Category: Sandee Taylor

#ReadLocalKS: Future Fugitives

11/15/2024

Mark Landon's Novel Entertains

Should you read Future Fugitives written by Mark Landon Jarvis? Absolutely. Just because it is a young adult, near-future, sci-fi, teleportation novel should not deter you. I normally read historical romance, and I found the book engaging. Once I had the novel’s world figured out, the characters grabbed me on an emotional level. Each of the main characters portrayed some aspect of my personality in a way that made me wonder what I would do if I found myself in similar circumstances. The clever use of Tic-Tacs added an original twist to the plot. I laughed, gasped, and wiped away an occasional tear as I internalized the plot. Future Fugitives is a worthy read.
#readlocalks

Submitted by member Sandee Taylor

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2024 Member Recruiters of the Year!

11/10/2024

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At the Annual Meeting of the General Membership, held via Zoom on October 19, 2024, we recognized members who have recruited new members to our organization.

Member Recruitment Recognition
New Members (2024) to Date = 53
New Members (2023) = 64

The following members were listed on new member applications as the person who recomended membership in Kansas Authors Club in 2023/2024.

Angela Bates

Traci Brimhall

K.L. Barron

Micki Carroll

Laura Clifton

Robert Dean

Gretchen Eick

Judy Entz

Mike Graves

Jeff Guernsey

Beth Gulley

Deb Irsik

Mary-Lane Kamberg

Skylar Lovelace

Ruth Maus

Ronda Miller

Grant Overstake

Dan Pohl

Jim Potter

Kristine A. Polansky

Thea Rademacher

Ralvell Rogers

Julie A. Sellers

Lisa Stewart

Anne Spry

Sandee Taylor

Cat Webling

Connie White

Gloria Zachgo

As well, the following events were listed. It's notable to see our outreach efforts bringing recognition to our organization.

It is exciting to have such a wide and diverse group of individuals supporting and encouraging membership in our club. This year's Membership Recruiter Award went to Sandee Taylor (D5 President and 2024 Convention Chair) and to Mary-Lane Kamberg (a notable former member!)

Mary-Lane, we'd love to have you back on our member roster. Thanks for sending your youth writers our way!

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2024 Service Award: Sandra Lou Taylor

11/10/2024

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At the Annual Meeting of the General Membership, held via Zoom on October 19, 2024, a Service Award was presented to Sandra Lou Taylor.

Awards are presented to members for achievement in writing (A), service to the club (S), and special award for particular accomplishment (SP).

Nomination #1:
I nominate Sandee Taylor, District 5, for a Service to KAC Award. The reasons I feel she is worthy of this award are:
Sandee has given 300% to KAC and D5 since 2019, when D5 hosted the convention in Wichita.

During the COVID challenge, she worked hard to keep connections between D5 members alive, assisting with computer access to zoom meetings.

For two years she has served as D5 president, initiating new activities like small D5 retreats, and contacting and encouraging people into active roles in the group with gentle encouragement.

She started and hosts at least two critique groups every month.

She has represented D5 and the state Kansas Authors Club by hosting tables at writing events to promote our organization to others. She manned a table at the 2023 Wichita Local Authors event at the Wichita Public Library and at the first ever Local Authors Day at the Winfield Public Library.

Sandee is always ready to encourage other writers, and to promote KAC, and I think she deserves a service award.

Nominated by Ann Fell

Nomination #2
Sandee Taylor has led D5 with energy, ideas, people skills, and innovation. She restored this district post-Covid with recruiting new leaders to the executive committee, bringing younger people into leadership, organizing district writing retreats, generating and facilitating writers critique groups, and keeping the former leaders involved in new capacities while shifting them to playing new roles. This was gracefully handled and resulted in freeing up the top leadership positions for “new blood” while not alienating the old leaders who had been in place far longer than the by-laws called for. She found new roles for the former leaders and remained positive and helpful during what could have been a conflictual change. Sandee is utterly committed to KAC’s growth and to servicing members. Without her as president we would have faded to a group of cronies only. With her D5 is vibrant and growing and several writers groups are nurturing the writing skills of members in exciting, collaborative ways.

Nominated by Gretchen Eick

"Since 2019, I have explored more and more leadership roles in D5 and KAC. Yesterday, I was honored for my service to KAC. I want to thank my writing friends for being a part of my life and encouraging my writing journey. The authors in KAC bless me each month and at the annual conventions/retreats. Together, I look forward to what we as KAC members will be able to accomplish in 2025." ~ Sandee Taylor 10/20/2024

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2024 Kansas Authors Club Literary Contest: Prose Results

10/7/2024

Prose Contest Manager - K.L. Barron

Kristine A. Polansky, Anne Spry, and Janice Lee McClure

Prose Theme Contest: Words Take Flight: Choose Your Own Adventure (15 entries)

First Place: “The Cave” by Janice Lee McClure, D7

Second Place: “Up La Luz Trail With Penny” by Janice Lee McClure, D7

Third Place: “Encountering Hunger, Death, and Adventure in the Peace Corps” by Anne L. Spry, D1

Honorable Mention: “Bridge Over Cimarron” by Amy D. Kliewer, D5

Honorable Mention: “You Just Never Know” by Kristine A. Polansky, D4

Sandra Lou Talyor and S.L. Brown

Stories Written for Young Readers (14 entries)

First Place: “Catfish” by S.L. Brown, D2

Second Place: “Be Brave Bertie” by S.L. Brown, D2

Third Place: “Areon” by Sandra Lou Taylor, D5

Honorable Mention: “A Treasured Glow” by Abbi Lee, D5

Joe Bollig, S.L. Brown, and Julie A. Sellers

Short Story (14 entries)

