September 20, 2021 Tracy Million Simmons 2021 Vice President & Website Manager Kansas Authors Club PO BOX 333 Emporia, KS 66801 kansasauthorsclub@gmail.com
kansasauthorsclub.org
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Dear Writing and Reading Friends: I miss so many things about getting together in person at the annual convention, but the thing I must admit to missing the most is the opportunity to browse the bookroom. In fact, I love the bookroom so much that my “budget for books” is a conversation I have with my husband each year before I go. Though we won’t be able to meet face-to-face this year, I do hope that you take advantage of this opportunity to browse the virtual bookroom and support your fellow authors. (I have purchased four books so far . . . shhh . . . the budget hasn’t been set yet!) This writing business is hard work, and I think that all who are doing it agree that the business of selling books is even harder. Be a Kansas Author friend, make a Kansas Author friend, buy a Kansas Author book to read, and buy a Kansas Author book to give away. And if you write reviews you’d like to share, send us links through the contact form at the website and tag us on social media. Much Love and Good Reading/Writing,
Tracy Million Simmons 2021 Vice President & Website Manager Kansas Authors Club
Virtual Bookroom Authors Bold = Workshop Leaders & Convention Speakers Ann Anderson
Kerry Moyer
Tom Averill
Janice Northerns
Lila Bartel
Jim Potter
Adelaide Bauman
Kevin Rabas
Roy Beckemeyer
Thea Rademacher
Curtis Becker
Connie Rae
Cathy Callen
Roger Ringer
Marcia Cebulska
Jason Ryberg
Brian Daldorph
Julie Sellers
Arlice Davenport
Perry Shepard
Gretchen Cassel Eick
Tracy Million Simmons
Michael D. Graves
Anne Spry
Beth Gulley
Lisa D. Stewart
Hazel Hart
Julie Stielstra
Duane L. Herrmann
Kimberly Stringer
Deb Irsik
Jared Vaughn
Duane Johnson
Barbara Waterman-Peters
Kelly Johnston
Mark Wentling
Jack Kline
Connie White (See, Connie Rae)
Kansas Authors Club Youth Program
Dustin Wilgers
Kim Luke
Stephen & Rosie Williams
Ruth Maus
Gloria Zachgo
Najiyah Diana Maxfield
Ginger Zyskowski
Ronda Miller
Anderson, Ann Vigola Posts of a Mid-Century Kid: Doing my best, having fun Anderson takes us on a journey to 1950s and 60s Kansas and treats the reader to hometown cooking in her tasty memoir Posts of a Mid-Century Kid. With humor and richly crafted details, she chronicles her mid-century childhood, offering a sampling of another era. This delightful and mischievous memoir advocates coloring vividly outside of the lines! A fun exploration of vintage toys, traditional festivities and personal growth into adulthood when life was “easy.” Ann vividly describes the beauty of the prairie state and the restorative impact of nature in her life. Summers spent at her grandparents’ farm, growing up with cousins, and family reunions offer a connection to the halcyon days of the mid-century. Ann is grounded in her sense of place and the reader will experience the tall grass prairie and the never-ending horizon that Ann shares so beautifully. Through her words, we are transported to the big red barn on her grandparents’ farm, to the garden where her grandmother picked sweet red raspberries, and to the beauty of small moments Posts of a Mid-Century Kid takes the reader on a comforting journey to the farm pond with a cane pole and a can of worms, summer vacations in Colorado, waiting for the seed catalogue with grandmother, and the joy of eating ‘rainy day’ popcorn balls with mom during a Kansas thunderstorm. Ann offers generous helpings of comfort-food-reading as she shares family stories and recipes of prize desserts prepared for generations, and gives second servings of hope and strength in the form of experiences shared, and the memories she stirs into her words.
Averill, Thomas Fox A Carol Dickens Christmas It's Christmas, and Carol Dickens's life is in major transition. Her son Finn, a talented trumpet player, is about to leave for college. Her ex-husband, a real-estate wheelerdealer, wants to sell their properties in Kansas and move to Arizona. Her wheelchairbound friend, Laurence, has fallen in love with her. To top it all off, Scraps, the family dog, is dying. As her world spins out of control, Carol seeks refuge in her research on the use of the semicolon--and in her ritual of cooking the perfect series of Victorian holiday meals inspired by A Christmas Carol.
Rode When Thomas Fox Averill first heard Jimmy Driftwood's ballad "Tennessee Stud," he found the song hauntingly compelling. As he began to imagine the story behind the lyrics, he set out to research the song's history--a tale from "along about eighteen and twenty-five" of the legendary exploits of the greatest horse that ever lived, the "Tennessee Stud," and his owner. Traveling the same route the song chronicles, from Tennessee into Arkansas, through Texas and into Mexico, Averill visited racetracks, Spanish missions, historical museums, a living history farm, and national parks, inventing characters of his own along the way. His novel captures the spirit of the ballad while telling the story of Robert Johnson, a man who holds love in his heart though adventure rules his time. Pursued by a bounty hunter, Indians, and his conscience, Johnson and his horse are tested, strengthened, and made resolute.
Secrets of the Tsil Café Raised in the traditional kitchen from which his mother runs her Buen AppeTito catering service, Weston Tito Hingler's childhood is shaped by the foods he eats, especially those he must try before he is allowed to enter the Tsil Café where his
Released October 24 Order from Anamcara Press Pre-order on Kindle
father invites--and at times challenges--diners to experience foods of the New World cooked New Mexican style. Filled with recipes and definitions of New World ingredients, Averill's novel follows Wes as he navigates his way through the dueling cuisines of his passionate parents and the signature recipes of his life.
Bartel, Lila What was God Thinking? Did you ever wonder what God was thinking when he created so many strange and wonderful things? In her many years of teaching in public schools author and artist Lila Bartel had many occasions to see the awe and curiosity of her students. In this children's book Lila combines her gifts as a watercolor artist with her love of children. She imagines it as a great tool for Sunday School teachers who can show their students the book's colorful illustrations and prompt them to supply the answer to the question: What was God thinking? It is also her hope that it would be a wonderful way for parents and grandparents to pose the same question to their own little ones.
Bauman, Adelaide Visit Adelaide on Facebook
Zara the Zebu ZARA THE ZEBU is charming and well-written. Child listeners and readers will relate to Zeni's goal of forming a friendship with Zara and the obstacles she has to overcome to earn the calf's trust. This is a story of persistence and growing empathy, presented in a lively and child-lile way. Zeni solves her problem herself, with supportive adults in the background, which gives agency to her as the main character. The bright color palette of the illustrations complements the story. The portrayal of Zeni in text and illustration is appealing and culturally sensitive. —Sue Lowell Gallion
Roy J. Beckemeyer Music I Once Could Dance To (Coal City Press, 2014, 100 pp.) ISBN 978-0-9795844-8-0. $10 Used copies available from Amazon. A 2015 Kansas Notable Book “…a strong visual sense, astute storytelling technique and attunements to the rhythms of the natural world. Beckemeyer creates a remembered music…that leads to quiet epiphanies and delights…What stands out in these rich, resonant poems is the care of craft…crisp lexicon and vibrant images…At his best, Beckemeyer rises to aesthetic heights that reflect the rich heritage of the Plains…” — ARLICE DAVENPORT, Wichita Eagle.
Amanuensis Angel (Spartan Press, 2018, x+58 pp.) ISBN 978-1-946642-40-0. $ Available off the shelf or online from Watermark Books & Café, Wichita, Kansas. a book of ekphrastic poems inspired by depictions of angels by 27 different artists.
Stage Whispers (Meadowlark Books, 2018, iv+114 pp.). ISBN: 978-1-7322410-3-9. $15 Available off the shelf or online from Watermark Books & Café, Wichita, Kansas. Winner of the 2019 Nelson Poetry Book Award, by Kansas Authors Club. “Stage Whispers speaks from on, off, below, and above the stage of life, as well as the stages of lives we travel, showing us how to hear what we have to say to the world and what the world is saying to us . . . Beckemeyer once again shows us the essential nature of listening closely to the music and quiet of everyday rhythms, yearnings, connections, losses, and motions. He writes with originality and precision about the natural world, growing up in the Midwest, old friends and old places that shaped lives, and even the workings of our minds . . . the most powerful cord that threads through this book is love: love for being alive to witness the tilting of seasons and weather, both external and internal, as well as love for the moments and humans that illuminate our days.”—Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, 2009-13 Kansas Poet Laureate, and author of Everyday Magic: Fieldnotes on the Mundane and Miraculous
Mouth Brimming Over (Blue Cedar Press, 2019, xiv + 122 pp.) ISBN 978-0-9960970-9-3. $15 Available off the shelf or online from Watermark Books & Café, Wichita, Kansas In Mouth Brimming Over, Roy Beckemeyer celebrates the world in exuberant, expansive poetry, rich with evocative language. You will find in this book poems for reading aloud, poems that will resonate in your vocal cords as they unfold on the page and in your mind. Reviewer Arlice Davenport describes this book as one that explores the great Whitmanesque themes of the body, the self, the teeming earth, the wideopen horizon. Kansas Poet Laureate Emerita Wyatt Townley noted: "Whether he's analyzing the geometry of the Trinity or pouring Whitman into a sonnet, Beckemeyer blends gravity with wit in this elegiac tribute to the permanence of love..." And Kansas Poet Laureate Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg says: "Roy Beckemeyer's poems amplify the music of being alive and illuminate the dance of being human."
