Current News from the Kansas Authors Club

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.

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

2/7/2026

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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!

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Topeka Group welcomes Greg Jordan

2/6/2026

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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.

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Meet Kevin Peterson, Salina Area Group

1/20/2026

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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.

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Welcome, Mace Thornton, to the KAC Topeka Group!

1/19/2026

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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.

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Welcome, Kim Hurley Andrews of the Newton Group

1/18/2026

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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.

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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!

Welcome Todd Fertig to the Topeka Area Group!

10/6/2025

After surviving a recent complete rebuild of his website https://toddfertigwrites.com/,Todd sends us this introduction:

I grew up in Ellinwood, Kansas, where I was the beneficiary of a tremendous high school journalism program. I realized at that time that I had a passion for writing and went to Kansas State University to develop that skill. I majored in journalism and English and worked for several semesters on the KSU Collegian staff. Upon graduation, my first job was with the Manhattan Mercury.

What started out as a straight path suddenly zigged and zagged for a couple of decades during which I got involved in government, then youth ministry, gained a certificate to teach high school English and journalism, and earned a master’s degree in education administration.
I married my wife, Kim, in 2002 and gained two amazing stepchildren in the process. After a seven-year stint in Missouri, we settled in Topeka, where my work became focused on government communications.

In 2019, the “powers that be” nudged me out of my full-time communications role. I wondered at that time if I could turn my freelance writing gigs into a full-time job. Since then, I’ve been blessed with opportunities to work for so many outlets, I’ve lost count. Newspapers, magazines, websites, books…the journey has taken me in many directions and taught me many lessons. I can honestly say I enjoy almost everything I do, and I wake up every day eager to pull out the laptop and go to work!
I am involved in my church and community and am devoted to my wife and children, Peyton and Carter. My interests include sports, travel and Spanish, all of which I am eager to involve in my writing work whenever possible.

Welcome to Jayasri and William Hart, attached to the Wichita Area Group

10/6/2025

William "Bill" Hart (amazon.com/author/williamjhart) was a Kansas transplant to the West Coast. For 30 years he taught college writing courses in Los Angeles, but his formative years were spent in Wichita, KS. His poetry and fiction appeared in several hundred literary journals, commercial magazines, newspapers, and anthologies. His fourteen books include a memoir of his teenage years, Roller Rink Starlight, available in Wichita bookstores and public libraries. He also wrote documentaries with his filmmaker wife Jayasri (Joyce) Hart (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3688546/), two of which aired nationally on PBS, won awards, and have been archived at the Library of Congress.
Bill always acknowledged that the seed of his creativity germinated at KU Lawrence and Wichita State, but was nurtured by his years on the assembly line at Cessna Aircraft and atop grain elevators in Wichita. The people he knew, both locals and journeymen, form the core of his Creative Non-fiction collection of published and unpublished work Better Pack A Lunch: Wichita Stories. This is what he was working on when he passed away.
Jayasri would like to complete that task and then collect all of Bill's work to continue distribution from one platform.

Though she is based in California, I'm sure the KAC membership will support her in honoring Bill's memory as a Kansas-bred writer. Welcome, Joyce!

Welcome, Aaron Saoirse!

9/27/2025

Aaron lives in El Dorado, and and writes neurodivergent protagonist speculative fiction (paranormal, small town fantasy, science fiction) romance.

They write stories that they want to read where marginalized people find joy, love, and family in their own way and on their own terms. They've studied abroad in Spain for an academic year, is fluent in Spanish, and creates photographs of nature and abstract subjects. They're an animal person with a house of dog and cat furkids and their partner.

Welcome, Aaron! We're glad to have you.

Welcome to S. Portico Bowman, new member from Prairie Village

8/27/2025

S. Portico Bowman was born in Brandon, Manitoba and grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. She has lived for various reasons in a variety of places such as Knoxville, Tennessee; Waimea, Hawai’I; and San Diego, California. For two decades Bowman taught in the Department of Art at Pittsburg State University and is now Professor Emerita. She has transferred her educational attention to shorter people and is currently a Faculty Assistant at a Pembroke Hill School in Kansas City, MO.