First Place: “Sunflower State of Mind” by Julie A. Sellers, D1

Second Place: “Ficklin, Kansas” by S.L. Brown, D2

Third Place: “At the Roadside” by Robin St. James

Honorable Mention: “Just Another Day” by Ashley Masoni Huber, NM

Honorable Mention: “Dick Banal, Private Eye: Sticky Situation” by Joe Bollig, D2

Cynthia Mines, Janice Lee McClure, and Hazel Hart

Memoir/Inspiration (29 entries)

First Place: “Last One on the Line” by Don Money, D3

Second Place: “Students on a Stick” by Roger Heineken, D2

Third Place: “Breathe In, Release” by Cynthia Mines, D5

Honorable Mention: “Someone Else” by Hazel Hart, D2

Honorable Mention: “Idaho, 1950” by Janice Lee McClure, D7

Gretchen Cassel Eick and Julie A. Sellers

Humor (16 entries)

First Place: “Waiting for Daddy” by Kimberlee Bethany Bonura, D2

Second Place: “Local Professor Jailed for Crime of Fashion” by Julie A. Sellers, D1

Third Place: “The Brain Trade” by Gretchen Cassel Eick, D5

Honorable Mention: “How Gemma Changed My Life” by Margaret McKay, D5

Honorable Mention: “Brotherly Affection” by Amy D. Kliewer, D5

Sandra Lou Taylor, Hazel Hart, S.L. Brown, and Julie A. Sellers

Flash Fiction (8 entries)

First Place: “Distant Grief” by Kimberlee Bethany Bonura, D2

Second Place: “What She Ordered” by Hazel Hart, D2

Third Place: “Outlook” by Gretchen Burch, D2

Honorable Mention: “My Big Chance” by Sandra Lou Taylor, D5

Honorable Mention: “A Word Edgewise” by Hazel Hart, D2

Honorable Mention: “Deja New” by S.L. Brown, D2

Honorable Mention: “The Good Mood” by Julie A. Sellers, D1

Jerilynn Henrikson and Mike Graves (above her in the Zoom window)

First Chapter of a Novel (17 entries)

First Place: “The Yellow-Wellie Incident: An Inspector Wigford “Wiggy” Thorpe Mystery” by Kathleen E. Kaska, D2

Second Place: “A Mystery in Two Voices” by Michael D. Graves and Jerilynn Henrikson, D2

Third Place: “Birth of a Warrior” by Elmer Fuller, NM

Honorable Mention: “Shadows Deep” by Michael D. Graves, D2

Honorable Mention: “A History of Madness” by Alisha Davis, NM

Tracy Million Simmons and Julie A. Sellers

Playwriting (4 entries)

First Place: “The Magic Lamp” by Julie A. Sellers, D1

Second Place: “Community Meeting Chaos” by Cynthia Schaker, D5

Third Place: “The Heavenly Lounge” by Tracy Million Simmons, D2

S.L. Brown and Julie Ann Baker Brin

Prose Rural Voices (11 entries)

First Place: “Salt Plant” by Amy D. Kliewer, D5

Second Place: “Buried Treasure” by Julie Ann Baker Brin, D5

Third Place: “Stealing Dinner” by S.L. Brown, D2

Writers In Community: Sandee Taylor

4/1/2024

For the past three years, Sandee Taylor has judged 4th grade poetry for the annual writing and art contest at Circle Benton Elementary. This is the 24th consecutive year for this contest. It is open to 3rd through 6th grades. She enjoyed helping principal Rob Leis and art judge Alex Kessler pass out awards. She spoke a few minutes encouraging the students write and enter contests. Organizers Erika and Jason Kirk are sitting at the table.

Members in Issue #7 of 105 Meadowlark Reader

3/18/2024

Congratulations to the following Kansas Authors Club members who will be published in the next issue of 105 Meadowlark Reader, shipping in May 2024.

“The Middle of Nowhere” by Alicia Troike

“Between the Dead and Me” by Amanda L. Little

“Friendship Forged over Fetal Pig” by Amy D. Kliewer

“Last Letter” by Ann Christine Fell

“A Second Meeting in Manhattan” by Barbara Waterman-Peters

“Can You Tell Me How to Get to Oklahoma City?” by Beth Gulley

“Waves of Intersection” by Boyd Bauman

“A Retirement Revelation” by Chuck Warner

“Getting Pregnant at My Age?” By Errin D. Moore

“A Love Story” by James Kenyon

“At the Intersection of Kansas and Anywhere in the World” by Cynthia Mines

“Families and Fates of Robert Parks” by Jim Potter

“The Town at the Crossroads” by Julie A. Sellers

“The Sparrow’s Whistle” by Julie Stielstra

“Intersecting with the Mob” by Linda Cook

“Double Cousins and the Carnival Keepsake” by Roger Heineken

“Not in My Plan” by Sandee Lee

“Crossroads” by Thomas Holmquist

“Lessons from the Intersection of Tallgrass and Tabor Valley” by Tim Keane

Submit to the Next Issue of 105 Meadowlark Reader

Buy a copy of 105 Meadowlark Reader

Kansas Authors Club Literary Contest Winners 2023: Prose

10/10/2023

Theme Contest
Judge: Kathie Buckman

First Place: A Lazy Sunday Morning by Julie A. Sellers
Second Place: Sacred Tuesdays by Lindsey Bartlett
Third Place: Writing From the Heart by Nancy Julien Kopp
Honorable Mention: Zounds! Sounds! By Connie Rae White
Honorable Mention: Just a Moment by Brett Wilkinson
Honorable Mention: Writing Moments by Sandee Lee

