posted Sep 30, 2011 1:09 PM by txword wrangler
"I'm
happy to say that my books sold extremely well at both Book Festivals
and I happily came home with a lighter load. All the Wink-Eye Creek-YA
title sold out at the Word Wrangler Fest. I also sold all of my
Children's Picture Books, plenty of The Honey Bee Girl and Montana Mist
and made many people the new owners of wildlife art." - From Doug Hiser's newsletter
Thank you Doug, from all of us at Texas Word Wranger!
|
posted Sep 21, 2011 8:35 AM by txword wrangler
Recently,
my husband and I went to Giddings, Texas for a book signing. I wasn't
sure what to expect but I knew that I would use the experience as a
learning tool. Being able to look at other author's tables and books was
an exciting experience. But the one thing that stood out last
Friday was the people of their community and the volunteers in the
library. It was an amazing sight to hear the people talk of their town
in such a loving way. True small town values were present not only in
the adults that visited but also in the students from their schools. My
husband and I left town with renewed faith in people and their
compassion and want to do good for others. We truly felt like part of
their family if only for a little while or at least until next year came
around and we could go again. If you have the chance to be a
part of that festival, you should do what you can to attend. We sold our
books, made wonderful friends, and were a part of something that will
stay with us for a long long time. Thank you Giddings Public Library.
MG Villesca - Letter taken from her blog on Greti Publishing Resources
MG
is the author of many amazing stories including The Bully in ME and
Getting ME Back. The TWWF was thrilled to have her participate in our
event. Be sure to check out her website and blog at Greti Publishing Resources. |
posted Sep 13, 2011 1:31 PM by txword wrangler
All
of the Texas Word Wrangler Festival Committee members thank you
wholeheartedly for taking time to visit our Festival as participants. We
enjoyed meeting each of you who were “first time attendees.” We were so
happy to see those “return” Word Wranglers. Each one of you has earned
the title of “Veteran Texas Word Wrangler”!!! Thank you for making 2011
Texas Word Wrangler Festival the BEST EVER!!! We are so glad you were
here to help us Celebrate the Birth of Giddings –140 Years of
Traditions. The feedback from the school visits made by those of
you who visited schools is great!! The kids loved hearing you. Thank you
for taking that time. We have heard from a number of you and we love hearing what you have to say. Thank you for your very kind and wonderful words. If
there is an author whom you think would like to come to our Festival,
please give them our website which has a “Contact Us”. The 2012 Texas
Word Wrangler Festival is Friday September 14, 2012. On September
26th, we will look at our successes--- such as the fact that we had an
especially diverse group of authors, a large group of authors. And good
authors!! There was a lot of camaraderie among you as a group. We love
seeing that! The school visits went very well as did the visits to TWWF
from the three schools which sent busses….. AND more than 600 people
came into the library that day. More than half were adults. Bluebonnet
Electric Cooperative again sponsored the “Hometown Heroes” luncheon
which included the authors and the TWWF committee and library staff was a
huge success!! Those of our “Hometown Heroes” are still telling us how
much they enjoyed meeting you. Fortunately this year there was no
accident or incident which took the State Troopers, Sheriff’s Deputies,
City Police personnel and EMS personnel out. They were able to stay and
enjoy the meal. We especially appreciated Bluebonnet’s contribution this
year since they were greatly affected by the fire. We welcome any suggestions that you might have to make our event more successful. In the true meaning of the Giddings Area Chamber of Commerce motto
"Come as our Guest, Leave as our Friend"
each of us feels that you came as our guest and left as our friend. |
posted Sep 9, 2011 8:59 AM by txword wrangler
Wayne
Edwards is a native Texan, graduate of Texas A&M University, and
retired Air Force officer. He lives, with his wife Ruth, on a fish farm
in Texas, in an underground house he built himself. Wayne can be reached
via e-mail atwayne@familypoet.com. |
posted Sep 8, 2011 4:05 PM by txword wrangler
Diane
Garner grew up in small town Texas and taught in Houston's public
school system. As a young mother, she learned about her grandfather
through his letters she inherited and her mother's hidden background. In
retirement she joined a memoir class to publish his letters and her own
story, Cinderella's Daughter. |
posted Sep 8, 2011 7:58 AM by txword wrangler
ROBERT
SPOEDE was born in 1926 in southern Texas, graduated from Texas
A&M, and entered the Army. During his service in the Central
Highlands of Vietnam he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for
Meritorious Service, the Combat Infantry Badge, and, by the Saigon
government, the Cross of Gallantry He later earned a PhD in History from
the College of William and Mary. His previous novel is Double Identity: A Texan in Hitler’s Reich. |
posted Sep 8, 2011 7:38 AM by txword wrangler
[
updated Aug 13, 2012 3:51 PM
]
posted Sep 7, 2011 9:58 AM by txword wrangler
A
retired school teacher, Sheryl Kleinschmidt was raised in Central Texas
not many miles from the Yegua Creek. Early interests included hunting
for arrowheads and other Indian artifacts around the state as well as
studying various Indian groups. While doing research for a local
newspaper, she was fortunate enough to spend a couple of days with
professional archaeologists working a site on the Yegua.
