Current News from the Kansas Authors Club

Welcome New Member Joyce Ross, Wichita

8/10/2026

Joyce M. Ross, writing as Joy M. Ross, dreamed of being a published author. Life gets in the way as it often does, but after retirement and through the help of a critique group and The Wild Rose Press, her dream became a reality in 2023 with The Secret of the Ugly Brooch.

The story features a young legal secretary, Emma Stone. Emma inherits an estate hiding all things secret, with a little romance on the side with hunky detective Mike Wells. The story ends with secrets revealed and a marriage proposal. Legacy of the Ugly Brooch followed two years later, with Emma and Mike planning their wedding while more ugly secrets pop up within the estate, and a few more engaging characters get involved.

Number three working title is The Ugly Brooch Ghost. Progress has been slowed by Joyce's actual move to Wichita. Once most possessions have found their place, she plans to settle into a routine and dive into the story again. "Ghost" has more humor in it, and a little romance as well.

Once the trilogy is finished, she's open to suggestions of small Kansas towns with interesting history, geography, or whatever would make a good setting for further cozy, romantic mysteries.

The move to Wichita was to be near family. It was time. Joyce lives in southwest Wichita with rescue dogs (Shadow, Beau and Skyler) and Tuxedo cat, Canoe.

This is the next chapter in her life, and she's looking forward to it.

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Welcome Ryan Kegley, Manhattan

8/8/2026

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Ryan Kegley’s work has appeared in The New Territory, for which he was nominated for a 2023 Pushcart Prize. As part of Writing the Land, a collaboration between poets and protected lands, he was named the 2024 poet protector of Dunn Ranch Prairie, a 3,258-acre tallgrass preserve managed by The Nature Conservancy, with works published in Writing the Land: Wanderings I. He has also appeared in the Wellington Daily News, Quarry, and elsewhere. Attendance, a limited-edition Japanese stab-bound chapbook, was published in April 2025 by Hilltop Editions. In the Bewilderment, his first full-length poetry collection, was released in August 2026 by NatureCulture. He lives in the Flint Hills on the outskirts of Manhattan, Kansas.

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The Lawrence Area Group welcomes Thelma Simons

8/6/2026

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Thelma Simons was raised in Hutchinson and has lived in Lawrence since 1985. She has lived in Kansas all but two years of her life. She has loved reading since childhood and always has a book on her reading chair. She is married with two grown sons and two grandchildren. She worked at KU for 30 years, mainly in IT-related positions, and received a BGS degree in English while working. Her only previous writing experience was creating lots of technical documentation for software training or websites. In December 2019 she retired and started taking painting lessons the following year. You can see her art at https://thelma-simons.pixels.com.

She has worked on genealogy for many years. She started writing a memoir in January and has been attending writing feedback sessions with the Lawrence group that have been very helpful. A beta reader provided feedback on the book and it's now ready to go to an editor. She feels a little nervous about that. The book, The Lucky One, is about her strange family and her search for her biological father. The last sentence of the first chapter explains: "That’s how I found out that my mother was my aunt, my aunt was my mother and my sister was my cousin."

She discovered that she enjoyed writing and has started to think about writing another book. She is looking forward to being part of this group and learning more about creative writing!

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Welcome, Martin Keenan - Wichita Area Group

7/1/2026

Marty Keenan was born and raised in Great Bend, a fifth generation Kansan. Marty worked on the Great Bend High School newspaper, Panther Tales. A graduate in political science and law at KU, Marty chose the family business of becoming a lawyer, but wrote Kansas or Great Bend history articles as a hobby.
A lengthy article about pioneering black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, the son and grandson of Great Bend Exodusters, was turned down for publication so Keenan posted the article on the internet—which seemed like a miraculous invention at the time. This led to several film festivals in Great Bend and Marty became friends with filmmakers and writers.
Marty encouraged author Patrick McGilligen to write a successful biography on Micheaux, but when Keenan learned that World War II spy Joan Bondurant (1918-2006) was a Great Bend native, he spent 15 years writing her biography in his spare time. The book was released on Amazon this year as BONDURANT: The Spy Who Cracked Gandhi’s Code (2026).
Keenan was inspired to complete the book and release it by his neighbor in Wichita, Jillian Forsberg. Publishing a book was new to Keenan, but he has sold 150 copies and considers the book a success simply because it was published. Keenan’s Oscar-winning friend Kevin Willmott gave him this pearl of wisdom:” Don’t let other people define success for you.” The book deals mostly with India and Gandhi as Bondurant learned Japanese and helped crush Imperial Japan with bombs, but met Gandhi during the war and became the top author in the West about Gandhi’s philosophy of conflict. Bondurant is unknown outside a tiny circle of Gandhi scholars but he hopes his book faithfully captured her life’s work.

