2018 NIMROD Conference for Writers and Readers

Nimrod International Journal
The University of Tulsa
800 S. Tucker Dr.
Tulsa, OK 74104
nimrod@utulsa.edu
phone: 918-631-3080.
web site: www.utulsa.edu/nimrod


PRESS RELEASE: NIMROD CONFERENCE FOR READERS AND WRITERS


Nimrod International Journal's 2018 Conference for Readers and Writers will take place October 19th–20th. Featuring nationally known writers and newly discovered award-winners, this conference is also distinctive in that it pairs editors with writers who want individual critiques and guidance in refining their writing. 

On October 19th, Nimrod will kick off the Conference with Write Night at the Tulsa Garden Center. Write Night is free and open to the public and will begin with a reception of light bites and a cash bar at 6:30 p.m. Following at 7:00 p.m. will be an Author Chat, reading, and book signing with Pulitzer Prize finalist and winner of the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award Patricia Smith, author of Blood Dazzler, and winner of the American Book Award and Oklahoma Book Award Rilla Askew, author of Fire in Beulah. The event is co-hosted by Magic City Books and co-sponsored by The University of Tulsa’s Creative Writing program.

On October 20th at 9:30 a.m., Nimrod will host the all-day Conference for Readers and Writers at The University of Tulsa. Participants will have the opportunity to work with over forty distinguished authors and editors at the Conference.  Special guest authors and editors include fiction writer Rilla Askew, Oklahoma Book Award winner and author of Fire in Beulah; poet Patricia Smith, National Book Award nominee, NAACP Image Award winner, and author of Blood Dazzler; New York Times-bestselling memoirist and poet Jill Bialosky, author of History of a Suicide: My Sister’s Unfinished Life; young adult author Erin Bow, TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award winner and author of The Scorpion Rules; romance author Sarah MacLean, two-time RITA Award winner and author of No Good Duke Goes Unpunished; mystery author Julia Thomas, author of The English Boys; poet Kaveh Bassiri, Witter Bynner Poetry Translation Residency winner; and Carl Engle-Laird, editor at Tor.com Publishing.

Participants can choose from a wide array of panels and workshops on writing fiction, poetry, memoir, mystery, young adult literature, romance, and science fiction; ways to attract the attention of literary agents and publishers; and more. Those who pre-register and send brief writing samples by October 13th can also have the opportunity to sit down to discuss their work one on one with an experienced editor and/or have an individual critique of a novel pitch.

Just a few of the workshops at the Conference:

How Do I Know When I’m Done?: Strategies for Revision
Making History, Taking Place: Historical Fiction
Poetry: Using Emotion Effectively, Bravely, and Responsibly
Using Weakness to Build Strong Characters
Choose Your Own Disaster: Worldbuilding for Fantasy, Science Fiction, and More
Your Agent, Your Editor, and You: Understanding Publishing’s Gatekeepers

Each registrant is entitled to participate in readings, panel discussions, masterclasses, novel-pitch critiques, and one-on-one editing sessions, though those who plan to register for novel-pitch critiques or one-on-one editing sessions must register by October 13th. Scholarships to help cover registration costs are available for students, teachers, and adult writers in need. Professional development credit is available for Tulsa Public Schools teachers.

Registration Information:

October 19th, 6:30 p.m., the Tulsa Garden Center, 2435 S. Peoria Ave.: Nimrod Write Night. Free and open to the public. No reservations needed.

October 20th, 9:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., TU’s Allen Chapman Student Union, 440 S. Gary Ave.: Nimrod Conference for Readers and Writers.
Early Bird Registration is open until September 30th ($50/standard, $10/scholarship).
Regular Registration is open from October 1st–October 16th ($60/standard, $10/scholarship).
Late Registration will take place at the door on October 20th ($70/standard, $15/scholarship).

Those who wish to participate in a one-on-one editing session or novel-pitch critique session must register and send in 2–3 pages of poetry or 4–5 pages of prose by October 13th.


