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 Connlyn Sinclair’s new romantic fantasy novella Mermaid Monday is out as an ebook. In a comedic reversal of The Little Mermaid, Mermaid Monday tells the story of an American boy and his romance with an outlandish mermaid named Brunhilda of Scalloway.
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 Kansas Matters: America’s Social Faultline by Mark E. McCormick has a publication date of Juneteenth but is available to bookstores and libraries by early May. Review copies are available this month. ISBN: 978-1-958728-45-1 Paper ($24.99); ISBN: 978-1-958728-46-8 epub ($14.99)
Mark McCormick is a member of the Kansas Journalists’ Hall of Fame, a fellow at the Dole Center of the University of Kansas, former deputy director and communications director of the ACLU of Kansas, and a New York Times best-selling author with nearly thirty years of experience as a reporter, editor, and columnist, for five years at the Louisville, Kentucky’s Courier-Journal and for nearly fourteen years at the Wichita Eagle.. He was appointed by Kansas governor Laura Kelly to two state commissions and is a trustee of the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas. He was inaugural director of the Kansas Black Leadership Council and served as executive director of The Kansas African American History. This collection of fifty short articles examines Kansas from three angles: the important history in danger of erasure, Kansans who have invested their lives in positive social change, and issues currently in the forefront in Kansas (and nationally), especially those where Kansas has taken a lead. McCormick writes pithy prose that reveals perspectives and factual information new to general readers. The history he reveals is often unknown to most Kansans and to those who view Kansas as only "fly over" country. From its early experiment in multiracial democracy called Quindaro, to the key roles Kansas and Kansans played in the civil war, student-led sit-ins, affirmative action, and school desegregation, readers will find these short pieces surprising and enlightening. McCormick highlights ordinary people doing extraordinary things out of their commitment to justice. The final section of the book explores issues like the right to choose abortion, police/community relations, and the impact of bail bonds, as well as the unfortunate tenacity of Jim Crow behavior in the state legislature and policy formation. McCormick is a beloved commentator on the state of the country. Here his views shine through the lens of Kansas, a state full of contradictions with a history of setting precedents the nation both political parties would follow. Thirty photos illustrate and enhance the text.  Book Reading & Craft Talk Hear from author Jenna Brack as she shares from her newly released book Pass-Through Place Essays on Home, Hope, and Following the Horizon Tuesday, April 21, 2026 6:30 p.m. Eighth Day Books 2838 E. Douglas Wichita, Kansas  Ride along with Jenna Brack as she explores the vast and varied Kansas landscape, a place some consider flat and uninteresting. In this collection of personal essays that unfold as a coming-of-age memoir, Brack reveals how the land and people of Kansas have been catalysts for growth, healing, and identity. As Brack passes through wheatfields, historic ice storms, or the sprawling Flint Hills, she also travels through her own inner landscape of longing and loss. Together, these essays spotlight Kansas as much more than a pass-through place, and instead as a formative place of resilience and hope. Brack’s storytelling invites us to consider how our own pass-through places are infused with meaning—even how they might carry us home. Jenna Brack grew up in central Kansas and lived in the Midwest for over thirty-five years before moving abroad. Her essays and poetry have been featured in publications such as Every Day Poems, The Sunlight Press, Coffee + Crumbs, 105 Meadowlark Reader, and others. A former educator and college instructor, Jenna now encourages other writers through editing and coaching. She holds an MA in English from Kansas State University and enjoys exploring the goodness of every place alongside her husband and two children. Pass-Through Place is her first book.
A Note from William Isley: I have just had my second novel, Chasing the Wind: A Philosophical Novel published as a print book and eBook. In the late 1972 three unlikely college friends make a pact to meet 25 years later to to discover how their different philosophies of life worked out only to realize that chasing their dreams was unfulfilling, even deadly. Here's the link on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GSJZPF1K  On a fateful day in 1972, three college friends make a pact to meet twenty-five years later to discover how their different philosophies of life worked out only to realize that chasing their dreams was unfulfilling, even deadly.
