Next Meeting: Saturday, May 12, 2012
District Two Writing Contest Awards Ceremony
9:30 AM – noon. Lawrence Public Library Auditorium, 707 Vermont St., Lawrence. This event will be in the main auditorium from 9:00 AM-noon.

Certificates will be awarded and first place winners will read entrees. The event is open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided. For additional information, email District President Susie Nightingale.

District 2 has two writing contest co-chairs and a committee: Sally Jadlow and Ronda Miller are our co-chairs, while Lorraine McVey, Jack Kline, Diane Palka, and Susie Nightingale are on the committee.

Writers Retreat, June 1-3, 2012
Lake Doniphan Conference & Retreat Center
12856 Doniphan Lake Rd
Excelsior Springs, MO 64024
Lake Doniphan Retreat and Conference Center in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, just off I-35. 8 AM – 4:30 PM.
Registration on Saturday from 8-8:30 AM, breakfast from 8:30-9:00 AM (times subject to change depending upon the schedule of the other group visiting the site that weekend) followed by a general meeting. After that, we shall break up into three groups - fiction, nonfiction, and poetry - with a separate facilitator for each group. Lunch will be between 12 and 12:30 and will last for one hour to give members a chance to rest and regroup. In the afternoon, there will be three mini workshops each hour facilitated by KAC members. The retreat will end at 4:30 PM. Dinner will be at 5 PM (or thereabouts) for those who wish to stay overnight.
Bill Karnowski will be our Master of Ceremonies

• Download brochure
• Read Retreat Schedule
• Register
For more information contact Susie Nightingale

As always, feel free to bring guests to our meetings. —There are many writers out there who could benefit from the camaraderie and support we give one another.—

Member News:

Apr. News: Tom Mach | Ronda Miller | Terry Needham | Pat Walkenhorst
Mar. News: Tom Mach | Ronda Miller
Feb. News: Tom Mach | Ronda Miller | Wyatt Townley
Jan. News: Roderick Townley | Pat Walkenhorst

Do you have member news? Contact Carol Yoho with web site content.

Upcoming Events:

Sylvia Colombo, District 1, Topeka, author of I Danced With Crazy Horse, will sign books Saturday, July 7 and Sunday, July 8, 2012, at the "Lawrence Metaphysical Fair" at the Douglas County Fairgrounds, 2120 Harper Street, Lawrence, from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. This work is a tribute to the great Lakota Chief Crazy Horse, personal experiences of the author and wisdom of the Spirit Grandmothers of This Galaxy. Also, Kansas Originals Market online catalog. 3/7/2012

Do you have an event to announce? Contact Carol Yoho with web site content.

BIG TENT READINGS: Stories and Poems in Three Acts
Fourth Thursdays of Every Month
7pm at The Raven, Lawrence

Sneak Peek at 2012 District 2 Meeting Plans:

07/22/12 – Summer Garden Party – Location and time to be provided at a later date.

08/11/12 – "Loku/Ukol Creative Input" by Ronda Miller. Antioch Annex, Johnson County Public Library, 8700 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Merriam. 9:30 AM–noon. (Tentative location)

Ronda Miller’s favorite saying is, “Poetry is our most natural connection with each other.”

A Life Coach and author, born in Ft. Collins, Colorado, she was raised on a farm by her grandparents in the high plateau region on NW Kansas where love for the beauty and healing aspects of nature and poetry began. She holds a degree in Human Development/Creative Writing from the University of Kansas, is a Fellow of The Citizen Journalism Academy, World Company, and a Certified Life Coach with IPEC (Institute of Professional Empowerment Coaching) for five years.

She has published her poetry in many different publications. She created the poetic forms Loku and Ukol. She is Poetry Contest Manager for Kansas Authors Club of which she is a member. Her online poetry and articles can be found at: http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/at-random/.

09/15/12 – Day trip to Fort Scott, Kansas, for joint meeting with the Fort Scott Writers’ Club* facilitated by Joy Melendy, club treasurer. Presbyterian Manor, Fort Scott. 11 AM - ? [Please note that this date is the third Saturday of the month.]

Oct: "Encouraging Words" theme, attend our 2012 KAC State Convention in Salina, Oct. 5–7, Ramada Inn

11/10/12 – "How Not to Butcher the English Language" by Vicki Julian and Susie Nightingale. Delaware Commons, 1222 Delaware, Lawrence, 9:30 AM– noon.

Vicki Julian spent much of her adult life in the corporate world writing grants, guides, and explanatory materials. Her first book, Christmas: a Season for Angels, was published in 2009 followed by a sequel in 2010. She is a contributing author to The Healing Project’s Voices of M. S. anthology also published in 2009 and a forthcoming anthology in 2012. Simple Things to Make This World a Better Place, her third book is currently in progress. Vicki is a citizen journalist for The Humanitarian Examiner, writing articles on “make a difference,” http://www.examiner.com/humanitarian-in-topeka/vicki-julian, and Financial Secretary of the Kansas Authors Club.