An avid
reader herself, Sheryl now has time to write and this is the first of a
possible series of novels in the making. Today she lives in Glen Rose,
Texas, where she spends much time outdoors walking, hiking and
gardening.
posted Sep 6, 2011 8:54 AM by txword wrangler
Brooklyn James is a singer/songwriter who currently resides in Austin, Texas, Live Music Capital of the World. She holds a Bachelor’s in Nursing and Animal Science, and a Master’s in Communication. This is her first novel.
Read more about Brooklyn and her novels on her website. |
posted Sep 5, 2011 9:07 AM by txword wrangler
[
updated Sep 5, 2011 9:10 AM
]
Dee
Wilbur is a persona created by Beatrice Dee Pipes and Charles Wilbur
Yates, Jr. to use as their pen name in writing A Jealous God and Justice
Perverted. The name is a combination of the two authors' middle names.Ms.
Pipes had an extensive career in the computer industry, holding two
patents obtained while working for Compaq Computer. She now runs a very
successsful consulting firm in Houston Texas, ...And Take Names. She has
been married to her husband Bryan for over thirty years. Dr.
Yates has a Ph.D. in Biology and an M.D. degree. He practiced radiology
in downtown Houston for thirty years. He has been married to his wife
Sally for over forty-five years. They have four grown sons and six
grandchildren. Both authors grew up in small Texas towns and both graduated from Rice University. |
posted Sep 4, 2011 10:03 AM by txword wrangler
[
updated Sep 4, 2011 10:13 AM
]
Mike Kearby, a retired high school Reading and English teacher, is the author of nine novels. The Road to a Hanging (2006), Ride the Desperate Trail (2007), and Ambush at Mustang Canyon(fall, 2007), completed his Young Adult trilogy published by Dorchester Publishing (NY). Ambush at Mustang Canyon was honored as a 2008 Spur Award Finalist from the Western Writers of America. Mike’s other works include: The Taken (Dorchester) A Hundred Miles to Water (ReadWest), Texas Tales Illustrated~The Revolution (TCU Press).
Mike
and his work have been featured in newspapers across Texas and reviewed
by Midwest Book Review, True West Magazine, and the Sacramento Book
Review. He also authors a compelling article series entitled, The Hypocrisy of . . .
A
sought after guest speaker for Texas History & English classes,
Mike’s presentations bring to life Texas’ rich history and motivate
teenagers to become lifelong readers. Since 2005, he has made over four
hundred presentations to English and History classes touting the
benefits of “reading for fun.” Teachers write that Mike “puts it in
their lingo”, “reinforces classroom instruction”, and sends teens
“buzzing into the library.”
In
2007, he started The Collaborative Novella Project. The project allows
future “authors” to go through the novel writing process – from idea to
published work. The first year’s published title was, A Brother’s Sin (2008), followed by Broken Promises (2009), Falling in a Circle (2010), and Anthology (2011)
|
posted Sep 3, 2011 6:15 AM by txword wrangler
After retiring from 22 years of public school teaching, JoAn W.
Martin continues to serve in a teaching capacity as a reading/writing
consultant for Houston area schools. She taught several years in the Alpha program of Gifted and Talented fourth and fifth graders at the University of Houston at Clear Lake. She also served as an adjunct instructor in the School of Education
at UH/CL, teaching an undergraduate class, "Language Arts in the
Elementary School." JoAn teaches Reading & Writing in Leeway Project
at Lee College in Baytown.
