Kathy Akins began writing as a teenager, but her serious pursuit of the
craft started when she retired from a 30-year career with the United States
Postal Service. A love for history, family, and animals touches her everyday life and inspires her story ideas and characters. She lives in Oklahoma and shares her home with miniature long-haired dachshunds. She has won several awards with her poetry, articles, and short
fiction. Her short stories, memoirs, poetry, and devotionals have been published in Blackbirds Third Flight, Prosateurs: Tales & Truth, Yule Tidings, and Hodgepodge. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, American Christian Fiction Writers, and a founding member of the Prosateurs. Visit her website at kathyakins.blogspot.com.
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Debbie Anderson wrote the suspense novel Friend or Foe and recently published Lizzie, a story for pre-teens and young adults. A long-time storyteller, she has written and shared stories since she was a child. The oldest of eight children, she used these stories to entertain her siblings as well as for her own enjoyment. She learned the love of travel by going on family vacations and spent 18 years in the travel industry. As a result, she has been to nearly every state and six countries. She left the travel business after 9/11. Since then, she has written business documents such as manuals and procedures for the electronics and oil industries. In addition to writing, she enjoys sewing, quilting, crafts, painting, and spending time with her family, especially her grandchildren. She finds humor in everyday people and events and incorporates them into her writing. She writes short stories, memoirs, novels, children’s stories, and how-to books. She is a member of Prosateurs, Oklahoma Writers Federation Inc., Ada Writers, and Writing for Fun. She has been published in the Creations anthologies, Yule Tidings, Prosateurs: Tales & Truth, Hodgepodge, and other publications.
Stephen B. Bagley’s latest book is Floozy Comes Back, a collection of
humorous essays. He co-wrote Undying,
a collection of poetry. He wrote the cozy mysteries Murder by Dewey Decimal and Murder
by the Acre. His other books include Tales
from Bethlehem, Floozy and Other Stories,
and EndlesS. He wrote the full-length
plays Murder at the Witch’s Cottage and
Two Writers in the Hands of an Angry God
and co-wrote Turnabout. His poetry, articles,
short stories, and essays have appeared in Hodgepodge, Yule
Tidings, Writer’s Digest, Blackbirds First
Flight, Blackbirds Second Flight, Blackbirds Third Flight, ByLine Magazine, Nautilus
Magazine, Prosateurs: Tales & Truth, Pontotoc County Chronicles, Tulsa World
OKMagazine, Free Star, the Creations anthologies 2012-2015, and other print
and online publications. He graduated from Oklahoma State University, Stillwater,
Oklahoma, with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism. He is a member of the Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma
Writers Federation, Inc., Christian Indie Writers, 10 Minute Novelists, Real
Authors, and the founding president of Prosateurs. Visit his website at StephenBBagley.blogspot.com.
Wendy
Blanton started writing when she learned to string words into
sentences. She is the author of The Balphrahn trilogy. The first book, Dawn
Before The Dark, is available now. Her short stories and articles have
been published in Hodgepodge, Yule Tidings, Prosateurs: Tales &
Truth, Blackbirds First Flight, Blackbirds Second Flight,
and Blackbirds Third Flight. Currently, she writes epic fantasy
novels and short stories. She has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Business
Management from the University of Mount Olive, Mount Olive, North Carolina, and
served on active duty for the United States Air Force for eight years. When she
isn't writing, she can usually be found in her garden or puttering in the
kitchen. She lives in Missouri with her husband and cats. She is a member of the Realm
Makers Consortium, Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc., and a founding member of Prosateurs. Visit her website at wendyblanton.com.
Lloyd C. Davis grew up in Lehi, Utah, where he and his family enjoyed traditional small-town values. There, Lloyd married his first wife, Cheryl, who is deceased. They resided in Lehi and American Fork, Utah, with their three boys: Derrick, Daniel, who is deceased, and Samuel. Lloyd again moved back to Lehi with his late wife, Robin, and their children, and lived there for 21 years. He has worked in sales, human resources, and public affairs. What is most important to Lloyd is his faith and family. Family gives Lloyd the most joy in life. He would rather spend time with his family than do anything else. Lloyd also loves being involved in politics, riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles, and going on road trips. He likes listening to music and enjoys reading and writing. After Lloyd's first wife, Cheryl, passed away, he decided that he needed to write his journey through grief in hopes his struggles and triumphs would aid other people facing grief. Lloyd's path of working through his grief and finding healing and peace has been a transformational journey of love, sweat, and tears.
Conni Eckstein, born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, currently lives in Norman, Oklahoma. Conni earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma. She worked for over forty years in the engineering field. She retired from the Boeing Company, where she supported NASA and US Air Force programs. Conni served as Rotary International District Governor for District 5770 during the Rotary year 2022-2023. In addition to being a member of Rotary, hanging out with her four grandchildren, and traveling near and far, Conni volunteers for Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), gives community talks on suicide prevention, performs and instructs improvisational comedy, performs stand-up comedy, and writes. Conni published an essay about her son’s Army service in Iraq in the
Norman Transcript for their series, Courage Under Fire. She also published a short short story in the Otero College (Colorado) Chinook Publication. Her articles were published in
Hodgepodge. Conni writes non-fiction primarily, and is in search of a publisher for
Reclaiming October, a self-help book that shares lessons learned from her grief journey after the loss of her son, Damien, in 2013. Conni is a member of Oklahoma Writer’s Federation, Inc. and Prosateurs.
