Michael Wallis on Jon Stewart
I just saw Michael Wallis on Jon Stewart and he did us proud, talking about his David Crockett book. He even mentioned he lives in Oklahoma. It was great. And remember Young Bill included him on one of the Library Youtube Breaks. You can tell Bill and I are big Michael Wallis fans, and the biggest reason I’m his fan is he appreciates the real history of Oklahoma and the West.
Perfect book for Dad
Ok so Dad’s Day was yesterday, but I’ve found a perfect book to share with your Dad. It’s Michael Wallis’ The Wild West 365. It’s a 6 1/2 by 9 1/2 inch book of everything Wild West. On one side of the Day Page is a vignette of fascinating western history and directly across is a photograph, or artist rendering of the event or person.
For example, on September 6th, is the tale of Wyatt Earp’s Vendetta Ride to get even for the murder of his brother, Morgan (September 5th tells that story). Across from the story is a photograph of Johnny Ringo, legendary badman who according to Josie Earp, ended his criminal career at the hands of Wyatt and Doc Holliday.
October 14th, the story of Boomer Sooner, and Captain David L. Payne, with a sketch of wagons readying for the run. April 29, the story of Ned Buntline, the pen name of Edward Zane Carroll Judson, who introduced “Buffalo Bill” to the world.
The images are drawn from Robert G. McCubbins’ extensive collection of Western memorabilia which includes photographs, ephemera, rare books, artifacts and even Billy the Kid’s knife!
At the very top of the Day page is an actual event occurring on that Day. Significant gore to keep Dad’s attention. March 22, 1881 Murderer “Big Nose” George Parrott is lynched by a mob in Rawlins, Wyoming Territory. The skin from his chest is mad into a medicine bag and a pair of shoes.
What a fun way to read history, one snippet at a time. After a full year you’ll have plenty of knowledge of the Wild West one day at a time, written with historical accuracy by Oklahoma author, Michael Wallis.
The Trickster Goes Graphic
Why are things the way they are? Why are there stars? Why do alligators have scaly skin? Why do rabbits have those cute powder puff tails? Why do buzzards have bald heads? Native American mythology often employs the character of the trickster to explain the state of the world and its creatures.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines trickster as: a cunning or deceptive character appearing in various forms in the folklore of many cultures.
A trickster can be a god or spiritual being, or simply another human being or animal. The stories of the Native American tricksters (which are typically in animal form) have been oral tales told through the centuries, passed down from one generation to the next. The tales often incorporate a moral, imparting a lesson for young listeners.
These stories are being retold more and more in book form, and now comic book creator Matt Dembicki has brought together more than 40 storytellers and illustrators for TRICKSTER Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection.
This collection of 21 tales marks the first time such stories have been told in a graphic or cartoon format. Editor Dembicki explains how the book came about:
“As a comic book creator and someone who appreciates nature, I mulled over the appeal of producing Native American trickster stories in a sequential format. A little research revealed that such a book didn’t exist. For this book, I wanted to be authentic, meaning they would have to be written by Native American storytellers… The storytellers each selected an artist from a pool of contributing talents to render their stories. Additionally, the storytellers approved the storyboards. In terms of editing, text was changed only when panel space was an issue and only with the approval of the storyteller. The point wasn’t to westernize the stories for general consumption, but rather to provide an opportunity to experience authentic Native American stories…”
Artist Pat Lewis illustrates Oklahoma Choctaw Tim Tingle's tale of how the Rabbit lost its tail.
Four storytellers with Oklahoma roots have contributed their stories to the collection: Joyce Bear, Greg Rodgers, Michael Thompson and Tim Tingle; and Oklahoma artist Roy Boney Jr. illustrated one of the tales.
The book is a delight for readers of all ages, but it would be especially perfect for reading to children. I remember my mom reading Aesop’s Fables to me, and I can see young people experiencing that same kind of wonder by hearing and, in this case, seeing, the tales of the Trickster.
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Trickster is up for an Eisener Award!
Matt Dembicki on his Cartoon Anthology of Native American Stories
Tim Tingle talks about Trickster
New on the Okie Bookshelf, Crockett, Maitland
Oklahoma author Michael Wallis has penned a new book on the life and times of Davy Crockett. Dispelling myths, finding the truth and examing the remarkable life of an American giant, amid the backdrop of frontier expansion.
(Booklist.) Wallis’ examination of the man behind the myth is both well written and engrossing.
Of course, Oklahomans know Wallis is a born storyteller and a good one. So it’s no surprise he is able to masterfully tell the true story behind the legendary figure, David Crockett, American frontiersman and icon.