For registration forms and more information, including scholarship information, please contact Nimrod at 918-631-3080 or e-mail: nimrod@utulsa.edu or visit the Nimrod website: www.utulsa.edu/nimrod.




Nimrod International Journal

The University of Tulsa

800 S. Tucker Dr.

Tulsa, OK 74104

(918) 631-3080

www.utulsa.edu/nimrod

HUDSON ANNOUNCES UPCOMING BOOK on "OKLAHOMA BAD GIRLS"

The 1890's in Oklahoma saw the twin territories rife with gangs, crooks and outlaws. The fairer sex was represented in this mix, although sometimes with less attention to facts or even credibility.  In OKLAHOMA BAD GIRLS (2017) meet a variety of women, along with their companions and idols, whose stories are often absent or heavily distorted in the history books. Follow these desperado adventures of some fascinating women from Oklahoma's Gilded Age.

Introduced will be stories of Cattle Annie, Little Britches, "Tom King" aka Flo Quick,Jessie Findlay, and others...Watch for additional volumes in this series, Neighborhood of Hell.

Marilyn A. Hudson is the author of several nonfiction works including "When Death Rode the Rails", "Into Oblivion", and "Murderous Marriages".  Additionally she is the author of fictional works "Foul Harvest", "Sword of Anath", and coauthor of "The Mound".

Hudson has been labeled "The Bizarre History Genie" for her skill in unearthing long buried and forgotten nuggets of history.  An author, storyteller, artist and library professional Hudson is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. 

[Image by Fresh Eire Designs, Cullan Hudson]

Publishing date : September 2017, with distribution through Amazon  and Kindle, TBA

Chickasha Author Publishes

Chickasha, Oklahoma resident Brian McNatt has recently published two books. Estranged: A Tale of Two Sisters available on Amazon and Legends of Heraldale avaliable on Lulu.

Author Steve Clark

Author of Justice Is for the Deserving and Justice Is for the Lonely, Reviewer of suspense, mystery and thrillers.

Steve Clark is an author and lawyer in Oklahoma City specializing in medical malpractice. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, an honor limited to the top 1% of attorneys. He is also listed in The Best Lawyers in America.

With a lifetime of practicing law under his belt, Steve began his writing career by publishing Justice Is for the Lonely: A Kristen Kerry Novel of Suspense.  His years in the courtroom result in a highly realistic yet spellbinding drama that William Bernhardt, bestselling author of Dark Eye said, “hooked me on the first page and kept me reading long into the night. Kristen is one of the most interesting lawyer-characters I've read in a long time.''  Justice Is for the Deserving, Steve's second novel in the series, is now out and receiving outstanding reviews. Michael Gibson gave it five stars and called it a "A Noir Tour De Force" ... "You won’t be able to put this one down. It is a genuine tour de force, one I expect to be shown soon at a theater near you. Are you listening Quentin Tarentino?"

After receiving his law degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1975, he embarked on a prolific career in law in which he started his own firm, taught law at Oklahoma City University- College of Law and became a managing partner at Clark & Mitchell, P.C., where he remains today. He has solidified his reputation as an expert in various areas of law by giving more than 20 professional presentations to his peers over the years. He has also been ranked as a “Superlawyer” on superlawyers.com every year since 2005.

His wife, Jane, was a scholarship athlete at the University of Oklahoma. They currently live in Oklahoma City and have five children. He has coached his four daughters in the Amateur Softball Association and enjoys being involved in his son’s sports activities. Steve is active in state and local politics, the Catholic Church community, and had served as a board member of Infant Crisis Services, a non-profit organization providing emergent infant care.

Steve is currently working on book three in the series.

Here is his web link  www.SteveClarkAuthor.com 

The Woman Without A Voice. Louise Farmer Smith

Author Louise Smith announces new book set in Oklahoma, THE WOMAN WITHOUT A VOICE, Pioneering in Dugout, Sod House and Homestead (pub date 9/29/2017.) This non-fiction account of my family’s struggle during the drought and Panic of 1893 which destroyed their Nebraska farm continues as they flee to Oklahoma Territory to begin life in a dugout near Weatherford.

