BLW News and Notes

The writers of Bearlodge have been busy—the news snippets below for late 2008\early 2009 are in a loose chronological order:

Last fall, long before we added this newsy blog to our BLW web site, Helen’s book, Eco-Friendly Families, was published by Alpha Books (a division of Penguin), ISBN-13: 978-1592577613. Her additional fantastic news: on November 19, 2008, Helen appeared on the Today Show (!!!) with Al Roker (and another reporter); video here: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/18424824#27802999. The following is a Today show link to a front-page online article excerpted from Helen’s book. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/27721336.

"Take Back Your Life", a piece on anorexia by Jackie Lindstrom, is included in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk High School: 101 stories of Life, Love, and Learning for Older Teens. ISBN-13: 978-1-935096-25-2. http://www.chickensoup.com/. The Chicken Soup books are distributed to the book trade by Simon & Schuster.

Last October, Bathsheba Monk, author with Farrar, Straus & Giroux, announced a short story contest via her web site http://www.bathshebamonk.blogspot.com/, complete with prize money and publication on her site for the winner. Amanda retrieved an answering machine message in February informing her that her story, “Tybee Island,” had won. Her winning entry (along with a gorgeous photo of Amanda) is front and center of the contest blog site, http://bathshebamonkssc.blogspot.com/, with links or posts on Monk’s other web pages.

On February 10, Kathy received this email from Writer’s Digest: Congratulations! Your piece has been selected as a finalist in our contest. You can see the full list here: http://writersdigest.com/article/redheart-blackheart-finalists. Kathy had entered a poem, “Moment,” in the WD Red Heart::Black Heart Valentine’s Day contest. Scroll partway down the page to see Kathy’s name listed with the Black Poems.

Dave Wagner’s first book, Powder River Odyssey, is now available for purchase! http://www.bearlodgewriters.com/bearbooks.html Published by the Arthur H. Clark Company, an imprint of the University of Oklahoma Press, http://www.ahclark.com/, this book brings to life the ill-fated 1865 Powder River Expedition (the story is continued in his second book, Patrick Connor’s War, due for publication this fall). We remain saddened by Dave’s untimely death last November; he would have been so proud to see this result of the almost forty years he spent as a serious student of the military history of the West, and we would have been delighted to share this with him. Books available from Backpocket Books http://www.bearlodgewriters.com/bearbooks.html.

Andi Hummel and Lanette Bousa have poems in the March 2009 issue of WREN (Wyoming Rural Electric News), a monthly publication with a circulation of over 40,000 readers.

Helen’s article on barrel racing, "Take 'er to the Line," is in the March-April 2009 edition of I. M. Cowgirl (International Magazine of Cowgirls), a classy, fairly new magazine celebrating “The Life of the Western Woman.” A short blurb on her article is the third snippet down on this page: http://www.imcowgirl.com/html/thisedition.html.

Connie received this email in early March: We wanted to let you know your poem entitled “Searching for Proteus” has made the "1st Cut" by our judges. Less than 15% make it this far. Overall winners will be announced March 15th. Franklin-Christoph. The maker of fine pens hosts a poetry contest every year. Another email was sent to all entrants on March 13: Earlier this week our university judges realized they had some 120 extra poems they had not yet judged for the contest. Rather than try to rush to make the March 15th date, I've asked them to extend the date to April 13th. Unfortunately, no one in BLW made the final cut.

Maureen will have an essay, “Harvesting Hope, One Tomato at a Time,” in The Ultimate Gardener: The Best Experts’ Advice for Cultivating a Magnificent Garden with Photos and Stories, a 248-page paperback by HCI, publisher of the Chicken Soup books. http://www.hcibooks.com/ ISBN-13: 9780757313523. The book is scheduled for an April publication.

My poem (Jeanne), "Lady of the Manor," has been accepted for publication in Plains Song Review, volume XI (Spring 2009), an annual journal from The Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. http://www.unl.edu/plains/publications/PSR/psr.shtml. A reception and reading will be held April 22 at the Great Plains Art Museum in Lincoln. View the invitation here, with the journal cover photo and contributors’ names: http://www.unl.edu/plains/CGPS_images/publications/psr/PSR%2011%20invite%204-09.pdf.

My other news: The second printing of Standing Witness: Devils Tower National Monument, A History has arrived at the Tower. With revised text (no more 21-foot-bison-horn-span!), wider margins, corrected typos, and a properly-laminated cover, the new edition feels and reads much better than the first. I remain extremely thankful to Linda Tokarczyk, business manager of the Devils Tower Natural History Association, for her continued diligence to have a quality product. Books are available from the DTNHA bookshop http://www.nps.gov/archive/deto/bookshop.htm or from Backpocket Books http://www.bearlodgewriters.com/bearbooks.html.

Pat has a chapbook, Grassland Genealogy, in the publication pipeline with Finishing Line Press, http://www.finishinglinepress.com/, with a due date of July 31, 2009.