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 *JUST RELEASED* Cheryl Heide's At Leap of Faith Farm is the perfect summer read for people who love horses, animals and rural life. Now available through Anamcara Press.
Be sure to catch Cheryl on KLWN's "Timeline" radio show with Clenece Hills, Monday, August 3rd after the 9 o'clock news.
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Members Robert Rebein and Leslie VonHolton will be in Dodge City on Friday, July 31, 2026, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Boot Hill Distillery, 501 West Spruce Street promoting the anthology Kansas Matters: 21st Century Writers on the Sunflower State. The public is invited to this free event. Rebein, a Dodge City native, is also the author of The Last Rancher, recently selected by Kansas Center for the Book and the State Library to represent Kansas in the 2026 Great Reads from Great Places program. The novel follows Leroy and Caroline Wagner, who run the Bar W Ranch near Dodge City. After Leroy is seriously injured, he can no longer work the land. Their three children return home to help save the ranch and rebuild family relationships. The Great Reads from Great Places program highlights one adult and one youth title from each state to celebrate local authors and encourage reading. Visit library.ks.gov/KSGreatReads for more information.
 You are invited to join the authors at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 23, 2026, for a Book Talk, at Watermark Books & Café, 4701 E Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS 67218. The event is free, but reservations are requested.
Member Melanie Bonner Thomas's book, a family memoir and scientific biography, received a National Indie Excellence® Award (NIEA) in June. The book, published in October 2025, was chosen as Finalist in the Nature category. The organization's press release states: “For two decades, the NIEA has served as a highly respected honor in independent publishing, celebrating exceptional books from self-published authors, small to mid-sized presses, and university presses across all genres.” Since 2005, the NIEA has championed the physical book as a cornerstone of the publishing industry, evaluating titles on both literary merit and the quality of design, presentation, and production. Doug Fogelson, President, National Indie Excellence® Awards, stated, “Independent publishing today has never been more vital or more impressive. What we see in each competition is proof that when writers are free to tell the stories they believe in, the results are extraordinary. We are honored to celebrate that spirit, and to shine a light on books that deserve to be read.”   This year, as the United States of America celebrates 250 years of liberty, member Susan Armstrong has co-authored a patriotic new book with Vlasta Honolka, of Augusta.
The book, titled They Gave All For Freedom: the powerful true story of one family’s quest for freedom, and the two countries they served, was published in March. It is a triumph-over-adversity story of the Honolka family, who immigrated from Czechoslovakia to the USA seventy-five years ago, after many years under the Nazi regime, Communist Russia's occupation, in prisons and displaced persons camps. Writing in a narrative, journalistic style, Susan draws from Vlasta’s personal memories as the youngest daughter in the Honolka family. She incorporates newspaper articles, family letters and other documents to bring authenticity to the story. The book is now available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, in paperback and e-book formats. Locally, it is in-stock at Watermark Books & Cafe, in Wichita. You are invited to join the authors at 6:00 p.m. Thursday, July 23, 2026, for a Book Talk, at Watermark Books & Café, 4701 E Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS 67218. The event is free, but reservations are requested. Call Watermark Books: 316-682-1181. Member Connlyn Sinclair Publishes Kawmazing Tales, a Fantasy Collection with a Kansas Setting6/29/2026
Connlyn Sinclair announces probably the only fantasy collection about the state of Kansas to be published this year. Kawmazing Tales reprints all of his stories set locally: Bigfoot Village, The Origins of Kansas Man, Fairy Fire Over Kansas, Around The World 80 Games, and Pike & Pistol in a fake magazine that is probably the greatest gag gift written by a KAC member.  Kevin R Peterson’s poetry chapbook A Poetic Wandering received an honorable mention at this year’s San Francisco Book Festival. Kevin is a KAC member from Salina.   Kevin R Peterson is a 4th generation Kansan 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.
He has authored four poetry chapbooks: The Years Have Come - 1986, Kendra, A Father’s Feelings – 1986, Perceived Realities – 1987, and Traps – 1989. In 1989 Kevin wrote the book Our Spark of Hope which detailed the story of his daughter becoming one of the first children in the United States to receive a cochlear implant. Kevin was pulled away from creative writing for a time 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. Since retirement he has returned to creative writing, having recently authored his latest book of poetry A Poetic Wandering – 2025. In 2026, this book was nominated for the Eric Hoffer Book Award and received an Honorable Mention at the San Francisco Book Festival. Kevin is a member of the Kansas Authors Club and Per Aspera Poets.  Lawrence author Connlyn Sinclair has long loved classic mysteries like Sweet Danger and Murders In The Rue Morgue which blended the real and the absurd. He loves them so much we wrote an ebook of several stories in that style which is now on Amazon. The collection reprints seven of his strangest detective stories which range from being actual science fiction to just being really weird.
