Saturday, April 19, 2025, is the annual Enid Author’s Fest at the Public Library of Enid and Garfield County, 120 West Maine, Enid, OK from noon to 4 pm. Authors from all over Oklahoma will be selling, reading, and signing their books.
I always enjoy meeting new authors and getting together again with those I’ve met before. The entire downstairs level of the library will be covered with tables and the talent will be flowing. I’m sure you will come away with something great. Bring the kids. I know they will find a book just for them.
For many years, the public library in Enid has held an annual author fest. It is the day before Easter this year and I have a great idea for an Easter Basket stuffer. Books!
The weatherman says it may be raining so what better day to stay indoors and read. And if you don’t have a good book, come find one. Oklahoma has tremendous talent in the arts and literature is one of them. Come meet the authors and come away with an enjoyable book and a great adventure.
Enid Author Fest is from noon to four at the Enid Public Library on Saturday April 19.
I thought I’d write about the snow this morning. The last one of the season—that was to happen in April. And then I got up to find the sun shining and 40 degrees. It’s Oklahoma. I’m not griping. I am done with winter.
I dug out some jonquil bulbs that I thought I got rid of last year and gave them to a friend. My Hosta is up and so is my Clematis. I’ve got to clean out the grass around the iris before they start to bloom. And I pulled the dry basil seeds off the dead branches so they will sprout. We’ve got to have basil!
We went to a party yesterday and renewed some old friendships. There were people there I hadn’t seen in a long time, and it was fun to see them again. We put on our boots and sweatshirts and braved the cold to go out. I am so glad we did. I got to play with their dogs. Since I don’t have one anymore, it was fun to pet a new one.
I have a busy spring schedule with travels and conferences, but I’m still writing and will still be blogging so everyone can keep up with my boring life. I’d love to see what you are writing and what is growing in your garden. Send me pictures of your flowers and spring garden. Maybe it will encourage me to plant something new.
Spring is a time of renewal and the resurgence of old things. I hope you grow like the flowers in your garden, and you will feel renewed with the season.
What are you reading/writing/creating/growing this week?
I am so excited about the third and final novel in the Sandhill Island series, Smugglers of Sandhill Island. The edits are final, and the beautiful cover is complete. I am waiting for a release date. You’ll be the first to know when I learn that exciting news. Then we’ll party! I’ve loved getting to know the residents of Sandhill Island and they have become good friends. No, more like family. I wish them well and know they will have more adventures.
Dani Brown grew up poor and hard working. Her brother, Cody, only grew up poor. Always wanting the easy way out, Cody ran drugs and lived his life on handouts. When they were young, Dani and Cody were inseparable, now Dani only sees him if he’s desperate. The drugs he samples and sells have started to rot his brain.
This time, Cody owes some big money, and the only person he knows to help him is his sister. When the cartel realizes she owns a boat that could run even more drugs for them, she is torn between saving her brother and living her life. The final Sandhill Island story pits sister against brother in a life-or-death struggle.
Cody has been kidnapped by the cartel and when the cigar boat they are piloting blows up, he is the only survivor—floating alone on the ocean miles from shore.
He remembered very little about the blast. But he remembered surfacing finally. Saltwater makes a body buoyant—another lesson from Dani—and she was right. He was lying on his back and breathing and that was everything. His ears rang and he might never hear again and the skin on his face, neck, and hands burned like fire in the salty water. He felt the bandage that had covered his neck flopping in the waves, and he thought of blood in the water. Sharks were attracted to blood. But the wound had begun to heal in the last few days. Then why did it burn like fire in the salt water? He must be bleeding again from his neck and maybe his face and hands. He didn’t need to attract any predators. Sharks were the last thing he needed tonight. Those things terrified him. Having lived next to the ocean all his life, he had never gotten used to them. He knew they were out there, and he knew they were continuous eating machines. He didn’t want to become someone’s dinner.
He stared into the night sky barely conscious but breathing. He was in the middle of the ocean without a boat or any means of flotation. He finally had that night alone on the ocean he’d dreamed about.
When something large bumped him from underneath.
Smugglers of Sandhill Island will be released soon, and I hope you love it as much as I do.
What are you reading, writing, or creating this week?
I went to the Tornado Alley writers conference yesterday in Norman. It’s a two-hour drive for me from Enid. But I made that drive every other Saturday for two years while I was getting my Paralegal certificate (as I worked and raised teenagers). It wasn’t as easy as it was when I was young. But it was worth it.
Tornado Alley is a state-wide group of mystery writers who are affiliated with the National Sisters in Crime club. I got to rub shoulders with some of the best writers in the state and I was in my element.