Bowman earned a BFA in printmaking and drawing, followed by an MFA Outstanding Graduate degree in sculptural ceramics and a post-graduate degree in Creative Writing from the Humber School for Writers. Her first novel Cashmere Comes From Goats was published by Stonehouse Publishing in 2022.

Bowman has published over forty essays about artists in national and international publications such as Sculpture Magazine, Art Papers, Studio Potter and Ceramics: Art & Perception. Bowman recently was a resident at the Studio Kura International Residency in Itoshima Japan, where she began work on her third book Madonna’s Tuxedo. She is a regular contributor to the Saskatchewan Writers Guild and was chosen by the Literary Press Group of Canada to present at the Indie Reading Room in St. Johns, Newfoundland.

Bowman’s Would You Give Up Arms For Wings? A story inspired by the visionary life & writings of Paulus Berensohn was a finalist for the 2024 AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) Sue William Silverman Prize for Creative Nonfiction. Alison Pick, Booker Prize nominee, was the writing mentor throughout the creation of the story. The book is forthcoming with Pete’s Press in 2026.

She currently resides in Prairie Village, Kansas (Kansas City area) with her husband Tom and otherworldly cat Florence. Visit her at https://www.s-portico-bowman.com/basic-01.

Welcome, Catherine and Anthony Menefee of Wichita!

7/14/2025

Catherine Menefee has a Master's of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Wichita State University. She specializes in poetry, but also loves to write fiction and creative non-fiction. Catherine believes in the power of literature to positively change the world, and she's spent more than a decade sharing her love of writing with students in high school, college, and homeschool co-op classrooms. She lives in Wichita with her husband and two children. Her debut poetry book, "Witness: One American Year," is releasing on July 29, 2025.

Catherine adds: "It's an exciting time for me to join KAC; thanks to the newsletter several days ago, I was able to register for a table at the Wichita Public Library Local Author event. I'm so excited to be there with my newly released book! I can be found on Instagram and TikTok @arspoeticat, and I would love to get connected with other Kansas authors on social media."

Welcome, Jamie Bosse of Manhattan, KS

7/14/2025

Jamie Bosse, CFP®, RFC, CCFC, is a Financial Planner, author, and mother of four with a passion for helping families build strong financial foundations. She writes to educate and empower both children and adults, making financial topics approachable, engaging, and fun.

Jamie is the author of Money Boss Mom: Helping Young Parents Be the “Boss” of Their Financial Future and the Milton the Money Savvy Pup children’s book series, which introduces young readers to important money concepts in a kid-friendly way. Her goal is to help families develop lifelong financial skills—starting at an early age.

In her role at CGN Advisors, Jamie helps clients navigate life’s transitions, organize their finances, and move confidently toward their goals. In 2020, she was named to the national InvestmentNews 40 Under 40 list and is a graduate of Leadership Manhattan’s Class of 2020.

Her writing and financial expertise have been featured in The Kansas City Star, KC Parent, The Journal of Financial Planning, Investment Advisor Magazine, and on Kansas City PBS. Jamie is also a proud graduate of Kansas State University’s Personal Financial Planning program.

Welcome New Member, Cheryl Savage!

6/22/2025

Cheryl Seely Savage is a professional musician, poet, graduate student, and mother of eight children. She has been published in Exponent II, Inscape, Manhattan Neighbors Magazine, and was shortlisted for the 2022 Lascaux Prize in Poetry. In addition, Cheryl has been the inspiration for several musical compositions, most notably by Dr. Alyssa Morris. She has four poetry publications: Give Me a Fragment, Carve a Place for Me, We Have Time, and Shadowing. Shadowing was recently published in January. It’s available online or at The Dusty Bookshelf in Manhattan.

When she isn’t writing, Cheryl can be found walking at sunrise, voraciously reading, traveling with her family, practicing the piano, and finding new ways to incorporate beauty into her life. She currently lives with her family in the Flint Hills of Kansas and is pursuing her Master of Music degree at Kansas State University.