James, the Epicurean, pursues cultured pleasure from the international art world of New York City and Paris to revolution in Portugal. Freddy, embittered against God because of the death of his mother and mistreatment by his family, seeks knowledge as a means to power through his brilliant mind and ultimately LSD in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury. Bart, neglected by his hippie father and Marxist mother, becomes the president of a large business, believing that wealth will make him important and happy. Chasing the Wind carries the reader on a memorable journey through dramatic events from the 1960s to the 1990s, encountering tragedy, psychological trauma, philosophical disputes, political revolution, and murder. It challenges us to examine our own deepest beliefs and desires in life and to realize what brings true happiness. Stacy Thowe's novel Soap Opera Digest: The Story of a Woman. A Dream. And an Endless Love won the 2025 Christlit award. The novel was also a finalist for the 2025 Readers' Favorite award. Please check out her website at https://stacythowe.com/ for more information. She also has a free bi-monthly newsletter that offers free reads from other fabulous authors. Signup is available on her website.  Connlyn Sinclair’s new book A Pair O’ Paranormal Parodies is out on Kindle. This pair of novelettes captures the feeling of watching paranormal reality shows on cable in the 2010s with all the accompanying humor and excitement. Whether you want to relive the medium or just have a laugh at its absurdity, give the book a look.   After spending 35 years immersed with technical writing, Kevin Peterson has published his recent book of poetry A Poetic Wandering. The book features recent works and includes a few excerpts of of some of his published poetry from the 1980s.
His book is available through Red Fern Booksellers 106 So Santa Fe Salina, Kansas - 785.833.2088 redfernbooksellers.com Robert W. Phillips joined Kansas Authors Club in 2024 and has been studying the book business. Robert has attended our convention and our monthly programs, he asks questions and studies what other authors are doing, and he has published a sweet memoir of growing up on a mid-century farm in Kansas. His author newsletters are also well presented. I appreciate his story-telling approach and I especially like that he acknowledges the value of community in each newsletter. Note at the bottom where he encourages people to shop at local bookstores and links his affiliations, including Kansas Authors Club. Well done, Robert! You can subscribe to Robert's newsletter by clicking through to his website.   I have been very fortunate to attend the Hines VA Blind Rehabilitation Center here in Chicago. I arrived on January 12 and anticipate returning to Kansas on February 7, 2026. The classes have been very intensive and should provide me with opportunities I have not had since losing my vision several years ago. This training is available to any veteran who is legally blind for any reason, even if it is not related to military service. If you are aware of any veteran in this situation, please contact me, and I would be more than happy to assist them in receiving these services. They provided us with numerous devices to assist with reading. We were given Meta Glasses during this visit. With these glasses, you can look at something and ask, “Meta, what am I looking at?” and the glasses will give you a full description. I returned from Hines, and within a couple of days, my wife Beverly’s mother had a stroke, so here we are in Tyler, Texas. I was able to bring my computer, but I have had very little time to work on my next book. The Birth and Demise of a Small Flint Hills Town Virgil, Kansas, is a very unique community that I was fortunate to be born into in 1944. I spent my formative years there, growing up and developing my love of rural life. The community began to be settled by pioneers just a few years before the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861. Hundreds, even thousands, of small communities like Virgil were being formed not only in Kansas but across the entire country at that same time. Join me in researching old newspapers, visiting cemeteries, exploring museums, looking over old land records, talking with individuals from the area, and reviewing numerous school yearbooks. Of course, we can't forget attending the Virgil gathering held every quarter in Olpe, Kansas at the Chicken House. I hope all my newsletter friends are doing well and staying healthy. Bless you all. -Robert, The Storyteller   This is a reminder to all members who have published books in 2025 that the deadline for entering our Book Awards Contests is March 1, 2026. This is the contest for PUBLISHED books. Review the complete guidelines for answers to your questions
If you are looking for information about our Literary Contests (Writing Contests) (for all ages), that event OPENS for submissions on
