meet the author

It's not often you visit an author's website and find six forthcoming books featured, but such is currently the case with Liberty, Missouri's Jody Jensen Shaffer. To find out how she's managed to accomplish such a feat, read on . . .

You recently did a children’s program for Johnson County Library called “Write Something Delicious” that compared the writing and baking processes, springboarding from your book The Way the Cookie Crumbled, about the history, science, and math of cookies. Can you tell us a little about the creation of both the book and the program?

Sure! This book came to me a

The Read Local committee is very pleased to announce that Charlotte Henderson has won our The Many in One short story contest for her entry "Diversity Club." "Diversity Club" meticulously captures the complex and ever-evolving nature of identity. Musician, mother, friend, sinner--no aspect is as simple as it seems, and Henderson's story gives a powerful glimpse into the multifaceted self in only a few short pages. Caught between all of the lives she's lived and all of the lives she isn't living, Henderson's protagonist Maggie poses questions about alienation and loneliness that might make even

Jan Duncan-O’Neal was born and raised in Kansas City, has lived most of her adult years around the Midwest and in southern Colorado. She majored in English and theater in college and received a Master’s Degree in Library Science at the University of Iowa, where she later taught storytelling and children’s literature classes. She has authored 11 professional books (published by Libraries Unlimited) and conducted workshops nationally for teachers and librarians. As a professional storyteller, she encouraged others to pass on their own stories and retell the world’s great folk tales. Upon

Sue Lowell Gallion has recently celebrated the publication of her first book, Pug Meets Pig, a picture book illustrated by Joyce Wan. A sequel is already on the way. We asked Sue a few questions to learn more about who she is, her journey to publication, her thoughts on being an author, and her plans for the future.

Tell us about Pug Meets Pig. What is it about, what inspired it, and what was its path to publication?

Pug Meets Pig is a story about change. Pug’s happy home life disappears when Pig arrives. She disrupts his world in every way, whether she’s eating out of his bowl or making

Everyone knows poetry is a literary form with distinct sounds and rhythms meant to be read aloud. Eve Brackenbury, local poet and bookseller, will help participants who might never have spoken in front of a crowd learn to read poetry out loud. Her passion is evident in our interview and we hope you'll join us in learning how to turn your reading into a performance.

Tuesday, November 15th

6:00 - 8:00 pm

Central Resource Library - Logan Conference Room

Tell us about yourself. How did you get started writing?

Like many writers, I don’t really remember when I started writing. I don’t

Danyelle Ferguson discovered her love for the written word in elementary school. Her first article was published when she was in 6th grade. Since then, she’s won several awards and has been published world-wide in newspapers, magazines and books. She’s grateful every day to work in her dream jobs – author, editor, and nurturing her readaholic tendencies.

Ferguson will present Let the Words Fall Out: a Study of Music Lyrics for Novelists, Voice: Making Your Manuscript Sing and will sit on a panel discussion on Writing Dialogue with Kristin Huston and Nathan Jackson at our 2016 Writers

Mary-Lane Kamberg is the author of more than 30 nonfiction books, including many for young adult readers. She has been writing since second grade. She published her first poem at the age of 10. She has a B.S. in Journalism from the University of Kansas and roots for the Jayhawks during March Madness. In addition to her nonfiction books, she has published hundreds of articles, a poetry chapbook, and some short fiction. Her books include the I Love to Write Book: Ideas and Tips for Young Writers, The I Don't Know How to Cook Book, and Seed Rain. She is founder and director of the I Love to Write

Nathan Louis Jackson is the playwright in residence at the KC Repthrough the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation National Playwright Residency Program grant. A Kansas City, Kansas native, he is a graduate of Washington High School. He is also an alum of Kansas State University and did his graduate work at The Juilliard School.

His plays include Broke-ology (Lincoln Center 2009, KC Rep 2010), When I Come to Die (Lincoln Center in 2011, KC Rep 2014), and Sticky Traps (KC Rep 2015). He has received commissions from both Lincoln Center and The Roundabout Theater Company. At K-State, he was actively

Sean Demory, the brains behind Pine Float Press, was the first author I reached out to when we started Read Local. His original interview holds up just as well today as it did last year. He joins us again in preparation for our 2016 Writers Conference. Demory, with Scott Novosel and CW Cook will discuss how each of them have successfully used Crowdfunding to fund projects.

Introduce yourself. Where do you live and work?

My name's Sean Demory. I live and work in Kansas City, Missouri, where I work for the Public Works Department by day and write by whenever. I'm also the founder of Pine Float

Gregg Luke's work as pharmacist prepares him well for writing medical thrillers. As he researches new drugs, "what if? reigns supreme." 99% of the science in his novels is real and he strives to make it "easy to understand to a lay audience yet have it remain complex enough to fascinate and add credence to plausibility."

Luke will present sessions on suspense writing, prose writing, and offer a 3 Page Critique session at our 2016 Writers Conference.

Introduce yourself. Where do you live and work?

