Gretchen Eick (Prose Writer of 2021 for the Kansas Authors Club, author of 2 histories and 5 novels)--1st in her Crossings series--2nd edition with a study guide
Black and white young people meet in Mississippi in the Freedom Summer of 1964 to register voters and form the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party forging relationships that resume in 2003 through a series of coincidences that bring them and their children together. A novel about families lost and found, social change fought for and glimpsed, and generational differences that test understandings of commitment. Sept. '22
ISBN: 9781958728024 (paper) $18
ISBN: 978-1-958728-05-5 (epub) $5.99
LCCN: 2022945367

One-Match Fire, a novel by Paul Lamb (Paul Lamb's stories have appeared in dozens of literary magazines, including The Adroit Journal, Aethlon, Foliate Oak, MOON Magazine, Halfway Down the Stairs, Magnolia Review (nominated for a Pushcart Prize), Little Patuxent Review, Platte Valley Review, and others.) For David the cabin evoked memories of his father. For his son it was family and sanctuary. All that was wrong was fixable when they were at the cabin. But would this weekend change everything? A story of fathers and sons and the work of loving despite profound differences.) Oct. '22
ISBN: 978-1-958728-04-8 (paper) $20
ISBN: 978-1-958728-03-1 (ebook) $6.99
LCCN: 2022945368

Why Does She Always Talk About Her Husband? poems by David Romanda (David Romanda is the author of I’m Sick of Pale Blue Skies, a limited-edition chapbook, and the broken bird feeder, a full collection. His work has been included in Best Canadian Poetry and published in 27 journals. Romanda lives in Kawasaki City, Japan.) This is minimalist poetry at its finest—quick, punchy, and deceptively spare. These are offbeat rebel-playful poems that beg to be read aloud and shared with others.) Coming Nov. '22
ISBN: 978-1-958728-06-2 (paper) $10
ISBN: 978-1-958728-07-9 (ebook) $4.99
LCCN: 2022947139

Invitation to Book Launch Celebration, Julie A. Sellers, District 1 Member

9/28/2022

You are invited to celebrate the launch of

Ann of Sunflower Lane

with Julie A. Sellers and Meadowlark Press.
When: Oct 7, 2022 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://tinyurl.com/SunflowerLane

Ann of Sunflower Lane, by Julie A. Sellers Published by: Meadowlark Press, Emporia, KS, October 2022 ISBN: 978-1-956578-23-2 (hard cover) $30.00 ISBN: 978-1-956578-22-5 (paperback) $18.99 ISBN: 978-1-956578-24-9 (ebook) $9.99

For Immediate Release

New L.M. Montgomery-Inspired Novel Takes Place in the Flint Hills of Kansas

Emporia, KS – Meadowlark Press announces the publication of Ann of Sunflower Lane by award-winning author Julie A. Sellers. This novel is a tribute to the Kansas Flint Hills, booklovers and reading, and Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.

Sellers explains that the novel is not an adaptation of Montgomery’s classic novel, but a story of the way books and reading impact readers. “The title character, Ann Alwyn, is an avid reader, and when she comes to live with the grandparents she never knew at Sunflower Lane farm, she discovers a kindred spirit in an old edition of Anne of Green Gables. Her reading of that and other texts frames her experiences as she integrates herself into life on the farm and in the small-town community of Storey, Kansas.”

“Ann of Sunflower Lane is a love-letter to books and reading, and especially to the power of Anne of Green Gables to reflect and to shape life,” says Elizabeth Rollins Epperly, Professor Emerita and founder of the L.M. Montgomery Institute at the University of Prince Edward Island.

Marah Gubar, Associate Professor of Literature at MIT and author of Artful Dodgers: Reconceiving the Golden Age of Children’s Literature (2009), said, “I love how vividly this book conjures up contemporary rural life in a small town, chronicling how the transplanted Ann comes to terms with her troubled family history by putting down new roots and reinvigorating old ones.”

“I love this character, this book. Readers of all ages will fall in love with Ann of Sunflower Lane,” said Kansas writer Cheryl Unruh, author of Gravedigger’s Daughter: Vignettes from a Small Kansas Town.

Sellers was the Kansas Authors Club 2020 Prose Writer of the Year and the Overall Poetry (2022) and Prose (2017, 2019) winner of the Kansas Voices Writing Contest sponsored by the Winfield Arts and Humanities Council. She is the author of Kindred Verse: Poems Inspired by Anne of Green Gables (Blue Cedar Press, 2021).

The book can be purchased at meadowalarkbookstore.com and ordered wherever books are sold.