Barbara Ehrentreu lives in Connecticut with her family. Her
first young adult novel
, If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor, won a
silver award from Reader’s Favorite. It is the first book of The Mill Valley
High series. She has written an award-winning poetry book
, You’ll Probably
Forget Me: Living With and Without Hal. She has won two awards for her
screenplay,
The Kiss. Her poems have been published in many
international anthologies. She has won awards, including the Indian
Independence Day Award in 2020, 2021, and 2022; The Order of Shakespeare; The
Rabindranath Tagore Award; and third prize in the Malaysian Poetry contest. She
edited fiction, non-fiction, and poetry for 4RV Publishing. Currently, she
edits privately with her own Barbehr Editing Services. She is a member of Prosateurs,
Greenwich Pen Women, and the Society of Children's Book Writers and
Illustrators.
Janis Marek Harper spent most of her life in the Houston area before moving to Fort Worth and eventually retiring in South-Central Oklahoma. While raising a family and working, she published freelance articles in
The Teaching Pioneer, Gentle Spirit, Practical Homeschooling, and
Hometown Journey. Galleries have sold her art;
Cloth Paper Scissors magazine has published it; and events supporting the American Cancer Society, Texas Children’s Hospital, and Ronald McDonald House have featured it. "A Starry Night in Texas" was one of the first ten designs chosen for the Houston CowParade in 2001. In 2011,
Life is Good! Magazine invited her to write a bi-monthly column titled Natural Connections, prompting her to channel her creative energies into writing. Her work reflects her faith, family, creative arts, health, and fitness. She wrote and illustrated a children’s book,
My Sun, Moon and Stars, published by Westbow Press in 2016. She is currently finishing a book of memoirs for the senior citizens at a center where she volunteers and is a certified fitness instructor. Her story, "The Unlucky Artist," won first place in the 2024 Ada Writers Flash Fiction Contest. She has been published in
Creations 2023, 2024, and
2025. She is a member of the Prosateurs.
Heath Stallcup was born in
Salinas,
California, and relocated to
Oklahoma in his teen years. He joined the US
Navy and was stationed in
Charleston,
South Carolina, and
Bangor,
Washington, shortly after junior college. After his second tour, he attended
East
Central University,
Ada, Oklahoma,
where he obtained Bachelor of Science degrees in Biology and Chemistry. He then served 10 years with the State of Oklahoma as a Compliance and Enforcement Officer while moonlighting at night and on weekends with the local sheriff’s office. He and his wife live in rural Oklahoma. His many books include
Whispers of the Past,
Forneus Corson,
Flags of the Forgotten,
Burning Bridges, the
Monster Squad series,
the
Caldera series, the
Nocturna series, and the
Hunter series. His short stories have been published in several print and online anthologies. Visit his website at
heathstallcup.com.
Joanne Verbridge was born in Oakland, California, spending her early life in Northern California. Family brought her to Oklahoma where she enjoys writing memoirs and
crafting. She works to inspire her nieces and other young people to take an
interest in storytelling and writing. She is a member of Oklahoma Writers
Federation, Inc., and a founding member of Prosateurs. Her memoirs, short stories,
and articles have been published in newspapers, Yule Tidings, Prosateurs:
Tales & Truth, Hodgepodge, and the Creations anthologies.
Kathy Walker is a budding writer and artist. Her first published work is included in the
anthology Hodgepodge. She is working
on a novel, For All of Time, and a
debut art show. There are three more novels in the planning stages. She
developed her love of writing from her favorite English teachers in junior high school, drawing on her life experiences for material, characters, and events. Living
in the mountains of Northwest Arkansas with her small dog, Jewels, she enjoys
spending time with her grown children and grandchildren. Her memoirs, short stories, and poetry have been published in the 2026 anthology Hodgepodge. She serves on the library board for Lincoln, Arkansas, and is a member of
Prosateurs.
Vivian Zabel, a former English and creative writing teacher, has presented workshops at conferences around the nation, including the Alaska Writers and the Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc. Her presentation list includes Make that Pitch Count (How to
Prepare and Present a Pitch), Fiction vs Nonfiction, Writing for Children Isn’t
Child’s Play, Grammar Is Necessary, What Is Point of View?, and other subjects. She is the President/CEO of 4RV Publishing as well as a published author and editor. She has written award-winning children’s books, books for tweens and teens,
and novels. Current titles include Prairie Dog Cowboy, The Base Stealers Club, Midnight Hours, Walking the Earth: Life's Prespective In Poetry, Panther’s Snowy Christmas: A Panther Adventure, and Hidden Lies and Other Stories, co-written with Holly Jahangiri. She has been a member of OWFI since 2002, served as the Grant Director, and was honored as an OWFI Lifetime Member in 2013. She is a member of Prosateurs.
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