Current News from the Kansas Authors Club

Twisted Tales at the Winery: Lawrence Kansas Invitation May 17 & 18

5/9/2025

Kansas Authors Club members Aimee Gross and Angel Edenburn will be featured authors at this event!

Uncork the magic and transport into this magical book signing event brought to you by Z&M Twisted Vines Winery and your local fantasy and sci-fi authors.

Who doesn't love to drink wine and read magical adventures?! To make it even better, this event is free! Join us May 17th and 18th, 12-5 for cosplay, author panels, and other fun activities.

Z&M Twisted Vines Winery
24305 Loring Road
Lawrence, Kansas

May 17 & 18, 2025
12 pm - 5 pm

Facebook Event Page

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Members Ruth Maus and Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg to be Panelists at 2025 Kansas Book Festival

5/7/2025

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This news items is shared from the website of member Ruth Maus. Click here to follow Ruth and sign up for updates.

I know you're all familiar with the Kansas Book Festival held at Washburn University. This year it will be on Saturday, September 20th, so save the date!

I've been asked to be a panelist there at the 9:00 a.m. panel discussion Ad Astra: Emergencies, Emergences and Restorations, with top-notch memoir authors Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg and Dr. Craig Yorke as we discuss struggles and "to the stars with difficulty." Because our three books contain plenty of "difficulty." This is a huge honor for me. Thank you, KBF organizers!

Caryn’s book The Magic Eye depicts her struggle with a rare eye cancer, coupled with prairie restoration and wildlife refuge, moving toward surviving the personal emergency and the emergency of our environment.

Craig’s book, subtitled Steep, A Black Neurosurgeon’s Journey, depicts the strict expectations that he will be an honor to his race, his difficult training in medicine, his coming to Topeka (at first working at Menninger), the emergencies he attended to in performing complicated brain surgery, and then his coming to peace with the steep price he has paid. His retirement includes being on the board of The Children’s Discovery Center as it was founded and developed, and he and his wife Mary created a prairie on the center’s land in Gage Park.

My novel Lunacy And Acts of God, though not a memoir, also takes place in Kansas. My young narrator is trying to understand a confusing world of race relations, religion, picketers, and mental illness in 1950s Topeka, as well as survive a blizzard and being struck by lightning, (because we all know about Kansas weather!) and make peace with her chaotic life.

I hope you can join us on September 20th for Ad Astra: Emergencies, Emergences and Restorations and what's sure to be a great conversation about struggles and successes.

Website of Ruth Maus

Kansas Book Festival

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April Program Recording Available

5/7/2025

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The recording of the April program is now available for viewing by members at this link. (Member sign-on required.)

Based on True Events: How to Incorporate History Into Your Writing

Presented by Jillian Forsberg

Kansas author Jillian Forsberg holds a master’s degree in public history from Wichita State University and a bachelor’s degree in communication and history from McPherson College. Her research on little-known historical events led her to discover the true story behind her first novel, The Rhino Keeper.

Jillian is a regular contributor to Writer Unboxed and leads the Manuscript Matchup beta reader program through History Through Fiction.

You can find Jillian gardening, browsing the closest antique mall, or reading every label at a museum. She'll most likely be wearing vintage dresses, except when she's at the zoo.

Jillian owns a bridal store and has worked in bridal since 2007. She lives in Wichita, Kansas, with her husband, child, and pets.

Jillian’s second novel is written and she's working on a third. She will always write animal stories.

Kansas Authors Club Monthly State Programs

The next state program of the Kansas Authors Club will take place on Saturday, May 17, 2025. Our speaker, Steve Semken, of Ice Cube Press, will talk about "What It Means to be an Author and a Publisher."

What the publishing industry entails and what it means to be an author and a publisher

A conversation with Steve Semken, Ice Cube Press

Steve Semken founded Ice Cube Press in 1991 to use the literary arts to better understand how to live in the Midwest.

"It’s hard to even be a bad writer once you decide you want to be writer. Write and read. And, treat other authors as you would like to be treated." -- Steve Semken, author spotlight at Ames Writers Collective

Steve Semken - Substack

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Book News from Member Bill Sampson

5/5/2025

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Flint Hills Publishing has just published my second novel, Farieh. The novel tracks her time at home in Iran following her freshman year in college, then carries her through her sophomore year at KU. It finishes with her leading a campus protest against the Kansas Legislature's assault on diversity.

