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Audio Book Panel President Anne Spry will be moderating a panel on the various ways members have been publishing audiobooks. Panelists: Grant Overstake is author and producer of The Real Education of TJ Crowley. The novel was adapted into a full-cast audio drama featuring performances by a national cast and the ARISE Ensemble. The production earned an Earphones Award from AudioFile Magazine and won the 2025 Audie Award for Best Young Adult Audiobook. Robert Rebein is an essayist and novelist with a special insterest in the American West. As author and narrator of The Last Rancher and Headlights on the Prairie: Essays on Home, Rebein has recorded his own audiobooks Ben Stanton is an audiobook narrator and producer based in Topeka, Kansas. Lisa D. Stewart is the author of The Big Quiet: One Woman's Horseback Ride Home. Lisa recorded her own audiobook with the assistance of an audiobook production studio. Sign-in required.
Members also received a link to the monthly program in their monthly email newsletter. The recording of the June program is now available for viewing by members at this link. (Member sign-on required.)  Program: Goal Setting for Authors Whether you're just starting your writing journey or navigating the complexities of a multi-project career, having clear goals can transform your writing life. In this session, we’ll explore practical strategies for setting and tracking meaningful goals as an author. You’ll learn how to align your goals with your values, break big dreams into manageable steps, and build habits that support long-term success. Perfect for writers at any stage, this workshop will help you move forward with clarity, confidence, and purpose. Presenter: Abbi Lee has always found joy within the world of a book. In grade school, she remembers regularly riding her bike to her small town library to check out the next book in the A to Z Mysteries series. As an adult, she taught high school English and Social Studies before turning her full attention to writing. Abbi now works as a copywriter for a marketing agency, has been published in multiple magazines, and recently released Ghost Town Treasure Hunt, the first novel in her debut middle-grade series, Geocache Club, with Chicken Scratch Books. Outside of reading and writing, Abbi also enjoys cooking new recipes, geocaching for hidden treasures, and going on adventures with her husband and two daughters. Next Program: July 19, 2025 - 1:30 p.m. Audiobook Panel  President Anne Spry will be moderating a panel on the various ways members have been publishing audiobooks.
Panelists: Grant Overstake is author and producer of The Real Education of TJ Crowley. The novel was adapted into a full-cast audio drama featuring performances by a national cast and the ARISE Ensemble. The production earned an Earphones Award from AudioFile Magazine and won the 2025 Audie Award for Best Young Adult Audiobook. Robert Rebein is an essayist and novelist with a special insterest in the American West. As author and narrator of The Last Rancher and Headlights on the Prairie: Essays on Home, Rebein has recorded his own audiobooks Ben Stanton is an audiobook narrator and producer based in Topeka, Kansas. Lisa D. Stewart is the author of The Big Quiet: One Woman's Horseback Ride Home. Lisa recorded her own audiobook with the assistance of an audiobook production studio.  The original full cast audio drama, The Real Education of TJ Crowley: Coming of Age on the Redline, has been named a finalist for the prestigious 2025 Audie Awards, presented by the Audio Publishers Association (APA).