Becker, Curtis He Watched and Took Note Author Curtis Becker utilizes a collection of poetry and short stories as a vehicle for pondering the truth of social constructs and existence. The world he creates is full of everyday awkwardness, biting satire, and characters who are trying to make sense of their place in it.
Billings, Annette Hope Shop from Annette’s website
Just Shy of Stars Annette's eagerly awaited third book, "Just Shy of Stars," has been published by Spartan Press/Kansas City, MO. This collection of poetry reads like a journey across the continuum of emotion with stops at the most poignant places.
Descants for a Daughter, a collection of affirmations/meditations, reads like a blessing for all daughters, for all humanity. It inspires us to recognize our own worth, to resist the forces that threaten to diminish us as we move along life's path, and to remind the people we love to do the same. It is a collection to be returned to many times.
A Net Full of Hope This collection of poetry reveals why her readers dub Annette Hope Billings the “Maya of the Midwest.” Annette Hope Billings writes with clear eyes, original images, evocative rhythms, and unfolding daring in her book, "A Net Full of Hope". Starting with a tribute to her muse (and many of ours), Maya Angelou, she then calls on readers to awaken so that we can join her on this journey into the heart of poetry, pausing along the way to honor those who went before her, and always speaking to the generations to come.
Callen, Cathy Running out of Footprints is a detailed family history with biographies for three generations of the Neff family. Starting with an imaginary day spent hiking with her grandfather in Jackson County, Missouri, in 1892, the author blends her life and century with his. Along the way, she meets interesting people, takes some great field trips, solves some family mysteries, and reflects on her place in the scheme of things. (2013) ISBN 978-0-9884716-0-3 Cathy Callen’s Books, www.cathycallen.com
Words in Rows, Poetry and Prose is a collection of the author’s writings, spanning 50 years. She describes it as “an autobiography in short takes.” (2016) ISBN 0988471612 Cathy Callen’s Books, www.cathycallen.com
Ginkgo Glen is a lighthearted story about the interactions of residents living in a fictional subdivision called Heavenly Heights. These rather odd neighbors come together little by little in response to an emergency and, as old dreams and secrets are shared, they exchange ginkgo trees as expressions of remembrance and friendship. (2018) ISBN 978-0-9884716-2-7 Cathy Callen’s Books, www.cathycallen.com
Cebulska, Marcia Skywriting: A Journaling Guide to Help You Soar! "Cover up your screens! Tell your phone to take a hike! Get ready to journal your way to more joy, creativity, and healing than you can begin to imagine." -Harriet Lerner, Ph.D., author of The Dance of Anger and Why Won't You Apologize? "Marcia Cebulska's Skywriting journal is the perfect jumping-off point for anyone interested in fun and insightful guided self-discovery. Where the typical promptjournal author is an invisible, omniscient narrator leaving the reader/writer to complete this journey alone, she relates fascinating and deeply personal stories, which gives us permission to be authentic and honest in our own writing. With thoughtprovoking, challenging, and playful prompts and questions, she compels us to dig deep and hold nothing back, because she holds nothing back. A satisfying and inspirational journal I enthusiastically recommend to writers and non-writers alike." - LS Hawker, USA Today Bestselling Author of The Drowning Game
Watching Men Dance She is a wanderer; he will not fly. She is a city girl; he prefers a bison ranch. She grew up in her father’s Greek restaurant; he dances at powwows. Ava and Jesse travel life together in a turquoise pickup truck, feasting along the way. They settle, raise children, cheat, gamble, and fight with great gusto. When Ava leaves to travel around Greece like a female Odysseus, their bonds are tested. Watching Men Dance is a feast for the senses, a celebration of cultural diversity, and a compelling read, at once both humorous and moving. Ava, the captivating main character, embodies an engaging zest for life as she struggles between her pull to adventure and her need for home and family. Jesse, the Native dancer she falls in love with, challenges her beliefs and commitments. Watching Men Dance is the story of a marriage: simple and complex, lonely and overcrowded, exasperating and fulfilling.
Daldorph, Brian Kansas Poems (Meadowlark, 2021) Kansas Poems “is a poetry of place and microhistory, which nonetheless transcends the people and events it tells about . . . And while I’ve never been to Kansas, I now feel that I might have—or at least that there is a Kansas of my mind, a place of lakes and fireflies and small lives.” --Laura Chalar, author of Unlearning and Midnight at the Law Firm (Stories) Brian Daldorph’s eighth full-length collection of poetry is a tribute to his adopted state, where he has lived through the four seasons year by year, in Lawrence, Kansas.Kansas poetry blooms in these pages, not only poems set in Lawrence, Linwood, Garden City,
and Coffeyville, but also in the more mythological locations of Stony Creek Cemetery, Brook Creek Park, Oak Hill Cemetery and Stull, which, legend has it, is one of the gates of Hell. These are poems about Kansas people: a Vietnam vet still angry at the government who betrayed him; undertaker Zeke Haskins, looking out of his office window at his dying small town. The football coach’s wife who fears that her husband will recruit their sons for the sport he loves.There are ghost stories here, jail visits, love stories and breakups, a Kansas story about Brown Recluse spiders and Black Widows “waiting in outhouses and dreams with that one bite/ to freeze your limbs and jam your lungs . . .”
Words is a Powerful Thing: Twenty Years of Teaching Creative Writing at Douglas County Jail (University Press of Kansas, 2021) Brian Daldorph first entered the Douglas County Jail classroom in Lawrence, Kansas, to teach a writing class on Christmas Eve 2001. His last class at the jail for the foreseeable future was mid-March 2020, right before the COVID-19 lockdown; the virus is taking a heavy toll in confined communities like nursing homes and prisons. Words Is a Powerful Thing is Daldorph’s record of teaching at the jail for the two decades between 2001 and 2020, showing how the lives of everyone involved in the class—but especially the inmates who came to class week after week—benefited from what happened every Thursday afternoon in that jail classroom, where for two hours inmates and instructor became a circle of ink and blood, writing together, reciting their poems, telling stories, and having a few good laughs. Words Is a Powerful Thing brings into the light the works of fifty talented inmate writers whose work deserves attention. Their poetry speaks of “what really matters” to all of us and gives the reader sustained insight into the role that creativity plays in aiding survival and bringing positive change for inmates, and, in turn, for all of us. Daldorph’s account of his teaching experience not only takes the reader inside the daily life at a county jail but also sets the work done in the writing class within the larger context of inmate education is the US corrections system, where education is often one of the few lifelines available to inmates. Words Is a Powerful Thing provides a teaching guide for instructors working with incarcerated writers, offering an extensive examination of both the challenges and benefits. When Brian Daldorph decided the story of his classroom experiences and the great writing produced by the inmates deserved to be told to wider audiences, he struggled with how to bring it all together. Not long after, an inmate wrote a poem titled “Words Is a Powerful Thing,” offering Daldorph a title, concept, and purpose: to show that the poetry of inmates speaks not just to other inmates but to all of us.
Davenport, Arlice W. Setting the Waves on Fire (Meadowlark Press, 2020) ISBN: 978-1-7342477-7-0 Like Rilke, whose words open each section of this book of daily devotions, Davenport, too, is a seeker after awe and wonderment, something greater than oneself; realizing, like Burke, that the void, darkness, solitude and silence are necessary terrors along the road. In the end, after “waiting for Wordsworth’s / daffodils to bloom,” we are left contemplating that same poet’s lament, “The world is too much with us.” . . . This is a brilliant debut, fulfilling the promise of its title over and over. For the sake of your soul, do not miss this one. — Robert L. Dean, Jr., author of The Aerialist Will Not Be Performing. Purchase from the Meadowlark Bookstore
Everlasting (Meadowlark Press, 2021) ISBN: 978-1736223277 Everlasting is Arlice W. Davenport’s second poetry collection—inspired by religion, mythology, philosophy, travel, and classic art. The diction, style, and subject matter differ in each of the four sections of the book: “Into the Mystic,” “Finding a Self,” “Patterns of Fecundity,” and “Other Shores.” The diction ranges from plainstyle to lofty, and subjects span the breadth of internal, earthly, and mystical experiences, observations, and questions. Each poem, ranging from one to two pages in length, deserves focus, as Davenport pays close attention to each word, line break, and the effect each poem has on the entire collection--tokens of his careful craftsmanship. Overall, this book depicts life as a piece of art--beautiful and meant to be savored. Purchase from the Meadowlark Bookstore
Eick, Gretchen Cassel All but the last are available from Blue Cedar Press [bluecedarpress.com] or Amazon or order from libraries. Convention rates 15% off.
