Pete Stone Series Now Available for Purchase at Urban Interiors in Wichita

The office was empty, but I knew where Agnes would be so I locked up and walked down the street. I found her sitting in the lobby of the Eaton Hotel reading the morning edition of the Wichita Eagle.

-Detective Pete Stone

 

The Eaton Hotel, built in 1886, is a location frequented by our favorite 1930s detective, Pete Stone. Fun fact: you can still visit the Eaton today. It is home to Urban Interiors, a delightful store featuring unique gift items, local artisan products, and designer furniture. You can also purchase your very own copies of the books set in 1930s Wichita: To Leave a Shadow, Shadow of Death, and All Hallow's Shadows.  

Check out their beautiful display!

THREE TITLES BY MEADOWLARK PRESS NAMED AS FINALISTS IN 31st ANNUAL MIDWEST BOOK AWARDS

 Winners announced June 26, social media premiere with book giveaways to follow.

 

[EMPORIA, KS]—[April 29, 2021] —Three books released by Meadowlark Press in 2020 were named finalists in the the 31^st annual Midwest Book Awards. In the Mystery category, All Hallows’ Shadows, the third book in the Pete Stone series, by Michael D. Graves, Emporia, was a finalist. In fiction for Youth Adults, two of the three titles making the list were published by Meadowlark: A Time for Tears, by Jerilynn Jones Henrikson, Emporia, and Opulence, Kansas, by Julie Stielstra, Lyons, Illinois. The awards program, which is organized by the Midwest Independent Publishers Association (MiPA), recognizes quality independent publishing in the Midwest.

“In so many ways, 2020 was a rough year for publishing. We did not get to have any of our usual release parties as social distancing restrictions upended our usual routes of getting books into the hands of readers. But we continued to focus on the quality of our product, and, quite honestly, our 2020 books are some of the best we’ve produced yet. All of our authors are award winners from where I stand but making the finalists list for the Midwest Book Awards is a wonderful bit of recognition. We have so many quality stories being written by Kansans and about Kansas,” said Tracy Simmons, publisher, Meadowlark Press.

The 31^st annual Midwest Book Awards was open to books published and copyrighted in 2020 in MiPA’s 12-state Midwestern region: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

This year’s competition garnered 241 entries in 35 categories, submitted by 74 independent publishers and judged by a panel of nearly one hundred librarians and booksellers from throughout the Midwest.

Historically, an awards gala is held in Minneapolis to announce the winners, but this year, as in 2020, winners will be announced and celebrated online, first in a Zoom webinar open to MiPA members and finalists, and shortly thereafter in a social media premiere that can be shared with friends and family. A period of book giveaways and winner highlights will accompany the social media premiere.

“This shift to celebrating online has enabled us to engage with a larger publishing community throughout the Midwest,” said Jennifer Baum, executive director of MiPA. “The number of entries received in 2020 grew by about 25% compared to the prior year, which can be attributed to our greater online presence.”

Following the conclusion of the gala celebrations, winners will be encouraged to participate in MiPA’s second season of the Virtual Reading Series, a limited series launched last year on MiPA’s YouTube channel.

Finalist books will also be for sale in MiPA’s affiliate shop on Bookshop.org, a website that shares proceeds with independent booksellers. Buyers can opt to select which independent store will receive the commission, or to leave it in a general pool to be distributed among independent booksellers.

For a complete list of finalists, visit www.mipa.org/midwest-book-awards. Follow @MIPAMidwestBookAwards on Facebook for updates on the gala’s social media premiere and book giveaways.

The Midwest Book Awards, which began in 1989, recognizes the best independent literature to come out of the Midwest each year and is organized by the Midwest Independent Publishers Association (MiPA). Founded in 1984, MiPA exists today as a vibrant professional nonprofit association made up of traditional presses, university presses, author-publishers, hybrid presses and related support industries, such as graphic designers and printers. MiPA serves the Midwest independent publishing community through regular educational programming, networking and peer recognition.

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Graves and Stielstra Featured Readers for ESU Special Collections and Archives Series

 October 27 and 28, Meadowlark authors Michael D. Graves and Julie Stielstra will be the featured authors for the Emporia State University Special Collections and Archives series of author presentations.

Anyone is welcome to attend. Visit emporia.edu/live to register for and attend these virtual events. 

Mike Graves takes home KAC award! Here, read some of the words that won the judge over!

Meadowlark Author Mike Graves virtually accepted the J. Donald Coffin Book Award at the 2020 Kansas Authors Club Convention for his latest book in the Pete Stone series: All Hallows' Shadows!  