Watermark Books in Wichita will host a book signing on May 15 at 6:00 p.m.

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Upcoming Classes from Member Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

5/1/2025

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June 4 - July 18: Twelve Poets to Change Your Life (online): This 6-week generative class, offered through the Transformative Language Arts Network, is all about immersing ourselves in life-changing poets and poetry, sparking our own new writing. I love all the poets here: Ilya Kaminsky, Gwendolyn Brooks, Czeslaw Milosz, Muriel Rukeyser, Joy Harjo, Galway Kinnell, Diane Seuss, Li-Young Lee, Emily Dickinson, Linda Pastan, Walt Whitman, and Ada Limón.

June 4 - July 29: The Body and Soul of Your Memoir: Shape, Focus, and Write Your Memoir (online): This 8-week class through Writers.com is all about finding the focus, structure, craft, and inspiration to write a memoir, writing 50 pages or more along the way, and making new writing friends.

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Words in the Wind Open Mic (Topeka) featuring Duane L. Herrmann

4/21/2025

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Wednesday, April 23
at Round Table Bookstore
826 N. Kansas Ave., Topeka

Duane will begin at 6:15 p.m.

Duane Herrmann, a fifth-generation Kansan, has a sci fi novel, a local history book, a compilation on fasting, two collections of short stories and nine books of poetry to his credit. His work has been published in the United States, Australia, Canada, England, Germany, India, Israel, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland and Wales, in English, German, French and Dutch. Last year, one of his poems was nominated for a Pushcart and a short story for best of the Net. The publisher of that story was the 50th place he had sent it to in 10 years of trying. Duane is regarded as the leading authority on the history of the Baha’i Faith in Kansas.

April is poetry month.
Sign-up for open mic
begins 6 p.m.

Words in the Wind is sponsored by
Kansas Authors Club - Topeka Chapter
& Round Table Bookstore

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State Program: Saturday, April 19

4/18/2025

Current members receive an link to the monthly program on Zoom via the monthly e-newsletter. The link is also available using the button below which takes you to our members-only pages. Sign-on is required.

Click Here for Zoom Link on Member Pages

Based on True Events: How to Incorporate History Into Your Writing

Covering: Craft (skills and techniques), Writing

Kansas author Jillian Forsberg holds a master’s degree in public history from Wichita State University and a bachelor’s degree in communication and history from McPherson College. Her research on little-known historical events led her to discover the true story behind her first novel, The Rhino Keeper.

Jillian is a regular contributor to Writer Unboxed and leads the Manuscript Matchup beta reader program through History Through Fiction.

You can find Jillian gardening, browsing the closest antique mall, or reading every label at a museum. She'll most likely be wearing vintage dresses, except when she's at the zoo.

Jillian owns a bridal store and has worked in bridal since 2007. She lives in Wichita, Kansas, with her husband, child, and pets.

Jillian’s second novel is written and she's working on a third. She will always write animal stories.

Visit Jillian's Website

A Poetry Month Project from Member Lisa M. Hase-Jackson

4/18/2025

Member Lisa M. Hase-Jackson has been running a poem-a-day challenge on her website, The Zingara Project/Zingara Poetry Review, and she invites Kansas Authors Club members to follow along.

A note from Lisa:
Below is a list of prompts posted so far this month for anyone wishing to take another look and for those who didn't get a chance to see them the first time around. With each prompt, I include poems published on Zingara Poetry Review that I believe serve as apt examples or as inspiration, so check the list for your name.