Press Release:

Who Speaks for the Mother?

In 2017 we mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Laura Ingles Wilder, author of Little House on the Prairie and other beloved books told from the point of view of the child. But what was the pioneer mother, Mrs. Ingles, thinking throughout all that cabin-building, well-digging and then abandoning their home to start over in an even lonelier place?

The Woman Without a Voice by Louise Farmer Smith reveals through women’s diaries the fears of pioneer women who, in obedience to their husbands, left their homes to take their children into a wilderness. “And this is my story,” Smith writes, “as I’ve tried to uncover the mysteries of the pioneer women in my own family—Ida, Mary Lillian, Zoe, and Phebe Ann, the one they left behind.” 

This riveting memoir opens when drought and the Panic of 1893 destroy Smith’s great grandfather’s Nebraska farm. Pressure from the bank leads to the auction of their equipment and animals and their move to a claim in western Oklahoma Territory where they begin life in a dugout. This book, which contains 17 family and other antique photos, is propelled by the mystery of Phebe Ann, the mother of the family, who is left behind. Smith traces her fate through records from the Lincoln Asylum.\\

Praise for THE WOMAN WITHOUT A VOICE

• “Louise Farmer Smith has written a part of history we aren’t taught in classrooms....the true resilience of her female ancestors....heartbreaking, moving and ultimately inspiring memoir about the strength of women.”
• JoAnna Woolridge Wall, J.D. Lecturer, Women and Gender Studies, University of Oklahoma  Husband and wife sat side by side on the wagon bench.... diaries suggest they lived in different worlds....
• A compelling tale...to anyone considering writing their family’s often complex and difficult history.”
  Lisa Kendrick, Librarian, Genealogical Center, Albuquerque, NM

Smith, a PEN\New England Discovery winner, grew up in Oklahoma, majored in Letters and earned two masters degrees from Yale and Goddard. She later trained in family therapy, and worked for a US congressman. She was a Bread Loaf Fellow in 2005. Her work has been supported by the Ragdale  Foundation and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Two of her stories received Pushcart nominations. Her novel, One Hundred Years of Marriage, was a finalist for the Prairie Heritage Award, 2015. Her prize-winning stories appeared in five anthologies and in her collection, Cadillac, Oklahoma.

The Woman Without A Voice is available 9/29/2017 from Upper Hand Press.
For more information: netgalley.com upperhandpress.com louisefarmersmith.com
614-886-2462 for sales. 202-543-2899 for interviews.

Author Callie Hutton Has Dynamic "Oklahoma Series"

USA Today bestselling author, Callie Hutton, author of more than twenty-five historical romance books, writes humorous and spicy Regency with “historic elements and sensory details” (The Romance Reviews). Callie lives in Oklahoma with two rescue dogs and her top cheerleader husband of many years. Her family also includes her daughter, son, and daughter-in-law. And her almost three year old twin grandsons “The Twinadoes.” One book 'A Run for Love" is a romance about the Guthrie Land Run.

AUTHOR EVENT WITH RUSSELL FERRELL

Author Russell Ferrell will be featured in a book and author event hosted at Full Circle Book Store in OKC on Friday, September 9 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM concerning the new release on my 2016 book titled The Bone War of McCurtain County - A True Tale of Two Men's Quest for Treasure, Truth and Justice.

CLASS IS IN : AUTHOR TABI SLICK

BOOK PRESS RELEASE

Title: Tompkin’s School (For The Extraordinarily Talented)

Tabi Slick

Izara Torvik thought her life was over the moment that her father sent her and her twin brother to a boarding school in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma. She soon discovers that the school is not as ordinary as she thought and finds herself thrown into a battle against her her inner demons that only have one desire...the desire to kill

“Once my body stopped trembling, I picked myself up. It felt strange, my feet seemed to fall much lighter on the ground than normal. My head also felt a bit fuzzy. I turned and froze as I caught myself in the reflection of a full-length mirror. I glided forward to get a closer look. My eyelids had sunken into my skull and my eyes were red! I reached up to touch my pallid skin only to gawk at my hands. My fingernails had been replaced with dark, black claws.