Susie Nightingale is presently the president of district two of the Kansas Authors Club and New Member Chair for the state organization. She has a B. A. in English, an M. A. in English, and an M.L.S.in Library Science. She taught for forty years on the university, community college, senior high, and junior high levels. She is an avid reader who someday hopes to have time to write!

12/02/12 – Holiday Celebration hosted by Lorraine McVey, 2130 Rhode Island, Lawrence 2-4 PM (Note: this is a first Sunday)

Please bring a snack item to share with the group. Lorraine will provide her lovely new home and beverages. Come relax with fellow KAC members.

As time permits: read arounds will be held after regularly scheduled programs. If interested, bring some of your short, original work to share. You just never know when the opportunity to read will present itself !

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2012 Meeting Wrap-ups:

April 14, 2012
[POSTPONED DUE TO PREDICTION OF SEVERE WEATHER]
Day trip to Emporia, Kansas arranged by Tracy Million Simmons

• shortly before 4pm -- meet at Emporia Gazette park @ 6th & Merchant.
• 4pm -- we will tour the Gazette museum and (hopefully) Chris Walker will talk to us about running a 4th generation, family owned newspaper. (If Chris doesn't work out, Tracy will try to get local historian, Roger Heineken to come talk to us.)
• 5:30pm -- Wheat State Pizza will have a buffet for us. I think the cost is about $7, but I will confirm. I will have a list of other restaurants in the area, as well, if people would rather not have pizza.
• from 7-8pm -- KS150 Poets Reading, Room Lower 048: ESU Memorial Union, which will include Caryn Mirriam-Goldber and Kevin Rabas, among others.
• Please RSVP to trmsim@gmail.com or 620-412-2623. We'll need an idea of how many plan to attend to arrange our tour and luncheon.
• There are several events going on in Emporia that day and Tracy will get a list published here as details become available, in case anyone wants to come early.

March 10, 2012 – "Write the Skeletons in Your Closet" by Sally Jadlow – Antioch Annex, Johnson County Public Library, 8700 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Merriam, 9:30 AM – noon.

Sally Jadlow has written poetry for forty years and then turned to other genres the past fifteen years. She had been published in Cup of Comfort collections, Bylines Calendars, Echoes of the Ozarks for many years and Midwest Poetry Review, to name a few. She has published a book of poetry and inspirational short stories, Sonflower Seeds. The book was awarded “Best Book of Poetry, 2002,” from Oklahoma Writer’s Federation Conference. The Late Sooneris a historical fiction based on her great grandfather’s diary. He entered the Oklahoma Territory in 1889. God’s Little Miracle Book I and II are her latest books. Her books are available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com in hard copy and in e-reader versions. Sally teaches adult creative writing. Sally is the wife of one, mother of four, and grandmother of thirteen who lives in Overland Park.

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February 11, 2012 –"How to Create Your Own Micro Book" by Annola Charity. Delaware Commons Cohousing Project Clubhouse, 1222 Delaware, Lawrence, 9:30 AM – noon.
Annola Charity is a local Lawrence writer who specializes in children’s literature. She has self-published several small books that have been sold via mail order, in bookstores, and online. Her art background has helped her create beautiful covers as well. Her experience in the printing industry facilitated her understanding of page layout for hardcopy publication. In her presentation, Annolal shared her knowledge and tricks toward self-producing work and providde attendees with an instructional CD.
also: "Ebooks and EPublishing: State of the Industry in 2012" by Gordon Kessler – also at Delaware Commons, 1 PM-3:30 PM.Gordon Kessler, thriller novelist and ebook author, will discuss the opportunities, advantages and disadvantages for authors who want to make their novels, short stories, memoirs, anthologies and other books available electronically. Discussions included the who, what, when, where and how of ePublishing, as well as promoting and marketing strategies.

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January 14, 2012 –"Networking for Book Publication"with Norm Ledgin at Antioch Annex, Johnson County Public Library

Norm Ledgin’s book-writing began late in life, after careers as a newspaperman and a traffic safety educator. He received Temple Grandin’s help for Diagnosing Jeffersonin 2000 and followed that with Asperger’s and Self-Esteem, since republished in France. (A French author credits Norm with having “changed the world for autistics,” for the book links Einstein, Mozart, and Jefferson with Asperger’s Syndrome). His fictional Border-War themed The Jayhawkeris among Kansas’s “150 best books.” A mystery, Sour Notes, has found traction as an e-book and prompted a sequel-in-progress, Disharmony. His latest completed work, Sally: Mistress of Monticello, awaits publication and possible filming. Rutgers-degreed Norm teaches for the University of Kansas’s continuing education department, lives in Stanley, KS, with his wife of 43 years, Marsha.

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Officers of Kansas Authors Club, District 2
for 2011-2012:

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