Joining the Kansas Authors Club — What Took me so Long?

I should have joined the Kansas Authors Club three years ago, when I first began work on Jawbone Holler. That’s the plain truth. It just never seemed to make it to my dashboard of intentionality. I guess it’s kind of like writing. The only way you have time is to make time, especially if many other commitments are on your plate.

Still, I’m proud to say I’m now a member — and genuinely grateful to be welcomed by an organization that understands both the craft of writing and the place Kansas holds in the stories we tell.

Thanks to my publishing consultant Anne Spry, past president of the Club, for leading me in this direction.

Founded in 1904, the Kansas Authors Club is among the oldest writers’ organizations in the country. Its mission is straightforward: support writers at every stage through education, encouragement, and community. The Club brings together fiction and nonfiction writers, poets, journalists, and historians who share a commitment to the written word and to Kansas itself.

Like the Saturday Writers Group, of which I am a member in the St. Louis area, the Kansas Authors Club offers programs, workshops, contests, and gatherings that include serious discussion about the writing craft and the business of publishing. Writing may be solitary, but growth happens faster when writers learn from one another.

All three of my novels, Jawbone Holler, The Ghosts of Gumbo Flats and West Bottoms, are tied to Kansas in meaningful ways.

Kansas is a place I return to often, but more than that, it’s a place I have never left. Though I currently do not reside in the Sunflower State, I carry it through heart-and-soul conviction. The history, the people, and the land continue to shape my work, whether I’m writing for work or pleasure.

Joining the Kansas Authors Club feels like a natural extension of that connection. I look forward to meeting other authors from the Sunflower State, learning from their experiences, and sharing stories grounded in a place that continues to matter — deeply and personally.

Since I am a writer and Kansas is in my blood, this is a community I wanted to explore. I only wish I’d joined sooner.