“I’m a monster,” I hissed.

My eyes flashed up to meet my reflection once again and soon my clawed hands were the least of my worries. Two black, very large things were moving ever so slightly, blocking the reflection of the rest of the room. I looked over my shoulder to find large, black feathered, wings...”

Join the Torvik twins as they discover their powers and unlock the secrets into Tompkin’s Academy’s most disturbing history!

“Wonderfully dark and well-written tale.” - Books In Brogan

Tompkin’s School is published by Crane & Company Press

Format: 5.5” x 8.5” Paperback

Pages: 418

Paperback Price: $15.95 (Discounts available)

Kindle eBook Price: $2.99

ISBN: 1530998336

Contact: books@tabislick.com for media inquiries and order information

About the Author

Tabi Slick was born in Kansas where she was homeschooled for the greater part of her childhood. In middle school, she moved to Davis, Oklahoma where she attended public school for several years. Here she began her writing adventure and soon the world of Tompkin’s Academy came to life. After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Linguistics from the University of Texas at Arlington, she still continues to dedicate .

Tabi Slick

facebook.com/TompkinsSchoolTrilogy

AN AUTHOR RESPONDS :The Tall Tale of Acro vs. The Bone War of McCurtain County

Paul Fairchild’s Tall Tale of Acro

By Russell Ferrell

    These comments are in response to Paul Fairchild’s article titled The Tall Tale of Acro in the November, 2015, issue of The Oklahoma Magazine. I was contacted by Joyce Hall, who was quite upset about the article. The article was riddled with errors and conceptual flaws that were probably caused by bias or faulty sources. Fairchild did not do his homework and this sloppy excuse for journalism is unacceptable and unprofessional. What follows is a summary of the many errors and misperceptions found throughout the article, which are profoundly atrocious. On behalf of Joyce Hall and the memory of Cephis Hall, I am trying to set the record straight.

    Joyce and Cephis Hall had collaborated with me on a book project about their ordeal and harrowing experiences in connection with the discovery and excavation of the Acrocanthosaurus, the State Dinosaur of Oklahoma. I spent many, many hours interviewing Joyce and Cephis and other witnesses involved with the characters and events of the story; many have since become deceased. I also examined and read all the newspaper articles, archives, legal documents, and anything I could get my hands on in connection to the story. I spent almost four years researching and investigating the facts and several years writing, editing, and revising the manuscript, which resulted in two titles.  The first publication, Acrocanthosaurs—The Bones of Contention, (now out of print) was superseded by the newer and better title, The Bone War of McCurtain County.

In my conversation with Joyce Hall, she had stated that she was concerned about the motives of Mr. Fairchild after he called to interview Cephis about his Acro story.  She informed him that Cephis had passed away December 24, 2013. Fairchild proceeded to interview Mrs. Hall, but when she asked him if he would send her a copy of the article, he was evasive and non-committal. This raised a suspicion in her mind that he might not be a friendly interviewer or custodian of her husband’s story and memory. Her fears proved well-founded when she finally uncovered and read the article on the internet.

   

After having read the article myself, I share her sentiment. There was one particular part of the article that caused Joyce Hall to gasp in revulsion. I will explain the basis of Hall’s complaint as well as my own criticism of the article in the following passages.

   

Mr. Fairchild’s story is blatantly biased against Hall and riddled with errors. I cannot determine if Fairchild is himself biased, or has merely consulted biased or estranged sources. Other than Joyce Hall, he names only two sources in his article—Henry Moya of the Museum of the Red River and Ken Carpenter—neither of whom are first hand or knowledgeable sources concerning Hall and Love’s personal story. 

   

Mr. Moya, the current museum director, did not arrive at the museum until well after the real storied heart of the Hall-Love-Acro kernel had fully germinated and sprouted to fruition. By that time, the events of the story were largely over. The previous museum director, Greg Perino, was the man with inside knowledge. Perino was a witness to the transaction between Hall-Love and the corporate official who approved Hall and Love’s excavation. Perino gave a signed affidavit and had agreed to testify in court.  