Tuesday, April 1:
Journal Mining Prompt
“How I Arrived Here” by Karen Neuberg

Wednesday, April 2:
Protection Prompt
“Because I Like to Make My Mind Pretty
the Way We’re Told to Make our Bodies Pretty,
I Work at Thinking Beautiful Things” by Rebecca Macijeski,
“School Bus” by Michael Chin“Protection” by F.I. Goldhaber

Thursday, April 3:
Beginnings Prompt

Friday, April 4:
Whispers of Work: A Lament for Extinct Professions
“Barnwork We Didn’t Talk Much About” by Charles A. Swanson
“Stay at Home Mom” by Sabina M. Säfsten“Fugitives” by Stephen Mead

Saturday, April 5:
Absences Unfolded
“What We Leave Behind” by Yvette A. Schnoeker-Shorb
“Song of Sorrow” by Jeremy Garnett“My Sister’s Baby Blanket” by Alejandro Lucero“Absencece by Inference” by Duane Hermann

Sunday, April 6:
Transformation
“The Ugliest Girl in Christendom Goes to the Gynecologist” by Camille-Yvette Welsch
“Ugliness came up” by Kitty Jospé“City of Bread” by Marc Janssen

Monday, April 7:
Humor in Public Spaces
"Permanence" by Denise Duhamel
Dance in a Drugstore by Anne Whitehouse

Tuesday, April 8
Utterance
“Ambidextrous” by Denise Low

Wednesday, April 9
Contradictions
"What is Lost is Not Lost" by Peter Mladinic

Thursday, April 10
Game On

Friday, April 11
Collect, Remix, Repeat

Saturday, April 12
Prose
Things to Be Grateful for During the American Winter by Michael Brockley

Sunday, April 13
What You Leave Behind

Monday, April 14
The Thin Veil
“Where the Dead Go” by Denise Low, Zingara Poetry Review
“Do the Dead See?” by John Brugaletta, Zingara Poetry Review
“Alternate Life Number Two” by Jeanne DeLarm-Neri, Zingara Poetry Review

Tuesday, April 15
Eyesore
“Ugliness Came Up” by Kitty Jospé,

Wednesday, April 16
Apocryphal
“The Parable of the Mustard Seed, the Chanteuse and Wild Rice” by Libby Bernardine
“In My Story” by Chella Courington
“My Stepmother, Having Returned to This Earth, Becomes Hannya” by Tara McDaniel

The Zingara Project

Lisa M. Hase-Jackson
Insomnia in Another Town, Clemson University Press (2024)
Flint & Fire, The Word Works (2019)
Visiting Assistant Professor in Writing,
Department of English, University of Pittsburgh

March Program Recording Available

4/4/2025

The recording of the March program is now available for viewing by members at this link. (Member sign-on required.)

Program: Finding the Heart of Your Story: Writing Stronger Stories and Making Smarter Revisions

Presented by Lori Martin

Lori Martin is an Associate Professor of English at Pittsburg State University, where she teaches creative writing courses. Her poetry and fiction have appeared in numerous literary magazines, including The Cincinnati Review, The MacGuffin, The Maine Review, Midwest Quarterly, Prick of the Spindle, Room Magazine, Tampa Review, and others.

Martin's writing has been recognized with awards from The Cincinnati Review and Kansas Voices. A graduate of the prestigious Iowa Writers' Workshop, she was named a Truman Capote Fellow and received the Clark Fischer Ansley Award for Excellence in Fiction.

In addition to her teaching and writing, Martin serves as the poetry editor for The Midwest Quarterly and editor in chief of River Styx magazine.

The next state program of the Kansas Authors Club will take place on Saturday, April 19, 2025. Our speaker, Jillian Forsberg, will present on incorporating historical fact into your writing.

Learn More about our Monthly Programs

Visit Jillian's Website

Poets on the Plains with Kansas Poet Laureate Traci Brimhall

4/3/2025

Kansas Poet Laureate (and Kansas Authors Club member) Traci Brimhall is hosting Poets on the Plains on High Plains Public Radio.

You can stream High Plains Public Radio at www.hppr.org and hear it live Thursdays in the 11:00 hour.

If you can’t make the live broadcast, you can visit Traci’s PoetryByte at https://www.hppr.org/podcast/hppr-poets-on-the-plains

Book Launch Invitation from Member Ruth Maus

3/17/2025

You are cordially invited to the Book Launch Party on Wednesday, March 26th at 4:00 p.m., at the Vogel Room (Rm. 223), second floor, Student Union at Washburn University.

Remarks by Topeka Mayor Michael Padilla.

Books will be available for purchase for $20, tax included.