The Death Project: An Anthology for These Times edited by Gretchen Eick and Cora Poage ISBN 978-1-7342272-6-0 Short stories, poems, memories of survivors of grief, war, racist violence, declining health, and COVID-19--by 36 writers from Kansas and across the planet-- are here gathered to help people of all ages find strength and hope during these trying times. At least $6 from the sale of each book goes to health care workers through Doctors Without Borders. (Blue Cedar Press, 2020). $10 for the convention.
The Set Up, 1984: Britain's Biggest Drug Bust, Classified Until 2064 by Gretchen Eick ISBN 978-1-7342272-3-9 A crime novel about four Brits and one Cypriot, novices, who smuggle the largest quantity of hashish ever brought into Britain and are apprehended, imprisoned, and tried. Unwittingly they have been set up to facilitate an illegal operation that serves the foreign policy interests of the British and American governments. Based on a real event and the records kept by one of those charged, this historical novel is a page turner. The full records were classified by the British government for 80 years. A study guide and discussion of sources are included. (Blue Cedar Press, 2020). $15 for the convention.
They Met at Wounded Knee: The Eastmans’ Story by Gretchen Cassel Eick ISBN - A history of US colonization of Indian territory told through the lives and writings of a Dakota physician, who was the best known "Indian" of his day, and his White wife--Charles and Elaine Eastman. Both were writers (11 books each) and activists who challenged the Bureau of Indian Affairs' policies. He organized the Boy Scouts and Campfire Girls' emphasis on learning "Indian" skills, gave the Sioux surnames, organized "Indian" YMCAs, wrote books that survived 125 years. Advocating for Native Americans in the worst of times, their lives reveal US history as it affected indigenous Americans. Accessible and fascinating. Ask your library to order this University of Nevada Press book (2020). $45 reduced to $38 for the convention.
The Hard Verge: Britain 2025 by Gretchen Eick, ISBN 9781693448881 - A Syrian woman journalist goes missing in Britain. Her partner, brothers, and four members of Parliament are swept into the search for her and for information about what Britain's Ultra Right government is doing with asylum seekers. This thriller carries readers into the underbelly of Saudi relations with Britain. What has happened to Ana and why? Half dystopic, half contemporary, and fully engaging. (Amazon, 2019). $12.75 for the convention.
Finding Duncan: a novel by Gretchen Eick ISBN: 978-0-996097-3-1 When thirty-something Duncan Allen believes his wife is unfaithful with his brother, he flees Wichita for a remove village on the North Sea (Scotland). There he struggles with despair and reinvents himself with the help of a small child and an old man. As his life flowers, losses knee-cap him. Duncan and his wife back in Wichita both must find new lives and determine whether living through loss is worth it. A novel for anyone who cares for someone who struggles with depression and recovery. (Blue Cedar Press, 2015). $15 for the convention.
Maybe Crossings, a novel by Gretchen Eick ISBN: 978-0-996097-2-4 A historical novel of black and white families immersed in the 1960s civil rights movement and of their children, making their way in a post-Movement world. One year, 2003, brings them back together with surprising results as three generations sort out what it means to live in the United States in the 21st century. Readers requested a sequel which will be published at the end of 2021. $12.75 for the convention.
Dissent in Wichita: The Civil Rights Movement in the Midwest, 1954-72 ISBN 978-0-252-07491-2 "Eick's fascinating and moving account of the black freedom struggle in the Midwestern heartland is at the cutting edge of the new civil rights scholarship." John Dittmer, author of Local People. This history won three awards - the best nonfiction by a Kansas or Missouri author, the best book published by the University of Illinois Press, and the best book by a Kansas author (2002 and 2003). Learn the groundbreaking ways Kansans contributed to expanding human rights. (University of Illinois Press, 2007). $25 for the convention.
Graves, Michael D. All Hallows’ Shadows Meadowlark (February 2020) ISBN-13: 978-1-7342477-3-2 2021 Kansas Notable Book, 2020 J. Donald Coffin Memorial Award, 2021 Midwest Book Award Finalist Book 3 of the Pete Stone, Private Investigator series: When a young woman is stabbed to death in Wichita, the police capture a suspect and put him behind bars within hours. Detective Pete Stone is hired to prove that the suspect is innocent, but Stone has his doubts. Isn’t being caught standing over the body with knife in hand evidence enough? When additional bodies turn up murdered by weapons with similar strange markings and cryptic verses, Stone realizes the clock is ticking. He must uncover the truth before the real villain strikes again, on Halloween night.
Shadow of Death Meadowlark (November 2017) ISBN-13: 978-0996680165 Book II of the Pete Stone, Private Investigator Series: When a cop killer strikes Wichita, Pete Stone, Private Investigator, is on the case. He has to be. He wakes up in jail, battered and bruised and accused of a murder he’s almost certain he didn’t commit. He must prove his innocence before he’s abandoned by his clients, his friends, and one special lady. When Stone is not getting knocked around by cops, he’s getting roughed up by love.
To Leave a Shadow Meadowlark (November 2015) ISBN-13: 978-0692567791 2016 Kansas Notable Book, 2016 Design Award, Kansas Authors Club Pete Stone hadn’t always been a private eye. He’d lost his dairy business at the toss of a coin when the depression hit. His children grew up, as children do, and his wife left him for a chinchilla farmer. He had learned to like his solitude. When Mrs. Lucille Hamilton walked through his door searching for her missing husband, Pete was the only one who believed her husband’s death hadn’t been a suicide. Purchase all 3 titles at the Meadowlark Bookstore, or wherever you buy books.
Gulley, Beth The Sticky Note Alphabet Alien Buddha Press, July 25, 2021, ISBN: 979-8539218881 Book Sales Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09B3CYCZ2 Beth Gulley’s latest is a glimpse into the secret minds of us all. Broken into three distinct, themed sections, The Sticky Note Alphabet offers an intimate look into some of the most prescient facets of our inner workings. Part I chronicles January and early February 2021; one of more turbulent moments in recent America. It begins hopeful as “Fresh snow covers the dead year,” but quickly history begins to repeat itself and the narrator finds themself wishing they could still “…take/small things/for granted.” Part two focuses on the everyday, which at a glance may sound mundane, but Gulley has the unique talent of taking something as ordinary as a neglected cucumber and turning it into a “…Garden Crime Scene.” Part III is an extremely enjoyable meditation on the music of adolescence, in this case, 1980’s radio hits. This section is particularly effective in detailing the ways in which the music of one’s youth will forever echo in their consciousness. These three seemingly disparate sections combine seamlessly to create an honest portrait of the American psyche of the twenty-first century. Beth Gulley’s The Sticky Note Alphabet is a brilliant, truthful look into ourselves.
Hart, Hazel Hiram’s Girls: For Want of a Home - Pierce Family Saga Book 5 Find the Pierce Family Saga and More of Hazel’s Books on Amazon. November 1864, Kansas When their mother died nine years ago, the Pierce sisters, Jennie and Ella, went to live with aunts. They became homeless when Jennie’s forebodings brought down her preacher uncle’s wrath. Claiming Jennie, now 12, is demon-possessed, he tosses the girls out. At Jennie’s insistence, all five Pierce siblings join her in a search for their father, Hiram Pierce, who was taken prisoner of war by Confederate General Price during the Battle of Westport. They find him near death, and after they save his life, he promises his daughters a home even though he knows his current wife, Ava, will object. However, while Hiram was off fighting against Price and his men, Ava ran off with a man from her past, deserting the couple’s three daughters, ages three months to twoand-a-half years. Now, Ella, 14, has what she wants most: a home where she is in charge and not the servant of others. Jennie is respected, not punished, for her ability to foretell future events, and she is thrilled to be a big sister and enthusiastically takes on the care of the little ones. All is well until their father’s wife returns. Ava manages to worm her way back into the home with a bizarre story of being kidnapped. Jennie and Ella know Ava is lying. They have spoken to a detective who is investigating their stepmother for theft and attempted murder, but without proof of her deeds, they don’t dare tell their father for fear he will disown them just as he previously did their brother when Ava made false claims against him. Is there any way to prove to their father his wife is lying, or must Ella resort to an early marriage to escape the demands of a ruthless stepmother?
