Category: Ronda Miller

The Write Bridge, by Anamcara Press

5/8/2022

The newest issue of The Write Bridge, by Anamcara Press, includes the work of many Kansas Authors Club Members: Amber Fraley (D2), Peg Nichols (D2), David Hann (D2), Kathleen Kaska (D2), Boyd Bauman (D2), John L. Swainston (D2), Lindsey Bartlett (D2), Beth Gulley (D2), Debra Irsik (D2), Fred Applehanz (D1), Brenda L. White (D2), Brian Daldorph (D2), Iris Craver (D2), Ronda Miller (D2), Perry Shepard (D2), Micki Carroll (D2)

View the issue here

Anamcara Press will begin accepting submissions for the Next edition of The Write Bridge June 1, 2022. Topics: Fortitude & Toploftiness

View Ronda Miller Presentation

3/14/2022

Ronda shared samples of her poetry and other poems that inspire her at the March D5 meeting. She also led attendees in four separate writing exercises, each followed by a time for sharing. A recording of her presentation has been edited and posted on YouTube. The recording pauses only briefly after each prompt. We encourage you to stop the recording and spend ten minutes writing using each prompt.

Ronda Miller's Poetry Workshop

Writing Wisdom from Ronda

3/7/2022

Ronda Miller has 4 books of Poetry and a beautiful prize-winning children's picture book, I Love the Child. Ronda is a life coach whose specialty is helping others deal with trauma. Her work and life experience make her an amazingly helpful coach and writer and an effective critic of others’ writing. She will be both sharing some of her own work and talking about what she has learned about how to write memoirs and fiction that are powerful and moving and don’t ignore the traumas that shape us. You will not want to miss her presentation at 1:30-3:30, March 12 at Asbury Methodist Church on 15th Street West in Wichita. Come in person or watch online through Zoom.

Saturday March 12 at 1:30 either in person or via Zoom.
In Person: at Asbury Church, 2801 W. 15th St., Wichita.

Zoom link for D5 Meeting March 12 at 1:30

District 2 NaNoWriMo Invitation

11/1/2021

NaNoWriMo Website

Image courtesy of NaNoWriMo.

This starts Monday, November 1st!

Please join us each Monday for the month of November for NaNoWriMo (1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd and the 29th) for encouragement and ideas.

We’ll meet in a private room at Perkins restaurant, 1711 W 23rd St., Lawrence, KS 66046, from 4 to 6 p.m.

Please rsvp by Sunday as I’ll need to let Perkins’ staff know how many of us to expect.

I plan to send reminders each week.

Do you have a friend who enjoys writing? Please invite them.

You need not write a novel. Feel free to write whatever you’ve been wanting to. Our group will hold each other accountable, over pie no less!

Not familiar with it?

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/tips-for-national-novel-writing-month-success

Sincerely,
Ronda Miller, District 2 Member

Are you a KAC member who is hosting NaNoWriMo gatherings? Or simply an individual participating? Feel free to share news of your meetings and/or your progress here. Send us some photos. Share some word counts! What is the title of your work in progress?

2021 Length of Membership Awards

10/9/2021

Jeff G. Guernsey – 10 years
Ronda Miller – 10 years
Ray “Griz” Racobs – 10 years
Gloria Zachgo – 10 years
Michael D. Graves – 10 years

Susan Hill – 15 years
Arlene Rains Graber – 15 years
Betty A. Laird – 15 years

Tracy Million Simmons – 20 years

Joann Williams – 25 years

Maryann Barry – 30 years
Lorine A. Gleue – 30 years
Cynthia J. Ross – 30 years

Frankie Roland – 35 years

Millie Horlacher – 40 years

Octogenarians
Carol Katsantoness
Frank Powers*
Susan Hill

*has reached 5 years of membership

2021 Convention Workshop: The Importance of Voice in Trauma Transformation

7/29/2021

Ronda Miller will ask attendees to share experiences that they have overcome through their writings. She will ask for the sharing of poetry or a short narrative paragraph that exemplifies healing through writing and offer suggestions as to how they can transform their attitude by changing their writing. Miller will utilize well-known authors’ works as well as writings of her own.

Miller is a Life Coach who specializes in working with clients who have lost a loved one to homicide. Her personal experiences with trauma include the deaths of her mother and a niece to suicide, the death of her father in a homicide, personal gun memories, an early life involving numerous moves and living situations, a kidnapping, separation from siblings, placement in the foster care system, adoption, physical and drug abuse, mental illness, and a subsequent diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

Gun Memories of a Stone-Eyed Cold Girl, MoonStain, WaterSigns, Winds of Time, and I Love the Child are books the author has written that show a lifetime progression of healing from early and ongoing trauma by utilization of Voice through poetry, narrative, and children’s stories.

