Acceptances and Sales
David Roper's first picture book The Little Old Man, The Little Old Woman, and The Little Red Hen came from the press in September (Doodle and Peck Publishing).
Bonnie Lanthripe's mid-grade novel The Ringleader: The Legion of Fury is scheduled to be published soon (Pen-L Publishing).
Nancy Lee has an article scheduled to be published in 2017 by the United Methodist magazine Christian Living in the Mature Years: "Encore Adults: 'Play It Again, Sam!'"
Profession Activities
Barbara Shepherd was the guest speaker in Ada, Oklahoma, for Ada Writers Club; wrote press releases for Oklahoma City Writers and Wordwrights–OKC Christian Writers; wrote and published a newsletter for Wordwrights; and finalized plans to co-host another Fiction Writers Retreat on June 17, 2017.
David Roper was one of the authors at the Encyclomedia conference in Oklahoma City, had a book on the SCBWI "Book Blast" site, had a book launch party for his new picture book at the Midwest City library, was an author at the Kansas Literacy Festival in Wichita, Kansas, attended the fall Oklahoma SCBWI conference which included a book-signing, produced a book for his brother Coy Roper: Potpourri: A Medley of Poetry and Prose.
Contest Winnings
Barbara Shepherd won awards in the 2016 Rose State Writers’ Conference contest: First place in Nonfiction for an article "Colonel Bourland Commands Attention," first place in Writing for Young Readers in a YA story "Web of Deceit." She also won the "Outstanding Author Award for 2016."
Club Activities
The club suffered a massive blow when faithful member Jeanne Shirley passed away October 24, 2016. Jeanne was considered "the heart beat" of the group. She kept the Mid-Oklahoma Writers going for many years through good times and bad. She was recently made a Lifetime Member in recognition of her years of loyal service.
The winners in the fall 2016 Mid-Oklahoma Writers Contest (theme: "Summer") were as follows. Poetry: 1st place – "Heat" by Barbara Shepherd, 2nd place – "The Prose Writer’s Lament" by Nancy Lee, 3rd place – "D.A./DNA/NFL from Hell" by Catherine Katey Johnson, Honorable Mentions – "Luscious Lure (On a Summer Day)" by Magi Whitaker, "Summertime" by David L. Roper, and "The Note Said" by Jeanne C. Shirley. Fiction: 1st place – "A Summer of Change" by Jeanne C. Shirley, 2nd place – "Summer Bliss" by Barbara Shepherd, 3rd place – "The First Day of Summer" by David L. Roper, Honorable Mention – "When the Funnels Come Back to Tom Pastrano" by Catherine Katey Johnson.
Officers for 2017 are as follows: President – Candyce Shima, Vice-President (and Program Director) – Catherine Katy Johnson, Secretary – David Roper, Treasurer – Jaz Primo.