JoAn grew up in Atmore, Alabama.
Much of her writing reflects her childhood after World War II. Her
first love is writing children's stories. Her work has appeared in the Houston Chronicle. In addition, she has published more than 30 articles in such magazines as Stable Kids, Travelocity, Byline Magazine and educational magazines such as Learning, The Mailbox and Oasis-Good Apple.
She reviews children's books which are published weekly in The Baytown
Sun. JoAn believes reading can change lives and writes to give children
books that deal honestly with the issues kids face today, stories that
show children how they can understand themselves and others. JoAn attends writing conferences and is available for presentations. Her volunteer work includes Women's Storybook Project of Texas. She enjoys working in her greenhouse and yard to escape the intensity of writing.
JoAn Martin has published several children's novels, which include Yankee Girl (2002),
Goodnight Mrs. Dinglewall (2006), Inventing Chloe (2009), and an adult
novel, Retrieving Morning(2009). With the assistance of sixth grade
teachers, she compiled Read and Write with Yankee Girl, materials to teach the reading objectives of TEKS.
|
posted Sep 2, 2011 2:36 PM by txword wrangler
[
updated Aug 13, 2012 3:50 PM
]
posted Sep 2, 2011 9:49 AM by txword wrangler
[
updated Sep 2, 2011 10:02 AM
]
These
attractive polo shirts in royal blue are embroidered with the Texas
Word Wrangler Festival logo. Wear a memory of your participation in the
TWWF by ordering one of these attractive shirts. The next shirt orders
will be sent to the printer on September 12th.
Color: Royal Blue Sizes: Vary from S to 4X Price: $26.00 To order please contact Pam at: 979-542-2716
Or mail a check made payable for $26 to the: Giddings Public Library & Cultural Center 276 N. Orange Giddings, Texas 78942 |
posted Sep 2, 2011 8:56 AM by txword wrangler
Marilyn
Sebesta is a native of Snook, Texas, but has lived in the Gulf Coast
area for the past 40 years. She graduated from Baylor University with a
BS in Home Economics Education and from Texas A&M University with a
MS in Agricultural Education. She began working with the Texas
Agricultural Extension Service (now known as Texas AgriLife Extension
Service) two weeks after graduation as a County Extension Agent in
Matagorda County. After 13 years, she transferred to Wharton County
where she worked for 23 years. Marilyn retired four years ago, but
continues to live in Wharton.
As a County
Extension Agent and professional educator, she worked in the areas of
nutrition, health and wellness, leadership and community development.
She also worked with several hundred 4-H members in developing
leadership and life skills.
Marilyn is an
active volunteer in several local organizations, including the Wharton
County Stray Pet Outreach Team (S.P.O.T.), the American Cancer Society,
and the Wharton Chamber of Commerce. Marilyn is a member of St. Thomas’
Episcopal Church, where she sings in the choir, assists with the
music program and works with the church Outreach Ministry, a program
that provides food, clothing and financial help to residents of Wharton
County. She also enjoys presenting educational and musical programs to
churches and civic organizations.
Marilyn has
recently written two children’s book, Scout, The Dog Who Saved
“The Nutcracker,” and Scout, The Dog Who Learned Mona Lisa’s Secret. She
plans to soon begin work on a children’s musical based on her first
book about “The Nutcracker.” Visit her website to learn more! |
posted Sep 1, 2011 8:53 AM by txword wrangler
MG
Villesca grew up in a small West Texas town, but had to abandon her
home to attend college. She graduated from Texas Tech University with a
BA in English and a minor in Psychology. After graduation, MG moved to
East Texas to be a middle school English teacher, where she uses her
psychological studies to lovingly dissect her colleagues. In The ME
Series, which is set in her beloved West Texas hometown, MG Villesca
continues to bravely tackle tough subjects with books on bullying, The Bully in ME, abusive boyfriends, Getting ME Back, and a young girl's self-image, The Truth About ME.
When she’s not teaching or writing, Villesca enjoys spending time with
her amazingly supportive husband and four delightful children. |
posted Aug 31, 2011 2:07 PM by txword wrangler
Alan Rein was born in Houston, Texas in 1952. Raised in Houston, he graduated from Spring Branch Senior High in 1970. He
spent many years working as a chemist and trouble shooter around the
world in the oil fields. Wherever there was oil and problems, and
wherever no one else really wanted to go, Alan left his young family in
Houston and went. His work took him across five continents and dozens
of countries.