Important Update:

On Friday, August 28, members of the District 1 Kansas Authors Club, hosts for the 2021 State Writing Conference and Convention scheduled for October 9 and 10 at the Ramada Inn in Topeka announced a switch from an in-person event to a virtual one.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we shift to Plan B for the convention. We promise that it will still contain the same motivational and informative workshops and speakers. It will perhaps be even more intimate in the webinar setting, as no one will have to strain to see or hear speakers. You’ll be able to look into their eyes and feel like you’re sitting in the same room with them. And, actually, you will be… in the same zoom room!

We look forward to seeing you in October on Zoom!

View convention details on this page: 2021 Convention
Registration deadline: October 7, 2021

April 27, 7pm Author Talk - Register now to attend!

4/22/2021

April Author Talk: Ronda Miller

Author of:
I Love the Child

Winner: 2020 Kansas Authors Club Children's Book Award

Recording Available for Viewing by Members - Click Here

Ronda will be talking about education vs. entertainment, the importance of layered messaging, finding and working with an illustrator, inclusivity, and her objectives in writing this book.

Don't forget to support our Kansas Authors! Buy a book. Review a book. Send a note of appreciation about a book. You can order Ronda's book from her publisher, Kellogg Press, or wherever you buy books!

"After careful deliberation we have chosen I Love the Child, by Ronda Miller. First, the size and feel of the book would make it easy to read to a small group of children. The illustrations beautifully matched the poem on the page. There was diversity of ethnicity, physical condition, and gender. The Spanish co-text should make it appealing to a wide range of children. We could identify characteristics of children we have raised and known, and think that older children could see themselves in some of these characters. We think the book could be used with a wide age range. The cooking section expands the number of activities that could be used with the book. This is a book that we would like to give to important young people in our lives."

Allison and Gary Haworth, 2020 Judges, Kansas Authors Club Childrens' Book Award

Upcoming Author Talk Schedule

3/28/2021

Kansas Authors Club is hosting a monthly “Author Talk” featuring an award-winning writer, with first priority given to authors who have won KAC book awards. The author will talk about an aspect of writing, publishing, or marketing (author's choice). The presentations are expected to last an hour to an hour and a half and will include time for questions and answers.

These events are being planned via Zoom, to take place on the 4th Tuesday of each month. The event will be open to all Kansas Authors Club members. A recording of the event will be made available to members who cannot attend live.

All Kansas Authors Club members are invited to attend. Considering membership? Select "potential new member" and register for one free Author Talk. We'd love to meet you.

April 27 Author Talk by
Ronda Miller

April Author Talk: Ronda Miller

Author of: I Love the Child

Winner: 2020 Kansas Authors Club Children's Book Award

Recording Available for Viewing by Members - Click Here

Ronda will be talking about education vs. entertainment, the importance of layered messaging, finding and working with an illustrator, inclusivity, and her objectives in writing this book.

Don't forget to support our Kansas Authors! Buy a book. Review a book. Send a note of appreciation about a book. You can order Ronda's book from her publisher, Kellogg Press, or wherever you buy books!

May 25 Author Talk by Roy Beckemeyer

May Author Talk:
Roy Beckemeyer

Stage Whispers

Winner:
2019 Nelson Poetry Book Award

Recording Available for Viewing by Members - Click Here

Roy will talk about the writing of his poetry book, Stage Whispers. Discussion will include how the chapters and layout came about, and how the poems were assigned to the chapters. He will read from the book as part of the discussion.

Don't forget to support our Kansas Authors! Buy a book. Review a book. Send a note of appreciation about a book. You can order Roy's book from publisher, Meadowlark Press, or wherever you buy books!

February Author Talk, Chuck Warner, winner of the 2020 Martin Kansas History Book Award

1/30/2021

February Author Talk: Chuck Warner

Birds, Bones, and Beetles: The Improbable Career and Remarkable Legacy of University of Kansas Naturalist Charles D. Bunker

Winner:
2020 Martin Kansas History Book Award
&
2020 "Looks Like A Million" Design Award

Tuesday, February 23, 7pm
Click here to register (must register to attend).
University Press of Kansas has agreed to offer members of KAC a 30% discount on copies of Warner's book. Beginning today, this offer is good through March 31, 2021, and applies only to online purchases from University Press of Kansas using the Promo Code KAC30. (https://kansaspress.ku.edu/978-0-7006-2773-8.html)

