Current News from the Kansas Authors Club

In Memory: Roger Ringer

7/28/2023

Roger Ringer
March 29, 1955 - July 9, 2023

Roger Ringer, D6 member from Medicine Lodge, Kansas, joined Kansas Authors Club in 2021. That same year, he was the winner of the 2021 Martin Kansas History Book Award with his book, True Tales of Kansas (The History Press, 2021)

Roger published books on Kansas history and was a Cowboy Poet. He was a regular columnist for The Rural Messenger with stories often picked up by other Kansas papers. He was also a member of the Western Music Association and the Cowboy Storytellers Association of the Western Plains.

Obituary

Tribute to Roger in the Wichita Eagle

October Writing Retreat: Join us!

7/28/2023

Thoughts from a Committee Member:
Great capture of the tour of Rock Springs. I had not been there since I worked for the American Cancer Society in the 1980s. We started Camp Hope, a camp for kids with cancer in 1983 and it has definitely changed--all for the better.

Our attendees will be enthralled with the setting that will take them to a place that feels like one has gone to that writer’s cabin by the lake but, with all of the fine amenities of a beautiful guest room, amazing food, coffee, and close to home. I am guessing we will see the start of the beautiful turning of fall leaves when we are there--a bonus!

I appreciate that we can all dine together, go through a buffet line with choices we get to make and not eat ‘hotel’ food.

There are 1,000 places to sit on a limestone rock or wall to write, to read or just to relax at Rock Springs.

Though Rock Springs is in the Flint Hills, it is also just minutes away from I-70, and a short drive from most places in Kansas.

When I drove home yesterday, I appreciated how calm I felt from being among the gorgeous trees, the natural setting, and I look forward to being together in October with everyone at the KAC writing retreat. I guess I better get signed up!

Thank you!
Ann Vigola Anderson
State Secretary, D2 Member, 2023 Retreat Committee Member

More about Lodging (see videos here)

Program Advertising Opportunity

Early Bird Deadline Reminder: August 1

Member Danielle Ramirez Panel Speaker for Wichita Public Library's Local Author Day

7/24/2023

A Note from Danielle Ramirez, D5

Quiet Storm is honored to be speaking on the Wichita Public Library's "Writer's Panel" this year! We will also be hosting a booth with Being Wichita Women books at the Local Author Day expo. Hope to see you there...

Local Author Day in Wichita

Local Author Day is back for another year! Meet Wichita's diverse array of local authors at Wichita Public Library's Local Author Day. Authors will be on hand with copies of their books available for sale, including both adult and children's titles. This event showcases the talents of our literary community and fosters dialogue between authors and their readers.

Quiet Storm: Accepting Submissions

7/22/2023

Learn More

Katarina Knobolloffskeeter and the Kingdom of Moonlight

7/21/2023

Book News from D5 Member, Robert Cory

A fairy tale. As aptly described by one of my beta readers: “This is quite a romp! Whimsical, magical, very funny at times, paradoxical and cutely inane at others. Reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland to me. I love the world you've created.” The cover art is by an exceptionally talented artist, Leigh Leighton-Wallace, whom some of you in District 5 may know. You can learn more by clicking the link below. All the best. -RC

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SF296B

Robert Cory is a poet, playwright, and novelist who lives in Kansas. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Kansas State University. His work has appeared in the I-70 Review, Kansas Poems & Poets, Kansas Time + Place, An Anthology of Heartland Poetry (Little Balkans Press 2017), The Eunoia Review, vox poetica, Poets Against War, and the Catalonian Review. In 2013, he was awarded first place in the Kansas Writers Association free verse competition. He has authored two poetry books, 'Small Worlds' and 'The Storm Will Pass,' two full-length plays, 'Char in a Barrel' and Confessions of a Las Vegas Cocktail Waitress,' and two one-acts.

2023 Winner of Peace Corps Writers’ Award for Best Book for a Young Reader

7/21/2023

D5 Member, Mark Wentling, received an award from the Peac Corps for 2023 Best Book for a Young Reader. Congratulations, Mark!