Playwriting
Judge: Kari Bowles

1st: Gene Stratton-Porter The Birdwoman by Cynthia J. Ross
2nd: Murder by the Books by Julie A. Sellers
3rd: Cold Sweat by Sandee Lee

Stories for Young Readers
Judge: Michaela Karr

1st: The Eggnog Thief by Linda Ahrens-Brower
2nd: The Mystery of the Hundred Dollar Bill by Marcia Young
3rd: The Singer and the Storyteller by Julie A. Sellers
Honorable Mention: The Haird by Heather Taylor
Honorable Mention: Shake and Settle by S.L. Brown

Flash Fiction
Judge: Lydia Kautz

1st: Doubt Thou The Stars are Fire by Julie A. Sellers
2nd: Missed by Heidi Unruh
3rd: Curiosity Bites by Sandee Lee
Honorable Mention: A Surprise on my Bed by Sandee Lee
Honorable Mention: Uninvited Delivery by Gloria Zachgo
Honorable Mention: The Wish by Julie A. Sellers

Rural Voices
Judge: Ryan Dennis

1st: Landscape of My Childhood by Lindsey Bartlett
2nd: Laneway Landmarks by Julie A. Sellers
3rd: The Bull is Out by Kristine A. Polansky
Honorable Mention: Finding Home by Linda Heggestad
Honorable Mention: In My “Hay” Day by Gloria Zachgo

First Chapter of a Book
Judge: Amy Sage Webb-Baza

Feast or Famine by Marlana Marts

Irish protagonist with pregnant wife and kids in feudal lord’s estate attempts to whore himself for family but is rejected and then is met by vampire on the road and turned into vampire. Captivating in the ways that Outlander mixes historical truth with character situation, mixed with genre. Suggests a suspenseful and exciting character arc.

The Penny Paige Shannon Home for Unwanted Books by Julie A. Sellers

Recently divorced woman returns to bibliophile Aunt’s house. The aunt has cancer and the woman is controlled by ex-husband and the memories of a mother recently deceased. She opens free book library with Aunt. Solid world-building and point of view. Multiple things going on immediately. Captivating and suggests a redemptive and emotional character arc.

Kentucky Blood by Ashley Thomas Sheikh

Brings the reader immediately into the POV of Rhonda who has been capturing sexual predators and torturing them in the garage. The build to reveal who is being captured and why is just slow enough to cause reader discomfort and chilling true crime engagement with the story. We’ll never look at a garage the same way.

Honorable Mention: Overcoming by Hazel Hart
Pre-suffragist female character in MO finds herself a target of the times in social and gendered ways. She is accused of behavioral crimes and there’s tension and excitement right away. Good context building.

Honorable Mention: One Throw Pillow Too Many by S.L. Brown
Reader is catapulted into the POV of a woman on a reality show about to be rejected. It’s immediately dramatic and likely to become moreso, with humorous insights along the way.

Memoir
Judge: Kim Horner McCoy

First Place: The Curse of the Catalpa Tree--Learning about Bees by Roger Droz
Second Place: Football Mom by Shawn Renee Hood
Third Place: Vultures on the Roof by Gretchen Cassel Eick
Honorable Mention: Chien for the Win by Julie A. Sellers
Honorable Mention: New Arrows for Christmas, Or The Extent of My Injury by Roger W. Heineken

Short Story
Judge: Michelle Zumbrum

First Place: The Spelling Bee by Sarah Jane Crespo
Second Place: The Sunflower Dance by S.L. Brown
Third Place: Slipping Away by Stacy Thowe
Honorable Mention: Reflections by Jeanette Carter
Honorable Mention: Empty by Julie A. Sellers
Honorable Mention: Donnie and the Great KA-BOOM by Marion Joseph Bollig

Humor
Judge: Marcia Lawrence

First Place: Have a Drink and a Pen by Marion Joseph Bollig
Second Place: It Pays to Save the Receipt by Deborah Shouse
Third Place: Ten Little Birds: A Tragic Tale of Attrition by Jerilynn Henrikson

Members to be Published in Landmarks Issue of Kansas Journal of Creative Nonfiction

9/28/2023

The next issue of 105 Meadowlark Reader includes essays by the following Kansas Authors Club Members.
The theme of this issue is Landmarks, and expected ship date for this publication is early November, 2023.

Congratulations writers!

Lindsey Bartlett, Emporia
Boyd Bauman, Overland Park
Linda Cook, Manhattan
Ann Christine Fell, Winfield
Monica Graves, Emporia
Carolyn Hall, Lenexa
Cheryl Heide, Baldwin City
Thomas Holmquist, Smolan
Nancy Julien Kopp, Manhattan
Marilyn Hope Lake, Columbia, MO
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, Lawrence
Julie A. Sellers, Atchison
Julie Stielstra, Ellinwood
Sandee Lee, El Dorado
Barbara Waterman-Peters, Topeka
Jon Kelly Yenser, Albuquerque, NM

Next Submission Theme: Intersections

Ships in November: Subscribe Today

How to Enter Kansas Authors Club Contests

5/27/2023

District 5 President, Sandee Taylor, has prepared a recording on how to submit books and writings to our contests, starting with where to find our guidelines and how to submit via submittable. This 26 minute video is very informative. Watch and enter! The deadline for entering our contests is June 15, 2023.

Thank you, Sandee!