“While reading Chuck Warner’s book, I felt myself being transported back in time and seeing life through the eyes of Charles Bunker. Birds, Bones, and Beetles tells the story of naturalist Charles Bunker's life from his early years in Illinois in the late 1800s through his long career at the University of Kansas. Much like Charles Bunker, the book itself is unassuming and down to earth. Warner takes care to not only reveal Bunker's strengths but also his flaws. Yet, the book is more than a biography. Warner ties Bunker into a larger world that include his relationships with his colleagues and family, developments within the University of Kansas, and the natural history of the state. This well written and well researched book is not only a treat to read but is a valuable contribution to the history of Kansas.”

-Thomas C. Percy, PhD, judge, 2020 Martin Kansas History Book Award

March Author Talk: Michael D. Graves

All Hallows' Shadows

Winner:
2020 J. Donald Coffin Memorial Book Award

Tuesday, March 23, 7pm
Click here to register (must register to attend).

"In All Hallows’ Shadows, Michael D. Graves serves up both homage and an original take on the hard-boiled detective genre. The mean streets of the novel are historic Wichita, Kansas, which Mr. Graves renders impeccably, edging in a history lesson with his mystery. Graves, an evident baseball fan, hits through the cycle of the genre’s tropes, but does so in a manner entirely his own, realizing a style entirely his own. Out of a field of strong competition, my choice for the J. Donald Coffin Book Award is Michael D. Graves’s All Hallows’ Shadows."

-William Sheldon, judge, 2020 J. Donald Coffin Memorial Book Award

April Author Talk: Ronda Miller

I Love the Children

Winner:
2020 Kansas Authors Club Childrens' Book Award

Tuesday, April 27, 7pm
Registration Link to Come (must register to attend).

Kellogg Press to Host Virtual Reading

12/3/2020

Topeka Based Kellogg Press will host a LIVE, virtual reading on December 4 at 4:00 pm CST featuring District 2 Members Kerry Moyer, Curtis Becker, Kevin Rabas, and Ronda Miller. The reading will be broadcast on facebook.com/kelloggpress. An archive of the event will be available shortly after the LIVE stream ends.

KAC members featured include Ronda Miller (D2), Kevin Rabas (D2), Curtis Becker (D2), and Kerry Moyer (D2).

2020 Service Award, Maryann Barry

10/3/2020

Maryann Barry (D2) has been of service to Kansas Authors Club since she became a member of the board in 2007.

Maryann has served on the State Kansas Authors Club Board as Assistant Recording Secretary, Recording Secretary, and as the current 2020 State Vice President. Maryann has a quiet, yet observant nature and looks out on behalf of the entire membership. She is a faithful member of Kansas Authors Club, both an excellent song writer and poet, and steadfast friend to members fortunate enough to know her well.

-Presented by Ronda Miller (D2)

2020 Children’s Book Award

10/3/2020

I Love the Child, by Ronda Miller

We have made our selection for the Kansas Authors Club Book of the Year. We were impressed with the quality of the books submitted for review.

After careful deliberation we have chosen I Love the Child, by Ronda Miller. First, the size and feel of the book would make it easy to read to a small group of children. The illustrations beautifully matched the poem on the page. There was diversity of ethnicity, physical condition, and gender. The Spanish co-text should make it appealing to a wide range of children. We could identify characteristics of children we have raised and known, and think that older children could see themselves in some of these characters. We think the book could be used with a wide age range. The cooking section expands the number of activities that could be used with the book. This is a book that we would like to give to important young people in our lives.

Thank you for asking us to be a review panel. We enjoyed the process and for the opportunity to read these books.

Allison and Gary Haworth

Judges Allison and Gary Haworth have two adult daughters: Mary Kate and Becky. Allison is a graduate of the University of Kansas and taught early elementary school in the Lawrence school district prior to having children. Raising her own children instilled a passion for young children. Allison has been a preschool teacher for the Lawrence Arts Center for the past 20 years. Gary Haworth is an elementary curriculum PhD graduate of the University of Iowa. He has taught at the elementary school level and was a central office and elementary school administrator. He is now retired.

Member contributions in anthology published by blue cedar press

9/20/2020

Congratulations to D5 member, Gretchen Eick, and the following Kansas Authors Club members who were published in this anthology: Ronda Miller (D2), Jim Potter (D6), Mark McCormick (D5), Judy Keller Hatteberg (D5), Robert Dean (D5), Michael Poage (D5), Julie Baker Brinn (D7), Mike Graves (D2), Ruth Maus (D1), Julie Stielstra (D6), Mark Scheel (D2), Miriam Iwashige (D6), Najiyah Maxfield (D6), Janet Stotts (D1), and Diane Wahto (D5).