April 1, 2026 and close on June 15, 2026. For clarification: Literary contest entries are for individual poems and shorter form prose entries that have never been published. The Book Awards contest is for books that were published (with a press or independently) in the previous year. WHEN ENERGY HEALING MEETS MEDITATION —EIGHT LESSONS-- by Jim Gilkeson "Jim Gilkeson has a clear, accessible, humble, and open-hearted approach to energy teaching. His meditations are practice-based and useful for human creatures at all phases of growth. Jim is a treasure." ~Jennifer Gouine, Davis, CA “Jim delivers his work with gentle authority, joy, com passion, and a living spiritual awareness." ~Amrit Rai, Mill Valley, CA  When Energy Healing Meets Meditation is a guide to engaging with the energy field within and around our physical bodies for healing and personal growth. This book is accessible to all readers interested in deepening their meditative practice. The practices and perspectives offered here are not bound to any specific healing or meditation modality, but rather reflect universal principles that apply to a wide spectrum of practices. Each lesson is presented as a “trailhead” for gaining personal experience in such universal areas as grounding, centering, holism, and expression, all of which apply to your evolving practice, no matter the style of your inner and outer work. Whether this is your first foray into meditation practices or you are a seasoned inner astronaut, there is something here for you. Publication: December 15, 2025 Published by Jim Gilkeson Edited by Denise Low Cover design by Aimee Eldridge $12.95, Paperback ISBN: 979-8-218-77428-8 For media inquiries and review copies: Email: [email protected]. Web: www.jimgilkeson.com Phone: (707) 696-2768  Shadows Deep, the sixth mystery featuring Private Investigator, Pete Stone, is now available at Meadowlark Press or your favorite bookstore. Set during 1939, Shadows Deep features Hollywood characters on their visit to Kansas for the premiere of the movie, Dodge City. Published by Meadowlark Press; cover photo by Dave Leiker.  Member Tim Bascom has a new book out about the ways that soccer brings the world together. It is available to pre-order from the University Press of Kansas. The Boundless Game is Tim's celebration of how this most international game builds bridges between cultures, which will be on display once again when the World Cup comes to the U.S. summer 2026.  Congratulations to Catherine Robertson on the publication of her newest book. She sends the following note: My memoir, Seven Lives, Seven Choices, was published in October of 2025. I am currently disseminating copies to the recovery community, including rehab centers and halfway houses. If you know anybody who is in recovery, especially those struggling or new to recovery, please consider suggesting this book for them to read. Seven Lives, Seven Choices, can be purchased by going to the following site: poetschoicepublisher.com   Meadowlark Press releases Traces of the Holy by Arlice Davenport Traces of the Holy (poems) Author: Arlice Davenport ISBN 978-1-956578-79-9 (paperback) $20.00 POETRY / American / General POETRY / Subjects & Themes / Nature POETRY / Subjects & Themes / Places 174 pages | Publication: December 2025 | Intended Audience: Adult Available for Purchase at meadowlarkbookstore.com or anywhere you buy books! [Emporia, Kansas] Meadowlark Press announces the release of Traces of the Holy, Wichita author Arlice W. Davenport’s fifth poetry collection! Book Description: Arlice W. Davenport is a pilgrim, wandering through canyons and cornfields, memory and dreams, Heaven and Hell, making his own path as he searches for the holy in our modern world. Drawing on his impressive knowledge of literature, philosophy, religion, and mythology, he presents us with poetic jewels of sharp and shimmering insight. Never giving in to despair, even when his task may seem outright Sisyphean, Davenport “keep[s] walking, ever hopeful, / into the wind.” About the Author: Arlice W. Davenport is the author of five full-length books of poetry and three chapbooks. All have been published by Meadowlark Press or Meadowlark Poetry Press in Emporia, Kansas. His academic background includes degrees in philosophy, literature, French, and religious studies, along with a concentration of work in art history. He and Norman Carr—whose abstract paintings have adorned the covers of Davenport’s most recent books—have been friends for more than 40 years, traveling together internationally, along with Davenport’s wife, Laura. He lives in Wichita, Kansas. What readers are saying: In his fifth book of poetry, Traces of the Holy, Arlice W. Davenport once again puts forward his thoughts and ruminations about life as poems, this time set against his lifelong readings and study in philosophy, literature, and theology; poems that sometimes sing, sometimes bellow, that seek, that find, that allude to, that delineate nuggets of truth or wisdom or hints at how to find them. —Roy Beckemeyer, author of The Currency of His Light The best thing to do, I think, to get a feel for the power of this book is to take it into nature. There, with your self fully immersed in the world, you will become aware of the now, the only time you have at your disposal, the moments that Davenport so often invokes. Another thing you will learn with Traces of the Holy in hand is that we are all made for love, both eros and agape. And this book unobtrusively leads you to the Source of those loves. —Emília Katriňáková, award-winning poet from Bratislava, Slovakia Traces of the Holy is available to
order now at meadowlarkbookstore.com or anywhere you buy books!  from member Dawn Feltrop: I am hosting a Book Launch Party on Saturday, November 29th from 5-8pm. Also, I am asking people to join my Book Launch Team to share my Amazon book during the first week of December. 
