Tuesday, October 12, 2021, at 7:00 p.m., Kris Polansky will be leading a Zoom discussion on youth and writing, with an emphasis on ways we, as authors, can help teachers achieve classroom writing goals and how we can encourage the young writers in our own families. Kris will share several of her lesson plans, including one aimed at getting young students to “own” their poems (or other writings) when presenting them orally. That is a skill all of us can use!

This and other 2nd Tuesday Zoom Meetings jointly provided by KAC Districts 3 and 4 are open to all KAC members. As noted in the District section of the KAC website, contact KAC email for the meeting link. 

To All KAC members, dues paid:

Updated meeting location!!
District 2's September meeting will be in Ronda Miller's backyard at 214 Lawrence Ave. in Lawrence from 10:00 - 12:00 on Saturday September 18, 2021. Due to Covid, there will not be a bathroom available, but Ronda will have water.

Our featured presenter will be District 2 Member, Beth Gruver Gulley.

Finding Inspiration in Everyday Objects

She will use her book, The Sticky Note Alphabet, to illustrate the ways mundane objects can trigger memories that in turn can lead to meaningful poems. Sometimes setting parameters for our writing, for example writing daily or trying new forms, can push us to notice the beauty in everyday objects as well.

Beth Gulley lives in Spring Hill, Kansas and teaches writing at Johnson County Community College. She has an MA from UMKC and a PhD from the University of Kansas. When not writing about teaching, Beth primarily writes poetry.

Her latest book, The Sticky Note Alphabet (from Alien Buddha Press), reminds us that small things are not always unimportant things. In December, her book Dragon Eggs will be published by Spartan Press. Her older work includes the 2018 chapbook, $!*# Hole Countries: A Find and Replace Meditation.

Her poetry and stories also appear in the Bards Against Hunger Anthology, From Everywhere a Little: A Migration Anthology, the Thorny Locust, and The Gasconade Review Presents: Storm A’Comin’, Kansas Letters to a Young Poet, and the 105 Meadowlark Reader. She has been a proud member of the Facebook group 365 Poems in 365 Days since 2015, and her poems appear in all three of the 365 Poems in 365 Days anthologies.
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Beth serves on the Riverfront Reading Committee and is a Writer’s Place board member. She loves thrift store shopping, traveling, and drinking coffee.

Gretchen Eick will be speaking on a panel at the Kansas Book Festival about writing books that treat controversial subjects and/or historical material that is little known by the general public. She will be using her latest book as her case in point: They Met at Wounded Knee: The Eastmans' Story (University of Nevada, 2020).

She has had two articles accepted for publication in the first two issues by 105 Meadowlark Reader: A Kansas Journal of Creative Nonfiction.

She is revising the sequel to her historical novel Maybe Crossings for publication in early 2022. The sequel is set in 2019 with a working title When the Road Splayed.

She will be speaking to the District 5 KAC group Saturday, October 16 at 1:30 on researching and writing historical fiction and nonfiction.
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Members, don't forget to claim your page in the 2022 yearbook!

Deadline: October 15, 2021

Due Between August 1 and October 15, 2021, electronic receipt or postmark

• Every Member having paid current dues is invited to submit ONE literary contribution for the yearbook. That submission can be either prose or poetry. Prose is limited to one printed page (no more than 500 words). Poetry is limited to one printed page (no more than 40 lines including spaces between verses).
• All literary contributions remain the property of the individual authors. Authors may continue to use or distribute their work without requesting permission from the Kansas Authors Club. No work printed in the KAC yearbook may be copied or distributed in any form without explicit permission from the author.
• Yearbook Submissions are preferred via the online site, Submittable. There is NO CHARGE to submit a yearbook entry.

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1. Prepare your document as you normally would for print submission.
2. The link for submission is: kansasauthorsclub.submittable.com
3. Complete required information. (Name, address, etc.)
4. Select file and upload for submission.