Welcome to Susan Zuber-Chall of District 1!

4/27/2025

Susan is a retired professor who taught anthropology, sociology and criminal justice studies at Washburn University and Emporia State University. She is the author of two books; The Aquarian Goddess is a book about women and our image. The second book, Sex, Sinners and Hippies, is a memoir based on Susan's life as a hippie in the 60's and 70's.

Susan's interests are varied and she is fascinated by many different things. She has authored several short stories, three of which are featured in an anthology, and she has recently finished a fantasy novel. Additionally, she has had a paper published about the library at Haskell Indian Nation's University and has submitted a paper about serial killers to a criminal justice journal.

Currently, she is a chaplain for the Topeka Police Department, writes book reviews for Choice magazine, and teaches a free yoga class for seniors, as well as a free class about peoples of the ancient world. She may be a frustrated teacher, but channels it as a willing volunteer!

Welcome to New Member Cynthia Mines

4/18/2025

After working for decades as a journalist and editor, Cindy Mines joined the Kansas Authors Club to help expand her writing horizons to fiction. She has also had two nonfiction articles published in 105 Meadowlark Reader and won third place for memoir in the 2024 KAC contest.

She began publishing The Wichita Times and Travel Kansas magazine in 1993 after writing/editing positions at Wichita State University and the Wichita Business Journal. She continues to publish Travel Kansas as an annual magazine.

Freelance projects have included three published books on Kansas history (one was named a Kansas Notable Book) and travel writing for a variety of publications. She loves to research though admits that being overly thorough can be just an excuse to procrastinate writing – except, of course, the time it was absolutely necessary to criss-cross the state to consume 13 complete fried-chicken dinners as preparation to write an article on Kansas fried chicken for the Los Angeles Times Magazine.

She earned a master’s degree in English from Wichita State University and resides with her husband and dog south of Lindsborg.

2025 issue of Travel Kansas

Welcome, Rick Christiansen of District 5

4/6/2025

Rick Christiansen is a former corporate executive, stand-up comedian, actor and director. His work can be found in MacQueen’s Quinterly, Oddball Magazine, Stone Poetry Journal, The Rye Whiskey Review, As It Ought to Be Magazine, Trailer Park Quarterly and other publications. His first full length poetry volume, BONE FRAGMENTS, was published last year by Spartan Press. He has been nominated for a Spirit Award and a Touchstone Award for his work. He is an advisory member of The Writer’s Place and a member of The St. Louis Writers Guild. He lives in Missouri with his wife Kim and dog “B.”

Visit him at https://rickchristiansen.com/.

Welcome, Kate Siska of District 1

4/6/2025

Kate Siska grew up on the southwest side of Chicago
and knew from an early age that she was meant to
write, keeping a journal long before anyone told her
what one was. Her mother freaked out when Kate
proudly read her first poem aloud – about dying –
while still in elementary school.

After earning a Master’s Degree in English, Kate
taught college writing. In 1992, she moved to Kansas
City to pursue a career in pharmaceutical sales.
Eventually, Kate found her way to her current life’s
work as a Mitigation Specialist, advocating for life
versus death sentences for clients facing capital murder charges. Mitigation is storytelling – understanding the world intricately from the client’s perspective and finding creative ways to frame that story to influence decision makers.

Kate is currently writing a thriller/mystery novel, trying to find a publisher for her children’s picture book poem, is working on various poems, and is considering writing a memoir.

<<Previous

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!

Welcome Todd Fertig to the Topeka Area Group!

Welcome to Jayasri and William Hart, attached to the Wichita Area Group

Welcome, Aaron Saoirse!

Welcome to S. Portico Bowman, new member from Prairie Village

Welcome, Catherine and Anthony Menefee of Wichita!

Welcome, Jamie Bosse of Manhattan, KS

Welcome New Member, Cheryl Savage!

Welcome to Susan Zuber-Chall of District 1!

Welcome to New Member Cynthia Mines

Welcome, Rick Christiansen of District 5

Welcome, Kate Siska of District 1

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