I live in a small town next to Logan, UT in beautiful Cache Valley. I have lived here since

JoAnn Farb is the author of Compassionate Souls: Raising the Next Generation to Change the World and Get Off Gluten. JoAnn was a small child when the murder of Kitty Genoveseshocked our nation, causing her to vow that she would never ignore injustice or harms, if her speaking up might prevent them. Years later, as a microbiologist working for big pharma, JoAnn saw first hand, that choices she was making every day were fueling terrible injustice and violence that she'd been taught (like everyone else) to "Not see" and an activist was born. When those who profited from the things that JoAnn was

When John Bichelmeyer passed away in 2004, his daughter Mary Lucas started writing down the lessons she had learned from her father. Originally intended as a way to share her father’s advice with family and friends, interest was so great that Lucas sought out a publisher. She took some time to tell us a little bit about her journey to “accidental author.”

Tell us a little about Lunchmeat & Life Lessons.

After my father passed away, I was afraid that all his wonderful bits of wisdom would be lost. I began to write a book about him as a gift for my family and myself. All my life, I listened to

CW Cooke is a comic book writer living in the Kansas City area who has been working in comics since 2007. He has been published by Action Lab, Big Dog Ink, Viper, Bluewater, Arcana, and Devil’s Due Entertainment with his creator-owned series Solitary. He is a featured writer for Project-Nerd Publishing with two new series, Clock Puncher and Barrens, both scheduled for release in early 2016. He has successfully Kickstarted his series Solitary and helped successfully Kickstart the series Barrens.

Cooke, along with Sean Demory and Scott Novosel, will share their experiences successfully using

Alan Proctor is a poetry editor for Kansas City Voices and a former humor columnist, tree surgeon, fundraiser, and college administrator. He serves on the board of The Writers Placebased in Kansas City. Proctor will share his work at the September Thomas Zvi Wilson Readings series.

Tuesday, Sept 20

6 p.m.

Central Resource Library

In anticipation of the reading, Proctor shares some thoughts about writing:

Tell us about yourself. How did you get started writing?

I wrote my first poem when I was eight years old. It was a sing-song and plodding piece to convince my mother to stop

Arlin Buyert is a local poet who was born and raised on an Iowa farm near Sioux Center where he graduated from high school. Arlin was formally educated at Macalester College and The University of Minnesota and worked as an admissions officer at Macalester before entering the Navy in 1966. Arlin was a Naval aviator, corporate executive, cattle rancher and is now retired and lives in Leawood, Kansas with his wife Kristen Kvam. Arlin has facilitated the poetry program at Lansing Prison for the past four years. (Editors note: We posted an interview with Buyert earlier this year regarding Arts in

Lisa Mangum has worked with books ever since elementary school, when she volunteered at the school library during recess. She worked for five years at Waldenbooks while she attended the University of Utah, graduating with honors with a degree in English. She has worked in the publishing industry since 1997. In 2014 she was named the Managing Editor for Shadow Mountain. As an editor, she has worked with several New York Times best-selling authors, including Ally Condie, James Dashner, and Jason F. Wright. While fiction is her first love, she also has experience working with nonfiction projects

Juliet Kincaid taught writing for thirty-five years, including twenty-five years at Johnson County Community College. Now that she’s retired from teaching, Juliet devotes much of her time to writing and publishing fiction such as January Jinx and Fatal February, historical mysteries set in Kansas City, a place that could get downright deadly a hundred years or so ago. Why does Juliet write? you might ask. Simple answer: It makes her happy. She also enjoys teaching others how to write, especially novels.

Kincaid will teach Novel Basics at our 2016 Writers Conference.

Introduce yourself. Where

Kristin Huston works as a writer, freelance proofreader, and teacher. But it wasn't always this way. It wasn't until after law school that Huston realized there was no way she could ever practice law and went on to grad school, earning a PhD in English and History. She finally gave in to the yearning to write, and now spends her days scribbling quirky stories for adults and teens with elements of the creepy, fantastic, and unexplainable. Girls who take no prisoners, and the boys who love them, rock her world. She lives in Kansas City, although she loves to travel to warmer climates. Her

The Read Local committee is very pleased to announce Victoria Fries has won our Bear Witness contest in the open category for her piece "Racism in America." The piece garnered passionate discussion; the universal message, which can be applied to any dehumanized and disenfranchised group, lends power to the topic and we appreciate the call for unity. Structurally, we like the repeated thread of standing tall.

We read it aloud several times, and when we found the right reader, with the right tone, voice, and passion, we knew we had found our winner. It's power is definitely as a performance

March 5th, 1995 marks an important date for Scott Novosel. As a college senior, he achieved his life-long dream and played his first game as a walk-on for the Kansas Jayhawks. In a SI.com article, Novosel “says he has been trying to turn his life into an inspirational story for kids since that day . . .”

And once again, Novosel succeeds! His graphic novel Fieldhouse is a charmer, but I disagree that it’s just for kids. It’s great for all ages and about so much more than basketball.