Often called the “Oscars of the audiobook industry,” the Audie Awards honor the highest achievements in audio storytelling. The inclusion of TJ Crowley among this year’s finalists in the Young Adult category places this independently created and published work on the same top shelf as productions from major publishing houses like Macmillan, Penguin Random House, and Simon & Schuster. “This recognition underscores that excellence in storytelling and production is not limited to big-budget publishers. It can be achieved with passion, collaboration, and a bold vision, and the support of a distributor like Blackstone Publishing,” said Grant Overstake, executive producer and co-author. The audio drama, adapted from Overstake’s award-winning novel, captures the suspenseful and poignant story of a young white boy from a broken family growing up in 1968 Wichita amidst the turmoil of the Civil Rights era. When his world is upended by the arrival of a Black family next door, TJ must confront his inherited prejudices, leading him on a harrowing, transformative journey. This groundbreaking project was made possible through the generous support of The Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts, and individual contributors. Fiscal sponsorship was provided by the Youth Educational Empowerment Program, ensuring the project could achieve its vision as an arts-driven initiative that engages and educates through storytelling. The production, a collaborative effort by Overstake and acclaimed producer/director May Wuthrich, features a stellar ensemble cast of multi-award-winning actors led by Dani Martineck as TJ. The cast includes co-producers Dion Graham and Tavia Gilbert, as well as Johnny Heller, Shayna Small, Michael Crouch, Kirby Heyborne, Ari Fliakos, Kevin R. Free, Graham Halstead, Thérèse Plummer, Brittany Pressley, Peter Berkrot, John Wright, and Sheila Brown Kinnard. John Marshall Media’s Cameron Potts, who produced with Wuthrich, led the effort to create an immersive soundscape that added texture and context, evoking the social and political climate of the time. Further enhancing the production are stirring performances of Negro spirituals by the ARISE Ensemble, a Wichita-based multicultural choir. “This recognition is a testament to the hard work and passion of everyone involved, and we’re incredibly grateful for their dedication to producing something special,” said Wuthrich. "We set out to create a listening experience that would not only entertain but educate and inspire." Finalists are selected by a panel of industry experts who evaluate productions based on overall quality, narration, sound design, and impact. The winners of the 2025 Audie Awards will be announced at a gala ceremony in New York City on March 25. Grant Overstake is a member of Kansas Authors Club from Wichita. The Real Education of TJ Crowley won the 2019 J. Donald Coffin Memorial Book Award and the 2019 "It Looks Like a Million" Design Award from the Kansas Authors Club.  June Author Talk: Grant Overstake The Real Education of TJ Crowley Winner: 2019 J. Donald & Bertha Coffin Memorial Book Award Winner: 2019 "It Looks Like a Million" Design Award Recording Available for Viewing by Members - Click Here Come get answers from the guy who knows about indie publishing! Grant will be answering questions about writing, book production, and marketing! He'll be talking about successes, as well as pitfalls to avoid. Join us live on Tuesday, June 22, to get the most from this excellent program! Learn more at www.grantoverstake.com "The historical moment portrayed in this YA novel makes it a compelling book for our time. This read takes us back to 1968 and the divisions of the country around the Viet Nam war, racial conflict, and civil rights. Wichita becomes a character in its own right as the segregated city begins bussing of black students to white schools, riots and a tense police force result in curfews, and the Fair Housing Law forces integration. Against this background, TJ Crowley begins 7th grade. When his father abandons the family and his older brother enlists in the army, his alcoholic mother spins out of control. "The short chapters and quick pace of the story involve the reader effortlessly in TJ’s life. Descriptions of his best friend’s experiments with growing his hair, tie dyed clothing, and drugs are a realistic backdrop. The upheaval of TJ’s home when a black family moves in next door and his mother invites friends from her past to handle the problem make junior high that much more complicated. TJ’s point of view is perfectly reflected in his drive to make it onto sports teams, his crush on the new girl next door, and his adolescent concern with finding his locker. As TJ learns to question things he’s never questioned before, the reader sees a piece of Kansas history that shows not just how things have changed but how many things haven’t changed. Grant Overstake has given us a book that reads easily while not being easy to forget at all." Kim Rutter, Judge  Grant Overstake, Author
Recording Available for Viewing by Members - Click Here Come get answers from the guy who knows about indie publishing! Grant will be answering questions about writing, book production, and marketing! He'll be talking about successes, as well as pitfalls to avoid. Grant is the winner of the 2019 J. Donald Coffin Memorial Book Award and the "It Looks Like a Million" Design Award. Join us live on Tuesday, June 22, to get the most from this excellent program! Learn more at www.grantoverstake.com Invitation extended to members and those considering membership in Kansas Authors Club
 The author of two award-winning indie novels, Wichita native Grant Overstake began a notable journalism career at age 18 as a parttime reporter for The Wichita Eagle. He graduated from the University of Kansas journalism school where he won the William Randolph Hearst Award, considered the Pulitzer Prize for college journalists. At age 24, he joined The Miami Herald, a paper that shaped many best-selling authors. Grant returned to the Sunflower State to edit weekly papers in Johnson City, Oswego, and Hillsboro, Kansas, earning numerous KPA Awards.