 Heaven in a Wildflower by Cynthia Mines 978-1-972231-05-0 (hard cover) 978-1-972231-01-2 (paperback) 978-1-972231-04-3 (ebook) 978-1-972231-06-7 (audio) FICTION / Historical / General FICTION / Coming of Age FICTION / Small Town & Rural Heaven in a Wildflower, a novel by Cynthia Mines, is the story of Kristin Thorsen, who is forced to grow up in a lonely prairie parsonage in central Kansas with her father as the Great War rages in Europe. Twenty years later, when her husband leaves for World War II, Kristin returns to the prairie to explore her past and write down memories to pass on to her daughter. Set among fields of emerald-green winter wheat, the coming-of-age story takes on Oz overtones when Kristin is befriended by a neighbor widow and a local seed merchant on a journey to trust her heart and summon the courage to explore beyond the vast horizon. She leaves the prairie for Kansas City where she is hired as a Harvey Girl at Union Station in the early 1920s. “(The author) has thoughtfully and lovingly distilled Kansas history into a page-turning novel,” wrote Ted Ayres, producer/host of “Inside the Cover,” a PBS Kansas program, in an advance review. “This coming-of-age story will educate, inform, and entertain readers of all ages.” For more than four decades, Mines has researched Kansas history through roles as publisher-editor of Travel Kansas magazine for 32 years, as a reporter for the Wichita Business Journal, and as the author of the nonfiction book, For the Sake of Art: The Story of a Kansas Renaissance, which was named a Kansas Notable Book in 2016. Her articles have appeared in dozens of publications, including the Los Angeles Times. This is her first novel. Mines turned to fiction to tell Kansas stories because she believed a historical novel might reach more readers than a nonfiction book. “Kansas has such a rich and varied history, I wanted as many people as possible to know what life was like on the prairie,” she said. “This also seemed an especially important time to preserve and amplify the significant role immigrants played in building the state.” She added that another goal was to try and “capture the essence and enigma that is Kansas, a state that has produced President Dwight D. Eisenhower, aviatrix Amelia Earhart, and Pulitzer Prize-winning writers William Allen White and William Inge. Interestingly, these brilliant and inspiring Kansans did not hail from the state’s larger cities--they were shaped by their hometowns of Abilene, Atchison, Emporia, and Independence.” The 360-page book is available in hard cover ($38), paperback ($25), ebook ($12) and audiobook narrated by Marsha Hoover ($16) wherever books are sold. The book has been certified free of AI by the Authors Guild. Meadowlark Press, established in Emporia in 2014, publishes novels, memoirs, poetry and children’s books with a focus on Midwestern settings and authors. Meadowlark Press also awards the annual Birdy Prize to the best full-length collection of poetry nationwide.  An award-winning writer, Cynthia Mines published The Wichita Times and Travel Kansas magazine for more than thirty years. Her articles have appeared in dozens of publications, including travel articles in the Los Angeles Times. Her book, For the Sake of Art: The Story of a Kansas Renaissance, was named a Kansas Notable Book in 2016. She is the author of two other books on Kansas history as well as numerous articles and chapters. This is her first novel.
A graduate of McPherson College, she earned a master’s degree in English from Wichita State University. She lives with her husband, Toby, and dog, Ozzie, on the prairie in central Kansas. Member Book Announcement:  Uncharted Paths: A Memoir of Teaching and Learning Lakshmi Kambampati BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs EDUCATION / Multicultural Education TRAVEL / Asia / India & South Asia SOCIAL SCIENCE / Emigration & Immigration Paperback: 978-1-972231-02-9 Ebook: 978-1-972231-03-6 In Uncharted Paths: A Memoir of Teaching and Learning, Wichita resident Lakshmi Kambampati shares the most important lessons of her career: not the ones she taught, but the ones she learned from students and communities around the world. “Uncharted Paths invites us to share a teacher’s colorful and endearing journey among students she met and the teaching problems she encountered in classrooms across the world. The adventures of this teacher-ambassador are sometimes ironic and often thrilling. As years pass, she learns how education happens beyond the seas and in cultures little known to us. Go with her—you’ll be glad you did,” writes William F Woods, PhD, Professor Emeritus of English, Wichita State University. Originally from India, Kambampati has called Wichita, Kansas, her home for the past four decades. This memoir, a collection of recollections, chronicles her journey as an immigrant, an educator, and a traveler. Through moments of cultural misunderstandings, personal triumphs, and professional growth, she offers insights that inspire readers to embrace diversity, navigate challenges, and find purpose in service. With a Master of Science in Geography and a Master of Education in School Administration, she taught mathematics at Butler Community College and Wichita Technical College, history at Friends University, and mathematics for Wichita Public Schools. Her passion for education has taken her across the world. Highlights of her career include receiving a Fulbright Professional Excellence Award, serving as a two-time Peace Corps Volunteer, and working as a U.S. State Department-sponsored English Language Fellow. She trained teachers in India and Liberia, empowered women entrepreneurs in Tanzania, and shared innovative teaching methods globally. These experiences are shared in her memoir. Her contributions earned regional and national recognition, including the City of Wichita’s proclamation of August 15, 2000, as “Lakshmi Kambampati Day” and ING Ltd.’s “Unsung Hero” award for her creative teaching approaches. She has presented at national and international conferences on education and pedagogy, bridging cultures through knowledge exchange. The 232-page book is now available in paperback ($25) and ebook ($9) wherever books are sold. Meadowlark Press, established in Emporia in 2014, publishes novels, memoirs, poetry and children’s books with a focus on Midwestern settings and authors. Meadowlark Press also awards the annual Birdy Prize to the best full-length collection of poetry nationwide.  Lakshmi Kambampati brings a lifetime of rich experiences as an educator and cultural ambassador to her first book--Uncharted Paths—a memoir of pliability, cultural exchange, and lifelong learning. With a Master of Science in Geography and a Master of Education in School Administration, she taught mathematics at Butler Community College and Wichita Technical College, history at Friends University, and mathematics for Wichita Public Schools.