In many ways, 11-year-old Marky is a typical kid in 1950s Kansas. He collects baseball cards like other boys his age, goes fishing and hunting with his father, and has a good shot at winning his town’s annual turtle race. But his family is not immune to hardships. Marky and his siblings, for example, rarely see their dad, Boyd, who works the graveyard shift at an aircraft plant 30 miles away. Their mother, Gerry, is a manic-depressive; Marky adores her but is perpetually worried about her oscillating moods.

After two decades of marriage and six children, Marky’s parents engage in arguments that escalate in frequency and violence. Intense fights send Gerry fleeing to a neighbor’s house only for Boyd to chase her down.

With his older siblings out of the nest, Marky becomes the protector of his two little brothers. The three boys stick together when Gerry makes plans to leave her husband for good . . . and take her sons with her.

But Marky’s life takes another turn for the worse, as his parents’ never-ending feud culminates in him and his brothers stranded at a foster farm. Now, they’re saddled with uncompromising farm chores, and endure merciless punishments if they stray from their foster parents’ strict rules. Marky struggles to keep up with academics and farm work and to ensure his remaining family stays close. But an indelible figure from his past makes a surprise return and offers him a momentous choice.

Kansas Kaleidoscope

More Books by Mark Wentling

July Presentation Now Available for Member Viewing

7/19/2023

The presentation by Amy Sage Webb Baza is now available on the member pages of our website for viewing. It will remain available until replaced by the August presentation.

Members must have a sign-on to view from this page.

Retreat Weekend - Additional Details on Lodging

7/19/2023

2023 Retreat Committee members toured Rock Springs Ranch today. Most of them had not been there before and they were impressed. Several have promised to write a note about what they saw, which I will share, but I heard words like "top notch," "stellar accommodations," and "wow!"

All were in agreement, by the end of the tour, that this is going to be a wonderful venue for a writing retreat. (Can we stay longer? Can we come back every year?)

I took three videos to help give attendees a better idea of the rooms where we will be staying. We will assign at least three people to a room and no more than four. Note in the video how each room is divided into two sleeping sections, a ground level sleeping area with beds and a loft area with beds. There is a door that can be closed between the two sleeping areas within each room.

Take a Moment to Write with us! We are looking forward to hosting our first writing retreat at Rock Springs Ranch, October 6-8, 2023.

Room overview - showing main floor and loft area.

A view of the lodge from the central seating area.

An ADA Compliant room.
Please mention in the "roommates" portion of the form if you will need one of these rooms.

Read the Retreat FAQ & Register

Bill Sampson Book Signings in Salina and Prairie Village

7/18/2023

You are invited to a book signing! D2 member, Bill Sampson, has two upcoming book events. Save the dates.

Wheat Fields . . . an alluring story of unexpected love and clashing cultures set in America’s rural heartland, Lawrence, Kansas, home of Kansas University and its celebrated NCAA Champion Jayhawk basketball team.

JULY 27

Red Fern Booksellers, Salina, KS - 106 S Santa Fe Ave, Salina, KS 67401
6:00 p.m.

AUGUST 25

The Made in Kansas City store at Corinth Square - 8231 Corinth Mall, Prairie Village, KS 66208
3:00-6:00 p.m.
In conjunction with “KU Kickoff,” Corinth Square’s annual KU pep rally hosted by KU Athletics and the KU Alumni Association

Visit Bill's Author Website

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.

Save the Date: The Kansas Book Festival Takes place on Saturday, September 16, at Washburn University in Topeka

7/17/2023

On Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023, the 12th annual Kansas Book Festival will take place at Washburn University, hosted by the Mabee Library.

The 2023 Festival will bring an amazing line up of 50 authors. Their presentations cover fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and children’s fiction. The festival will also feature outdoor performances, a book-art exhibit, food trucks, and exhibitor tents with 35 publishers, nonprofits, and individual authors.

This year, the headliner is Ling Ma, author of the new collection of short stories Bliss Montage, which won the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Award, plus Severance, named a Best Book of the Year by NPR as well as one of the “Books We Loved” at the New Yorker. Other featured authors...