   

Carpenter, a member of the elite scientific establishment, touts an academic bias and has a penchant for belittling Hall’s accomplishment. Carpenter knows little, if anything, about Hall’s personal story from a firsthand source, except maybe little snippets uncovered during small-talk with Hall during the Acro Fest ceremony.

   

Some establishment paleontologists do not look upon the Hall-Love story with favor, nor relish the idea of amateurs winning glory by making world-class discoveries or excavations. Cephis and Sid battled not just academics, but corporate officialdom and their politicians who wanted to seize their Acro treasure, but failed. Whether Carpenter or Fairchild wish to acknowledge it or not, the Hall-Love recovery of the Acrocanthosaurus represents one of the greatest paleontological discoveries (and excavations) of the twentieth century, indeed of all time. This is not because I say it; the facts speak for themselves.

   

Fairchild’s article is not just biased against Hall, but against the book that chronicles Hall’s accomplishment. The use of the descriptive term “tall tale” could have either innocuous or vicious connotations. Given the general negative slant of the overall story, I believe it was meant to have a pejorative connotation—inferring that the book, and possibly even the newspaper stories on the subject, is hyperbolic and ridden with deceit and fabrication. His use of the words anecdotes, rumors, and half-truths are highly loaded—implying that he has a superior source of information than what has been published, even exclusive access to the real truth. His article proves otherwise.

   

There have been some very good newspaper articles and reviews about the book published in such mainstream publications as: The Oklahoman, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, the Raleigh Telegram, the Texarkana Gazette, and the Nashville Leader, to name only a few. Local newspapers in southeastern Oklahoma did a fine job with day-to-day coverage of the topic over the almost two decades that the story unfolded. Needless to say, I have never seen such biased, distorted, and sloppy coverage as that provided by Fairchild in the November issue of the Oklahoma Magazine. I will now spend the balance of my comments addressing specific factual errors or biases in Fairchild’s article.

   

v The most egregious example of distortion and error is Fairchild’s reporting on the Hall-Love recovery of the Acro from the Balcones Lab at the University of Texas in Austin, which Joyce Hall considers to be slanderous and libelous. He alleges that Hall and Love committed theft when they burglarized the lab to recover the Acro skeleton. This description is erroneous and the contention of theft is fictitious and ridiculous. The term repossession would be more accurate, although a little bit devious as many repos are. To call it burglary implies that Hall and Love clandestinely and illegally broke into the building while it was locked and no attendant present. Actually Hall and Love had a scheduled appointment to meet with the lab director.

Coming with the intent of recovering their skeleton, they knew the staff would not be receptive to returning it. Thus, they had concocted a devious but legal stratagem to catch the lab attendants off guard and surprise them.

      

Outfoxed, the stunned laboratory staff could do nothing but watch the two men load the skeleton in plain view, and even unlocked some cabinets for them. If the lab attendants had thought a burglary or theft was occurring, they had ample time to call the police while the two men were loading their truck.

The bones were not owned by the university. A written agreement between Hall-Love and the university spelled out the stipulations and obligations of both parties. The bones were merely on loan to the lab, which had failed to live up to the terms of the agreement.

   

v Fairchild goes on to claim that the theft set off a dragnet—spurring the Texas Rangers to get involved in a search for the stolen dinosaur. This is totally spurious as the Texas Rangers had no jurisdiction concerning this Oklahoma-originated property dispute. The university might have had its feathers ruffled, but had no right to decry theft—having possession is not necessarily the same as ownership. Although the corporate landowner later alleged theft of the Acro from its’ timberlands, this, of course, turned out to be a bogus claim as the litigation settlement later demonstrated. Hall and Love were never formally charged or arrested for any alleged crime in connection with their recovery of the Acro. Paleontologists at the Balcones Lab in Austin were in no position to allege theft at any time—but they were out for revenge.

   

v Hall and Love had previously secured permission to excavate from a corporate official in McCurtain County and were told that the company wasn’t interested in any paleontological products they exhumed. Of course the corporation didn’t take the two amateurs seriously, thinking they were incapable of finding—let alone excavating—anything of scientific significance.