As
he grew older, with more experience, he became recognized as an
industry leader. Alan wrote several technical manuals and taught many
classes in the areas of his expertise. He was once offered a Masters
Degree from the Technical University of Malaysia, if he would just stay
there for one year and teach engineering students what he knew about oil
field chemicals. Alan published his first book in 2009. This was a collection of Poetry he had written over twenty years.
Alan
has started and run three companies. His success in business gives him
far less pride and joy than he gets from the family he and Pat have
raised and loved. They have two children, Anna and Aaron, both with
wonderful spouses. With three grandchildren now, Mikayla, Ambrose, and
Bernadette, they feel very blessed in life. As retirement approaches,
they intend to continue to share their blessings through their charity
works and through Alan’s writing. Read more about Alan on his website. Alan’s
books are published through Tate Publishing, a mainline publishing
house dedicated to working with aspiring authors and giving their book
its best chance in the marketplace. If you’ve ever thought about
publishing a book, you should visit Tate Publishing. |
posted Aug 30, 2011 11:49 AM by txword wrangler
[
updated Aug 30, 2011 12:04 PM
]
Caleb Pirtle III was an award winning feature writer for the
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, served for a decade as travel editor for Southern
Living Magazine, and has authored more than fifty-five published books.
Through the years, Pirtle has distinguished
himself with focusing on the human side of a story, especially history and
non-fiction. He has long believed, "What happens is never as important as
the people who make it happen." Among his historical books are XIT: The
American Cowboy, The Texas Outback, Deep Roots, Echoes from Forgotten Streets,
Visions of Forgotten Streets, Engineering the World, Impact, and Trail of
Broken Promises.
A graduate from The University of Texas with a
journalism degree, Pirtle won the William Randolph Hearst Award for feature
writing, and he received numerous Associated Press and Headliner's Awards for
his work at the Star-Telegram. For Southern Living Magazine, his travel and
historical writing won the Discover America Awards three times. His award-winning books include The Unending
Season, XIT: The American Cowboy, The Grandest Day, Spirit of A Winner, and
Echoes from Forgotten Streets.
Pirtle served for more than twenty years as
editorial director for Dockery House Publishing, creating and developing books
and magazines for national corporate and retail customers.
Pirtle, with writing partner Frank Q. Dobbs, wrote
the teleplays for the CBS mini-series Gambler V: Playing for Keeps, starring
Kenny Rogers, Dixie Carter, Lonnie Anderson, and Mariska Hargitay, and the TNT
television movie, The Texas Rangers, starring Tom Berenger. |
posted Aug 29, 2011 12:25 PM by txword wrangler
When his picture appeared on the cover of Texas Monthly, Joaquin Jackson became the icon of the modern Texas Rangers. Nick Nolte modeled his character in the movie 'Extreme Prejudice' on him. Jackson even had a speaking part of his own in ' The Good Old Boys'
with Tommy Lee Jones. But the role that Jackson has always played the
best is that of the man who wears the silver badge cut from a Mexican
cinco peso coin--a working Texas Ranger.
He followed legendary Ranger Captain Alfred Y. Allee Sr. into a
shootout at the Carrizo Springs jail that ended a prison revolt--and
left him with nightmares. He captured "The See More Kid," an elusive
horse thief and burglar who left clean dishes and swept floors in the
houses he robbed. He investigated the 1988 shootings in Big Bend's
Colorado Canyon and tried to understand the motives of the Mexican
teenagers who terrorized three river rafters and killed one. He even
helped train Afghan mujahedin warriors to fight the Soviet Union.
Though he insists, "I am only one Ranger. There was only one story
that belonged to me," his story is part of the larger story of the Texas
Rangers becoming a modern law enforcement agency that serves all the
people of the state.