... read the rest at KansasBookFestival.com.

Note: Kansas Authors Club will have an informational table, but members who wish to display and sell their own books at the festival will need to reserve individual author tables.

Exhibitor Information

Early Bird Advertising - August 1 Deadline - gets you in the ZINE too!

7/14/2023

We are now accepting 2023 advertising sponsors for our fall event, our first state-wide Writing Retreat at Rock Springs Ranch. As with recent years, our event sponsors will enjoy the following:

Ads will be displayed on the Kansas Authors Club website throughout the year (home page and convention page with links through to the advertiser’s website).

Ads will be featured individually on Kansas Authors Club social media pages at least three times.

Ads will be printed in the 2023 Retreat Program.

Ads received by August 1 will be printed in the Writing from the Center Zine (new in 2023—first issue expected September 2023)

Ads will be printed in the 2023 Kansas Authors Club yearbook and remain a part of the 2022 convention online archives.

New in 2023: For $10 more, we will help you create your advertisement. Select "KAC Assistance" for your purchase option.

Final Deadline for 2023 Advertising = September 1

Learn More / Buy Today

Don't forget that we have an Early Bird deadline coming up for the retreat, as well. Register by August 1!

2023 Writing Retreat

D2 Members Invite You to a Double Book Launch Celebration

7/13/2023

Meadowlark Press Announces Double Book Launch Featuring Emporia Authors

EMPORIA, KS - Emporia’s Meadowlark Press will celebrate the release of Remembering Martha by Jerilynn Jones Henrikson and Human Shadow, by Michael D. Graves on July 26, 2023, at the historic Granada Theater, 807 Commercial Street, in downtown Emporia from 6-8 p.m.

Henrikson and Graves have written books inspired by their grandparents. As part of the launch, each author will read short selections from their new books. The audience will have some time to ask questions about their writing processes and inspiration.

Remembering Martha, a novella, is inspired by an interview Henrikson did with her grandmother for a class at ESU. Martha grew up in the small town of Neosho Rapids at the turn of the 20th century. This book captures the grueling life on the Kansas prairie, but does so with humor, as the reader follows Martha’s life amid its challenges and joys.

Emporia State University professor, Amy Sage Webb-Baza calls Henrikson’s book “a feast for the soul and the sense: hilarious, heartbreaking, rich with detail.”

Human Shadow by Mike Graves is book number five in the Pete Stone Private Investigator series. Stone is a private detective in 1930s Wichita. Oft-champion of the downtrodden, Stone takes on a case to prove the innocence of a shell-shocked war veteran accused of arson and murder. Graves created the Pete Stone character as a memorial to his grandfather. His first and third Pete Stone novels, To Leave a Shadow and All Hallows’ Shadows, were Kansas Notable Books.

Come to socialize, eat some apple pie, and celebrate family legacy, Kansas roots, and books with Jerilynn, Mike, and Meadowlark Press. Books will be available for purchase at this event. Learn more at www.meadowlarkbookstore.com.

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Click the cover image below to learn more:

Member Ginger Zyskowski Announces New Book

7/13/2023

From the beautiful mind of artist, composer, musician and author Ginger Zyskowski (D6) with illustrations by Hannah Weaver.

Pre-orders are available for only $30. The first 50 orders will also receive a complimentary copy of either Love and Lovers or Another Think Coming! poetry book. Visit GingerZ.Works to order now!

All orders must be received by July 31 to be eligible for first printing and author signing on August 19, 2023!

In a Word is based on the English alphabet with each letter beautifully illustrated and ready to lead the reader down a path of discovery and expanded concepts. The texts that partner with each word picture will stimulate one's imagination and entertain the mind. It could be called a puzzle book, a picture book, or a history book of a different kind. The author's goal is for this book to be used for fun, for play with the English language, and to promote creative thinking for all ages.

Welcome New Member K.L. Barron

7/8/2023

Welcome, K.L. Barron to District 4 and to the Kansas Authors Club!