Herrmann, Duane L. Family Plowing and Other Prairie Poems Duane L. Herrmann's family has lived in Kansas since the 1860s. His poetry celebrates the prairie and life on the prairie. This collection consists of new unpublished poems, published but previously uncollected poems, and some poems from previous collections, many revised. Herrmann is an important voice in poetry, honoring the Midwest, its culture, its wildlife, and its people.
Book 4 Hiram’s War Book 3 Hiram’s Boy Book 2 For Want of a Father Book 1 Cordelia’s Journey
Irsik, Deb Buy online or visit Deb’s Website. Heroes by Design Sela has been best friends with Emily and Zach as long as she can remember. Losing her dog is the most traumatic thing Sela has ever dealt with and her first real test of faith. Then Emily's mother dies. The friendship is tested when Emily decides she no longer needs God or friends who do. In a moment of frustration, Sela petitions her Guardian Angel to help her by intervening on Emily's behalf. The petition is heard and God grants a redirection. He sends Victorious and Glorious to Roosevelt Middle School and gives them permission to interact with no one's knowledge that they are angels. Victor and Gloria Way, the new twins, weave their way into the lives and activities of the students. They provide subtle and not so subtle fun and enlightenment. They make it clear to Mara, Sela's former friend turned bully and her group that they will make their own choices in friends. They encourage the students to embrace their differences and learn to work out the small things.
Hero’s Journey Sela and her best friends, Emily and Zach, are just beginning the summer before High School. Sela knows it will be a summer of change and is looking forward to it but a little afraid of how her relationships will change. Zach and Emily discovered that they like each other more than just friends and they are hanging out. Sela, sometimes feels like a third wheel but thinks they are cute. They are both working over the summer at the aquatic center and Sela is going to Camp Disciple as a Jr. counselor. It is the first year she has ever gone to camp alone. Sela goes to camp and immediately finds herself in hot water when Chad, a very good-looking Senior leader, goes out of his way to get her attention. Sela makes choices that have consequences and learns a lesson of forgiveness and grace. Emily and Zach are experimenting with being a “couple,” and having issues of their own. Emily is still struggling with her mother’s death and the idea that her father might move on. Zach tries to soothe her and is supportive but Emily wants to talk to Sela. The angels are active in the plot as well and show up in a surprising way. With their help and an unfortunate fall playing tennis, Sela has time to contemplate and plan. She has a vision for a group that will bring teens together and motivates her friends to join her in forming a group. Teens for a New Tomorrow becomes more than just a dream. TNT becomes Sela’s focus for the rest of the summer and finding a way to introduce it as part of a school group is a challenge for the friends.
Hero’s Purpose Sela and her friends are beginning high school and intend to launch Teens for a New Tomorrow. TNT the bomb! Sela sets up a table with other clubs to stir interest and get new members the trouble begins. A group led by an unhappy senior causes trouble and seems determined to crush TNT. Zach makes a connection with a girl that is part of the Poetry Club and they join forces to get make a statement about social, and environmental issues. High school activities pull the group in different directions, but they stand firmly together when their TNT is suspended due to lies and fear. A personal event threatens to destroy Sela’s faith and she discovers that life spares no one. Will her experiences lead her to her true purpose and will she be able to balance God’s expectations with her reality?
Johnson, Duane Evolution’s Promise: Meditations of a Magical Thinker The poetry of Evolution's Promise is influenced and framed by Integral -- or Evolutionary -- Theory, one implication of which is that evolution is impelling people of faith to recognize truths, goodness and beauty found in other faith traditions and integrate those values into their own belief systems. While celebrating supreme values central to all religions, Johnson strives to avoid dogmas that distinguish the great faiths from one another but which do little to contribute to the believer's spiritual life. As a result, the poems in Evolution's Promise can serve as catalysts for spiritual growth, regardless of one's religion. The author draws on his spiritual optimism, subtle humor and pithy style to write succinct, whimsical poems. Though not parables, the selections in Evolution's Promise apply the same technique of using allegory and metaphor to illustrate spiritual truths and morals in a way that leaves room for the reader to understand these lessons in his or her own way. The author suggests reading three or four poems aloud to yourself each night immediately after savoring your favorite bedtime snack.
Herald of the Resurrection For three years, veteran Temple runner Malak ben Ikkar has been a secret follower of Jesus. While faithfully delivering messages for the religious leaders in Jerusalem and keeping them abreast of Jesus's activities, he has done the same among Jesus's followers and has warned Jesus whenever the religious authorities try to arrest him. The day after the crucifixion, Malak's thoughts turn toward marriage and raising a family. Then, on resurrection morning, he learns he has one last message to deliver. Taking a unique approach to the Easter story, "Herald of the Resurrection" follows Malak as he: decides what to do next with his life, attempts to reconcile the demands of married life with Jesus's mandate to spread the Gospel, struggles to understand what the Gospel message truly is, and tries to stay one step ahead of his sworn enemy, a Temple guard named Zazel. Interspersed are a few flashbacks -- memories of Jesus and Malak's adventures as a runner.
Johnston, Kelly Kalaska: Poetry from the Chautauqua Hills, Blue Cedar Press, 2017 PRAISE FOR KALASKA: “The poetry of ‘Kalaska’ is moving and strong. The reader is inspired to find his or her own Kalaska, to find the private peace of a wilderness occupied only by deer, coyotes, bald eagles, the moon, and faraway stars that hover close. ‘“The hum of the highway/grind of the gears I have left behind./1 wish to be alone.’ Who wouldn’t want to be alone in a place that offers surcease from the day to day noise that rusts the souI.” —Diane Wahto Author, Leap of Faith
Kansas Authors Club – Youth Program Youth Contest Awards Book - 2021 Each year Kansas Authors Club publishes a book of winning entries from our youth contest participants. Mennonite Press, of Newton, Kansas, graciously donates the printing of this book so that copies may be gifted to all youth who place in the contest. The Club accepts donations ($10 suggested) for the additional copies of the book. Donations cover the cost of shipping and handling, and excess proceeds go toward the support of our youth writing program and the annual Youth Writing Contest.
Kline, Jack Rhapsody In 1935, Kansas City detective Phil Morris receives a call from candy heiress Cynthia Stuart. She claims Millbrook Chocolates, her dead father’s business, is hemorrhaging money. In addition, tenants leasing her childhood home believe the old Stuart house is haunted. Cynthia wants Phil and his team to investigate the loss of company funds and odd occurrences at her former home. [After her parents were tragically murdered ten years earlier, the police decided Cynthia’s teenage brother killed them and then turned the murder weapon on himself.] “And one more thing,” Cynthia tells Phil: “There is no way my brother killed my parents and then himself… I’ll never believe anything else.” As Phil and his team slog through the intertwined matters of closed-case murders, a failing business, and a haunted house, his problems are confounded by a distracting dilemma in his love life. Danger escalates, and though Phil doesn’t believe in ghosts, the possibility of supernatural answers looms ever larger.
But Not For Me Hard drinking, small potatoes PI Phil Morris scores the biggest case of his life when political boss Tom Holloway hires him to find Holloway’s missing twenty-year-old son. It’s mid-October, 1934, and a war between the Irish and Sicilian mobs engulfs Kansas City. Holloway straddles the fence as two mobs struggle for dominance. His son grew up with the sons of Irish mob leaders. Mere weeks before his disappearance he became tight with the primary Sicilian enforcer. Phil and his friendly rival, Rusty Callahan, pursue the leads, but someone goes to great lengths—even murder—to blunt the investigation. The treacherous trail they follow reveals suspects in both mobs as well as KC’s police department. And against his better judgment, Phil falls hard for the seductive Holloway daughter, Colleen, who seems sick over her younger brother’s disappearance, but is she really? And is she the one for Phil? Phil’s investigation slogs through the streets of Kansas City, its jazz clubs, and into opulence that defies a country in depression. Will the twists and turns of this vexing case mean the end of Phil’s career… or his life?
Luke, Kim Kim’s Author Page on Amazon www.kimlukeauthor.com Children’s Series
The King of Nobody Finds His Castle What good is a king without a castle? Ollie the Mouse is about to find out as he makes his way to Fort Osage Farm. While setting up his new home in a pair of old boots, Ollie meets and befriends a gorgeous ladybug named Jana Indiana, a young Malamute pup named Karibou and a host of other characters. He soon learns to watch out for Rex the Rat, Gypsy the Farm Cat, a tricky gnome and those pesky, invisible Pixies that keep stealing food from Farmer Bob's table. Join Ollie and his friends as he learns how to become a wise ruler who gathers his subjects for a supreme challenge.