Her passion for education has taken her across the world. Highlights of her career include receiving a Fulbright Professional Excellence Award, serving as a two-time Peace Corps Volunteer, and working as a U.S. State Department-sponsored English Language Fellow. She trained teachers in India and Liberia, empowered women entrepreneurs in Tanzania, and shared innovative teaching methods globally. These experiences deepened her understanding of education’s power to transform lives. Her contributions earned regional and national recognition, including the City of Wichita’s proclamation of August 15, 2000, as “Lakshmi Kambampati Day” and ING Ltd.’s “Unsung Hero” award for her creative teaching approaches. She has presented at national and international conferences on education and pedagogy, bridging cultures through knowledge exchange. This memoir—a collection of reflections—chronicles her journey as an immigrant, educator, and traveler. Through moments of cultural misunderstandings, personal triumphs, and professional growth, she offers insights that inspire readers to embrace diversity, navigate challenges, and find purpose in service. Beyond teaching and writing, she finds joy in painting vibrant nature scenes with acrylics and tending to her organic garden. These passions, like her travels, keep her connected to the beauty of the world and the lessons it continues to offer. My latest book was published on May 26. It's about Leah, a middle-aged woman from a small town in Kansas, who is pregnant with her new husband after she divorced her local husband of 22 years, leaving her six children she had with him, and taking a seventh illegitimate toddler with her, going in her new and younger husband's luxury car to the US East Coast for the first time to his home area in New Haven, Connecticut to start a new life. The book is set in the 1950s and is full of unexpected twists and turns. Leah endures many difficulties but survives to build a life in New York City, which she could not have possibly foreseen. An unforgettable story based on a true experience.   Congratulations to member Mary L. Schmidt on the publication of book # 64! That's a lot of books! SIXTY-FOUR!
In Earth’s Last Hope by Mary L. Schmidt, an overnight volcanic threat throws the whole country into chaos, forcing the government to trigger top-secret emergency protocols. General James Tilson has to completely ditch his quiet retirement and put his uniform back on to run a crucial underground sanctuary operation. With a deadly storm moving in fast, Tilson helps rush local doctors, teachers, and kids down into a massive, 36-floor secret bunker hidden right under the Denver Federal Center. Outside the steel gates, the air turns into a toxic nightmare of heavy snow and glass ash that suffocates life on the surface. The whole situation gets turned on its head when military leadership reveals that human survival is actually tied to crashed UFO tech hidden away since 1947. Can Tilson successfully team up with an ancient, telepathic alien named Kryonn to stop the volcano before the remaining food reserves run out? "Earth’s Last Hope by Mary L. Schmidt is a really fascinating sci-fi disaster book that takes a total left turn halfway through the plot. It starts off feeling like a traditional prepper story, but quickly escalates into a deep-state military thriller. I appreciated the grounded, everyday tone the author uses to show what life would actually be like inside an underground bunker. I especially loved the focus on training the teens to take over complex operations because it adds a smart, long-term layer to the survival strategy, showing that the community is actively planning for the future instead of just waiting around. The casual, easy-flowing dialogue makes it feel like you are overhearing genuine families navigating a global disaster. By blending the harsh truths of an environmental collapse with uplifting, relatable moments, the book actually transforms into an unexpectedly touching story of survival. It’s an engaging read that avoids a ton of tech jargon while keeping the stakes high. I recommend it to fans of military sci-fi, intense environmental doomsday stories, or anyone who loves a good government conspiracy twist." The Chiawaukas (key-a-wau -kas) was released in January 2026, the prequel to the Fantasy/Sci-fi/Christian series I am writing. I am currently working on the next book in the series. My other rebook came out February 2026 I am thankful and very pleased to say To Love, Finding its Way is making a big splash!  Member Melanie Bonner Thomas has released the second book in the Bonner fossil story. Fossils of the Rock Chalk, published April 19, 2026, is a guidebook that introduces young and old readers to the fantastic fossils of western Kansas. Available from Ingram/Spark, online booksellers, and from the author at chalklilybooks.com.  April Pameticky's poetry collection book release party will be held at Harvester Arts in Wichita, The Lux @ 1st & Market, 120 E. 1st St N., Ste 115, June 7, 2:00-4:00 p.m.    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.
 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.  |
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