   

v After the bones were recovered from UT and brought back to Oklahoma, they were stored and hidden in a remote shed in rural Arkansas that belonged to Cephis’s brother, not a distant relative as Fairchild avers.

   

v Fairchild next leads the reader to believe that Hall’s house was subsequently raided after Texas policemen extended the search for the fugitive bones into Oklahoma. The raid on Hall’s house actually occurred almost a decade later and the real motive for that raid is unclear. Mysteriously, only two days prior to that raid, Hall had supposedly returned home from South Dakota with an artificial cast, rather than the real skeleton. Mere coincidence, or was the raid motivated by revenge on the part of Hall’s enemies?

v Cephis’s son’s house was never raided as Fairchild states in his article.

       

v A sub-heading in the article states: “The Dinosaur No One Wanted”, a catchy phrase but inaccurate. Scientists in Texas and Oklahoma wanted desperately to get possession of the Acro specimen. Scientific lobbyists even crafted legislative strategies inside the Oklahoma State Legislature in an apparent attempt to force Hall and Love to turn over the Acro to the public interest. The corporate landowner and friendly politicians were pressing to recover the lost treasure on several fronts. This was one of the rarest and most valuable dinosaur finds on record; consequently, it was a coveted prize.

v The article alludes to some boys who had found a bone near the river and implies that their discovery elicited local interest and motivated Hall to go check out the site. The events and timelines Fairchild refers to in his article do not square with the facts or with Hall’s testimony. For instance, Hall did not break ground at the site for almost two years later and was unaware that bones had already been discovered there. A few bones were finally taken to the University of Oklahoma in Norman by Christi Silvey, the Beaver’s Bend State Park naturalist, but were not identified until much later when a paleontologist was finally brought on staff. One of the boys and his father spearheaded a primitive excavation of the site and recovered a few pieces; but soon afterwards they abandoned the dig and the bones were forgotten—until Hall finally arrived. Hall’s excavation site remained a secret.

v The article incorrectly describes Sid Love as an amateur anthropologist. Actually, a rock hound, naturalist, or amateur geologist would be more accurate.

v Fairchild states Hall and Love got $50,000 for the dinosaur. Actually, they sold the specimen to a commercial fossil dealer for $225,000, with a further stipulation that they be provided a mountable cast of the skeleton valued at $50,000. After paying the attorneys over $50,000, they ended up with about $87,500 each and eventually a defective cast.

v Hall did not take the skeleton to the Black Hills Institute. Instead, he sold it to a commercial paleontologist in Ardmore who subsequently transported it there.

v Hall’s defective cast was not stored in a barn, but in his clustered rock shop.

v The article says that the Museum of the Red River led the charge to have the Acro named State Dinosaur of Oklahoma. Actually it was local legislators, State Senator Jeff Rabon of Hugo, State Representative Paul Roan of Tishomingo, and State Representative Jerry Ellis of Valliant, all democrats, who pushed the legislation against partisan Republicans who opposed it. The strongest opposition came from the Tulsa area.

v Contrary to Mr. Fairchild’s report, the Acro was named the State Dinosaur in 2006 – not 2005.

v Fairchild states that the only displaying museum less than 200 miles away was the Museum of the Red River in Idabel. Actually, a cast of the Acro is also on display inside Graffham’s Hall at the Goddard Youth Camp Museum, 151 miles from Idabel, or an even shorter distance from Hall’s house in Hochatown. Cephis lived in the village of Hochatown, not Broken Bow, as Fairchild states in his article.

v The State Fossil of Oklahoma is not Aurophaganax maximus as named in the article, but Saurophaganax maximus.

v Fairchild claims the friends of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science didn’t do their research and that the Acro was never traced to North Carolina. Dr Dale Russell, the museum paleontologist, stated in a press release: “The ancient coastal plains where the Acro hunted are now submerged, making discovery of their bones nearly impossible. A delta containing sediments the same age as those where Acro was found lies buried under the waters of Pamlico and Albemarle Sound. It’s the right age, contains evidence of similar environments, and probably also acro bones, but they are hidden from us.”