Builders, Bakers and Fairy Tale Makers Ollie the mouse has followed his dream to become the king of a new castle, but that dream needs a bit of fine-tuning. The attic he has brought his followers to looks nothing like a castle. The mice have no houses, little food and they're not happy they've followed this little dreamer. In this chapter book for elementary students, the second tale in the Fort Osage Farm series, the magic unfolds to delight young and old alike. Ollie and his friends, including the Alaskan Malamute dog named Karibou, teach building, baking, table manners and life lessons as they try to battle an army of hungry rats that threatens all their lives. They enjoy the help of their new friends, the pixies from the Edgewater Kingdom, and try to discover the true nature of some mysterious blue stars that are always in the right place at the right time.
Chocolate Toothpaste & Christmas Cheer A winter blizzard has come to Fort Osage Farm. It may keep families from picking out their Christmas trees. It may also cause Farmer Bob and Honey to have to cancel their first ever Christmas show. To make matters worse, the blue stars that have helped Ollie the Mouse to quickly build his castle and expand his kingdom have faded. There may not be enough magic left for the Christmas elves to do their magic at the new Lodge at Fort Osage. Farm. Will King Ollie have enough courage and wisdom to save the day? Will his pal Karibou, the great Alaskan Malamute be able to use his strength to help? Will Ollie's mother be rescued from the winter blizzard that has come to Fort Osage Farm? And what is this chocolate toothpaste all the mice are raving about? The beloved mouse that rules this hidden kingdom once again takes center stage in this third tale in The Enchanted Farm at Fort Osage series. This children's chapter book series appeals to young and old alike and arrives just in time for the holidays.
Adult Series
Circle of Sun Black Inferno Mortal Moon Something is wrong in White Oak, MO . . . After a deadly climbing accident, 30-year-old Quinn Clarke loses her job and retreats to the sleepy Missouri riverside town of White Oak to heal her fractured body and rebuild her life. But the tourist village, with its wineries, quaint shops and rich history, turns out to be anything but sleepy. Something is wrong with the water in White Oak. Birds are dying and bizarre weather conditions threaten the town’s future. Quinn is sucked into the chaos, beginning with a mystery woman who delivers a message suggesting her climbing tragedy was no accident. Quinn meets handsome detective Keefe Remington, then visits nearby Royce Estate. She loses her way and her peace of mind on that visit and is confused and unprepared for what lies behind the massive stone
walls and how she is somehow connected to the Royce family. The first book of the Circle of Sun series takes Quinn from main street bookstore owner to unlikely heroine and straight into a darkness that could turn White Oak into a battlefield . . . and into her destiny.
Maus, Ruth Valentine, Poems Wisdom and wit--and just a hint of sass--underlie this first published collection of poetry by Ruth Maus. In Valentine, a juxtaposition of Kansas native personality and Smith College academic oozes out in poetic form. A reader will turn these pages like a child reading Silverstein, filling with delight and awe as poems are discovered and savored by the tongue and by the imagination. This book includes original illustrations by the poet. Finalist—The Birdy Poetry Prize, by Meadowlark Books, 2019. Purchase at Meadowlark Books and wherever you buy books.
Maxfield, Najiyah Diana Sophia’s Journal, Daybreak Press Her cell phone is dead, and she has no idea where she is. After a bad fall in the river, 16 year-old Sophia suddenly finds herself in nineteenth century Kansas. She struggles to adjust to new food, new entertainment and a new family. She is still a twenty-first century Muslim girl, though, so slavery is intolerable and the way Native Americans are treated is unacceptable. Sophia copes the best she can as she tries to understand how she got there, how she can help those she's met and if she will ever get back. Sophia's Journal is a fresh take on a pivotal moment in American history. Filled with adventure, romance and self-discovery, it offers a glimpse into a world half-forgotten, from a vantage point like no other. "Quite simply, an excellent read." -J.M. Hayes, author of the Mad Dog and Englishman series "Finally, a well-written novel about a teenage Muslim!" - Freeda C. Shamma, Curriculum Consultant "A valuable and entertaining addition to any social studies or language arts curriculum." -Tamara Gray, Educational Consultant and founder of Rabata.org
Miller, Ronda I Love the Child (Kellogg Press) KAC Children’s Book Award, 2020 - The vision for I Love the Child, was to incorporate children from a variety of ages, ethnicities and abilities. The author and artist depict a non-traditional mermaid as a mixed race, gender neutral person with a partial limb rather than the traditional female mermaid with a perfect body and long red or blond hair. The girl in the wheelchair breaks the mold of being incapable by doing a wheelie. Most humans have experienced an emotion similar to one or more of the children depicted within the stanzas.
Moyer, Kerry Turnpike Prairie, Kellogg Press, 2021 In his third book of poetry, Kerry Moyer revisits familiar themes in a new way. The Flint Hills of Kansas remain a focus along with the people and places that have and continue to populate Moyer's life.
Rust & Weeds, Kellogg Press, 2020 Kerry Moyer is a poet with a young heart and an old soul who celebrates his beloved Kansas and the people who make it special. The poems in Rust & Weeds are glimpses of life in the Midwest, often bright with color, sometimes shrouded in gray. Moyer writes, “So very little impresses me anymore,” followed a few pages later by an ode to the small things that bring him joy. Moyer’s eye and ear for detail capture the contradictions that make our lives unique and so much like one another. -Mike Graves, Shadow of Death
Dirt Road, Kellogg Press, 2019 In his debut work, poet Kerry Moyer paints pictures of his world. These glimpses of friends, family, and familiar places tell his story, but they also tell the reader’s. His nostalgic lens appeals to everyone who grew up in rural America close to or at the end of a dirt road. We can picture ourselves in the apple orchard or on the porch of the old farmhouse of Moyer’s youth, because we have these or something similar in our own memories. We can also see ourselves in our favorite watering hole, in trouble, and at the end of our rope. Moyer’s voice becomes ours. With Dirt Road, Moyer introduces his voice to a wider audience and helped many of us to find our own voice and our own dirt road.
Northerns, Janice Some Electric Hum, Lamar University Literary Press, August 2020 ISBN 978-1-942956-79-2 Link to purchase: https://www.janicenortherns.com/books Janice Northerns’s debut poetry collection, Some Electric Hum, won the 2021 Byron Caldwell Smith Book Award for poetry from the University of Kansas and was named a 2021 WILLA Literary Award Finalist in Poetry. “Some Electric Hum disentangles the gnarled branches of a family tree into poems of complicated love and endurance. Deeply engaged with place, these poems range across Texas to Kansas to hold up the objects and people that created a personal history and ‘grapple with words just west of the tongue.’ Intimate and invested in the lives of others, Northerns crafts narratives of tenderness and survival, reminding us all it's always possible to move forward and carry our stories with us.” —Traci Brimhall, author of Come the Slumberless to the Land of Nod “…. a sure sign of poetic talent on a very deep level.” —B. H. Fairchild, author of Usher: Poems
Potter, Jim Author Website
Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery This contemporary, character-driven novel is about people who are stigmatized. However, once they discover their true identities, each is empowered to begin the journey of life's purpose. The main characters are: police officer Tom Jennings, obese as a mutant Idaho potato in a jiggling gelatin suit; James Odessa-Smith, with his schizoaffective disorder; and young Suanna Morningcloud, a person with albinism, half Nez Perce Indian and half Caucasian. Meeting during a botched bank robbery in Prairie Grove, Kansas, they experience tragedy and trauma. Forever changed and connected, they are forced to ask, "Who am I and where do I belong?" Taking Back the Bullet explores the themes of stigma, identity, and self-discovery. The multi-layered stories are an escape into reality.
Cop in the Classroom: Lessons I’ve Learned, Tales I’ve Told Learn how kids and cops connect at school. You will enjoy 33 personal stories about one officer's professional career as a deputy sheriff and school resource officer. Cop in the Classroom gives an insider's look at the emotional experiences behind the badge-and life lessons for us all.
Rabas, Kevin KevinRabas.com
Improvise: Poems & Sketches (Ambitious Stories, 2021) A document of our days, this collection of poems and flash non-fictions is full of fire and jazz, and documents not only a Midwestern life (Kansas and KC), but captures the spirit of our age both during the pandemic and beyond.
Watch Your Head II (Kellogg Press, 2021) In Watch Your Head 2, Kevin Rabas offers more of his poetry of self care while recovering from a brain injury. Even as the poems are older, the reader can still trace back to how they are Kevin Rabas reflections on life, class, position: "I think of the men / I could have been- / if my mother had not / led me to the water's edge / of books." Also in this collection, Rabas shares his playwriting. Just as his poems reflect a Midwestern deep life, his plays do, too. His wit and charm shine, like in "Lemonade." While the conversation between a young man getting a haircut and the stylist turns to Jazz, she asks if Charlie Parker, Miles, Coltrane, Keith Jarrett are any good. His response: "Let me tell ya, they make Kenny G look like Fabio just holding a horn." As a long time Kevin Rabas fan, I love this rich volume of poems written two decades ago that still holds up today. If you are new to his writing, Watch Your Head 2 is just a great introduction to it as any of his collected books. -Dennis Etzel Jr., Everything is Ephemera
More Than Words (Meadowlark Press, 2021) A book supersedes being a simple collection of words when a poet gets a hold of them. More Than Words by Kevin Rabas is an intimate collection of poetry and micro-fiction that takes a conscientious look inward and closely around us through stages of growing up, connecting with music, navigating romance, interacting with nature, and persisting through social and personal maladies.