Sellers is available for readings for interested groups. For more information, visit the author’s website at www.julieasellers.com.

JulieASellers.com

Puzzled, new poetry book by Ruth Maus

9/26/2022

Puzzled, poems by Ruth Maus, Art by Katja Weiss
Published by: Meadowlark Press, Emporia, KS, September 2022
ISBN: 978-1-956578-25-6

For Immediate Release

New Poetry Collection by Ruth Maus Includes Paintings by Her German Cousin

Topeka, KS – The poetry and art in Puzzled (Meadowlark Press, 2022) has connections dating back to 1882, when the great-grandfather of Ruth Maus came to the US as a young boy with his parents and siblings. They were Germans who eventually settled on a farm in Holton, Kansas, where a descendent still lives and farms to this day. The ancestral village, which Ruth Maus was able to visit in 1997, is now a part of Poland. Cousins met, including descendent of a brother to Ruth’s great-grandfather who stayed behind. Gertrud Knuth and Ruth have maintained contact since that trip, and Gertrud’s daughter, Katja Weiss, an artist living near Hamburg, Germany, has taken over those communications in this digital age.

“I sent them a copy of my first poetry book, Valentine, in 2019. Periodically, I would email Katja one of my new poems, and she would email me one of her new paintings,” Maus writes. Then the German cousin suggested that Maus could use her paintings in a future poetry book.

Maus wrote most of the poems in Puzzled during the pandemic, and the 110-page book is filled will her German cousin’s full-color paintings.

“I continue to be amazed that despite 140 years, thousands of miles, different languages, two world wars, and multiple generations, we unacquainted cousins have collaborated on this project!” writes Maus.

“Throughout Puzzled, Ruth Maus’s skillfully-wrought poems abound in delight and wonder, her curiosity and playfulness on full display. These are fun and memorable gems . . .” writes Jonathan Greenhause, author of Cupping Our Palms, winner of the Birdy Poetry Prize (Meadowlark Press, 2022).

“Katja Weiss’s art provides counterpoints of quiet, restful, yet mysterious places to contemplate the poems. Puzzled is synergy in its purest form,” from Barbara Waterman-Peters, artist, author, and illustrator.

Puzzled is available at meadowlarkbookstore.com and can be ordered wherever books are sold.

Ruth Maus, a native of Topeka, Kansas, has followed a love of learning around the world to places large and small, to pyramids and hedgerows, presidential balls and Kansas hayfields.

She represented Smith College at the annual Glasscock Intercollegiate Poetry Contest where past contestants have included James Merrill, Sylvia Plath, Katha Pollit, Mary Jo Salter, James Agee, Frederick Buechner, Kenneth Koch, Donald Hall, William Manchester, Muriel Rukeyser, and Gjertrud Schnackenberg. Her poems have appeared in a variety of literary publications.

Her first book of poetry, Valentine, published by Meadowlark Press, was a finalist in the 2019 Birdy Contest.

Ruth is a member of Kansas Authors Club, District 1.

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.

News from D6 Member, Cat Webling

9/21/2022

My anthology, For I Am Fearless, comes out on September 30, 2022!

Sometimes the only way to progress in life is to be fearless.

From a small town actress and author who has never been afraid to take chances and get messy comes an anthology of personal poetry and fantastic short stories that dive into the things we fear. This anthology covers life, love, loss, and everything in between, in our world and the worlds we create.

This exclusive anthology includes:

Poems from Between Spaces, Ghost, The Fading of the Day, and The Symmetry of Falling Leaves
Short Stories from The Clockwork Figurine and Fruits and Finery
Insight into the author's writing process for each book, from creating the works to her favorites and the inspiration for the covers
Brand new poems and short stories, never before published

Former State President, Duane Johnson, Publishes Poetry Book

9/13/2022

Duane Johnson (D1) and Lila Bartel hold up their collaboration of poetry and watercolors entitled Living Expressions: As the Spirit Moves, at the Topeka Art Guild in September. The two Topeka residents began sharing their poetry and paintings with each other near the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak. The result is this collection of 28 pairs of paintings and poems. In some cases, existing paintings and poems were matched; in other cases, each created something new in response to the work of the other.

Living Expressions can be purchased at Round Table Bookstore in Topeka, online at Barnes and Noble, Bookshop.org, or Amazon, or by ordering through your local bookstore.