Welcome, Lori Hershberger!

6/20/2026

Lori Hershberger grew up on an Amish farm in rural Hutchinson, Kansas. She still calls Kansas home, but spends most of her days in Thailand where she has lived for the past 12 years. Lori teaches English to high school students in the town of Mae Sariang in Mae Hong Son Province, and writes poetry in the margins of her days. She has a bachelor's degree in English from Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and a graduate certificate from Moreland University's TeachNow program. Lori mostly writes poetry and a few short stories, but dreams of writing a novel. A recent success was her poem, Eternity in Our Hearts, that won a $500 dollar prize in a writing contest held by https://thecurator.org for texts to be set to choral music. Currently, two more of her poems are being set to choral music.

Because of the distance and time change between Kansas and Thailand, Lori finds it difficult to connect with other writers, but when at all possible enjoys discussing poetry and writing with other literature lovers, and getting good feedback on her work. She likes eating cookies, riding trains, and watching rivers. To read more of her poetry, check out her latest poetry collection, Tracing Lines, on Amazon, subscribe to her on Substack at @lorihershberger, or get in touch with her at [email protected]. She loves to hear from readers and especially loves to connect with other writers.

Welcome, new member Amanda Votava

6/3/2026

Amanda Votava is a recent college graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology who resides in a little city called Peculiar, Missouri. She acquired a passion for words and fictional worlds as a small child, having been raised in a house full of avid readers. In school, Amanda was known as the reserved girl who always had her nose in a book or a notebook and pencil in her hand. Despite the many characters and stories in her head and on paper -- and poems in her notes app -- Amanda has shared little of her work outside of her family and classes. She has decided to take a leap of faith and pursue writing as a more serious, professional endeavor. Knowing first hand what comfort a poem, story, or novel can be, Amanda hopes to contribute her own comfort to other readers, both as commiseration and escapism.
Amanda primarily writes free-verse poetry and fantasy, but she has also dabbled in realistic fiction and horror. When she isn't writing or daydreaming about writing, Amanda can be found reading or spending time with her family.

Welcome Sandra Schumm, of Lawrence

5/6/2026

Sandra J. Schumm has lived in Missouri or Kansas most of her life, except for sojourns, studies, and sabbaticals in other countries. The only time she ever skipped school was at age twelve when she sneaked back into her house through an unlocked window to hide in a closet and finish reading a novel. Fiction and creative writing have always been a keystone of her life. After three of her four children were born, she entered graduate school at the University of Kansas to attain her MA and PhD in Spanish with a concentration on twentieth-century Spanish and Latin American narrative. She taught university Spanish classes for more than twenty-five years and is now Professor Emerita of Spanish at Baker University. As a certified yoga instructor, she also teaches yoga classes. Previous publications include two books of literary criticism--Reflection in Sequence: Novels by Spanish Women, 1944-1988 (Bucknell University Press) and Mother and Myth in Spanish Novels: Rewriting the Maternal Archetype (Bucknell University Press). In 2020, she published Girl in a Cage: A Novel and, in 2025, The Mermaid Necklace. Captivating the Unicorn: Stories Infused with Magic and Wonder will be finished in 2026. Sandra lives in Lawrence, Kansas with her husband, Robert, and cat, Arjuna.

Welcome New Member Jessica Lunt, Manhattan Area Group

4/10/2026

Jessica Lunt grew up in Arizona, but since becoming a military spouse, has enjoyed living the nomadic lifestyle. When not writing, she takes advantage of exploring whatever part of the world she's in by napping with cheetahs, racing through the DMZ, and singing the U.S. national anthem in front of the original Star-Spangled Banner, among many other things. But her four young children weren't truly impressed with her until she wrote a book.

Jessica writes historical fiction that dips into literary, romance, and suspense. Her debut novella, The Witch Hunter's Wife, received an editor's pick from Booklife(Publishers Weekly) and a Five Star rating from Readers Favorites.