As Kansas Poet Laureate Emeritus, Rabas’s expertise and passion show. He can write a poem about anything, and this collection displays his versatility. Each page is a surprise, with some poems educating the reader on historic jazz saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker and other poems ruminating on contemporary social and political issues, such as the death of George Floyd and the COVID-19 pandemic. Rabas is creatively invigorated by everything from questions about our places in life to working from home.
Elizabeth’s City (Spartan Press, 2020) Elizabeth's City is Kansas City, or the raw part of it new to suburban James, who falls in love with both city and Liz. Though James "loses" his innocence, it is well-lost, because Kevin Rabas is more interested in how James comes into experience, into the fierce grip of forces larger than himself, into language, into the story and stories he will carry, like his drums, through the rest of his life. Elizabeth's City is a wonderfully haunting portrait of a person, a place, and the permanence of impermanence. --Thomas Fox Averill, O. Henry Award winner, whose most recent novel is Found Documents from the Life of Nell Johnson Doerr, University of New Mexico Press
On Drums (Woodley Press, 2019) “In poems swirling with music, memory, and family, Kevin Rabas’ On Drums speaks with a jazz-inflected, plain-spoken, Great Plains-based lyricism. Rabas finds joy, sorrow, and insight in the most mundane moments of everyday life—his vision and this book remind us all to slow down and pay attention.”--Megan Kaminski, Deep City
Rademacher, Thea A Drop in the Night A Little Known But Critical WW II Secret Mission Based on extensive original research and interviews with World War II Liberator Flight Engineer, Royce Fulmer, A Drop in the Night chronicles Fulmer's involvement in Operation Carpetbagger, a secret mission designed to drop spies and supplies to help Resistance fighters deep inside Nazi-occupied territory.
Legal Pitfalls Authors – Educate Yourself about Legal Issues in this Easy-to-Follow eBook Full of highly relevant legal information related to writing and publishing, and written by a publisher with a law degree and plenty of messy publishing stories to share, AUTHORS BEWARE! explains what authors should do to protect their work, themselves, and imparts important business and contract knowledge whether self-publishing, contracting for services, or the recipient of a traditional publishing agreement. Worth the read, authors will better understand possible problems and can be armed with knowledge to avoid them.
Rae, Connie It’s All Show Business (Page Publishing, Inc, 2020) Lee Edward Atterbury was born September 1, 1924, into the Atterbury Circus family, the fifth of seven children born to Robert L. and Rose Atterbury. By the time Lee was old enough for school, his older siblings were accomplished aerialists and his mother was a slack wire walker. The Atterbury Circus was a road circus, traveling the highways of rural America from Iowa and the Dakotas to Texas throughout the years of the Great Depression. After the United States entered WWII, Lee joined the Army Airforce and was a radioman and gunner in the South Pacific. When he returned home, the economics of war had ended the circus and the Atterbury family joined the carnival circuit. This is the memoir of a wonderful bygone era of American history. ISBN: 1645443643
Lizzie's Life Adventures ISBN: 978 1498451039, Xulon Press, October 2015 When Lizzie is retired as a school bus, she wonders what will become of her. However, she soon is off on another career, and then another and another. Lizzie concludes that "all of life is exciting when one has friends to share it.”
Camo the Polka-dot Pup Biracial twins, Carly and Cole are SO EXCITED when the firehouse Dalmatian mascot, Daisy, gives birth to nine puppies! Will Mom and Daddy let them adopt a puppy at all? Things are more complicated because their favorite pup is deaf! How can they train him? How do Dalmatians get their spots? Since they are twins, why are Carly and Cole so different? Ages 9-11
What WILL We Do On A Rainy Day? School is out for spring break, but a sudden storm has ruined the Graves family's plan for outdoor activities. Can Mom and big sister Emilie keep the younger ones entertained and pleasant on this dreary day? Ages 3-6
Ringer, Roger True Tales of Kansas, History Press, 2021 The historic tales of the Sunflower State and its people are as interesting as the days are long. A pair of brothers went from making airplanes to tractors and soon became part of John Deere. Kansan Captain Donald K. Ross won the first Congressional Medal of Honor through his actions at Pearl Harbor. The first telephone exchange in the area was invented by a Mr. Strowger because a rival funeral director had a girlfriend who was an operator for the local telephone company and kept sending his business to her friend. Nannie Jones, who stood up to Jim Crow racism and won her case in court, is memorialized by a headstone at Highland Cemetery. Author Roger Ringer details these stories and more.
Kansas Oddities: Just Bill the Acting Rooster, the Locust Plagues of Grasshopper Falls, Naturalist Camps and More, History Press, 2018 Touch down at Dead Cow International Airport and sample the state's bumper crop of bizarre history. The most commonplace sights contain unlikely stories, from the bulldozer's Morrowsville origins to the sunflower's journey from outlawed weed to state symbol. Some of this heritage lies submerged or buried, like the world's only saltwater spring that now sits at the bottom of a man-made lake. Rumored caches of the Fleagle Gang's loot still draw treasure hunters in spades. From mariachi legends to rodeo roundups, Roger Ringer gathers in a vast and varied harvest of Kansas lore.
Ryberg, Jason Buy Books by Jason Ryberg
Strange Gods of the Prairie The Gasconade Review is a literary and arts publication based out of the Osage Arts Community (http: //osageac.org/), located on the Gasconade River, just outside of Belle, Missouri. It appears twice annually, focusing primarily, but not exclusively, on writers and artists from the region and state, but occasionally also features folks what ain't from around here. All submissions must be hand delivered between the months of April and October and the hours of 3pm to 6pm. A decent bourbon is appreciated. Proper river attire required. Don't worry, the dogs won't bite.
Are You Sure Kerouac Done It This Way? Jason Ryberg is currently listening to an old transistor radio play nothing but sad songs in a room that rents for $20 / hour, in a motel (owned by the sheriff's brother-in-law, they say) out by the highway on just another hot and nasty Saturday night, just outside of just another Damned If I Know, USA. Every now and then a truck or car or bus speeds by. Every now and then a star falls. Most of the time there's never any trouble.
Sellers, Julie Kindred Verse: A Collection of Poems Inspired by Anne of Green Gables Blue Cedar Press, 2021 ISBN #: 978-1-7342272-4-6 Kindred Verse, by award-winning writer Julie A. Sellers, is a small collection of original poems by Dr. Sellers, inspired by her emotional and writer’s connection to the world famous, Anne of Green Gables. The poems are a beautiful homage to the work and world of L. M. Montgomery and readers of Dr. Sellers’s poems will find the familiar themes of nature, friendship, enchantment, and imagination found in Montgomery’s work. This unique collection of poems is a book for all ages and interests.
Shepard, Perry The Hero Versus Me & Monkey Jo, Anamcara Press, 2019 THE HERO Versus Me & Monkey Jo chronicles the adventures of Henry Neis who arrives in Vietnam an innocent youth from Kansas, and quickly falls in with addicts and lost souls. Perry Shepard’s prose pulls us into the “scene” immediately, and propels us on a journey that is at times exhilarating, shocking, funny, and moving. A rollicking read and an eye-opening look at the Vietnam War.
A Rhythmic Electric Circus of Sound, Anamcara Press, 2020 Perry Shepard’s poetry compilation, A Rhythmic Electric Circus of Sound Part 66 (A.R. E.C.O.S Part 66), dives into the many aspects of his insights into human thought and experiences. Presented in a diverse colorful language, the reader is drawn in and compelled to see themselves in new and old ways. “Shepard is a poet who examines the many aspects of what it means to be human. His philosophical writings supply both questions and answers to the human condition.” —Ronda Miller, author Moons Pain and Water signs. “An engrossing and lively poetry collection that questions assumptions and offers a feast of contradiction to mull over. In the poem “On The Sabbath”, Shepard begs the question, “What kind of creature is this thing, man? He who denies pleasure and stirs up pain. . . . ordering his grilled cheese, french fries and a piece of pie. He thinks he’s feeding his soul like he does his stomach – Obscenely teasing his heart.” —Mitch Cearbhall, author Imagination to manifestation, and Spinning Universe.