Grant’s first novel, Maggie Vaults Over the Moon (CreateSpace 2012) was named National Book of the Week by Publishers Weekly. The audiobook was performed by Audie Award-winner Tavia Gilbert. Maggie recently was named one of the best track and field novels of all time by Citius Mag. The story was reissued by Grain Valley Publishing as a new title on June 1, 2021, with a new foreword by Olympic Champion Katerina Stefanidi, and chapter questions by sport psychologist, English teacher and coach, Dr. Melissa White. The Real Education of TJ Crowley (Grain Valley Publishing 2018) was picked to be a Candid Conversations Book Club selection by the Wichita Public Library and was the recipient of the J. Donald and Bertha Coffin Memorial Book Award for the best Kansas book, as well as the “It Looks Like a Million” Design Award for the same title from the Kansas Authors Association at its annual convention. It was the first time that a novel won both top awards. Grain Valley Publishing Company produces award-winning books with teams of freelance editors and designers working virtually from around the nation; publishing through the digital printing and distribution platform, IngramSpark. Congratulations to D5 member, Grant Overstake, on the re-release of Maggie Vaults Over the Moon! Event Date: Tuesday, June 1, 2021 - 6:00pm Watermark Books & Café invites you to attend a virtual event with local author Grant Overstake! Grant and his co-contributor, Dr. Melissa White will joining us for a virtual discussion of their book Maggie Vaults Over the Moon—Republished as a classroom reader on June 1, 2021, with an inspiring new foreword by reigning Olympic Pole Vault Champion Katerina Stefanidi and discussion questions for middle schoolers  About the Book
When tragedy strikes the Steele Family Farm at harvest time, tearful Maggie finds herself grinding the gears of the giant grain truck, trying her best to replace her big brother, Alex, who died in a fiery car crash. If Maggie is going to escape her worst nightmare (being stuck on the farm forever), she'll need to ignore small-town critics, brave painful setbacks, and defy the heavy pull of gravity itself. As the pole-vault crossbar is raised dangerously higher, her future is quite literally up in the air. Taking cues from the voice within, Maggie bravely launches herself skyward. When the bar is raised to a record-setting height at the state championship meet, can she find the courage it takes to soar into a brighter future of her own making? About the Author Author and teaching artist Grant Overstake writes compelling novels on important themes for young people. His premier novel, Maggie Vaults Over the Moon (2012), was hailed as a "Fine YA novel about perseverance in sports and in life" by KIRKUS REVIEWS. Grant's second novel, The Real Education of TJ Crowley (2018), a story about thorny race relations during the Civil Rights Era, was a National Book of the Month selection by Bookclubz and named "Book of the Year" by the Kansas Authors' Club. His independent publishing firm, Grain Valley Publishing Company, produces award-winning novels with the help of fine editors and designers from around the nation. Learn more at www.grantoverstake.com. The discussion questions for Maggie Vaults Over the Moon were created by Dr. Melissa I. White. She is a Language Arts (ELA) Teacher and Mental Performance Consultant with a Doctorate in Sport Psychology who uses Maggie Vaults Over the Moon to inspire her own athletes at Hempfield Area High School in Western Pennsylvania. Dr. White earned a master's degree in Exercise Science: Sport Psychology from California University of Pennsylvania, and a doctorate in Sport and Performance Psychology from the University of Western States. While earning her bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Bethany College (West Virginia) she competed in the pole vault and javelin events. Like the hero Maggie Steele, Melissa was the only girl pole-vaulter at her high school, where she set a school record that lasted for over a decade. Her counseling practice, Performance Edge Consulting, helps athletes across the nation gain the mental edge to perform their best. In her spare time, Melissa enjoys spending time with her family, watching sporting events, listening to music, and most of all, training her Australian Shepherd, Wendy Lou, who also works with her clients as a sport therapy dog. To learn more about Dr. White's sport counseling service and download a free goal-setting worksheet, visit performanceedgeconsulting.org. I'm super excited to announce Big News from Grain Valley Publishing! On Sale June 1, 2021! A Gritty Sports Heroine Returns in New Edition of ‘Maggie Vaults Over the Moon’ Recently named one of the great track and field novels of all time, the saga of a gritty Kansas farm girl’s quest to master the daring sport of pole-vaulting has stirred the hopes and dreams of readers around the world. Get Your Free Advance Review Copy at www.grantoverstake.com "A fine YA novel about perseverance in sports and in life." -- KIRKUS REVIEWS Designed to be read aloud as a classroom reader, this new printing of the original story includes a foreword by reigning Olympic Pole Vault Champion Katerina Stefanidi, with group discussion questions by Dr. Melissa White, a Mental Performance Consultant with a Doctorate in Sport Psychology. Cover illustration by YoungJu Kim.  |
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