And since we’re on the subject of Tulsa authors, James Patrick Hunt has a new Evan Maitland book, Get Maitland. So right under our nose is a prolific mystery writer with three series characters and plenty of good summer reading.
George Hastings is a St. Louis (Missouri) Homicide Detective.
Evan Maitland is a former Chicago cop who owns an antique business.
Daniel Bridger is a thief who works high dollar scores.*Crime Novelists
Oklahoma Literary Landmark in Tahlequah to honor Wilson Rawls
Bill and I have been so busy with the Royal Wedding we haven’t had time to post.
So I want to get this in before the weekend so you can celebrate with the Friends of Libraries in Oklahoma at the Oklahoma Literary Landmark presentation honoring Wilson Rawls. 
The dedication will occur during The Red Fern Festival April 29 and 30 in Tahlequah. The festival offers a good time for the whole family and features hound dog trials, food and craft vendors, music, and special activities for children.
The Friends of Libraries in Oklahoma (FOLIO) will honor Wilson Rawls’ hometown, Tahlequah, as the 10th Oklahoma Literary Landmark. Rawls wrote two very popular children’s books, Where the Red Fern Grows and Summer of the Monkeys. The dedication, is free and open to the public, and will take place in the Carnegie Room at the Tahlequah Public Library, 120 S. College Ave. Join Master of Ceremonies, Rob McClendon, on Saturday, April 30, at 1:30 p.m. as Oklahomans celebrate the life and writing of Wilson Rawls.
Scissortail Creative Writing Festival
March 31-April 2 in Ada
The annual Scissortail Creative Writing Festival is back for its sixth year and bigger than ever with four featured authors, including Where The Heart Is author Billie Letts. In addition, more than 50 regional, published and emerging authors will make presentations during the three-day festival, March 31 – April 2, on the campus of East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma. All sessions are free and open to the public.
This is becoming a premiere literary event in our state, and now’s a great time to get in on the fun. Meet the authors who plan to attend, check out the readings that will be held during the three days, celebrate the winners of the Darryl Fisher Creative Writing Contest, explore more about the festival, and just plan on having a grand time!
OK Book Award Finalists Announced
Rilla Askew to be Honored
Yep! It’s that time of year again. Read the press release below for all the scoop, and then book your reservations for the 2011 Oklahoma Book Awards on Saturday, April 9. The Oklahoma Center for the Book promises to show you a good time!
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Thirty-two books have been chosen as finalists in the 22nd annual Oklahoma Book Award competition. Winners in the categories of fiction, poetry, design/illustration, children/young adult and non-fiction will be announced at the Oklahoma Book Awards banquet on Saturday, April 9, at the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and Jim Thorpe Museum in Oklahoma City. Master of ceremonies for the event will be former Lt. Gov. Jari Askins.
Sponsored by the Oklahoma Center for the Book in the Oklahoma Department of Libraries and the Friends of the Center, the awards recognize books written the previous year by Oklahomans or about Oklahoma. This year some 122 books were entered in the competition.
In addition to the literary awards, Oklahoma-born author Rilla Askew will be presented with the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is named for Norman historian Arrell Gibson, who served as the first president of the Oklahoma Center for the Book.
A fifth generation descendant of southerners who settled in the Choctaw Nation in the late 1800s, Rilla Askew was born in the Sans Bois Mountains in the southeastern corner of Oklahoma. The middle of three sisters, Askew grew up in the oil company town of Bartlesville, where she first encountered the complex forces of race and class that she continues to explore in her fiction.
Askew lived for several years in the Cherokee capital of Tahlequah before relocating to Tulsa, where she graduated from the University of Tulsa with a degree in theatre performance. In 1980 she moved to New York to pursue an acting career, but soon turned to writing fiction.
To date, all of Rilla Askew’s books have been set in Oklahoma. Her collection of stories, “Strange Business,” received the Oklahoma Book Award in 1993. Her first novel, “The Mercy Seat,” was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and received the Western Heritage Award and the Oklahoma Book Award in 1998. “Fire in Beulah,” her 2001 novel about the Tulsa Race Riot, received the American Book Award, the Myers Book Award and was the 2007 selection for Oklahoma’s statewide centennial reading program. Her most recent novel, “Harpsong” (2007), received the Oklahoma Book Award, the Western Heritage Award, the Willa Cather Award from Women Writing the West and the Violet Crown Award from the Writers League of Texas.
The recipient of a 2009 award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Askew received her master’s degree in fiction in 1989 from Brooklyn College. She is married to actor Paul Austin, and they divide their time between Oklahoma, where she now serves as artist-in-residence at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, and their home in upstate New York.