There are a few other factual errors and conceptual flaws in the article, but I think I have mentioned enough. The article is so sloppy and devoid of accuracy it is doubtful that any violation of copyright protections could be raised. However, innovators like Fairchild need to always be cognizant of copyright protections, especially on a subject like this where the principal characters have all passed away and the only remaining source of their recorded testimony is found in a copyrighted book. Had Mr. Fairchild approached me in a sincere and friendly way, I would have been happy to assist him in getting an interesting and accurate story on the subject.

Russell Ferrell, January 10, 2016

Author of The Bone War of McCurtain County

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All views and opinions expressed in this entry are solely those of the author and Oklahoma Writers and Authors cannot be held responsible for those views and such views may not reflect those of OKWriters Blog, its facilitators or other authors/publishers.
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Posted by Marilyn A. Hudson, 2/7/2016 

Coin Collecting Book A Must for Serious People

http://www.oldcoincollecting.com/coin-collecting-guide.

Build the Coin Collection of Your Dreams Without Breaking the Bank!

Avoid the traps and pitfalls experienced by other collectors. "Quick Guide to Coin Collecting" will help you build the coin collection of your dreams whether you're just starting your numismatic journey or are an old hand frustrated with your results.

Discover how to:

• Start and build a valuable coin collection,
• Establish a budget and collecting strategy,
• Evaluate coins by age, condition, rarity and more,
• Detect and avoid counterfeit and altered coins,
• Discover rare variety and error coins,
• Involve the whole family in the coin collecting hobby,

Powerful Glimpse Into A Unique Period of Oklahoma History

ALL MEN FEAR ME, An Alafair Tucker Mystery by Donis Casey. (Poison Pen Press, 2015).

This latest installment in the series by Donis Casey, stands alone well as a rollicking good mystery featuring the northeast and eastern Oklahoma family and friends of Alafair Tucker.  It can also be picked up and read by someone not familiar with the unique cast of Oklahoma characters. Additionally, it is probably the best in the series to date providing the reader with a well written, taunt, and unique story line with a delightful sense of pacing and suspense. 

Profiles of people populating the small town featured in the series presented are powerful, firmly but stylishly drawn and often highly memorable as people it would be easy to say had really lived. 

Events in this title all stem from a time period often overlooked but one rich in detail in Oklahoma. The era of early WWI, the early moments before the nation launched fully into participation in the conflict are spotlighted. All around is the anxiety, the fear, and the tension of uncertain futures. There are numerous back stories drawn from history that give an added reality to the tale: the union organizing efforts, the growing Socialist movement that was gaining a firm toehold in the nation, and especially among Oklahoma's disenfranchised,  the question of loyalty to the nation, accepting the alien immigrant, and the ticking clock as the drama of propaganda and nationalist fervor to gain backing for entrance into the war escalates.

Haunting in places, frightening in others, and satisfying to heart and head, this is a book not soon forgotten.  A recommended read for anyone loving mystery, history, Oklahoma, and having something to think about while a fictional story unfolds.

Review by Author, Marilyn A. Hudson

Disclaimer: The publisher supplied this writer with a copy of the book for possible review.

NIMROD Awards Conference for Readers and Writers Oct. 17

PRESS RELEASE: NIMROD AWARDS CONFERENCE FOR READERS AND WRITERS

Nimrod International Journal’s 2015 Conference for Readers and Writers will take place on October 17th at the University of Tulsa. Featuring nationally known writers and newly discovered award-winners, this conference is also distinctive in bringing editors to meet one on one with writers who want individual critiques and guidance toward refining their work.  

Participants will be offered the opportunity to work with over forty distinguished authors, including the judges for the annual Nimrod Awards contest and other visiting artists. This year’s judges are two distinguished writers—Pulitzer Prize finalist Karen Russell, author of Swamplandia!, and Tina Chang, Poet Laureate of Brooklyn and author of Of Gods & Strangers.