Read more about Joaquin on his website. | |
posted Aug 29, 2011 12:20 PM by txword wrangler
[
updated Aug 13, 2012 3:56 PM
]
Kelly
Bennett will be one of the Texas Word Wrangler Authors for 2012. Kelly
writes books for children, both fiction and non-fiction,
mostly picture books. She creates stories that celebrate imagination,
families, friends, pets… all that goes into being a kid. |
posted Aug 24, 2011 9:29 AM by txword wrangler
Doug Hiser is an
author/artist, athlete/coach, teacher, American Gladiator, with a
background in applied design and visual arts. Author of Secret Grotto,
Cavern of the Eggstone, Lost Oasis, Crow Canyon, Wink-Eye Creek,
Amazon.com bestseller, The Honey Bee Girl, Tropical Calypso-award
winning short stories, Amazon bestseller 2011 Montana Mist.. The many
books range from sensitive bitttersweet drama, literary fiction to all
out odd quirky horror flings. Hiser writes to purge his mind of the
unending bombardment of imagination that must be released.
Doug was born in Texas City, TX. Some of his accomplishments are as follows: Student
of the Year, U of HoustonCL 1996, Best orginal Art 1996 UHCL, Best of
Show 1980, 1997, 2001 Texas art, American Gladiators TV show 1992, Best
Fiction 1995, 1998, 2001 BAWL, Story of the Month Long Story Short 2006,
Semi-finalist Peter Taylor Novel Prize 2006, 2010 AMazon Breakthrough
Novel Finalist.
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posted Aug 23, 2011 1:49 PM by txword wrangler
There
will be a Texas Word Wrangler Volunteer Workshop on Tuesday, September
6th at the Giddings Public Library and Cultural Center. The meeting will
be held at noon and the purpose is to give the volunteers all the
information that they will need to know about the Texas Word Wrangler
Festival in order to better help the patrons.
Make plans to attend this very important event if you are volunteering to help the Library at TWWF!
|
posted Aug 23, 2011 1:35 PM by txword wrangler
[
updated Aug 23, 2011 1:47 PM
]
Internationally Acclaimed Comedic Character Actor, Author, Speaker, Educator and Arts-In-Education Advocate Martha Hannah
has story performance and joke telling in
telling in her blood. “I come from a long line of characters that were long-winded and funny,” she says.
Martha‘s deep, rich heritage is from a large Scotch-Irish clan that came to America in the early 1700’s
and settled in Tennessee. "My Nanny early on introduced me to a fascination with ghost
stories and a belief in the unseen.” In her journey as a speaker, author, educator and performer, Martha has written and developed a myriad of
workshops and performances and performed for and taught tens of thousands of students and educators. “Long ago
a seasoned arts-in-ed performer told me, ‘If you can just reach one. If you can just reach ‘one’ student,
then you have made a difference.’ And, that is what I strive for.” It was Martha’s lifelong fascination with ghost stories and the “unseen” that took her and her author/ illustrator husband,
Larry Dowell, down many dimly lit back streets in England during evening ghost tours. They have traveled across
Europe through castles and cathedrals from Edinburgh to Venice, collecting ghost stories and what she calls
“a head full of medieval trivia.” This led Martha to develop her hilarious character, ‘Maid Martha, Medieval
Comedienne and Stand-Up Historian’, which she uses on stage and in her workshops to bring the Middle Ages and
Renaissance and comedy to life for countless enthusiastic audiences. Read more about Martha on her website: http://www.marthahannah.com/a_troubadours_life.htm |
posted Aug 22, 2011 1:23 PM by txword wrangler
The
Texas Word Wrangler Gala is a fundraising event held at the Giddings
Public Library & Cultural Center on Thursday September 8th at
7:00pm. The Gala gives the public a chance to meet their favorite
authors and to have their books signed. Contact the Giddings Library to get your tickets today! Tickets are $25 per person.
Giddings Public Library & Cultural Center 276 N. Orange
Giddings, Texas 78942 979-542-2716 |
posted Aug 22, 2011 1:06 PM by txword wrangler
[
updated Aug 23, 2011 1:48 PM
]
A wide variety of experiences makes
Deborah K. Frontiera a well-rounded writer and speaker on many topics.
Her publishing credits include books for children, themes on the
environment, historical fiction, poetry in several anthologies, and an
upcoming adult nonfiction book exposing serious problems within the
Child Protective Services system.Her book Living on Sisu: The 1913 Union Copper Strike Tragedy won
First Place for historical fiction in the Purple Dragonfly Awards given
by the Arizona Authors Association and Five Star Publications on Nov. 6,
2010.