About D3/D4 Meetings:

• Monthly meetings are held via Zoom on the second Tuesday of each and begin at 7:00pm Central Time
• Zoom details are the same every month (Contact KAC email for meeting link)
• This information shall be posted on the website for anyone to access
• If a program leader or featured reader wishes, they may send a reminder email to district 3&4 members a couple of days in advance using the group email list.
• All KAC members are welcome

District 7 Kansas Authors Club meeting (Fall Convention)
 
            All members of District 7 Kansas Authors Club and other interested writers and authors are invited to the Fall Convention of the club in Colby, Kansas on Saturday, September 25th, 2021 at City Limits Bar and Restaurant, 2227 S. Range Ave., Colby, beginning at 11:30 a.m. 

There will be lunch on your own from a limited menu at the venue then a program with a speaker and awards for the winners of the Summer Writing Contest held by District 7. Bring a piece of your writing if you want to participate in the Read-A-Round.

There is no fee to attend the Convention other than your meal. Come and enjoy an afternoon of fellowship and information and meet other writers from the area!  There is limited seating so please RSVP to Sheryl Brenn at 785-443-1066. 

​Writing Retreat in the Paola Community Garden
September 15 from 6:00-7:00 p.m.
1201 Industrial Drive, Paola, KS 66071
 
Are you looking for inspiration? Do you need a few quiet minutes to yourself? Bring your lawn chair and a notebook to the Paola Community Garden on September 15 from 6-7 p.m. for a writing retreat. We will begin our evening with writing prompts to inspire you. Then participants will have space and time to write in the garden. We will finish the evening with an opportunity to share our writing with the group (this is optional). This event is hosted by District 2 member, Beth Gulley. For more information email Beth. or see the Facebook event link.

Thea Rademacher, J.D., will provide the August program during the regular District 1 zoom meeting on Aug. 21 at 1:00 p.m. This is a rescheduled program that was originally for the July meeting. Thea is a D-1 member, an attorney and the founder of Flint Hills Publishing. She will also be presenting a workshop at the October KAC convention.
Non-members of District 1 who would like to sit in on next Saturday's program should contact D-1 President Anne Spry for a link.
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Members,

Don't forget to turn in your entry for the 2022 Yearbook. Review the guidelines in the yearbook! You must be a current member to have a page in the yearbook.
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In response to a last-minute scheduling conflict with the speakers for the next two months, Thea Rademacher and Ruth Maus have switched places. Ruth Maus will be our presenter at Saturday's District 1 zoom meeting at 1:00 p.m. She will be helping members learn the format and elements to include (and not to include) in a query letter to get your manuscript noticed by literary agents.
Thea will present her program on copyright and legal issues for authors at our August 21 meeting.

Saturday, July 17, 1pm via Zoom

D-1 member Thea Rademacher will present a program at this Saturday's zoom meeting on copyright for authors. The attorney and author, owner of Flint Hills Publishing, will also be presenting at this fall's KAC Writing Workshop and Conference.
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Anyone wishing to attend this Saturday's 1 p.m. meeting can email D-1 President Anne Spry for the zoom link.

Lois Ruby, author of 21 historical novels for young adults, will speak at the D5 Zoom meeting July 10 at 1:30. Her book Steal Away Home was named an IRA Young Adults' Choice and a Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies. It has been adopted as part of the curriculum by school systems in Tennessee and Georgia. Lois served as a young adult librarian for the Dallas Public Library. She lived in Wichita for thirty years and has set some of her books in the state.
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Join us Saturday, July 10 at 1:30. Registration is required.

Email President Duane Johnson to request Zoom Link for Attendance.

This Saturday at 1 p.m. the District 1 zoom meeting will feature a veteran voice talent/author/editor talking to members about the pros and cons of doing your own narrations of audiobooks.

His presentation this Saturday starts with the question, “Should you narrate your own audiobook?” He will explore the types of books that should be narrated by the author and those for which a professional should be hired. He will then recommend a narration test to help the author determine if he or she has the stamina to narrate a book.
“Then we explore the audiobook creation process, costs and options for working in a studio or creating an in-home studio, and end with some recommendations for online research,” says Craig.

And he should know.
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On the strength of his voice alone, Craig started his career as a radio announcer in 1978. After three years in radio, he went on to do TV and radio commercials as a part-time addition to his business writing career. He has also done training film narration.

​Anyone wishing to join in the district meeting may get a link by emailing D-1 President Anne Spry prior to the meeting Saturday.