The following books are finalists for the 2011 awards:
CHILDREN/YOUNG ADULT
“Portrait of a Generation: The Children of Oklahoma, Sons and Daughters of the Red Earth,” by M.J. Alexander of Oklahoma City, and published by Southwestern Publishing, Oklahoma City.
“‘Cholhkanat Lowak Ishminti’ (Spider Brings Fire),” by Linda Hogan of Tishomingo, and published by Chickasaw Nation Division of Arts and Humanities, Ada.
“Salvaged,” by Stefne Miller of Edmond, and published by Tate Publishing & Enterprises, Mustang.
“Mostly Monsterly,” by Tammi Sauer of Edmond, published by Simon & Schuster, New York, N.Y.
“Saltypie: A Choctaw Journey from Darkness into Light,” by Tim Tingle of Canyon Lake, Texas, and published by Cinco Puntos Press, El Paso, Texas.
DESIGN/ILLUSTRATION
“Building One Fire,” designed by Carol Haralson of Sedona, Ariz., and published by the Cherokee Nation, Tahlequah.
“Proud to be Chickasaw,” designed by Skip McKinstry of Oklahoma City, illustrated by Mike Larsen of Perkins and published by Chickasaw Press, Ada.
“Oklahoma National Stockyards,” designed by Doug Miller of Tulsa, and published by Mullerhaus Publishing Arts Inc., Tulsa.
“Portrait of a Generation: The Children of Oklahoma, Sons and Daughters of the Red Earth,” designed by Scott O’Daniel of Oklahoma City, photography by M.J. Alexander of Oklahoma City and published by Southwestern Publishing, Oklahoma City.
“Arena Legacy: The Heritage of American Rodeo,” designed by Tony Roberts and Julie Rushing, both of Norman, collection photography by Ed Muno of Oklahoma City, and published by University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
FICTION
“Stations West,” by Allison Amend of Pittsburgh, Pa., and published by Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, La.
“With No Steps to Follow,” by David Allen Barton of Union City, and published by Tate Publishing & Enterprises, Mustang.
“Cheyenne Madonna,” by Eddie Chuculate of Iowa City, Iowa, and published by David R. Godine Publisher Inc., Jaffrey, N.H.
“God’s Acres,” by David Gerard of Muskogee, and published by PenUltimate Press Inc., St. Louis, Mo.
“The Insane Train,” by Sheldon Russell of Waynoka, and published by St. Martin’s Minotaur Books, New York, N.Y.
“Chasing Lilacs,” by Carla Stewart of Tulsa, and published by FaithWords, Hachete Book Group, New York, N.Y.
NON-FICTION
“Native American Son: The Life and Sporting Legend of Jim Thorpe,” by Kate Buford of Yonkers, N.Y., and published by Alfred A. Knopf Inc., New York, N.Y.
“Chickasaw Removal,” by Amanda L. Paige, Fuller L. Bumpers, and Daniel F. Littlefield Jr., all of Arkansas; and published by Chickasaw Press, Ada.
“Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture,” edited by Dianna Everett of Edmond; Larry O’Dell of Newcastle; Jon May and Linda Wilson, both of Oklahoma City; and published by Oklahoma Historical Society, Oklahoma City.
“Deadly Kingdom: The Book of Dangerous Animals,” by Gordon Grice of Somerset, Wis., and published by Random House, New York, N.Y.
“Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History,” by S.C. Gwynne of Austin, Texas, and published by Scribner, New York City.
“Race and the University: A Memoir,” by George Henderson of Norman, and published by OU Press, Norman.
“Arena Legacy: The Heritage of American Rodeo,” by Richard C. Rattenbury of Oklahoma City, and published by OU Press, Norman.
“Luis Ortega’s Rawhide Artistry: Braiding in the California Tradition,” by Don Reeves of Edmond and Chuck Stormes of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and published by OU Press, Norman.
“Oilfield Trash: Life and Labor in the Oil Patch,” by Bobby D. Weaver of Edmond, and published by Texas A&M University Press, College Station, Texas.
POETRY
“Spare Parts,” by Ken Hada of Ada, and published by Mongrel Empire Press, Norman.
“Umberto Eco Lost His Gun,” by Carol Hamilton of Midwest City, and published by Pudding House Publications, Columbus, Ohio.
“Elegy for Trains,” by Benjamin Myers of Chandler, and published by Village Books Press, Cheyenne.
“Seeing Rightly with the Heart,” by Howard Stein of Oklahoma City, and published by Finishing Line Press, Georgetown, Ky.
“Bird Days,” by Sheila Tiarks of Oklahoma City, and published by Village Books Press, Cheyenne.