Deborah was born in Lake Linden, MI USA
Her accomplishments include Eric and the
Enchanted Leaf: A Visit with Canis Lupis won the North Texas Book
Festival's Award for a Children's Book in 2007.
Eric and the Enchanted Leaf: The First Adventure was named an Honor
book for the Golden Spur Award by the Texas State Reading Association in
May of 2005.
|
posted Aug 19, 2011 8:42 AM by txword wrangler
Rose Cook is a community college
psychology instructor who resides in La Grange, Texas. Her husband,
Ricky Cook, Jr. supplied the illustrations for Danyale’s Amazing Hair.
Danyale is a little girl whose crazy, curly hair has to be done
every morning! And even then, her hair is still a little messy. None of
her friends have curly hair and Danyale wishes hers wasn’t curly either.
But her mom shows her the positive attributes to having curly hair and
tries to convince Danyale that being different isn’t so bad after all. Danyale’s Amazing Hair teaches
children that we all have something about ourselves that we might not
like…but that “something” is what makes us each unique. |
posted Aug 18, 2011 3:46 PM by txword wrangler
 Elaine Coleman is a native Texan. An award winning author, Elaine uses her genealogy research in the books Texas Haunted Forts, Louisiana Haunted Forts and Texas Frontier Foods .
She and her husband Jerry are avid antique collectors. When she isn't
playing with her grandchildren, she is usually found writing and
listening to the phantoms of the antiques as they breeze through the
open air of her ranch office. Elaine and Jerry live in a charming
haunted farmhouse on the family farm in Runnels County where their
horses and cattle graze.
Elaine is author of Texas Haunted Forts and has driven over 50,000 miles marketing the book throughout Texas. Her second book, Texas Frontier Foods,
published in November 2003, has already gone into a second printing.
Her writing has been recognized by the West Texas Authors of Romance,
Golden Triangle Writers Guild, and Abilene Writers Guild. |
posted Aug 15, 2011 1:13 PM by txword wrangler
Me and the kids, Mother's Day 2010
I grew up loving school, especially new school supplies (who doesn’t
love the smell of new crayons?). I loved school so much, in fact, I
tried to make a career out of it. After eleven years in college (hey, I
was busy!) Dad announced I couldn’t be a professional student, so I
finally declared a major and graduated with my teaching certificate,
reluctantly leaping into the scary waters of adulthood. Since then, I’ve
been teaching 5th grade English and loving every second of it.
Wouldn’t it be cool if I was one of those people who said they’d
always wanted to write and this was all I’d ever done? It’s the total
opposite of what actually happened. I’ve been an avid reader since I was
in the third grade and discovered Judy Blume, but it wasn’t until I
read Janet Evanovich’s “How I Write” that I actually considered writing.
I joined an amazing group of writers (shout out to all my friends at
West Houston RWA) and the rest, as they say, is history. After several
years, I was offered representation by the one and only, 100%
magnificent Holly Root with Waxman Literary Agency. To read the story on how I managed to secure such stellar representation, check out my interview with fellow author, Vicky Dreiling.
I live with my family in Central Texas, where I read and write daily.
I’m rarely – if ever – found without my laptop and iPhone. I have a
life-long love affair with animals, especially dachshunds, and always
have an animal or two snuggled close when writing. Read more about Lara on her website: http://larachapman.com/ |
posted Aug 10, 2011 3:52 PM by txword wrangler
Reading has always been one of Connie's favorite past times.
During her early school years her favorite reading material was about
animals, especially horses. While in high school she began reading
historical fiction and claims to have learned more history from fiction
than from text books.
Shortly before retiring from her government job Connie decided to
write a book of her own. She didn't know what time frame she wanted to
write about but knew she wanted it to be something about the settling of
early America. After much research and thought she chose to begin by
writing about life during the American revolution. Besides writing
Connie enjoys doing volunteer work at the animal shelter in her hometown
of Austin, Texas.
