OWL Contests for 2011 due Sept 1

OWL Contests for 2011 due Sept 1

The due date for the several OWL (Ozarks Writing League) [Writing] Contests is September 1, 2011. All entries must be postmarked no later than September 1.

This year, I was pleased to put an entry in contest #12. Best Book of the Year. with Back to the Homeplace that was published in 2010.

I also entered contest #8. Unpublished book. with the first three chapters and a synopsis of "The First 150 Years at the Homeplace" (working title), a book based on the family history 'research and development' about the families who first settled the Homeplace from 1833 through 1983 - prior to the Back to the Homeplace story [set in 1987].

Finally, I submitted a short story entry for consideration in the "Annual Echoes of the Ozarks Anthology Contest." This is a separate contest, but run on the same timetable. The short story I submitted, The Trek to the Homeplace, is actually Chapter One of the "The First 150 Years at the Homeplace." 

Best wishes to all participants in this year's contests.  ;-)

15 Years Ago - "The Homeplace Revisited" - Ch 4 ex

An excerpt from Chapter 4 of "The Homeplace Revisited" - 15 years ago:

CHAPTER 4

Saturday, August 17, 1996

In country music news…

Billboard.com top country song of the week: 

George Strait, 'Carried Away" off his Blue Clear Sky album

Christopher had talked to Doc Evans Friday, and agreed to come by his vet clinic mid-Saturday morning. Thinking back, Christopher realized that even having known Doc Evans as the local veterinary all of his life, he had never had a reason to visit the clinic. After extensive discussions with Jennifer, Christopher had agreed to get a dog, which he would keep at the stable at the Homeplace, as another way to get more personally involved with the farm environment, which he wanted to do. Doc Evans had said he had identified a well-trained, spayed female German Shepherd Dog, about four years old, that he felt would be a very good match for Christopher and for the farm environment. 

Christopher had gone by the stables earlier and picked up the farm-based GMC Yukon, so he could take the dog back there with him. As he entered the clinic building Nicole Evans, Doc’s granddaughter, greeted him. Nicole had been a cheerleader and a year behind Christopher, in Melanie’s class in high school, but Christopher had not seen her since he went off to college. “Do you remember me, Christopher? I’m Nicole.”

“Of course I do. It has been a long time, though. What brings you back to Oak Springs?” Apparently as perky as ever, Nicole had hardly changed in the nine years or so since Christopher had seen her. She was short, perhaps five feet four inches tall, with short-cropped strawberry-blonde hair, and had retained her athletic figure. Dressed in khaki pants and a bright orange blouse, Nicole presented a very professional but casual appearance. 

“I’ve been hired by the new Big Thunder Lodge, up north of town, in their hospitality department. My official start date is Monday, August 26th, with two weeks of orientation. It is a private club, just across the county line, but they seem to be hiring quite a few people. I’m staying with Gramps until I find a place of my own; helping out here some, to pay my keep!” she added with a big grin. 

“Very interesting. I’ll want to talk with you more about the Big Thunder Lodge, when we get a chance.” Christopher looked around the area. “But for now, I heard a story about a dog…” Christopher grinned.  

[Click on cover in left sidebar to order print or Kindle Edition copy]

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"May each of us have a Homeplace to hold onto, if only in our minds."

Bill ;-)

15 years ago: 'The Homeplace Revisited' begins

The opening page of "The Homeplace Revisited" took place just about 15 years ago:


CHAPTER 1

Thursday, August 15, 1996

In the news today…

Microsoft releases Internet
Explorer 3.0 (historyorb.com)

Bob Dole is nominated for
President of the United States,
and Jack Kemp for Vice
President, at the Republican
National Convention in San
Diego, California. (en.wikipedia.org)

Six months to live.
This was the prognosis the doctor had given his father.
Although Christopher had known his father was expecting bad
news regarding the tumor in his head, to hear the actual words
spoken was still stunning. Carter, his father, was only 61 years
old. It was not fair. How could this have happened? Christopher
had just joined his father's law firm in Oak Springs, in south
central Missouri, two years ago. He had expected at least ten
years working together with his father to learn the practice and
grow in his career. What would happen now?
Carter Ogden and his wife, Linda, were sharing the
information from their latest visit to the doctor with their adult
children, Christopher and Melanie. Melanie's husband, Richard
Stone, had taken their five-year-old, adopted Vietnamese
daughter, Kim, to the park to play to reduce distractions. The
Ogden house was quiet as the meaning of this latest information
sank in for each of them.

[From page 7, "The Homeplace Revisited" - click on sidebar to order, today.]

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"May each of us have a Homeplace to hold onto, if only in our minds."

Bill ;-)

The 'Not So' Square Arts Festival - Mt. Vernon, MO

The 'Not So' Square Arts Festival

Mt. Vernon, MO

Come visit my book signing and sales booth at the The 'Not So' Square Arts Festival on

Saturday, September 17, 2011, 10 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., at the Historic Mr. Vernon Square, Mt. Vernon, Missouri

Artists and Author's booths open from 10 to 5

Entertainment throughout the day

Painters, Potters, Authors, Photographers, Jewelry and More

Writing Workshops and Children's Workshops

Sponsored by the Mt. Vernon Regional Arts Council, Mt. Vernon Community Betterment, and the Missouri Arts Council.

I will be selling and signing my two novels, Back to the Homeplace and The Homeplace Revisited, from The Homeplace Series, as well as my non-fiction family history books on the KINNICK and SCHWYHART families. I will also have copies of After Glow, a poetry tribute, by my wife, Nancy and daughter, Annette.

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"May each of us have a Homeplace to hold onto, if only in our minds."

Bill ;-)