DIRECTIONS: Memorial Union is directly south of White Concert Hall on the Washburn campus. Enter through the door under the archway (under the large tower). There is an elevator right there on your right. Take the elevator to the Upper Level. Go down the long atrium hallway until it dead-ends. The Vogel Room is on your right.

LUNACY AND ACTS OF GOD is a coming of age story set against 1950s real life events in Topeka, Kansas. With plenty of quirky, humorous characters and a compelling murder mystery, the book reflects the impact of family and community on prejudice passed through generations, marginalized peoples, our differences, similarities, and choices.

Available at Amazon, Bookshop.org, and wherever books are sold.

What reviewers say about LUNACY AND ACTS OF GOD:

“Melody tells her story reminiscent of the young girl Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird. She listens and observes others then weaves in an unsolved murder mystery in this page-turning and engaging read.”

— Michael Padilla, Mayor and lifelong resident of Topeka, Kansas

“What a thoroughly enjoyable, moving read your book is! Can this really be your first novel? You must have a native gift for plotting and pacing and character development, and for blending it all together into a book that pulses with life.”

--Carl Holzman, artist, muscian

“What a witty and wonderfully readable book! Full of laugh-out-loud scenes, Lunacy and Acts of God will keep anyone up all night to find out what happens next.”

— Anne Spry, author of Finally Noticing: Photos and Poems Prompted by a Pandemic; 2024 President, Kansas Authors Club

“A charming and fantastical coming of age story. A young girl wrestles with the social ills of racism, mental illness, the abuses of powerful institutions, [and] life’s many nuanced shades of gray.”

— Dr. Karen Bellows, Former Menninger Clinic Faculty

“This fine novel tells an American story featuring characters so broken and vulnerable and horrible and redeeming and real that you’d swear they can exist only in fiction—until you realize that you know them--right now. That is the power and the humility of Ruth Maus’ debut.”

— Craig Lancaster, two-time High Plains Book Award winner, author of Northward Dreams and 600 Hours of Edward

“Ruth Maus’s character, Melody, belongs in that august pantheon of American child characters founded by Mark Twain who are able to expound upon the madness of their times with a magnificent wit and wisdom so far beyond their years, you keep turning the pages.”

— Andrew Farkas, author of The Great Indoorsman: Essays and The Big Red Herring

“A refreshing glimpse into history and human nature.”

— Julie A. Sellers, author of Ann of Sunflower Lane and Kansas Authors Club Prose Writer of the Year (2020, 2022, 2023)

“Follow the misadventures of Ruth Maus’ heroine as [she] tries to make sense of the prejudices and loving loyalties of her quirky Kansas community.”

— Tim Bascom, Director of Kansas Book Festival, author of Chameleon Days and Climbing Lessons

Member Bill Sampson Book Launch

3/17/2025

Farieh . . . a brilliant Iranian student begins her sophomore year in college. The academic success so dazzling her first year proves uneven in the second, while violence and betrayal stalk her most intimate relationships. Gifted with enormous personal power, she must summon all of it to make the hard choices facing her, choices familiar to young people everywhere.

Visit Bill's Website

Writing Workshops at Salina Public Library

3/16/2025

Salina Public Library is offering several writing workshops in April as part of our Big Read event series. Registration is open to all writers.

A Creative Guide to Writing Your Family’s Stories
Tuesday, April 1 | 6:15 p.m.
REGISTRATION
We all love discovering a fantastic tale of our family’s past — whether it be the distant relative who journeyed on the Mayflower or the grandmother who riveted airplanes at a World War II factory. But how do we share these stories in engaging ways? This workshop provides the tools to enrich genealogical research with story and memory so that readers will feel what it was like to be in that moment. Exercises include developing characters, describing places and events of importance, and finding the heart of a story with the goal of creating an irresistible read.

Writing & Sense of Place
Saturday, April 5 | 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
FACEBOOK POST
REGISTRATION
(Lunch Provided)
Join author, poet, and cowboy Amy M. Hale for a four-hour writing workshop to explore how sense of place informs our identity and voice when we come to the page. Participants can write for their own personal interest and are also welcome to use the workshop to begin a piece focused on the Salina Reads theme “Where We Live.” (Some pieces may be selected for reading at the Salina Reads Finale on April 26.)