The keynote speaker was Hank Phillipi Ryan Hank Phillippi Ryan – Wikipedia, an investigative reporter for Channel 7 out of Boston and a bestselling writer of many mystery and suspense novels. She talked to a room full of writers about the “Muddle in the Middle” or what to do with that story you are writing that has a great beginning and even better ending—but what do you do with the middle where it sags.
Mel Odom Mel Odom (author) – Wikipedia, creative writing professor from OU and author of over 200 titles, spoke on using AI in your writing and when you shouldn’t.
It was a great day, and I learned a lot from all the speakers. I’d do it again.
Headed home we were stuck in 5 mph traffic on the I-35 and then detours. It took a while to get home, but I slept well last night!
The venue was wonderful, and I was in my element with 50 plus authors who were all there for the same reason—to learn to make their writing better. I can’t wait to do it again.
What are you reading, writing, or creating this week?
Oklahoma almost blew away last Friday. Wildfires were everywhere and many homes were destroyed. We were lucky. I only had to clean up the dirt after the windstorm. However, I heard that tornadoes and hail pummeled Missouri and Arkansas ahead of the wind we sent them. Someone always gets it worse than you. Now the Texas Hill Country is burning. We really need some rain, not more wind. But that is not in the forecast. Maybe St. Patrick’s Day luck of the Irish will help us on Monday.
I bought a new car this week. We left the dealership in shock (not sticker shock) at about 2:00 in the afternoon and the wind was already picking up. We put it in the garage and hunkered down inside; two old people with a fancy car that is much smarter than them. What have I done? “It just works on apps like your phone!” That should have been my first indication that I might not be able to drive it home. I could. It drives beautifully. But the apps? That will take some time to get used to. I need a GPS (I’m directionally challenged) but my old Equinox had a screen and you typed the address into it. Now, Google Maps does it for you. I hope. Sounds easy, right? Getting old is no fun. I will drive it to Norman next week and hopefully I will be able to find the address of the church I’m traveling to.
The Tornado Alley writing conference this week is at St. Thomas Moore Catholic Church in Norman from 9:00 to 4:00. The cost is $45 for nonmembers or $35 for members, including lunch. There will be door prizes and a book table for purchasing books authored by the speakers and members and you can have them signed while you are there.
It’s been an eventful week. I had cataract surgery (second eye), and I whined a lot about that. In case you’re facing it, you will find it is not that bad other than the first day. But it is done, and now I need new glasses.
The cover for my new book, Smugglers of Sandhill Island, came out. I still don’t have a release date, but when I do, you’ll be the first to know! It is the final in the series set on the little tourist island off the coast of Corpus Christi and includes some of the characters I’ve come to love over the years and a few new ones. If you’ve read the series, I hope you enjoy the last one. I’ll be writing more about this as time goes on.
The annual Tornado Alley Sisters in Crime writing conference is coming up. It will be held March 22, 2025, in Norman. There’s a great line up of presenters including the keynote speaker, Hank Phillipi Ryan. She is a mystery writer and New York Times bestselling author and will be great to hear. Other speakers include Peggy Doviak and Mel Odem. Each year the club picks a charity to support with proceeds from the conference. This year it is Shelter for Friends in Norman.
The conference is at St. Thomas Moore Catholic Church in Norman from 9:00 to 4:00 and lunch is provided. The cost is $45 for nonmembers or $35 for members, including lunch and there will be door prizes and a book table where you can purchase books of the speakers and members and have them signed while you are there.
We’d love to have you. To register, go to http://tornadoalleysinc.org/ and sign up. The last day to register is March 15 (next Saturday) and the following Saturday is the conference.
What are you reading, writing, or creating this week?
The annual Tornado Alley Sisters in Crime writing conference will be held March 22, 2025, in Norman. There’s a great line up of presenters including the keynote speaker, Hank Phillipi Ryan.
Each year the club picks a charity to support with proceeds from the conference. Melissa Hearn, President of Tornado Alley SinC, provided the name of the charity this year. Here is what she had to say about it:
“Shelter for Friends in Norman. They are an outstanding institution, run completely by donations. They help people get on their feet as well as attend to people’s immediate needs.
They have temporary housing–priority given to women with children–counselling, a food pantry, two meals a day on site, and socks, dog food, diapers, and toiletries. There are volunteers who manage a free laundry service and a sign up for private showers. They help people find resources for clothing and transportation for job interviews and serve as an address for people to receive mail. Everything they do comes from the heart. “
This will be a great event and I’m sure I’ll learn from the speakers as well as help out a local charity. If you would like to donate canned goods, socks, or toiletries, bring them with you to the conference. They will be greatly appreciated.