Novosel turned to Kickstarter to publish his book which allowed him to produce a quality product with full

Brian Daldorph teaches creative writing, literature, and writing classes in the English department at The University of Kansas and poetry at the Douglas County Jail in Lawrence, KS. He has also taught in Japan, Senegal, and England. He has published several poetry collections and is founder and editor of Coal City Review. His poems, stories, articles, and reviews have been widely published. He scores very well on Rate My Professors and I suggest not reading the comments unless you want to add taking his poetry course to your bucket list.

Daldorph, with others, will be reading the work of Thom

Jo McDougall will read her poetry at Johnson County Library on Tuesday June 21st at 6pm. Poetry and Prose is presented by the Writers Place and Johnson County Library.

When did you first start writing poetry? Do you remember what provided your first inspiration?

I think I wrote my first poem when I was 11 or 12. My mother had read stories and poems to me on a regular basis when I was a young child, so I had those images and rhythms in my head. I gave the poem to my dad, and he framed it and put it on his desk. I've been writing ever since.

What inspires you to write poetry now?

Reading

The Read Local committee is very pleased to announce Jemshed Khan has won our Bear Witness poetry contest for his poem "#48689." Entries included an impressive variety of poetic forms, including haiku and sonnet, making the selection very difficult. In the end, we selected "#48689" as, like the numbers in the title, it tattooed itself on our minds. The haunting imagery and vivid description lends the poem personal immediacy and requires remembrance. The person #48689, bearing witness as both executioner and innocent victim, gives us chills and the poem deserves repeated readings.

Jemshed

As we anticipate the chance to read Allie, First at Last, the just-released second middle-grade novel from Shawnee resident Angela Cervantes, we're reminded that Gaby, Lost and Found, her debut effort a couple of years ago, was much lauded and won multiple awards. To help pass the time until our hold on her new book comes available, we asked the native Kansan (and KU graduate) a few questions.

​What do you want those unfamiliar with you and your work to know first and foremost?

For me, it’s an honor to write books for children. I love that I’ve written books that can affect a young person’s

The Read Local Committee is pleased to announce Debra Callaway has won our Faster, Higher, Stronger Essay Contest with her essay For the Love of Game. We love the way Deb addresses the different responses to competition within her own family.

Debra Callaway earned a masters degree in Art Education, and went on to teach English to teens in an alternative classroom for the next 30 years. Actually, the two subjects are not as disparate as some might think. She found many similarities. Her favorite part of teaching 9th grade English was creative writing. Now she's retired and paints all day

Of course Steve Loe has been able to put out two books in the past two years since all he does is write every day from dawn until dusk. Well, that and raise four kids. Oh, and he's also the principal of Shawnee Mission West High School. So where he finds the time we don't know, but he does. After years of perseverance, Loe published his first title last year and the second just followed.

In The Glimpsing Book, a group of young teens that has been strangely drawn together attempts to figure out the powerful mystery of the magical book that seems to have the answers to all their questions, a

Michael Harty will read his poetry at Johnson County Library on Tuesday April 19th at 6pm. Poetry and Prose is presented by the Writers Place and Johnson County Library.

If you could begin the interview, what question would you ask yourself?

I’d ask myself, how does it happen that you started writing poetry when you were old enough for Social Security? And I would answer that it didn’t exactly happen that way. I always had a yen to write poems, sometimes dabbled more or less, but it wasn’t until I reached a pretty advanced age that I decided to get serious about it. One thing that

On Tuesday, February 16th at 6:00 p.m. The Writers Place and the Johnson County Library will present Poetry and Prose, a poetry reading by inmates and former inmates incarcerated at Lansing Prison. Arlin Buyert has facilitated the poetry program at Lansing Prison for the past four years. It is sponsored by Arts in Prison, Inc. which also features The East Hill Singers, theatre and yoga programs for inmates.

Arlin Buyert was born and raised on an Iowa farm near Sioux Center where he graduated from high school. Arlin was formally educated at Macalester College and The University of Minnesota

Kansas Citian Christine Taylor-Butler has written more than 75 books for children. Emerging from her background in engineering, many of them are science books for early readers. Some are for slightly older readers or delve into other topics. Recently she released her first novel for teens, The Lost Tribes, to positive reviews, and she has been named to numerous best-of and award lists for her various titles.

Taylor-Butler has gained valuable insight into writing and publishing from her career, and is happy to share what she has learned in response to our questions.

Your website says that

The Read Local Committee is pleased to announce Anna Francesca has won our Faster, Higher, Stronger Poetry Contest with her poem Citius, Altius Fortius. We love the poem, especially so close to this time of new year's resolutions, for Francesca's focus on herself and her own strength. The act of always looking forward reminded us a little of Matthew McConaughey's 2014 Oscar acceptance speech in which he declares his hero to be his own future self. We also love the poem's construction with consistent use of natural and mathematical elements throughout. And we especially love Francesca's