Welcome to Marcy Smalley, KC/Lawrence Area

4/2/2026

Marcy A. Smalley is a musician, retired urban planner, writer and community volunteer. Her score for the After Persephone musical won the ‘Best in Show’ award at the Kansas City Fringe Festival. Her New Horizons Suite was premiered in 2024 at the University of Missouri Conservatory of Music. As an urban planner she played a key role in the development of the Kansas City Streetcar and taught at the University of Kansas. Her writing has appeared in The Sun and other publications. She edited Threshold – A Life’ s Journey to Prairie, by Elaine Jones, Blurb Press, 2024. Volunteer leadership roles include neighborhood political precinct captain, Races United, Racial Equity and Leaning REAL project team member, and City in Motion Modern Dance Theater board president. She and her husband Barrie Smith (a Habitat for Humanity builder) live near the Kansas City mid-town area near their children and grandchildren.

Her first book is Piloting the Currents: Growing Up In Turbulent Times 1962-1973. Born into the uneasy normality of postwar Kansas City, a girl comes of age in the fast changing world of the 1960’s. With a government in crisis and social traditions failing, she navigates the counter-cultural rapids and family upheavals. Buoyant with curiosity, she creates an adulthood beyond the one expected of her. A look back then begins to reveal parallels with today’s world.

And now she is writing songs!

Welcome, LynnLee Schmidt (Wichita Area)

4/2/2026

LynnLee is the Integrator/COO at Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Goddard, KS, responsible for connecting all the people and pieces to bring big visions to life. In her free time she writes books, plays catch with her sons, and runs a consulting company for zoo professionals.

LynnLee lives in Goddard. She has completed her first manuscript, Operation Okapi, a dual timeline historical fiction novel about a 1920’s Kansas widow and a 1960’s French mercenary who learn how to care again when they’re tasked with saving okapi decades apart. She says: "I love to swap writing with other authors and receive critiques on my work."

Not every day KAC gets a new member who knows how to cuddle a hippo! Welcome, LynnLee!

Welcome, Kyle Juracek, Lawrence Area Group

3/10/2026

Shown here with his editor.

Dr. Kyle Juracek was born in Lincoln and grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. He currently lives in Lawrence, Kansas. For about thirty years he was a scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). During that time, he authored or coauthored about ninety scientific publications on various environmental topics. Much of his research was focused on the effects of human activities on the environment. Throughout his life, he has always been passionately interested in, and concerned about, the environment.

Following his retirement from USGS, the focus of his nonfiction writing became the encouragement of people to do what they can to improve their own lives, the lives of others, and the quality of the environment. His desire to make things better was the motivation for his two recent books which are titled Fit Life, Happy Life: One Man’s Journey and The World We Want?. A third book is currently in the works.

On a personal note, Dr. Juracek lives an active lifestyle and enjoys gym workouts, hiking, biking, kayaking, and pickleball. Other interests include sports, movies, travel, good food, and of course reading. He loves dogs.

Welcome Michele Boy to western KS District 7

2/7/2026

Michele is a big-city transplant and she writes:

My name is Michele Boy. I am a New York City transplant who moved here in 2001 after a Jack Kerouac–esque journey across the country and back. Along the way, I took on odd jobs, seeking out locals and experiencing America from the inside out.

I eventually landed in a one-stoplight town in western Kansas—and never left. I met my farmer-rancher husband, and two years later we were married. We have one teenage daughter who raises and shows sheep as well as is active in her school and school sports.

Life in western Kansas suits me well. I love small town friendliness and the wide open spaces. I own and edit the local weekly paper, The Syracuse Journal, and I serve on the City Council, the Economic Development Board, and the school district’s site council. I am also a local 4-H community leader, as well as wife and mother.

Last year I published the book Tales from the 5 AM Hour, a book of short stories and photographs that provide glimpses into the lives of those random people we pass by.

Available HERE for purchase.

Welcome, new business member Melanie Bonner Thomas and Chalk Lily Books

2/7/2026

Melanie Bonner Thomas is a western Kansas native and the youngest child of field paleontologist Marion Charles Bonner. She received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from the University of Kansas. After a brief period as a college English instructor in Kansas and Texas, she has spent the bulk of her career as a writer, editor, and communications specialist. Her master’s thesis was an annotated edition of an 1869 work of plains literature called Buffalo Land. While a graduate student, she served as teaching assistant and editor of Cottonwood Review, a literary magazine, and edited the anthology Kansas Women Writers and co-edited Nineteen Stories: Contemporary Fiction by Kansas Writers.

Her interest in Great Plains literature, history, and science can be traced directly to the influence of her father. Her 2025 book, Old Man of the Fossil Beds, tells the story of her close relationship with her autodidact father.