Writers’ Coaching Sessions
Sunday, April 6 | Noon-4 p.m.
FACEBOOK POST
REGISTRATION INFO
Amy Hale will meet with individual writers to review their pieces and provide feedback. Sessions will be approximately 20-30 minutes each and require pre-registration. Preference will be given to attendees of the April 5 workshop Writing & Sense of Place. REGISTRATION REQUIRED

Please contact Stefanie at [email protected] or 785-833-9213 to register.

Salina Reads

Date Change for March State Program

3/11/2025

The March program of the Kansas Authors Club will take place on the 5th Saturday of the month, March 29, rather than our usual 3rd Saturday.

Finding the Heart of Your Story: Writing Stronger Stories and Making Smarter Revisions

Presented by Lori Martin

This program on the craft of writing is a good fit for a diverse group of writers and offers valuable insight into the craft of storytelling.
Lori Martin is an Associate Professor of English at Pittsburg State University, where she teaches creative writing courses. Her poetry and fiction have appeared in numerous literary magazines, including The Cincinnati Review, The MacGuffin, The Maine Review, Midwest Quarterly, Prick of the Spindle, Room Magazine, Tampa Review, and others.

Martin's writing has been recognized with awards from The Cincinnati Review and Kansas Voices. A graduate of the prestigious Iowa Writers' Workshop, she was named a Truman Capote Fellow and received the Clark Fischer Ansley Award for Excellence in Fiction.

In addition to her teaching and writing, Martin serves as the poetry editor for The Midwest Quarterly and editor in chief of River Styx magazine.

Click here for Zoom link on Member Pages

Sneak-Peek Event: Kansas Book Festival

3/10/2025

Dear Festival Friend,

We are inviting you to a special Sneak-Peek event on Thursday, April 10. If you join us, you will enjoy live jazz, drinks, and hors d'oeuvres, and you'll get to hear from acclaimed Kansas City author Candice Millard, whose rousing history books have climbed into the NYTimes Bestseller list repeatedly. You will also get to hear from five authors slated to speak at the 2025 Festival (September 20), who will share tantalizing snippets from their writing. Festival authors will be conversation partners, and you can bid on rare books, such as a signed copy of Robert Frost's poetry. A set of signed books by Candice will be raffled too, and books will be available for purchase from Kansas presses.

Please help us grow our Friends of the Festival by joining us from 7-8:30 pm on April 10 at the Parish Hall of Grace Episcopal Cathedral in Topeka (701 SW 8th Ave.). Individual tickets cost $35, or you can donate further by bringing a table of friends (i.e., six guests joined by a Sneak-Peek author for $500).

Click here to buy tickets, and we hope to see you for an evening of entertainment and meaningful, book-loving conversation.

Thanks on behalf of the Board of the Kansas Book Festival,

Tim Bascom (Executive Director) and Kathleen O’Leary Morgan (Chair of the Board)

Kansas Book Festival Website

Save the Date:
Saturday, September 20, 2025
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Washburn University Library

Live Stream: Ronda Miller Celebration of Life

3/10/2025

Saturday, March 15, 2025

1:30 p.m.

Link to Event on Facebook

*note that our regularly scheduled Saturday program has been moved to Saturday, March 29, so that members may attend Ronda's Celebration of Life in person or via the streamed event.

Kansas Authors Club Remembers Ronda Miller

Invitation to the Cavalier Conference on Writing and Literature

2/25/2025

From member Beth Gulley:

Authors club members are invited to the Cavalier Conference on Writing and Literature April 11. The theme is The Future of Storytelling. Jose Faus is the keynote speaker. Proposals for individual presentations are still being accepted. For more information see the website: https://www.jccc.edu/conferences/cavalier-writing/

The Cavalier Conference on Writing and Literature will be held Friday April 11 at Johnson County Community College. This year's theme is "The Future of Storytelling" and the keynote speaker is the poet and artist Jose Faus. While the conference is broadly aimed at English and Writing teachers, all are welcome to attend.