D6 Member, Julie Stielstra, Publishes New Youth Novel

8/10/2022

SCRATCHED
The Kid on the Backstretch: New Youth Novel on the Other Side of Horse Racing
by Julie Stielstra

ISBN: 9781088055786 (pbk., $10.00) - 99 pp.
ISBN: 9781088055854 (ebk., $4.99)
Publication: August 15, 2022
Intended Audience: Ages 12-18
Distribution via Ingram, Amazon, IndieBound, Barnes & Noble, bookshop.org

[LYONS, IL, August 2022] Fifteen-year-old Luis Romero has lived his whole life on the back side of horse racing. Seven days a week, undocumented people like his mother Blanca live and work to feed, groom, exercise, care for, and clean up after the high-strung horses with long pedigrees. It's not just your job - it's your home, your life, your community. Lose the job, and you lose everything. A cheap trainer with a pill habit entices Luis to help her take care of her horses, pulling him deeper into a future on the track... but when Blanca takes up with a security guard with another agenda, it may all fall apart. Luis has to decide, for the sake of his family and his life, what race he really wants to run.

Julie Stielstra divides her time between the Chicago area and rural Kansas. Her family has been involved in thoroughbred horse racing for many years, as trainers, riders, and in services to backstretch workers. She is the author of nearly three dozen published short stories and essays. Minerva Rising Press named her historical novella Pilgrim the winner of their 2016 novella contest, and in 2021, her novel Opulence, Kansas from Meadowlark Press won gold medal awards for Young Adult Fiction from the Midwest Independent Publishers Association and the High Plains Book Awards.

Visit her at https://juliestielstra.com.

Order at Bookshop.org

Kind of Blue Hybrid Book Launch Event with D5 Member Arlice Davenport!

8/9/2022

Meadowlark Poetry Press invites you to a hybrid
(in-person AND Zoom) book launch event in celebration of
Kind of Blue by Arlice Davenport!
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Date: August 12
Place: Twin Rivers Winery
627 Commercial St.
Emporia, KS 66801
Register for Zoom Details:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAsdu-oqTIoHta_LxX-p914y2axk-WnPuHd

Click HERE to preorder Kind of Blue now, or save your appetite for a signed copy at the event!

About the Author:

Arlice W. Davenport is the author three collections of poems, Setting the Waves on Fire, Everlasting: Poems, and now, Kind of Blue published respectively by Meadowlark Press (2020) and Meadowlark Poetry Press (2021 & 2022). He is the retired Books editor and Travel editor for The Wichita Eagle newspaper. He and his wife, Laura, continue their travels, which include more than 30 stays in Europe.

Dean's Poetry Collection Available

7/18/2022

D5 member Robert L. Dean, Jr.'s, chapbook, "Pulp," is finally out. It's available at the usual online places, listed below, as well as via FB msg or email to the author. Anyone who has pre-ordered (bob thanks you!) should be receiving it their copies within the next couple of weeks (press date was July 8th). The author's name is not listed consistently in all the places, hence the links. "Pulp" can be purchased via the following places:
Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Pulp-Robert-Dean-Jr/dp/164662890X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=22T60VF7NDH05&keywords=pulp+jr+dean&qid=1658046995&s=books&sprefix=%2Cstripbooks%2C133&sr=1-1

Indiebound.org (put in your zip code to find the nearest indie bookstore at which you can order a copy. This is Bob’s favored method as it supports indie bookstores. It can be ordered at Watermark in Wichita and Crow & Co. in Hutch, for example): Pulp | IndieBound.org
And still can be ordered from the publisher:
Pulp by Robert L. Dean, Jr. – Finishing Line Press

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Book News from Iris Craver

Member Nancy Glenn pens second book about former member Irma Wassall

Books by New Member Steve Linder

D6 Member, Gina Laiso, Publishes Illustrated Children's Book

2022 Coffin Memorial Fiction Book Award - Honorable Mention

2022 "It Looks Like a Million" Book Design Award

2022 Nelson Poetry Book Award Winner

2022 Coffin Memorial Fiction Book Award Winner

Member Book Now Available on Audio

2022 Coffin Memorial Nonfiction Book Award

2022 Children's Book Award Winner

2022 Kansas Martin History Book Award

News from Blue Cedar Press

Invitation to Book Launch Celebration, Julie A. Sellers, District 1 Member

Puzzled, new poetry book by Ruth Maus

News from D6 Member, Cat Webling

Former State President, Duane Johnson, Publishes Poetry Book

D6 Member, Julie Stielstra, Publishes New Youth Novel

Kind of Blue Hybrid Book Launch Event with D5 Member Arlice Davenport!

Dean's Poetry Collection Available

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