Melanie lived in Texas from 1986 to 2024. While working in Austin as copy chief and associate editor for Texas Monthly magazine and as managing editor of Hispanic magazine, she contributed history, archaeology, and paleontology features. She currently lives in New Orleans.

Melanie's author website is also her publishing company's page: www.chalklilybooks.com. She has a spinoff paleo book in the works -- hoping to publish it in March or April. She's planning to take part in the Kansas Book Festival in late September, and also hopes to come to the Kansas Authors Club Convention in early October. She is looking forward to visiting with other Kansas authors!

Topeka Group welcomes Greg Jordan

2/6/2026

Greg Jordan is a writer, educator, and former small-business development director based in Kansas. After a 40-year career in public service, entrepreneurship, and higher education, he is now focused on writing projects that blend storytelling with practical insight.

Greg’s work spans narrative nonfiction, business and strategy writing, and emerging explorations in fiction. He is currently developing a series of short, accessible books on strategy and artificial intelligence for small business owners, as well as a longer narrative project drawing on his experiences in government and economic development. His writing often centers on decision-making, resilience, and the human stories behind institutions and systems.

He teaches introductory business at the university level and continues to explore how technology—and especially AI—is reshaping how people work, create, and tell stories. Greg joined the Kansas Authors Club to learn from fellow writers, share ideas, and stay grounded in the craft and community of writing.

Meet Kevin Peterson, Salina Area Group

1/20/2026

Kevin R Peterson is a 4th generation Kansan (and Salinan) born on January 29 – Kansas Day. His affinity for poetry began in high school and grew as a result of a local writer’s group. He was fortunate enough to have many of his early works published by editors of numerous poetry magazines that were in print during the 1980s. During that period he published four poetry chapbooks.

In 1989 he authored a book which detailed the story of his daughter’s becoming one of the first children in the United States to receive a cochlear implant.

Kevin pulled away from creative writing for about thirty-five years as he was involved with technical writing: creating brochures, writing magazine articles, posting internet articles, and sharing hundreds of case histories that explained processes and solutions for products manufactured by companies he worked with.

Now retired, and settling back into “creative” writing, he recently published his newest chapbook A Poetic Wandering. He looks forward to becoming involved with, sharing, and meeting current writers of KAC.

Welcome, Mace Thornton, to the KAC Topeka Group!

1/19/2026

Mace grew up on a farm north of Troy, Kan., in the Missouri River Hills. His journalism degree is from Benedictine College in Atchison. He has spent his professional life as a journalist (The McPherson Sentinel and Atchison Globe), organizational communicator and strategist working in agriculture and public policy (Kansas Farm Bureau, the American Farm Bureau and the United Soybean Board). Storytelling has always been central to his work—whether explaining complex issues, capturing the stories of real lives, or building fictional worlds grounded in historical truth. His last two works, West Bottoms and The Ghosts of Gumbo Flats, were published with the guidance of Anne Spry from Personal Chapters publishing.

Mace is the author of three works of historical fiction, all grounded in the American Midwest and shaped by a deep interest in place, character, and the moral choices ordinary people face during extraordinary times.

Jawbone Holler
His debut novel follows Perry Adams, a troubled young man whose life is reshaped by the Civil War. Set between Indiana and territorial Kansas from 1858 to 1864, the book explores personal growth and redemption, loyalty, and the hard realities of frontier life. Readers have described it as a fast-paced, immersive story with strong historical grounding.

The Ghosts of Gumbo Flats (my latest)
This stand-alone novel is also the continuation of the Jawbone Holler story. The novel leans heavily into Perry’s friend, Moses Watson, and his memory of family misplaced by slavery, devotion to the land and the lingering pull of past trauma. It’s a rescue mission that examines how history shapes families and communities, particularly in rural America, where tradition and innovation have always gone hand-in-hand.

West Bottoms
This novel is set against the backdrop of one of the Midwest’s most storied districts, Kansas City’s West Bottoms. Cowritten with his brother-in-law Rogers Brazier, it explores ambition, loss, and survival in a gritty landscape shaped by scandal, passion and commerce. It is a story rooted in relationships and reprisal set in the rugged, Depression-era streets of Kansas City.

Mace currently balances his fiction writing habit with a career in strategic communications and marketing at Stratovation Group, where he is a partner. His wife, Denise, is also a native Kansan, hailing from Wamego. The Thorntons have three adult children and one granddaughter. They live outside of St. Louis but visit their beloved home state as frequently as possible.