PRESS RELEASE
September 20, 2020

The Death Project: An Anthology for These Times is now in print and available to order at your favorite bookstore and Amazon.

This book is a 205 page anthology of stories, poems, mini memoirs, and factual pieces about the various ways we lose loved ones to death and how we grieve and heal. It is a collaboration by 36 writers from across the US, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Britain, Turkey, etc. who contributed their writing to help others suffering from grief or anticipation of grief. It is intended to expand readers' thinking, feeling, and imagining about this universal, often-hidden experience brought relentlessly to the world's consciousness in 2020.

The writers are Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Bah'ais, atheists, and New Age, and of different races and ethnicities. Some write of family loss including suicide, others of war or devastating illness, of COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter. Others share rituals that helped them recover.

Published by Blue Cedar Press (Wichita, KS) and edited by Dr. Gretchen Eick and Cora Poage, proceeds from the sales of The Death Project after the cost of publication and shipping will go to an assortment of international organizations fighting COVID-19. $12 paperback, $7 ebook (epub and Kindle).

For more information contact:
Gretchen Eick, 316-682-8818
eickgc@gmail.com

We want to help you share your writing news!

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.

Former State President, Ronda Miller, profiled in Kaw Valley Senior MOnthly

9/9/2020

Ronda Miller was the feature for the September issue of Senior Monthly Magazine, Lawrence, KS. The article can be viewed here: http://www.seniormonthly.net/

Miller is a former state President of KAC (2018 - 2019).

District 7 Announces the winners of their 2020 writing contest

9/9/2020

Kansas Authors Club hosts annual writing contests for adults featuring a wide rage of categories in prose and in poetry. Many of our districts host smaller contests throughout the year. District 7 recently shared with us the results of their contest, which was open to all members, regardless of district affiliation, and all writers residing in the state of Kansas. For more information about district activities, follow the link at left for "Districts" to find contacts for your area.
___________________________________________

POETRY:
1st Place - Ronda Miller for “Thin Blue Line”
2nd Place - Julie Ann Baker Brin for “Lousy Band at Port of Wichita”
3rd Place - Julie Ann Baker Brin for “Eisenhower National Airport”
Honorable Mention - Ronda Miller for “Dew Drop Inn”

PROSE:
1st Place - Tracy Million Simmons for “Mom’s Pink Sweater”
2nd Place - Julie Ann Baker Brin for “Cognitive”
3rd Place - Linda Ahrens-Brower for “Nicky’s Mother”
Honorable Mention - Julie Johnson for “Life With Squirrels”
Honorable Mention - Tracy Million Simmons for “A Storybook Tale”

These winners will be awarded certificates and checks at the District 7 Convention on September 19, 2020 at Sharon Springs, KS. Those unable to attend will have their certificates and checks mailed to them.

Thank you all who participated.
There were 13 Poetry entries and 19 Prose entries.

Merit Award for Achievement: Ronda Miller

10/21/2019

Awards for achievement in writing, service to Kansas Authors Club, or a special accomplishment are presented to deserving Kansas Authors Club members each year at the convention. Nominations are made by members and are due by July 1. Members should review the yearbook for current awards submission guidelines.

An accomplished journalist, award-winning poet and writer define my nomination of Ronda Miller for the Achievement Award. Not only successful in her own endeavors, she is an avid peer supporter for all genres as well. Ronda is the first to volunteer and serves as a dedicated leader for KAC. proving that if you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.

Nominated by Vicki Julian, D2

The Write Bridge, by Anamcara Press

View Ronda Miller Presentation

Writing Wisdom from Ronda

District 2 NaNoWriMo Invitation

2021 Length of Membership Awards

2021 Convention Workshop: The Importance of Voice in Trauma Transformation

April 27, 7pm Author Talk - Register now to attend!

Upcoming Author Talk Schedule

April 27 Author Talk by
Ronda Miller

May 25 Author Talk by Roy Beckemeyer

February Author Talk, Chuck Warner, winner of the 2020 Martin Kansas History Book Award

Kellogg Press to Host Virtual Reading

2020 Service Award, Maryann Barry

2020 Children’s Book Award

Member contributions in anthology published by blue cedar press

Former State President, Ronda Miller, profiled in Kaw Valley Senior MOnthly

District 7 Announces the winners of their 2020 writing contest

Merit Award for Achievement: Ronda Miller

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