Murder By the Books

11/2/2022

Cynthia (Cindy) Schaker, first year member of D5, wrote a play titled Murder By the Books. This comedic murder mystery is the entertainment portion of a dinner theater production.

In the fall, Cardinal Creek Farms in rural Butler County, a wedding/family event venue, stages an all-local talent performance. For the second year, Cindy wrote and directed her original play. This year she set the play in a library and based it loosely on members of our writing critique group which meets monthly at Reliant Bookstore in El Dorado. When the person playing Marla had to drop out, Sandee Taylor (D5) was asked to play herself as the leader of The Mystery Writers Group. She has enjoyed transforming her rather serious personality into a comedic character. She instructs the group saying, “It is only a mystery until it is solved.” During the intermission, diners cast ballots for whom they believe committed the murder.

The production November 6 of Murder By the Books will be an evening of good food, laughter, and fun with friends.

Congratulations to the following members who will be published in Issue #4 (the food issue) of 105 Meadowlark Reader: A Kansas Journal of Creative Nonfiction

10/25/2022

Lindsey Bartlett 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. You can find her wherever there is a sunset. Bartlett has published one poetry collection, Vacant Childhood. Her writing and photography have appeared in The Write Bridge, Flint Hills Review, 105 Meadowlark Reader, and The Wyandotte Window.

Boyd Bauman grew up on a small ranch south of Bern, Kansas, with his dad the storyteller and his mom the family scribe. He has published two books of poetry: Cleave and Scheherazade Plays the Chestnut Tree Café. After stints in New York, Colorado, Alaska, Japan, and Vietnam, Boyd now is a librarian and writer in Kansas City, inspired by his three lovely muses. Visit him at boydbauman.weebly.com.

Cathy Callen was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Since then, though, she has lived mostly in Kansas. Her father worked for Southwestern Bell, and every time he was promoted, the family got to see more of Kansas. They lived in Sunflower, Manhattan, Hays, Salina, Topeka, and Wichita. Her career as a teacher and special education coordinator with Topeka Public Schools kept her in the state for more than thirty years. After retiring, she moved to Lawrence with her soon-to-be husband, Barry, and it is her current favorite Kansas location. She likes the Lawrence Busker Festival, the Art Tougeau parade, the library, The Raven Bookstore, the political environment, the summer pooch swim, Liberty Hall, Wheatfield’s Bakery, and walking on the KU campus and in her friendly neighborhood.

Annabelle Corrick was born and raised in Topeka, lived in five other Kansas towns and three other states, returned to Topeka the last decade, and currently resides in Columbia, Missouri. She earned advanced degrees from Emporia State University and Kansas State University and was the Kansas Authors Club 2015 Prose Writer of the Year. Her writings have appeared in The Poet’s Art, 2016 Kansas Voices Writing Contest, Well Versed, and other publications. Her most awesome Kansas experience has been standing against the wind and viewing the vast vista of western Kansas where her paternal grandparents pioneered.

Michael Durall grew up in the thriving metropolis of Pawnee Rock, Kansas, population 250. He was the champion sentence diagrammer in his sixth grade English class, which eventually led to his writing nine books about his work as a consultant to nonprofit organizations. He lives in Salina and writes a weekly column for the Salina 311 newspaper and has recently published a book of essays from local residents for the Salina Arts and Humanities Commission on the theme of The Day That Changed My Life Forever.

Mark O. J. Esping first lived in a Swede-Town in Pottawatomie County. He graduated from Bethany, a Swedish-Lutheran College. He reprinted NEQUA, a feminist sci-fi novel first published in Topeka, Kansas, in 1900. Mark directed www.folklifeinstitute.com, a nonprofit, and two N.E.A. Folk Art grants. His work has appeared in The Clarion Folk Art, Country Living, Scandinavian Review, Victorian Homes, and Hemslöjden. He is an Eagle Scout and a veteran. He and his wife share a home in Merriam, Kansas, with three near-feral cats. Twin deer occasionally graze in their backyard. Mark tells stories, true stories, with a humorous nature and a hint of morality. In collection they are packets of maps that are Near Invisible, Like Footprints in Ever Shifting Sand.

Beth Gulley first moved to Newton, Kansas, when she was two. Her family moved to Latin America, but Beth returned to the Olathe area for college where she met her husband. They moved to Paola, Kansas, to raise their family. Beth has advanced degrees from UMKC and the University of Kansas. She teaches writing at Johnson County Community College. Her recent writing is included in Kansas City Voices, Dragonfly Magazine, Kansas Speaks Out, and The Write Bridge. She has published three full-length poetry collections: The Sticky Note Alphabet, Dragon Eggs, and The Love of Ornamental Fish. She currently resides in Spring Hill, Kansas, which gives her easy access to Hillsdale Lake where she enjoys trail running and fishing.

Carolyn Hall is an award-winning author who grew up on a farm outside Olmitz, Kansas. Her childhood on the farm provided wonderful memories which she shared in her book, Prairie Meals and Memories: Living the Golden Rural. It was named to the Kansas Sesquicentennial’s Best 150 Books list. Her stories and poems have appeared in Chicken Soup for the Soul, The Christian Science Monitor, The Kansas City Star, and various anthologies. She lives in Lenexa, Kansas.