“Oklahoma Baroque,” by Renata Treitel of Tulsa, and published by Out On A Limb Publishing, Tulsa.
“Oklahoma Cantos,” by Ron Wallace of Durant, and published by TJMF Publishing, Clarksville, Ind.
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The E-Book Headache
This post isn’t about a new E-Book titled “Headache.” Nope! This is about the format itself, and how authors, publishers, booksellers and libraries are trying to figure out this brave new world.
With that in mind, let’s go!
• Sony is oh, so serious about this. Sony Corp. expands their digital Reader Library program to 30 more libraries across the country. Notice in the press release that Oklahoma’s Pioneer Library System is set to join the program.
• Harper-Collins is way too serious about this. Meanwhile, Harper-Collins and OverDrive are facing a backlash after announcing they will limit the number of times an e-book may be lent to 26. The reasoning: print copies wear out and have to be replaced, so e-books should have a planned obsolescence. (Really?! Wow, what Vance Packard could do with this!) The Pioneer Library System takes the publisher to task in this open letter, calling the plan, forced obsolescence.
• The New York Times tries to make it simple with this graphic showing the economics of producing a book.
• CJ Cherryh and fellow authors have their own plan! One of our favorite Oklahoma authors, Cherryh (now a Washington state resident), has joined with authors Jane Fancher and Lynn Abbey to offer e-book versions of their out-of-print titles on the website Closed Circle. You go, girls!!
We’re sure there’s much more out there, but all of this E-book talk is really giving us a headache!
Chasing Lilacs with Carla Stewart
Young Bill is off in the land of Mr. Gates and good coffee, and is probably wondering why I haven’t posted anything. So here goes… I just finished Carla Stewart’s first novel, Chasing Lilacs. This coming of age novel is about a year in the life of a young girl growing up in the small Texas Panhandle town of Graham Camp. It’s a petroleum company town in the 50′s, small enough where everyone knows each other, and each other’s business. 
Sammie Tucker’s mom has “nerve” problems, and after an unsuccessful attempt at suicide, is bundled off to the hospital for shock treatments. The story begins with Sammie learning to deal with the emptiness of being without her mom, taking care of herself while dad is at work and hanging out with her best friend, Tuwana. Sammie’s mom, Rita can not get over the loss of her second child, and checks out emotionally on Sammie. It’s a good story, Carla keeps the interest going throughout the book, and if you like character driven novels you’ll really like this one, even her minor characters are well developed.
Sammie has her first romantic interest in the newly arrived California boy, Cly, reminding us that you can’t judge people by appearance or rumor. She struggles with her mom’s problems, her emotional absence from Sammie and finally a tragedy that Sammie must learn to overcome. Like many Chrisitian Fiction novels, this book has it’s share of very difficult times, but Carla handles it with a gentle touch and a real feel for the characters. Her inspirational words don’t hit you over the head with a 2 by 4, but you still get the message. There are interesting subplots surrounding the main story that keep you guessing right up to the end. There’s also the “mean stepmother” tale in the Aunt who comes to stay. And the story of the elderly widower that seems to have his own dark past, but befriends both Sammie and Cly. In the end Sammie learns to trust herself and follow her resolution to not run away from her problems but tackle them head on. You’ll want to weep with her and cheer for her, and thank Carla Stewart for an enjoyable story.
This book is published by FaithWords, part of the Hachette Book Group. They also publish Oklahoma author, Joyce Meyer.
Romance survives the Holiday
If working at a flower shop on Valentine’s Day doesn’t kill any romantic spirit in me, nothing will. So if you’re like me and still feeling a little bit romantic, all you need to do is turn to Oklahoma’s great Romance Writers.
The new release list from the Oklahoma Romance Writers of America (OKRWA), offers something for everyone and every taste.
Need a little elegant romance in your life, try Amanda McCabe’s well researched, The Shy Duchess.
Christine Rimmer, Vickie McDonough, Tina Radcliffe and Linda Goodnight bring us the sweeter side of romance. I’ve noticed (since I’m a new NOOK owner) that several of Christine’s books are available for download.
Debra Cowan has a new historical romance set in 1886 West Texas. Debra also writes romantic suspense.
And speaking of suspence, Sharon Sala ‘s Blood Stain looks fantastic. I love the trailer, with just the music and words.
Want your Romance to be hot and steamy, with a touch of the bad boys? Check out the new titles by Jaci Burton, Myla Jackson and of course, Gena Showalter.
And very exciting, Merline Lovelace has a new Samantha Spade book I haven’t read yet called, Catch Her If You Can.
The holiday is over (and for some of us none too soon), but the Romance continues. . . .