Mace's author website can be found at www.macethornton.com.

Welcome, Kim Hurley Andrews of the Newton Group

1/18/2026

Kim lives in North Newton. She started writing poems in middle school, studied creative writing at Washburn University with Tom Averill, then transferred to KU, where she earned a degree in journalism, emphasis in magazines and PR. This became the focus of her career, as she wrote for consumer and trade magazines, and worked in-house for an ad agency.

While she was editor of Wichita's city magazine, Kim received a call to the ministry. Since then, she's served ten congregations in central Kansas. A few years ago, she became ordained. She writes a new sermon each week.

Recently, Kim published her first book about a triple homicide that happened in her family, back in the 1920s. She started the project more than 20 years ago, originally collaborating with another writer, Lila McCabe. When the Leaves Began to Unfold: The Hurley Murder Mystery centers around Kim's great-aunt, Jennie, who was engaged to at least two men at the same time and owned a handful of engagement rings. People living near Perry Lake (Kan.), where this happened, continue to speculate about the circumstances of one night—and whether Jennie was in the farmhouse fire that claimed the lives of her father and brother, or somehow escaped.

She is married to Sam, who has written a couple of published books on the grain and railroad industry, and also has two grown sons. Being a part of the Kansas Authors Club's Newton group has inspired Kim to get back to writing poetry and start working on a new book about women in ministry. This will probably include inspiring stories of women preachers from the last two centuries, as well as her own journey.

Welcome to Aryn Cheney of the Wichita Area Group

12/19/2025

Aryn is the author of The Travels of Banjo Standhope, a short story series of mixed genres, featuring time travel, historical and realistic fiction, as well as relational dynamics within a dysfunctional family. Her main character, Banjo, is a girl trying to find her path in the near future after she accidentally time travels on purpose. The series follows Banjo through nine short stories with the final story written as a standalone novel, The River of Change, coming out in January.

Aryn enjoys reading as much as writing. She has one child, and an education in criminal justice and political leadership.

Welcome new member Bill Sheldon

11/21/2025

William Sheldon lives in Hutchinson, Kansas. His newest book is just out: When I Go West: New and Selected Poems (Meadowlark Press, 2025). He is the author of three other books of poetry, Retrieving Old Bones (Woodley Press, 2002), Rain Comes Riding (Mammoth Publications, 2011), Deadman (Spartan Press, 2021), as well as a chapbook, Into Distant Grass (Oil Hill Press, 2009). He plays bass for the bands The Excuses and Cow Creek Blues.

Bill recently presented to the KAC with an approach to reducing the anxiety of the blank screen / page he cheerfully called: "Lowering Your Standards."

Welcome, Suzanne Wolcott!

11/16/2025

The Hutchinson area district welcomes Suzanne Wolcott to the group.

Suzanne is a mental health clinician and former hospice and hospital chaplain as well as a lifelong educator. She has taught courses in psychology, church history, Wisdom Literature as well as CEU courses in Ethics and Wisdom, Loneliness and Older Adults, and various other topics. She is a mother to two wonderful humans, partner to a good, kind man and caretaker and companion to many other creatures, furred and feathered. She has had some poetry published in regional magazines, but is just now feeling close to finishing her first full length work. She enjoys kayaking, hiking, music, and, of course, writing. She looks forward to learning more about the KAC as well as the process of publishing. She is grateful to have finally found herself a community of fellow writers and authors.

And we are glad to have her!

<<Previous

Welcome New Member Joyce Ross, Wichita

Welcome Ryan Kegley, Manhattan

The Lawrence Area Group welcomes Thelma Simons

Welcome, Martin Keenan - Wichita Area Group

Welcome, Lori Hershberger!

Welcome, new member Amanda Votava

Welcome Sandra Schumm, of Lawrence

Welcome New Member Jessica Lunt, Manhattan Area Group

Welcome to Marcy Smalley, KC/Lawrence Area

Welcome, LynnLee Schmidt (Wichita Area)

Welcome, Kyle Juracek, Lawrence Area Group

Welcome Michele Boy to western KS District 7

Welcome, new business member Melanie Bonner Thomas and Chalk Lily Books

Topeka Group welcomes Greg Jordan

Meet Kevin Peterson, Salina Area Group

Welcome, Mace Thornton, to the KAC Topeka Group!

Welcome, Kim Hurley Andrews of the Newton Group

Welcome to Aryn Cheney of the Wichita Area Group

Welcome new member Bill Sheldon

Welcome, Suzanne Wolcott!

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