Jerilynn Jones Henrikson, a retired English teacher, has always loved teaching, telling, reading, watching, and writing stories. To date, Jerilynn has published nine children’s picture books, an adult memoir, and a young adult historical fiction novel. Her work reflects her sense of humor, love of words, and talent for detail. Jerilynn finds her inspiration in the rolling hills of east central Kansas. No matter the subject of a current work, she is motivated by the people, history, and changing seasons of this place. As a student of history and language, she enjoys traveling to beautiful places. But ultimately, she finds the greatest joy in travel is coming home. www.prairiepatchwork.com

Thomas N. Holmquist is a fifth-generation farmer and rancher near Smolan, Kansas. He also is a retired teacher in the Smoky Valley School District having taught music, American History, and agriculture for forty-four years. He has also published three books, including Pioneer Cross, Swedish Settlements Along the Smoky Hill Bluffs, Bluestem, a novel, and Salemsborg, A History of the Salemsborg Church and Community, Volume 1, 1869-1939, for which he won the Award of Commendation for Lutheran Church History from the Augustana Historical Association. Tom has several writing projects in the works in between feeding cows, putting up hay, and planting and harvesting crops.

Deb Irsik was the owner of Makin’ Waves Salon in Emporia, Kansas, and retired from the beauty industry after twenty-five years. She is a Kansas girl and shares her life with her husband Mike, and children John and Emily. Deb is a member of the Kansas Authors Club and Emporia Writers Group. Deb’s favorite thing about Kansas is the people. “Most people in Kansas have a strong work ethic and family values. The beautiful Flint Hills and Kansas sunsets are second to none. What’s not to like?” Poetry and lyrics have always been part of her life, but she felt a call to write middle-grade Christian fiction after her daughter found it difficult to be “that God girl” in eighth grade. “It is my hope that my books will encourage young people to hold onto values and faith as they navigate their teen years.” Deb’s “Heroes by Design” series was completed in 2020, and she hopes to dedicate her time to creating a book of poetry and continuing to write essays, prose, and fiction. Deb can be found online: facebook.com/D.A.Irsikauthor, Twitter:@Writerwannabe1, www.dairsik.com, amazon.com/author/dairsik, https://instagram.com/debirsik/

Miriam Iwashige lives on a three-acre property outside of Partridge, Kansas, near where her preacher-farmer dad and mom raised twelve children. She aims to live large from this small place, just as the land and sky around the property suggest. Reading, earning a bachelor’s degree, teaching, conversing, and traveling have often fostered large living, as did homeschooling her children and investing deeply in many aspects of homemaking, gardening, animal husbandry, nature study, and church and community life. She and her Japanese-immigrant husband parented three sons who all live nearby right now. Those who have joined their sons’ families through marriage or birth (nine grandchildren!) spent childhood years in such diverse places as Bangladesh, Kenya, El Salvador, and Washington state.

Sally Jadlow grew up in Ft. Scott, Kansas. After marriage, she and her husband moved to Overland Park. Teaching creative writing for the Kansas City Writers Group is one of her joys. She writes historical fiction, inspirational stories, devotionals, and poetry. Sally has published thirteen books. Her work has appeared in many compilations including Chicken Soup for the Soul and many other publications. Her books are available on Amazon.com. Sally also loves to bake, cinnamon rolls, her specialty. Family Favorites from the Heartland contain her favorite recipes. The eastern Kansas countryside with its gently rolling hills claims Sally’s most favorite area of the state. She believes what Dorothy says, “There’s no place like home,” is true—if you live in Kansas.

Amy Deckert Kliewer has lived her entire life in Kansas. She grew up in Pawnee Rock, Kansas, and went to high school in Larned. After attending Bethel College and graduating from the University of Kansas, Amy lived and worked in the Kansas City metro area as a civil engineer. Recently retired, Amy and her husband moved to North Newton to enjoy the smalltown feeling and be close to family. She is enjoying exploring her Next Chapter.

Nancy Julien Kopp grew up in the Chicago area and moved to Kansas, her adopted state and home, in 1975. She started writing in her mid-fifties, realizing a long-held dream. She has been published in many anthologies, including twenty-three times in Chicken Soup for the Soul books, in addition to publication on websites, in magazines, and in newspapers. She writes creative nonfiction, including personal essays and short memoir pieces, and also poetry, short fiction for children, and articles on the craft of writing. Nancy and her retired husband live in Manhattan, Kansas, and are strong supporters of all things K-State. She is mother to two and grandmother to four. She is a voracious reader and enjoys playing bridge. www.writergrannysworld.blogspot.com

Marilyn Hope Lake, PhD, writes short fiction, poetry, plays and children’s picture books. She has many awards for writing, including through the Kansas Authors Club contests. Dr. Lake’s first-place story, “Harry’s Stone,” was published in Words Out of the Flatlands; Kansas Writers Association. Lake has been published in Rock Springs Review, STIR, Well-Versed: Literary Works, the Gasconade Review, and the Mizzou Alumni Magazine. Marilyn lived in Hutchinson, Kansas, from 2002-2017, is a Kansas Authors Club ten-year member, and was a facilitator of the 2014 Annual Conference. Her Kansas favorites are the Wichita Art Museum, State Fair, Underground Salt Mine, Delos V. Smith Senior Center, Hutchinson, and others. Although she misses her Kansas friends, she is happy to live with her dog, Hugo, and near family in Columbia, Missouri.

A Kansan through and through, Sandee Lee celebrates being published in every edition of 105 Meadowlark Reader. Her favorite writing topic for nonfiction and fiction is Kansas. The turmoil of the mid-1800s in the Lawrence area is the topic of her current fiction project. Relaxing on her porch with her two border collies lying by her feet and watching cattle graze on the hillside is where you’ll find Sandee most evenings except in the winter months. From that porch she can observe the homestead where her family has lived since 1925.