Judge William Sheldon had this to say about the book:

In All Hallows’ Shadows, Michael D. Graves serves up both homage and an original take on the hard-boiled detective genre. The mean streets of the novel are historic Wichita, Kansas, which Mr. Graves renders impeccably, edging in a history lesson with his mystery. Graves, an evident baseball fan, hits through the cycle of the genre’s tropes but does so in a manner entirely his own, realizing a style entirely his own. Out of a field of strong competition, my choice for the J. Donald Coffin Book Award is Michael D. Graves’s All Hallows’ Shadows.

Watch this video of Graves receiving the award at the convention (50 seconds in).

Learn more about Graves and his books on his author page. 

For your reading pleasure, here is an excerpt from first and ninth chapters of the award-winning novel!

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The Meadowlark Reader: Pete Stone, Private Investigator

Each Wednesday we will share an excerpt from a Meadowlark book. Sign up at Feed Burner to receive Meadowlark updates by email. 

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Little Did I Know

Published: March 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7342477-3-2

• Meadowlark Bookstore 
• Watermark Books (Wichita)
• The Raven (Lawrence)
• IndieBound
• Barnes & Noble

The Municipal University lay in the northeast part of Wichita across town from my place on Lewellen Street. I drove north a couple of blocks and noticed homes decorated in orange and black, early birds ready for Halloween. When I came to the high school, I turned east on Thirteenth. Late morning traffic was light, and I made good time. The weather was on its best behavior, as fall weather often is in Kansas. The buffeting southerly winds had abated as had the summer’s searing temperatures. Clear skies beckoned and gave a soul promise. I drove with the top down on my Jones Six roadster and breathed the crisp autumn air.

October was my favorite month. I’d told the truth to the professor about my intention to knock off for a few days. My plans involved baseball and beer, and I’d earned a break. The World Series was scheduled to open the next day, and my pal Tom would have his Motorola tuned in to the games and a stool reserved for me at the tavern bearing his name. Red Barber and his cronies would woo me with their play-by-play. I’d smoke stogies and kibitz with Tom, dine on peanuts and hotdogs, and quaff mugs of Storz beer until the final pitch signaled the end of the fall classic and the onset of the dark season, those soulless months with no baseball.

I reached Hillside and turned north toward the university. At Seventeenth, I went two blocks east to Fairmount and drove onto the campus. I had a few minutes to spare, so I rolled across campus and admired the architecture and landscaping. Trees had turned scarlet and yellow, and golden mums bloomed in well-tended flowerbeds.

The Administration Building, an imposing redbrick structure not unlike other administration buildings, greeted students and visitors. Morrison Library, where my son had spent much of his time as a student and graduate assistant, boasted columns reminiscent of the Parthenon. A new Auditorium and Commons Building was the university’s most recent addition, a welcome gathering place for students. Many of them entered and exited, smiling and chatting together. I had read that the university president, W.M. Jardine, took pride in the recent addition, and I could understand why.

The semester was fresh and alive. Students wore expressions of hope and optimism. Final exams loomed a lifetime away. The youthful enthusiasm was contagious, and I confessed to myself that the World Series wasn’t all I looked forward to that week. I also intended to call on a certain lady, the widow Lucille Hamilton.

Publishing Through a Pandemic

All Hallows' Shadows, by Michael D. Graves
 is book 3 of the Pete Stone, Private
Investigator Series. Now available in
paperback and as an ebook
wherever you buy books!

March and April were supposed to be big months for Meadowlark. We had a book release and cocktail party planned for Pete Stone fans (book 3 - All Hallows’ Shadows, now available). We had a workshop and poetry reading scheduled with Carol Kapaun Ratchenski (Birdy 2019 winner), Ruth Maus (Birdy finalist), and Cheryl Unruh. We were in the process of scheduling the release of Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg’s master collection of poetry, How Time Moves. And very much looking forward to planning the launch of Lisa Stewart’s memoir, The Big Quiet: One Woman’s Horseback Ride Home. Also, our first YA novel, Opulence, Kansas, by Julie Stielstra, was/is scheduled to be released in June.

Needless to say, the event calendar emptied quickly with the advance of COVID-19.

I must admit, I’ve struggled with focus as I muddle through the days, trying to adjust to this new normal. It has been good to hear from Meadowlark authors, and it has been a relief as we begin to see all the many ways our creative friends are working through this pandemic.

While scheduling remains a bit topsy-turvy, I know that we will all find ourselves re-focusing when the time comes, and making the most of these quiet, calendar-free moments. Meadowlark release dates may be more in a state of flow than we would like, but our books and our events will eventually happen. Watch for some ebook specials, and—as always—books remain available for purchase in the Meadowlark online bookstore for shipment anywhere in the US. (If you are local, select “pickup” and we will make arrangements to deliver books (no contact) at no extra charge.