An online promotional and news source for all Oklahoma writers, authors, artists, publishers, or creatives who work with Oklahoma related materials. We are especially supportive of independent authors and small presses.

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8/30/14

"Just Sayin'" By Author Randell O. Drake

 
Just Sayin'   
Or as My Wife Says "He is Not a Man of Few Words"
by Randell O. Drake (Tate, 2014)
From nothing to something... you are possible....
 
A Season of the Unexpected...No Watches. Just Time...Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda...Out Loud? No Thanks...Blue Eyeshadow and Red Lipstick.
 
These chapters from the book Just Sayin' reflects a collection of ideas, autobiographical stories, thoughts, Biblical exposition, and a good many words from author Randell O. Drake.
 
Drake is a regular guy who is a minister of the Gospel and loves God, his family, his church, and the world around him. We all have our life anecdotes, our family yarns, and our career chronicles, and Drake's personal recollections will reveal to you how different and similar we all are.
296 pages - $21.99 (paperback) (Tate Publishing).
 
 "It has been a long time since I read a book that spoke so powerfully to the life and events of a minister. Bishop Randell O. Drake's Just Sayin' does that with wisdom, humor, practical insights and just the right touch on certain very serious topics. You will appreciate the honesty and transparency that comes through as Bishop Drake opens the windows of his life to all of us. This book is a must read for any Christian." Bishop Doug Beacham IPHC General Superintendent.
 
Catch him today at Hastings in Muskogee (8/30/2014).

Raising Awareness One Book At A Time

Walking down any street in any town or city, have you ever wondered what is going on behind the faces, beneath the dark shades and the hurried pace? Is there any pause to wonder if that exterior is the whole story? To wonder if there is more than meets the eye?  The answer is that often there is much more bubbling under the surface where hidden passions, needs, hurts and fears linger.  That is the terrain one author bravely sets out to explore and in the process bring new understanding. She seeks to raise awareness...one book at a time.
 
Author  RH (Rhonda) Ramsey, lived in Oklahoma City/Edmond, Oklahoma until  she was eighteen-years-old.  Currently stationed at McConnell AFB in Kansas,  she is a military spouse, mother, and author with a small independent publisher. Her work is now beginning to take off and just recently, she has been interviewed on a local television show in the Wichita area, "The Brett and Sierra show." "My books have been accepted in The Blue Dragon Bookstore, as well as Bookaholics. My debut novel, Just Beneath the Surface, is also in the Derby, Kansas Public Library." She shared and added that last May, the Derby Informer also interviewed about the passion and focus that drives her writing, namely "Awareness." 

Ramsey describes herself as "very passionate about and dedicated to awareness -- giving a voice to the silenced, silencing those who judge with no intent to understand."  Her efforts are beginning to be noticed.
 
The need to make people aware of the complexities of a subject as old as time but ever reshaped by modern stresses, gives her writing a reality and passion.  "In my novel, Just Beneath the Surface: Landon's Story, readers learn the pathology of the abuser."
 
"Readers see that domestic violence does not always mean physical scars. It is also vital to me that those who are hurt do not fall into any particular category of race, personality, or social class. Many say what they would do if they were abused (mentally or physically) yet many do not understand that abusers are just as manipulative and ingenious as they are tyrannical; they chip away at their victim until he/she does not know who or where they are. It breaks my heart that people are critical and judgmental."
 
Her goal in this creative endeavor is clear and one needed in an increasingly complex and stressful society.  "My mission is to break apart stereotypes and try my hardest to shed light on what really happens behind closed doors, beneath the surface."
 
Her novels, Just Beneath the Surface I , Just Beneath the Surface 2: Landon's Story. The first novel is about physical violence, while the follow-up, which is not a continuation and has new characters/stories, is about mental abuse.  Released August 2014  her latest work is called, Like Shards of Glass. This is a novel about the aftermath of PTSD. 
 
For a review of Like Shards of Glass, go here.

8/26/14

Local Authors Book Fair to Feature Over 40 Authors


Kudos to the Tulsa area for supporting local libraries and local authors!  Kudos too to the local authors and talent donating their time to this worthy cause.
 
 Karen Marie Graham, Claremore, shares, "I've organized a fundraiser benefiting the Tulsa City County Library's Downtown Renovation." The desire is to spread the news among students, faculty, and writing library supporters.  The event involves Jim Stovall and 40 local authors from all over Green Country (NE Oklahoma).
 
The fundraiser is scheduled for September 13. 
From 1:30-2 p.m.  The local musical talent of Sean Al-Jibouri of Tulsa Jazz will be entertaining our guests as they arrive!

Author, motivational speaker, and movie producer, Jim Stovall, will be speaking at Hardesty Regional Library on "Turning Ideas into Books, Speeches, Columns, and Movies," from 2-3 in Conner's Cove, then from 3-4:45 forty local Oklahoma authors, including Jim, will be selling and signing their books in Frossard Auditorium. These authors are generously donating 25% of their sales to the Tulsa City-County Library downtown renovation project.

There will be giveaways, too.  For each book purchased, the customer will be entered to win one of 4 $100 gift cards, book baskets, and more!

For more information go to:  https://www.facebook.com/events/840963465914689//