Errin D. Moore, an emigrant from Montana, has called Kansas home for eight years. She lives in the Flint Hills near Leon with her husband, infant son, and eighteen-year-old stepson—along with their menagerie of chickens, turkeys, geese, pigs, and an overabundance of cats. She fell in love with the unique beauty Kansas offers, most especially the magnificent sunsets. Errin and her husband own Able and Ready Appliance Repair. She runs the office from home while raising Oliver. She was a teacher and administrator for nineteen years, and she owned and operated a bookstore in El Dorado. Her humorous, touching, and unique sense of voice is especially effective when she writes about the joys and challenges of being a first-time mother at the age of forty-four.

Audrey Phillips is a Kansan through and through. She grew up in Overland Park, attended the University of Kansas, and is now living in Kansas City, Missouri. Audrey loves to represent her favorite parts of being a Kansan by cheering on her Jayhawks or Chiefs or Sporting Kansas City. Audrey loves Kansas because of the way everyone feels like family here. She is a proud midwesterner and strives to promote the kindness that midwesterners possess. She has always loved to write, even from a young age. She was and continues to be inspired by her famous Aunt Mary-Lane Kamberg who has published many books in her time as an author. Even though now she lives right across the state line, Kansas will always be her home.

Cynthia Schaker (Cindy), a retired Kansas educator of thirty-seven years, grew up on a farm outside of Hamilton, Kansas, in Greenwood County. Cindy taught grades six through eight at Towanda Grade School and served as school counselor at Circle Middle School in Butler County. One of her favorite places in Kansas is the Flint Hills because they remind her of going home. She currently resides in El Dorado, Kansas, with her rescue dog Moxie. Cindy does volunteer work in the Gift Shop at Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital in El Dorado. She serves as President of the SBAMH Auxiliary. She loves humorous writing and penning stories from her childhood. She recently had her humorous murder mystery play performed at Cardinal Creek Farm in Butler County.

Julie A. Sellers was raised in the Flint Hills near the small town of Florence, Kansas. She currently resides in Atchison, Kansas, where she is an Associate Professor (Spanish) and Chair of the Department of World Languages and Cultures at Benedictine College. Julie’s creative work has appeared in publications such as Cagibi, Wanderlust, Unlost, The Write Launch, and Kansas Time + Place. Julie was the 2020 Kansas Authors Club Prose Writer of the Year, and the Overall Poetry Winner (2022) and Overall Prose Winner (2017, 2019) of the Kansas Voices Contest. She is the author of Kindred Verse: Poems Inspired by Anne of Green Gables (Blue Cedar Press, 2021) and the novel, Ann of Sunflower Lane (Meadowlark, 2022).

Perry Shepard is a Vietnam veteran who has written two novels: The Hero versus Me and Monkey Jo, and Hard Love. He co-wrote two plays in the anthology titled Annabelle. He won a second-place award in Eber and Wein’s Best American Poetry of 2013, and an honorable mention in Writer’s Digest 84th annual Poetry Competition. Perry is a member and former District 2 president of Kansas Authors Club. He makes his home in Eudora, Kansas.

A month after the sudden death of her second husband, Anne L. Spry had a mystical dream that detailed a new business based on capturing personal history for writing memoir. She had already begun publishing books through Createspace for herself and others following a twenty-seven-year career as a newspaper publisher and editor. Since the fortuitous dream, Spry and partner Cheri Battrick have developed a DIY Memoir Kit and Spry has expanded her book publishing to some two dozen titles under the Personal Chapters LLC banner. They include children’s books, memoir and fiction, and a few titles authored by Spry. Anne serves as President of District 1 of Kansas Authors Club and produces a newsletter for that group and another for a local Sweet Adelines group. She is married to a retired military pilot, and they live on a family acreage south of Topeka where Anne spent her first five years.

Chuck Warner is a lifelong Kansan. After growing up in Wichita, he has lived in Lawrence since first attending the University of Kansas in the 1960s. With business and law degrees, he embarked on a nearly forty-year career in business and banking. After he retired in 2008, he began writing about his maternal grandfather and in 2019 Birds, Bones, and Beetles: The Improbable Career and Remarkable Legacy of University of Kansas Naturalist Charles D. Bunker was published by the University Press of Kansas. In 2020 his book was recognized as a Kansas Notable book, and also won awards for the best Kansas history and best book layout from the Kansas Authors Club, and was a finalist in the High Plains Book Awards.

Barbara Waterman-Peters is an artist by training and a writer by chance. Both pursuits have come together over the years in her articles about art and artists for such publications as Topeka, Kansas, and New Art Examiner magazines, in her book cover paintings for authors such as Marcia Cebulska’s Watching Men Dance, and in her collaborations with poets, most recently, Two Ponders: A Collaboration with Dennis Etzel, Jr. Co-owner of Pen & Brush Press with author Glendyn Buckley, Waterman-Peters illustrated their first two children’s books, The Fish’s Wishes and Bird which won awards from Kansas Authors Club. She co-wrote and illustrated their third book, TING & the Caterbury Tales, which came out this spring. Recently her fiction piece, “The Critique,” appeared in The Pen Woman and her creative non-fiction and poetry have been included in several anthologies. She lives in Topeka and her studio is in the NOTO Arts & Entertainment District. She spent five years living in rural Jackson County and Holton.

Cat Webling is an actress and author based in Kansas. She loves everything mad and macabre, philosophical and silly, so that’s exactly what she writes! Scifi, fantasy, and poetry are her mainstays when she’s not writing about literature, theater, gaming, or fan culture. She currently has a novel, a couple of short story collections, and several poetry collections under her belt. She works as an editor for SUPERJUMP Magazine, is an active member of the Kansas Authors Club, and daylights as a copywriter for hire. Cat writes from her home in Russell, which she shares with her loving partner, adorable son, and several very cute cats. You can find her work at www.catwebling.com.