While writing her first book Colonial Romance Connie got to know the characters so well she decided not to end the saga there. Hence came The Bugle's Call, about the second generation of the Black family. Texas Bound is the third book in the series about the adventures of the Black family. TEXAS BOUND Seth had never cared for the easy life. When things got too comfortable
he always found trouble--or it found him. He had found at an early age
the prosperous plantation that had been in his family for four
generations did not offer enough challenges to make him happy. In fact,
the whole state of Virginia was too tame for him. So, as soon as he
graduated from William and Mary, he struck out to find someplace he
could have the freedom and space he desired. In 1836, after nearly a
year of searching, he finds himself in Texas.He enters the territory
just days after the small, inexperienced Texas army, in it's attempt to
win Texas' independence from Mexico, has met a devastating defeat at the
hands of the large and powerful Mexican army. After establishing a
rather large and prosperous cattle ranch in the Texas hill country he
meets the woman who makes his life complete. They raise a family and
together meet the challenges of the unsettled frontier. Together they
establish a Texas dynasty and leave their footprints in Texas history.
|
posted Jul 20, 2011 1:32 PM by txword wrangler
Kelly
Goldman Bennett loves sharing stories—both fiction and non-fiction. Her
love of writing can be traced back to 1960, when she was two-ish,
and used her mother’s black mascara and lipstick to write on the
neighbor’s car! (And maybe blamed it on her brother…although she says he
blamed it on her.) She has been telling stories and writing ever since.
She writes picture books for shorter humans and their adults to
share; stories celebrating families, dancing, friends, pets, and all
that goes into being a kid! Most recently, YOUR MOMMY WAS JUST LIKE YOU and YOUR DADDY WAS JUST LIKE YOU (Putnam/Penguin); DAD AND POP (Candlewick Press), winner of 2010 NAPPA Honors and Library Media Connection's Editor's Choice Award, DANCE, Y'ALL, DANCE (Bright Sky Press), a rhyming, two-stepping romp; and NOT NORMAN: A GOLDFISH STORY
(Candlewick Press), named the Texas Institute of Letters Friends of
Austin Public Library's Best Children's Book for 2005, a Children's
Choice Award, and Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Medal winner.
And for grown-up humans Kelly writes newspaper and magazine articles,
mostly musings and travel pieces, and weekly blog entries at Kelly’s Fishbowl. She’s also a regular contributor to Now! Jakarta magazine.
At the moment, Kelly is obsessed with creating picture books.
“Picture books are like icebergs,” she notes, “so much of what goes on
goes unseen.”
Kelly is a graduate of the Vermont College Master of Fine Arts in
Writing for Children and Young Adults program. An active member of the
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), the
American Library Association (ALA), the Texas Library Association (TLA),
the International Reading Association (IRA), and the Author’s Guild,
she participates in many workshops and conferences. Read Kelly's complete bio and visit her website! We hope you all join us in welcoming Kelly at our 2011 Texas Word Wrangler Festival!
|
posted Jul 18, 2011 4:56 PM by txword wrangler
The
Giddings Public Library and Cultural Center happily announces that
meetings for the organization of the Texas Word Wrangler Festival are
all going well. The applications are in and the authors have been
selected! We hope that everyone comes by to meet these talented folks. |
posted Oct 12, 2009 6:35 PM by txword wrangler
[
updated Jul 18, 2011 4:44 PM
]
Call to Authors
Giddings Public Library & Cultural Center and the Giddings Area Chamber of Commerce invites all published Texas authors to submit a book for consideration in our upcoming 6th Annual Texas Word Wranglers Festival on Friday, September 9, 2011. Word Wranglers use words to convey ideas, stories, portray people and places. We want to honor our Word Wranglers for their hard work and dedication to their craft. We also want to give our community an opportunity to meet these authors and learn about the writing craft. We are looking for authors of books on the following subjects: children’s books, the art of quilting, archeology, poetry, Texas cookbooks, bird watching, fiction, history, historical fiction, mystery, romance, music, Texas Gardening, and anything related to Texas. We have a day-long festival at the Giddings Public Library & Cultural Center where authors sell their books and take questions. Some authors read or talk to groups of students that come in to the library. |
posted Oct 12, 2009 6:34 PM by txword wrangler
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updated Jul 19, 2011 9:28 AM
]
posted Oct 12, 2009 5:33 PM by txword wrangler
[
updated Jul 19, 2011 9:28 AM
]
 Giddings
Public Library and Cultural Center annouces the 6th Annual Texas Word
Wrangler Festival. Authors, get your applications from our website on
the Resources page. Remember the deadline to submit is May 1, 2011. |
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