Other guests include such celebrated authors as fiction writer Molly Antopol, a Stegner Fellow and author of The UnAmericans, a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree; young adult writer Jennifer Latham, author of Scarlett Undercover; YA fantasy writer Sarah Cross, author of Kill Me Softly; mystery writer Megan Abbott, author of The Fever, nonfiction writer Hector Tobar, author of Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine and the Miracle that Set Them Free; and Oklahoma Poet Laureate Benjamin Myers, author of Lapse Americana; and over thirty other professional writers and editors eager to share their talent and experience.

The conference will feature masterclasses, readings, panel discussions, and one-on-one editing sessions. Each workshop and panel is designed to stimulate ideas and discussion and to inspire and improve participants’ writing. Not only will participants be able to attend classes with award-winning authors, but they will be able to interact with them during coffee breaks, lunch, and informal talk sessions.

After the choice of two opening panel discussions, one a general writing advice session and the other a Q&A session on editing and publishing, participants will choose from a wide variety of masterclasses. There will be classes on writing fiction, poetry, memoir, mystery, nonfiction, and young adult literature and fantasy; ways to attract the attention of literary agents; and more. Just a few of the class titles: “Diversified: Incorporating Real-World Diversity into Young Adult Fiction,” “Down a Dark Alley: Atmosphere in Crime Fiction,” “Write About a Box: Taking the Fear out of Writing Your Memoir,” “The Fantasy Writer’s Cupboard: Fairy Tales, Folklore, and Myth” and “Writing with Questions: Empathy, Intimacy, and Interviewing in Nonfiction.” All are designed to encourage dialogue, share experience and expertise, and leave space for discovery. Most sessions will also include writing exercises, and all will have time for questions.

Those who pre-register and send their brief writing samples by October 10th will have the opportunity to sit down one on one with an experienced editor to discuss their work. These sessions are unique to Nimrod’s conference and are a conference favorite every year.

Lunch for registered participants will be accompanied by readings by Tina Chang and Karen Russell. An invitational reading with other featured guests and a group book-signing will end the day.

Each registrant is entitled to participate in readings, panel discussions, masterclasses, and one-on-one editing sessions.  The cost of Saturday’s conference is $60.00, including lunch. Full and partial scholarships are also available, but each participant must register. Those who wish to participate in a one-on-one editing session must send in the registration form and 2-3 pages of poetry or 4-5 pages of fiction by October 10th.   Professional development credit is available for Tulsa Public School teachers.

Nimrod also offers a special Two-Day Pass to attend both the writing workshop and the Awards Dinner the night before, October 16th. The Awards Dinner honors the winners and judges of Nimrod’s annual writing contest. It will feature a keynote address by Pulitzer Prize-nominee Karen Russell and readings of poetry and fiction by award-winners Heather Altfeld, Leila Chatti, J. D. Wiley, and Emily Wortman-Wunder. A ticket to the dinner alone is $65. The Two-Day Pass to attend both the dinner on Friday and the workshop on Saturday is $100.

For registration forms and more information, including dinner and scholarship information, please contact Eilis O’Neal at 918-631-3080 or e-mail: nimrod@utulsa.edu or visit the Nimrod website: www.utulsa.edu/nimrod.

Writing Contest

Sequestrum, a literary journal of new prose and poetry, is holding a contest through October 15^th for new writers (anyone yet to publish a book-length manuscript). 

Says Managing Editor, Ralph Cooper, "I appreciate the vital role local and regional organizations play for writers in all stages of their careers, and I’d appreciate if you could pass this note along to any writers who might be interested in participating in the contest." The contest is open to short fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, with winners for both prose and poetry. Full contest details here: www.sequestrum.org/contests.

Their library contains NEA & Guggenheim Fellows, Pulitzer Prize Nominees, and other award-winning poets and novelists. Cooper emphasizes, "We hope to put some of today’s emerging talents alongside them." 

Check out the attached file is a flyer with contest details and additional information about Sequestrum. A great opportunity for not yet published authors...

www.sequestrum.org