Simmons, Tracy Million Tiger Hunting, a novel When Jeni returns to her childhood home in western Kansas, she never imagines that she'll be hunting a white tiger escaped from the circus or competing with an ape for the affections of the boy she once loved. While she waits for the man she's left behind to notice she's not coming back, she reconnects with her family and works to pick up the pieces of her life. Tiger Hunting was selected as the J. Donald Coffin Memorial Book Award Winner at the Kansas Authors Club Annual Convention and Writers' Conference, Wichita, Kansas, October 2013.
A Life in Progress and Other Short Stories (fiction) In this collection of short fiction stories, Simmons captures slices of life, glimpses of everyday people and everyday thoughts and actions, and the many moments— touching, amusing, happy, and sad—of lives in progress. This book is an intimate peek into a writer’s stash, written across the decades, an experience of timelessness and the human condition. Through fiction, these stories reveal relatable truths.
Green Bike, a group novel, by Kevin Rabas, Michael D. Graves, and Tracy Million Simmons Green Bike follows the lives of three couples, using the McGuffin, or shared symbol, of a classic Schwinn bike to link parallel tales. Following these tenuously linked tales, Green Bike is at once a muted romance, a graduate school bedroom romp, and a love letter to a dying mother.
105 Meadowlark Reader: A Kansas Journal of Creative Nonfiction Looking for readers and writers! Publishes in May and November.
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Spry, Anne Searching for Summer Summer Alexis Shipp never went anywhere without a cup of coffee in her hands. When her friends found her car that day, they were not surprised to see her mug locked in the car. And they really weren’t too surprised she had gone missing, since she was so beautifully innocent and naively trusting. They had all worried about her door-to-door marketing job and the research that took her to some dangerous neighborhoods. When they found her coffee cup but no trace of Summer, her family and scores of friends went into action, combing the city in a search for clues to give police. They organized a media blitz that included billboards, signs on taxis and appearances on nationally syndicated television shows like Nancy Grace and America’s Most Wanted. The search for Summer Shipp captured the attention of an entire city– indeed a nation. Until it didn’t. Until Summer’s case went cold. This is the true story of a loving daughter’s relentless determination to find her mother and to bring her justice. This true-crime tale outlines the agonizing search for a body, the eventual discovery of her remains and the trial of her accused murderer almost a decade afterwards. In preserving the essence of Summer Shipp's beautiful personality, this true story seeks to cement her memory in the minds of those who loved her as well as those who never met her.
Stielstra, Julie Opulence, Kansas (Meadowlark Press, 2020)
ISBN 9781734247701
Midwest Book Award Winner – Young Adult Category 2021 a recommended title by the Kansas National Education Association’s Reading Circle Commission Daughter of privilege, private-school student Katie Myrdal’s world is rocked when her finance-wizard father is found dead in his Porsche—a suicide. There’s more wreckage to clean up than she could have imagined. Katie escapes to the Kansas farmstead of her barely-known aunt and uncle near the small town of Opulence. Plummeting from a high-rise, big city condo to a tree-shrouded, yellow house on the prairie, Katie discovers other kinds of richness—the wealth of friendship, hidden gifts, tragic secrets, and how the balm of time will help her turn her life in a new direction.
Stewart, Lisa D. The Big Quiet: One Woman’s Horseback Ride Home At 54, Lisa Stewart set out to regain the fearless girl she once had been. Hot, homeless, and horseback, she snapped back into every original cell—riding her horse, Chief, 500 miles home. On an extraordinary homegoing from Kansas City to Bates and Vernon Counties in Missouri, Lisa exhausted herself, faced her past, trusted strangers, and stayed in the middle of her frightened horse to learn, perhaps for the first time, that this world was out to protect her.
Stringer, Kimberly Rocks in my Pocket What to do about a little boy who loves rocks so much he takes home half the preschool rock garden in his pockets? Not to worry, says his teacher, "Mrs. Kim," as her students call her. She comes from a long line of rock lovers herself. Besides, she can make a great book about her former student's fascination with rocks of every shape and size. And that's just what Kimberly Stringer has done in "Rocks in My Pocket," her second book. She has more books written and ready to be published. They will all show the wonder, fascination and fun she gets to witness every day in her pre-school in Wichita, KS. Her hands-on curriculum is largely devoted to having students outdoors to enjoy the fresh air and nature. Just like Kim's mother taught her and like Kim has tried to teach her own daughter, (who always seems to find the heart-shaped rocks.)
Loving Lauren It may seem that children born with severe physical handicaps cannot learn and grow like others. Little Lauren proved that misconception wrong. Especially the day she took a field trip with her schoolmates to the fair. Even though she was confined to a wheelchair and could not talk like other children, she conveyed her love for others through her smile and her bright, enthusiastic eyes. She was a little anxious the day her teacher rolled Lauren's wheelchair on the bus for the trip to the fair. There was so much noise and excited laughter coming from the other children on the bus. But the bus driver, another one of Lauren's many fans, comforted her. Once at the fair, Lauren's smile and excitement somehow drew the attention and affection of a special
new friend. Everyone surrounding Lauren somehow picked up on the wonderful theme of her young life. This little book is the product of the teacher who took Lauren to the fair, Kimberly Stringer. Kimberly collaborated with another longtime educator, Lila Bartel, who also happens to be a watercolor artist.
Bully Bully Blue Jay Bluejays are pretty rude birds. In fact, they can be downright mean. This was especially true of Bully Bully Blue Jay. He pecked at other birds, but deep down he just wanted someone to love him. And finally, a teacher did. In this lavishly illustrated book by a veteran early childhood educator, children learn from a bully of a bird how love from a friend can help you make a fresh start. filled with photos of the children in the author's classroom, and illustrations of the bully bird, the lessons children learn from this story include how not to hurt anyone on the inside or the outside.
Leonard the Leprechaun Plays Hide and Seek Every March, as St. Patrick's Day nears, the owner and teacher of a pre-school in Wichita, KS can hardly wait to introduce her students to Leonard the Leprechaun. The imaginary little fellow just wants to have friends, so Author/Illustrator Kimberly Stringer takes her students on a hunt for Leonard through her outdoor classroom. They find messages in balloons while learning the color green. But mostly, they have golden pots full of fun. Their teacher, "Mrs. Kim" (as the world knows her) uses this creative adventure to teach all about kindness to the children. As they tiptoe through the gardens, (because leprechauns have very tiny ears and we wouldn't want to hurt them) the children learn about the reasons for loving all people regardless of size, shape or color. They also learn the value of sharing and of using their imaginations to go on a magical adventure. Leonard the Leprechaun is the first story in the Leonard the Leprechaun Series. As a bonus for parents and teachers, the back of the book contains a suggested week-long curriculum and activities for young students.
Vaughn, Jared All books are available at https://timehonoredproductions.com
The Longest Time by Jared Vaughn Time Honored Productions, 2017, ISBN 9780692905395 "Nailed it! Perfect! The best book I've ever read!" "Fascinatingly brilliant!" "I couldn't put it down!" "A great book for the family." Meet Charlie, a little boy with big dreams and an even bigger heart. When Lisa moves in next door, they begin a friendship that will change their lives forever. As time goes by, and they travel different paths, it becomes clear that some things were meant to be. Filled with exciting twists and surprises, Charlie’s journey will make you laugh and cry as he overcomes the odds to discover the reason for the secrets he carries. The secrets that could change everything. Celebrating the power of love, dreams, music, friendship, and family, The Longest Time is a unique story of hope that you’ll never forget.
Another Time by Jared Vaughn Time Honored Productions, 2020 ISBN 9780578752204 "Jared writes with such poetic ability that even the least romantic person will fall in love with this book." "Jared Vaughn is so good at making the reader connect with the characters." "I loved it! Really great attention to detail and always kept me on my toes!" "It was a fun read and I enjoyed it immensely!" "Had me laughing so hard!" "Couldn't stop reading!" If you love someone, anything's possible. Time to discover the possibilities! Charlie and Lisa Jordache are having the time of their lives. With a growing family, supportive friends, new careers, and new roles as community leaders, life couldn't be better. When a mysterious object comes into their possession, their perfect lives are challenged by an intriguing possibility-- keep the status quo or risk everything to change the past. The highly acclaimed story of The Longest Time reaches new levels of excitement as your favorite characters return for an adventure that tests their faith, hope, and love... and reveals a greater destiny than they ever imagined! Countless surprises and twists will keep you on your toes in Charlie and Lisa's fun-filled, heartwarming, romantic, action-packed, often hilarious journey to becoming heroes. It will put a tear in your eye, a smile on your face, and a song in your heart... all the way to the heart-pounding, mind-blowing finale that leaves you wanting more!