Theme for Issue #5 (Nov 1 - Dec 31, 2022 Submission Period):
Animal Stories

Remember that our themes are simply prompts to spur your essays. There are so many directions you can go. Surprise us. Engage us. Help us remember what it was like to tame a nest of wild kittens. How did mom react when those kits turned out to be skunks? Ever snuggle with a turtle? Communicate with an owl? Swim with your pet snake?
Personal essays are welcome, but we are also looking for interviews, journalistic pieces, and more. Do you know a veterinarian who deserves the spotlight? Is there an animal shelter leading the way whose operations deserve to be highlighted? There are so many true stories that need to be told.
Remember, It must be a true story that happened, all or partially, in Kansas. Can your story leave the boundaries of Kansas? Sure! But you must show us that Kansas connection!

Learn More

Childrens' Poetry Judges

9/15/2022

Each year for the past twenty-two years, Circle Benton Elementary (Benton, KS) sponsors a writing and art contest for third through sixth grade students. The theme for the 2021-22 school year was sports and hobbies. Awards are given to the children with the top entries in prose, poetry, and art for each grade. The winners of the first through third places and honorable mention entries are recognized at an assembly with certificates and a booklet containing their entry. After the awards are presented, winners autograph books for the judges and their friends. Cynthia Ross and Sandee Taylor, Kansas Authors Club District 5 members, have judged the contest multiple years. This year Cynthia judged the poetry category for sixth grade and Sandee judged fourth grade poetry.

The Bicycle Issue of 105 Meadowlark Reader: A Kansas Journal of Creative Nonfiction

4/25/2022

105 Issue #3 Cover Photo by Scott Branine, flickr.com/photos/scott_branine/

Congratulations to Kansas Authors Club members with essays in the “True Bicycle Stories” issue (#3) of 105 Meadowlark Reader.

(D2) Bicycles: A Love Story by Boyd Bauman

(D5) Where I Like by Julie Ann Baker Brin

(D1) BlueBoy by Annabelle Corrick

(D2) A Green Bike by Monica Graves

(D2) The Bucket List by Beth Gulley

(D2) Going to C’ago by Carolyn Hall

(D2) Whoa by Jerilynn Henrikson,

(D2) Blue English Racer by Deb Irsik

(D2) My First, Last, and Only Bike by Sally Jadlow

(D5) What I Learned from Riding the Bicycle by Amy Deckert Kliewer

(D5) Bicycles in Kansas Yards by Sandee Lee

(D2) Dust on My Shoulders by Kerry Moyer

(D2) A Rolling Start by Peg Nichols

(D6) I Didn’t Have a Bicycle but I had a Paper Route by Jim Potter

(D5) Country Biking in Kansas by Cynthia C. Schaker

(D1) They Traded My Horse for a Bicycle by Anne Spry

(D1) The Race by Barbara Waterman-Peters

(D2) Bicycles: Bane or Boon by Brenda White

(D2) On Shaky Wheels by Mary Kate Wilcox

(D7) Bike Ride by Sheree Wingo

The Bicycle Issue will be delivered to Partner Bookstores and Subscribers beginning in May.

The submission period for the Fall 2022 issue is May 1-June 30. The theme is (True) Food Stories.
Learn more at 105MeadowlarkReader.com

About 105 Meadowlark Reader

Our Mission
To create a forum for sharing the work of Kansas writers.
To build and uplift the community of Kansas writers.
To share and promote resources for Kansas writers.

105 Meadowlark Reader will strive to represent the diversity of writers in Kansas.

105 Meadowlark Reader is a journal of creative nonfiction by and for writers who live or have lived in Kansas.

Each issue will contain a directory of area resources for writers. Publishers, printers, editors, book designers, cover/interior artists, bookstores, writing clubs, and anyone who provides services to writers is invited to submit details for our directory at no charge.

Members Published in 105 Meadowlark Reader, Issue #2

11/2/2021

Carolyn Hall, D2 Member, is one of 21 Kansas Authors Club members published in the second issue of 105 Meadowlark Reader: Kansas Travel Stories.

The journal of Kansas creative nonfiction can be purchased at "Partner Bookstores" including Crow and Co Books (Hutchinson), Eighth Day Books (Wichita), Flint Hills Books (Council Grove), Raven Book Store (Lawrence), Russell Specialty Books & Gifts (Russell), and Watermark Books & Cafe (Wichita).

Subscriptions can also be purchased at Meadowlark Press.

Kansas Authors Club members featured in this issue include:

Ann Anderson (D2)

Curtis Becker (D2)

Sheryl Brenn (D7)

Annabelle Corrick (D1)

Gretchen Cassel Eick (D5)

Marie Baum Fletcher (D7)

Tammy Gilley (D6)

Michael D. Graves (D2)

Monica (Osgood) Graves (D2)

Carolyn Hall (D2)

Jerilynn Jones Henrikson (D2)

Sally Jadlow (D2)

Nancy Julien Kopp (D4)

Sandee Lee (D5)

Jim Potter (D6)

Julie A. Sellers (D1)

Mark Scheel (D2)

Tracy Million Simmons (D2)

Barbara Waterman-Peters (D1)

Brenda White (D2)

Editor, Chery Unruh (D2)

The journal is currently taking submissions for issue #3 to be published in the spring of 2022.