The conference is at St. Thomas Moore Catholic Church in Norman from 9:00 to 4:00 and lunch is provided. The cost is $45 for nonmembers or $35 for members, including lunch and there will be door prizes and a book table where you can purchase books of the speakers and members and have them signed while you are there.
It’s almost spring, I know because the frozen tundra we’ve been living with is melting and the sun is out.
I often attend several conferences and workshops in Oklahoma during the year. I love the opportunity to hear different speakers and their take on writing and to mingle with like minds. But there’s a great one coming up in Norman on March 22, 2025.
Sisters in Crime is a national mystery and crime writing association which has local divisions. The Oklahoma chapter is aptly named Tornado Alley. They’ve been in existence for a few years and are growing. I joined a couple of years ago to learn all I could about mystery writing and to mingle with others who do the same.
The keynote speaker for this year’s conference is Hank Phillipi Ryan, Hank Phillippi Ryan – Wikipedia investigative reporter for Channel 7 News on WHDH-TV, a local television station in Boston, Massachusetts. She is also an author of mystery novels. Hank Phillippi Ryan – Book Series In Order. She will be speaking on “Conquering the Muddle in the Middle.” If you’ve ever attempted to write a novel, or any story, you know what she means. I am looking forward to learning about her way of writing mysteries.
The other speakers include Peggy Doviak (Financial Tips for Writers) and Mel Odem (What Writers Need to Know about AI). There will be a panel discussion in the afternoon discussing The Artist versus the Professional—A Balancing Act with Alicia Dean, Mary Coley, Mark E. Jones, and Dianne McCartney.
The conference is at St. Thomas Moore Catholic Church in Norman from 9:00 to 4:00 and lunch is provided. The cost is $45 for nonmembers or $35 for members, including lunch and there will be door prizes and a book table where you can purchase books of the speakers and members and have them signed while you are there.
We’d love to have you. To register, click the QR Code on the poster or go to www.tornadoalleysinc.wixsite.com. We’d love to see you.
What are you reading, writing, or creating this week?
I don’t know where you are but here in the mid-west we are once again snowed in. We have two inches of snow on the ground and that is enough for this old body to stay away from. Tuesday we should get an additional three to six inches with single digit temperatures. I think I’ll write, in the comfort of my own home.
In the writing world, it is contest and conference time. I have entries waiting on printing for my local club. There’s much to do. I have final edits to be completed on my latest Sandhill Island novel, Smugglers of Sandhill Island, and its soup weather. So, I’ll complete my duties, stay in, and stay warm.
My 18-month-old dishwasher quit again, and it seems the repairman is busy with others, so I’ll wash my own dishes. My work is cut out for me just waiting to be stitched together.
I’ve never been a fan of winter. I could live happily on a tropical island in a hammock with a drink in my hand, but that doesn’t seem to be in my future.
Maybe this is God’s way of getting me to complete my tasks. Patience is a virtue. Spring is about a month away. This cold snap should last about a week and then, knowing Oklahoma, will be replaced by 70-degree weather. By then all my indoor tasks will be completed, and I will be ready for that hammock. I will be thankful.
What are you reading, writing, or creating this week?
This morning, I have my babies on my mind as I sit and wait for warmer weather. It was a lot of years ago that I was a young mother, but those days are still precious. Due to an assignment with my writing club this week, I needed a story with the title “Whoopsie.” I thought of this time with my young son and decided to share it with you. These “Roll Call” assignments are meant to make you keep your writing concise with only 150 words. Sometimes it is a chore.
One warm day I took my toddler outside while I weeded the flowers. He could play while I worked.
When the skies darkened, large drops pounded the ground. I hated quitting, but I gathered my son, and we ran for the shelter of the porch.
I sat him down and leaned over grabbing the weeds. The rain created a bog in the flowerbed, but we were dry. He sat beside me and chattered while I worked.
Suddenly there was a “splash!” The toddler lay face down in the mud. I jumped into the mess and snatched him up. Standing him upright I sighed in relief that there was no blood, then stifled a giggle.
He was muck from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. Then his eyes opened wide wailing. Clear blue eyes stared out of the brown body.
“I pull weeds!” he squalled.
Whoopsie.
Children grow up quickly. Enjoy them while you can.
What are you reading, writing, or creating this week?
Life is a patchwork of moments — laughter, solitude, everyday joys, and quiet aches. Through scribbled stories, I explore travels both far and inward, from sunrise over unfamiliar streets to the comfort of home. This is life as I see it, captured in ink and memory. Stick around; let's wander together.
Peggy Chambers "Views from the Hammock" site 