From the conference website: "As teachers of literature and composition, we often focus on the usefulness of narrative or storytelling. Not only are students often more inspired by this genre, but even the "driest" and most analytical writing benefits from author's deliberate use of story. Whether used as a hook device, anecdotal evidence, a means of persuasion or the structure for epic stories and poems, the future is built by stories.

How might we reimagine storytelling for future audiences? How has technology changed storytelling? What are the stories we need to hear and to tell today? What are ways we can include a broader range of stories in our classrooms?

We invite you to share your thoughts as we talk through these questions and workshop solutions to form stories and connections that transcend boundaries."

Registration is live here: https://www.jccc.edu/conferences/cavalier-writing/

Words in the Wind: Open Mic at Round Table Bookstore

2/25/2025

Topeka poet Ruth Maus will be the featured poet at Kansas Authors Club District 1's open mic on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at Round Table Bookstore.

Dates for the 2025 Meetings of the Manhattan KAC Writing Group

2/24/2025

"There is nothing magical about setting up a writing group. But I have learned that something magical happens when writers share their thoughts and writings on a regular basis."
- Kris Polansky

Here are the dates for the 2025 meetings of the Manhattan KAC Writing Group:

February 13, 2025
February 27, 2025
March13, 2025
March 27, 2025
April 10, 2025
April 24, 2025
May 8, 2025
May 22, 2025
June 5, 2025
June 19, 2025
July 3, 2025
July 17, 2025
July 31, 2025
August 14, 2025
August 28, 2025
September 11, 2025
September 25, 2025
October 9, 2025
October 23, 2025
November 6, 2025
November 20, 202:
December 4, 2025
December 18, 2025

Meetings are from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at whatever room can be reserve at the Manhattan Public Library. (Ask at the desk if you are new to the group.) Writers are invited to bring something to share--something they have written, a piece by someone else they think is particularly well-crafted, or questions and/or thoughts about writing.

Manhattan KAC Writing Group

KCMO Area - Author Headshots - $10 for 10 Minutes

2/17/2025

Date and time - Saturday, Feb 22 from 10am-3pm

Location - Under the Cover, 607 E 31st St., Kansas City, MO 64109

Audience - local authors

Do you have a publication coming up and don't want to use that iPhone pic from 5 years ago? Or maybe you're attending an author event and want to show off your best self! As a special offer for authors only, stop by Under the Cover from 10am-3pm on Saturday, February 22 for a speed headshot session for just $10! You'll get one high-res, lightly edited and touched up headshot of your choice for just $10! PLUS each author who participates gets a chance to win a FREE full branding session with AnnieBeth Photography. Walk-ins are welcome but those with appointments will be served first.

Link to book appointment - https://rb.gy/3hnl7f

About AnnieBeth Photography: What's up besties? I'm Ann, the Chief Executive Nerd behind AnnieBeth Photography and I'm all about helping you have your main character moment. I'm not just a creative portrait photographer - I'm a portrait photographer FOR creatives. My joy and passion is helping you show off your latest creation, promote your newest project, or just feel like the baddie we all know you are. Find me on IG at @anniebeth_photography or Facebook at AnnieBeth Photography

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Twisted Tales at the Winery: Lawrence Kansas Invitation May 17 & 18

Members Ruth Maus and Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg to be Panelists at 2025 Kansas Book Festival

April Program Recording Available

Book News from Member Bill Sampson

Upcoming Classes from Member Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Words in the Wind Open Mic (Topeka) featuring Duane L. Herrmann

State Program: Saturday, April 19

A Poetry Month Project from Member Lisa M. Hase-Jackson

March Program Recording Available

Poets on the Plains with Kansas Poet Laureate Traci Brimhall

Book Launch Invitation from Member Ruth Maus

Member Bill Sampson Book Launch

Writing Workshops at Salina Public Library

Date Change for March State Program

Sneak-Peek Event: Kansas Book Festival

Live Stream: Ronda Miller Celebration of Life

Invitation to the Cavalier Conference on Writing and Literature

Words in the Wind: Open Mic at Round Table Bookstore

Dates for the 2025 Meetings of the Manhattan KAC Writing Group

KCMO Area - Author Headshots - $10 for 10 Minutes

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