On July 10, 2025, I gave a book reading on my becoming Frederick Funston Trilogy, which was published in 2022. Volume one received a 2023 Spur Award from the Western Writers of America. This presentation was for my fellow residents of Pioneer Ridge Independent Living in Lawrence. It was well attended, residents wanting the answer to "Fred Who?!" The video of my talk is on YouTube. https://youtu.be/czGXWKYTsq8?si=mpSzEWEldbwyAYg1 Help us celebrate the writing and publishing accomplishments of Kansas Authors! If you have news of writing events that would be of interest to all Kansas Authors Club members, or if you are a member (dues current) who would like to announce an achievement, please submit your news via this form.  Book Launch Party for Rosemary Chick: Pip, Zip, Hooray!
Saturday, November 29, 2025 • 5:00–8:00 p.m. Join local author Dawn Feltrop at Morning Grit Farm, 15499 SW 140th St., Rose Hill, KS, for a fun family event celebrating her new children’s book Rosemary Chick: Pip, Zip, Hooray! Enjoy story-time, a petting zoo, coffee/hot chocolate bar, s’mores by the fire, cupcakes, and book signings. RSVP by November 22: [email protected] More info: www.DawnFeltrop.com   Patrick lives in Topeka with his wife Lisa; they have three adult children. Here's what Patrick has to say: I grew up in the heart of wrestling country in northern Iowa and have been a wrestling enthusiast since my earliest memories (think high school, college, Olympics, and not the chair-throwing, predetermined outcome type of wrestling). I was introduced to the sport early and competed throughout my college years. Along the way, I read about every book about the sport and kept up with current happenings by subscribing to wrestling magazines and reading daily newspaper articles. After college, I became a teacher and coach. I completed my thirtieth year in the classroom in 2024. In 2022, I retired from coaching at the high school level and began to devote more time to researching and writing about the sport, which I have dabbled in through the years. I have written articles for several wrestling publications and currently write a monthly article for WIN Magazine, a nationally circulated wrestling publication. Shortly after my coaching retirement, I began researching the Kansas State University wrestling program, which operated from 1922 until it was dropped in 1975. I found the stats and stories fascinating and worthy of a broader audience. In February of 2025, K-State’s Wrestling Legacy was published. I’m thrilled with how it turned out and hope both wrestling enthusiasts and those just looking for compelling human-interest stories will pick it up and give it a read. Website: https://www.flinthillspublishing.com/patrick-kelly  Kansas Authors Club outgoing president Anne Spry is completing a banner year of books, finalizing three titles, all in the memoir genre.  Her first 2025 title, Riding Rainbows Through the Storms: Finding Perspective and Hope by Journaling Through a Pandemic, was issued in late February under her own publishing company, Personal Chapters LLC. The paperback and Kindle e-book includes color photographs, many of them nature shots Spry took, as well as blogs and Facebook Live scripts she produced during the pandemic. Readers may identify with the struggles Spry endured in adapting to a new reality we all faced during the pandemic. She admits to a lot of “whining” in the journal entries included, but she managed to summon all the positivity and spirituality she could in publishing this title.  Friend and fellow book publisher Thea Rademacher, Flint Hills Publishing, edited and published Spry’s other 2025 titles. Taking the Long Way Home: A Peace Corps Memoir of Brazil, documents Spry’s 1970s volunteer experiences. It took her decades to finish the manuscript she started before she even left Northeast Brazil. This year, with its upheaval and controversies on the world stage, provided the impetus for Spry to finish the story of how a wannabe hippie left campus protests in the U. S. to try to make the world a better place for democracy in South America. But the real story was how she found a home in her heart, despite personal childhood traumas.  When Spry shared with Radamacher how she planned to republish her first memoir, “Letters from Home,” her publisher colleague urged her to include only the funniest of the newspaper columns written during Anne’s 27-year newspaper career. “Living on Laughter: A Memoir of a Former Humor Columnist and Newspaper Publisher,” is like the Sunday funny papers, only in black and white and read all over. It shares her decades of laughing at herself and others through everyday struggles and the joys of parenting, aging, home repair and other life issues. She hopes it leaves you smiling or maybe even picking up a pen to capture your own stories.
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