October 13-15, I attended my 15th Kansas Authors
Club Convention. I’ve only missed two since I became a member 17 years ago. This
year the event was held in Coffeyville, Kansas. I have circled the state more
than twice now attending conventions with KAC, and, as almost always, I was
extremely pleased with the quality of presenters, I very much enjoyed the time spent
with my writing family, and I came away with new ideas and inspirations sure to
fuel my writing work well into the coming year.
Some highlights: Pete Walterscheid performed his magic for
us twice! Attendees got a show on Friday evening, a great warm-up for the
weekend, and he performed again for the youth awards event on Saturday.
Speaking of youth awards, I think we had the best event for
our young writers that we have had to date. Our programs for young writers keep
improving and I am so proud to be a part of KAC’s efforts to encourage these
kids. For many years now, formatting the Youth Awards Book (printing courtesy
of Mennonite Press) has been a highlight of my KAC experience. This year, I continued
my support of the creation of the book by lending the talents of an intern for
my publishing company, Meadowlark Books. Sammy Beck is a senior at Emporia
State University majoring in English with a minor in creative writing. She did
a fantastic job on the publication and her original artwork for the book’s
cover was a hit.