Theme: True Bicycle Stories
Guidelines can be found on the
105 Meadowlark Reader website.

Convention 2021: Service to the Club

10/25/2021

Each year, members are asked to nominate those who deserve special recognition for service to the club, for work on a special accomplishment, or for achievement in writing.

In 2021, Connie Rae White submitted Sandee Taylor for acknowledgment. In her nomination, Connie said, “Sandee has been a member of District 5 for several years, but this year she took the new position of D5 Webmaster. Sandee has been invaluable for her internet skills as we navigated COVID and incorporated distanced meetings with Zoom. Sandee has contributed many hours to revising our D5 web page and posting announcements and has helped keep my head above water in the deepening technological challenges.”

The nomination was seconded by Tracy Million Simmons. "Sandee has taken the D5 portion of our website in hand and keeps it beautiful and tidy. As well, she helps by posting applicable D5 news to state website."

Sandee received a certificate of thanks for her work on both the D5 and the state website. Thank you, Sandee!

Writers In the Community: Member Judges for Circle Benton Elementary Writing Contest

4/14/2021

D5 member, Sandee Taylor, judged two categories at the annual Circle Benton Elementary writing contest. She judged fourth grade poetry and sixth grade prose. Sandee will attend the reception and awards ceremony later this spring.

Learn More - KAC Writers in the Community

Writers in the Community report from District 5

3/4/2021

WRITERS IN COMMUNITY:

District 5 recently held a writing contest for Tracey Anderson’s gifted Sixth-grade English classes in Derby. Judges were Connie White, Gretchen Eick, Sandee Taylor, Amy Ackerman, Taylor Stuckey, and Ray aka "Griz" Racobs. We used two judges for each of three genres: flash fiction, short story, and poetry. We wanted the kids to see how different judges vary in their evaluations. We awarded 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, and some honorable mentions for each genre. Griz and Connie presented the kids with their awards (gift cards or cash and certificates, and spent an hour with each group talking about our experiences as writers. The kids were eager to talk, and asked us to come back next year. We would encourage the districts to reach out to the schools in this manner. We will be asking more D5 members to join in the judging next year. We received Derby school water bottles filled with candy, and thank-you cards handmade by the students.

Kansas Authors Club Members to be Published in Inaugural Issue of 105: Meadowlark Reader

2/14/2021

The following Kansas Authors Club members had essays selected for publication in the first issue of 105: Meadowlark Reader, a Kansas journal of creative nonfiction. Issue #1, with the theme of "beginnings," is expected to be delivered to subscribers in early May, featuring 35 essays, including the following:

Gretchen Eick - D5
Marie Fletcher - D7
Beth Gulley - D2
Miriam Iwashige - D6
Nancy Julien Kopp - D4
Sandee Lee - D5
Don Marler - D5
Ruth Maus - D1
Julie Nischan - D1
Kevin Rabas - D2
Mark Scheel - D2
Julie Sellers - D4
Tyler Sheldon - D2
Julie Stielstra - D6
Barbara Waterman-Peters - D1
Jon Yenser - D7
Gloria Zachgo - D5
Ginger Zyskowski - D6

Cheryl Unruh (D2) of Quincy Press is the editor of the new journal, and Tracy Million Simmons (D2) of Meadowlark Press is the publisher. Readers are encouraged to subscribe before March 1 to take advantage of introductory pricing.

For those interested in submitting essays for issue #2, the theme will be "Kansas Travel Stories" and they will begin collecting those submissions in May and June of 2021

See 105meadowlarkreader.com for complete details.

2019 Service Awards: Sandee Taylor and Ann Fell

10/18/2019

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.

Picture of Sandee Taylor recieving service award.

Sandee Taylor receives a 2019 Service Award from the Kansas Authors Club. Presenter, Dan Close, D5.

Picture of Ann Fell receiving Service Award

Ann Fell receives a 2019 Service Award from the Kansas Authors Club. Presenter, Dan Close, D5.

Sandee Taylor and Ann Fell

Together, these ladies worked long and hard and with great efficiency to prepare documents for our 2019 KAC State Convention. They worked together on artwork for the brochures and bookmarks. They also worked to plan the program, and both did a lot of "leg work" as hotel liaisons for room arrangements, etc. These two stepped up when our President, Diane Wahto, was incapacitated due to a hospitalization, and saved the rest of the planning committee much angst by helping us meet deadlines.

Nominated by Connie Rae White, D5

#ReadLocalKS: Future Fugitives

Mark Landon's Novel Entertains

2024 Member Recruiters of the Year!

2024 Service Award: Sandra Lou Taylor

2024 Kansas Authors Club Literary Contest: Prose Results

Writers In Community: Sandee Taylor

Members in Issue #7 of 105 Meadowlark Reader

Kansas Authors Club Literary Contest Winners 2023: Prose

Members to be Published in Landmarks Issue of Kansas Journal of Creative Nonfiction

How to Enter Kansas Authors Club Contests

Murder By the Books

Congratulations to the following members who will be published in Issue #4 (the food issue) of 105 Meadowlark Reader: A Kansas Journal of Creative Nonfiction

Childrens' Poetry Judges

The Bicycle Issue of 105 Meadowlark Reader: A Kansas Journal of Creative Nonfiction

Members Published in 105 Meadowlark Reader, Issue #2

Convention 2021: Service to the Club

Writers In the Community: Member Judges for Circle Benton Elementary Writing Contest

Writers in the Community report from District 5

Kansas Authors Club Members to be Published in Inaugural Issue of 105: Meadowlark Reader

2019 Service Awards: Sandee Taylor and Ann Fell

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