Free Time Tales edited by Jared Vaughn Time Honored Productions, 2018 ISBN 9780692139189 Free Time Tales is a collection of short stories from writers of all ages. From dragons and time travelling knights to true life adventures in the Old West aFree Time Tales is a collection of short stories from writers of all ages. From dragons and time travelling knights to true life adventures in the Old West and on the ocean, there's something for everyone! That's 14 new stories from 10 writers including Drew Janzen, H. Kelven Mays, Grace Myers, James Robb, Indi Rose, Deeksha Sriram, and Dhriti Sriram. Also featuring a preview of The Rose and Erebus by Tevka Timido, In the Shadow of a Man of Kansas by Tobias' Travels author Shoshanna Aaliyah, and Invisible Touch by The Longest Time author Jared Vaughn. Discover something new with Free Time Tales! All books are available at https://timehonoredproductions.com
Waterman-Peters, Barbara The Fish’s Wishes, By Glendyn Buckley Illustrated by Barbara Waterman-Peters Published 2014 by Pen & Brush Press LLC Printed by Hall Commercial Printing, Topeka KS ISBN: 978-0-692-48076-2 $14.00 + 1.28 (tax) =$15.28 The story of a little fish in a small pond who wanted to be a big fish in the open sea. Follow along to see if he gets his wish! Now in its third printing, this book is on the KNEA Recommended Reading List for K-3, but has interested young readers of all ages!
Bird, By Glendyn Buckley Illustrated by Barbara Waterman-Peters Published 2017 by Pen & Brush Press LLC Printed by Hall Commercial Printing, Topeka KS ISBN: 978-0-692-96130-8
$18.00 + 1.65 (tax) = $19.65 Inspired by true events, this is the story of an ornery parakeet who refused to talk and his encounter with a sad little girl who wouldn’t talk either. This book won the 2019 Kansas Authors Club Children’s Book Award for both story and illustrations.
Two Ponders: A Collaboration, Poems by Dennis Etzel, Jr Artwork by Barbara Waterman-Peters Published in 2019 by Dennis Etzel, Jr and Barbara Waterman-Peters Printed by Hall Commercial Printing, Topeka KS ISBN: 978-0-578-46922-5 $25.00 (tax included) Dennis Etzel, Jr, poet and professor at Washburn University invited artist Barbara Waterman-Peters to collaborate with him on his sabbatical project in 2018. The theme became water and time, viewed through the lens of Gage Park Pond in Topeka. Working separately, the poet and the artist created pieces that coalesced beautifully in exhibitions and this book.
Wentling, Mark Mark’s Books at Watermark
Africa Memoir, 3 volumes Visit all 54 African countries with an adventurous American guide who has spent over half a century on the continent. Africa Memoir tells the incredible lifetime story of Mark G. Wentling, a boy from Kansas who grew up to travel, work, and visit all 54 African countries. Derived from over a half century spent working and living on the African continent, Wentling devotes a chapter to each country describing his firsthand experiences, eye-opening impressions, and views on future prospects. Original and authoritative, this one-of-a-kind, three-volume work deserves a special place on the bookshelves of anyone interested in Africa.
Wilgers, Dustin Savanna Spider, Super Scientist, Goes to School (Science Saves the Day) Savanna Spider loves science! After a rocky start to her first day of school, Savanna is going to have to think like a scientist to get through the day. Follow Savanna as she learns all about her friends at Arthur O. Pod Elementary School. Kids will love reading this story so much they won’t even realize they are learning science at the same time. “Science Behind the Story” popups throughout the book explain the real science behind this fun and engaging story about a little spider scientist. Kids will learn it is never too early to be curious and look at the world through the eyes of science.
To Order, contact: barbara.peters@att.net Pen & Brush Press LLC 2223 SW Knollwood Dr Topeka KS 66611-1623
Savanna Spider and the Science Fair Mystery (Science Saves the Day) Savanna Spider is back at it! This time, the super scientist is working on a class sciencefair project where nothing seems to go right. Follow Savanna and her classmates as they play detective and work together to solve the mystery. Along the way, you will learn about some of Savanna’s new friends as well as how curious scientists use the scientific method to uncover mysteries all around us. “Science Behind the Story” sidebars throughout the book explain the real science behind this fun and engaging story about a little spider scientist. Kids will learn it is never too early to be curious and look at the world through the eyes of science.
Williams, Stephen & Rosie Nine Pairs of Boots in Vietnam: Steps to Healing Every Veteran Needs to Know "NOT ALL WOUNDS ARE VISIBLE" IS A SOBERING REMINDER OF THE INTERNAL DAMAGE OFTEN SUFFERED BY COMBAT VETERANS AND OTHERS WITH PTSDI've had a story to tell from the moment I stepped back onto American soil in 1970 after serving in Vietnam for a year, but it took 50 years for that story to find the right words, and for those words to find their voice. My time in Vietnam ended in 1970, but I carried my experiences home with me like a heavy backpack full of unprocessed emotion. The ugliness of war was strapped to my back, and I carried the burden with me, unable to put it down.
Zachgo, Gloria www,gloriazachgo.com
Never Waste Tears
978-1502376688 Each had their own reason to leave everything they knew. The land was free—the true price—was often high, where opportunities and tragedies were in equal abundance. Those who were strong, didn’t waste their tears, but used them wisely to help wash away their grief. Joined together through friendship and family relations, Rebecca, Nathan, Hannah, Carl, and Sarah tell one story—each in their own voice.
Never Waste Dreams
979-8503409505 Carl, Hannah, Nathan, and Sarah each take you with them in their essence and dialect. They struggle for their family. They show grit and determination for their land. They open their hearts for those who join them, as a new voice is added, saying, “I couldn’t help but wonder how much our life was going to change in ways I had not even considered.”
The Rocking Horse
978-1463557300 Jenny Preston has been missing for twenty-two years after being taken at the age of two on the very night her mother Amanda, Aunt Ruth, and Uncle Don were brutally and senselessly murdered. While Jenny's grandparents learn to cope with the tragedies, the sheriff, Will Barclay, must grapple with his own guilt and secrets involving the murders. The crime, which rocked the small town of Shady Creek, Kansas, has never been solved.
HUSH GIRL: It’s Only a Dream
978-1541037359 While Nicki Reed is desperate to find the answers to her past, someone is desperate for her to never remember. Shortly after her father died, Nicki’s nightmares started. They were soon followed by panic attacks. Suspecting her haunting dreams were related to her childhood, Nicki sought professional help, but Nicki was unable to verbalize any memories she had as a child. Bad things happened when she told secrets.
Zyskowski, Ginger Purchase at GingerZ
Another Think Coming! Poems & Stuff A new book of poetry that provides insights into a variety of topics, with each successive poem offering Another Think Coming! In 2020 we’ve had a major comet. Comets used to predict disasters, once upon a time. We’ve had a pandemic. Did the comet predict it? Or did the comet predict something entirely more wonderful instead: Ginger Zyskowski’s new creations in poetry! I choose Ginger’s Another Think Coming! as the most important thing of 2020, predicted by the Great Comet of 2020! Thank you, Ginger. We needed that –Dean Anderson, writer As I watched Ginger rehearse and then perform in front of a live audience, something about her poems seemed familiar to me, but I cou ldn’t put my finger on it. As I read this wonderful book of hers, it immediately comes to mind. Ginger reminds me of the Liverpudlian Beat Poets of the ’60s and ’70s, particularly Roger McGough. She has a wonderfully pared style that allows so much emotion and humour (sic) to be transmitted in the minimum number of words possible. Ginger’s opening poems “Procrastination” and “A Thought” are excellent examples of this. Fun is never far from Ginger’s deft fingertips, but be ready for a dollop of pathos as well. –Dave McKane, poet and photographer
Love and Lovers A lovely collection of poems about love, with a bite. Poetry about love is ubiquitous and often, to put it bluntly, merely ordinary. This is NOT the case with Ginger Zyskowski’s collection of poems entitled Love and Lovers. Her poetry gives stunningly poignant glimpses into the private joys and pains of that most universal human experience we call LOVE. Full of original and touching expressions of love and loss, this collection shares the confidences of someone well versed in those most raw but meaningful moments of life. –Rosemary Miller, retired English teacher and current website developer, multimedia creator, and technology learning consultant at rosemarymiller.com While not fitness-themed, this collection certainly promotes significant exercise – exercise, that is, of emotions – sometimes poignant, sometimes perplexing, but never sedentary. Memories of relationships unrealized, uncomfortable or even unparalleled are awakened, leaving the reader in a place quite different than where they entered. The author has crafted her poetic thoughts through a powerful use of language, with phrases akin to color swatches on an abstract painting, allowing – no, demanding – the reader to ponder the meaning of verbal imagery that is both peaceful and provocative. A stimulating must read for anyone who thinks they have it all figured out…as well as those of us who acknowledge we never will!– –Larry Tobias, a friend of the author for 60 years, but thrilled to be just now discovering her soul!