I am a writer of place: poetry and prose. My prize-winning fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction has been published in New Letters, The Bennington Review, Little Balkans Review, terrain.org, ChickenBones (Library of Congress), among others, and in several anthologies. I earned an MFA from Bennington in 2005 and have taught writing and literature at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas for nearly 20 years. I live and write in the Flint Hills.
My debut novel Thirst came out in November from Sea Crow Press.

Welcome, Karen!

Welcome New Member Joyce Hilliard Stotts

7/8/2023

Above is the front cover of Joyce Stotts' children’s picture book, Suzette Crick-ette’, which she wrote and illustrated. It is available on Amazon in print and digital formats.

Welcome, Joyce Hilliard Stotts to District 3 (Cottonwood Falls) and to the Kansas Authors Club.

~

Joyce Hilliard Stotts grew up in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties, graduated from Emporia State in 1970, and taught junior/senior high school English and Social Studies in Topeka area schools. Her husband, Gary, served under six Kansas governors as State of Kansas Budget Director, and Secretary of both Transportation and Corrections departments.

Six generations of the Stotts family were land owners, and pioneered in the cattle, business and banking enterprises in the Flint Hills.

After traveling to all the contiguous United States and earning a second degree from Kansas University, Joyce was an Instructional Designer for Fligh tSafety International in Wichita.

She settled in Florida near her daughter and family with whom she is now a partner in Spice of the Harbor, an online and brick/mortar spice shop in downtown Safety Harbor, Florida.

In 2023 she completed renovation of two buildings in downtown Cottonwood Falls to be used as a vacation home and leased commercial space.

Her writing includes two children’s picture books, a novella, family genealogies and several short stories published in the Dunedin Writers Anthologies. Currently she is at work on an historical novel set in 1850’s bleeding Kansas era, which is based on the lives of her family of
Kansas pioneers. She plans to publish Rodantha’s Road in 2024.

Welcome, Joyce Stotts!

Member Wins Honorable Mention in Words of Inspiration Contest

7/8/2023

Congratulations, Nancy Julien Kopp!

Nancy Julien Kopp, D4 member, won an Honorable Mention in a contest at Women's Memoirs. The theme was Words of Inspiration. Nancy's essay is posted at Rosie Central, link below

Read Nancy's Story at Rosie Central

Duane L. Herrmann, D1 Member, Publication News for June

7/8/2023

Two sites this month posted my responses to their writing prompts:
- Carrot Ranch - 5
- ACW - 3

One poem each in:
- children, churches and daddies, June 2023 issue
- Gardan Jnl #8
- Spillwords
- German Poems
- Haron Clan X

Three short stories in:
- From All Over the Map, an anthology of work from members of Kansas Authors Club, District One

and an article, in English and Spanish, about how a person who writes is evidence of the existance of God, at Baha'iTeachings.org

Plus, news just now that my short story: 'Light Man' has been accepted for publication on August 9,
at 4:00am CST, which then (but not before then) can be accessed with this link:
https://masticadoresusa.wordpress.com/2023/08/09/light-man-by-duane-l-herrmann/

In Memory: Roger Ringer

October Writing Retreat: Join us!

Member Danielle Ramirez Panel Speaker for Wichita Public Library's Local Author Day

Quiet Storm: Accepting Submissions

Katarina Knobolloffskeeter and the Kingdom of Moonlight

2023 Winner of Peace Corps Writers’ Award for Best Book for a Young Reader

July Presentation Now Available for Member Viewing

Retreat Weekend - Additional Details on Lodging

Bill Sampson Book Signings in Salina and Prairie Village

Save the Date: The Kansas Book Festival Takes place on Saturday, September 16, at Washburn University in Topeka

Early Bird Advertising - August 1 Deadline - gets you in the ZINE too!

D2 Members Invite You to a Double Book Launch Celebration

Member Ginger Zyskowski Announces New Book

Welcome New Member K.L. Barron

Welcome New Member Joyce Hilliard Stotts

Member Wins Honorable Mention in Words of Inspiration Contest

Duane L. Herrmann, D1 Member, Publication News for June

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