2026 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Lisa Wingate
Lisa Wingate is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours, which remained on the NYT list for more than two years and has sold over three million copies. She has written more than 30 novels and co-authored the nonfiction Before and After with journalist Judy Christie. Her books have been translated into over forty languages and have appeared on bestseller lists worldwide. Shelterwood (2024) marks her thirty-third release. Lisa is a Goodreads Choice Award winner, an Oklahoma Book Award finalist, and a Southern Book Prize winner. Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa as a recipient of the National Civics Award, which celebrates public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life. Booklist summed up her work by saying, “Lisa Wingate is, quite simply, a master storyteller.” Lisa was inspired to become a writer by a first-grade teacher, who said she expected to see Lisa’s name in a magazine one day. She also entertained childhood dreams of being an Olympic gymnast and winning the National Finals Rodeo but was stalled by a mental block against backflips on the balance beam and by parents who stubbornly refused to finance a rodeo career. She was lucky enough to marry into a big family of tall-tale enthusiasts who never let the truth get in the way of a good story. Lisa lives in Texas and Colorado with her family and her cuddly teddy bear of a dog, Huckleberry. One of her favorite things about being a writer is connecting with people, both real and imaginary. Find out more at www.lisawingate.com. Or follow her on Facebook at LisaWingateAuthorPage, or on Instagram @author_lisa_wingate. More information about her novels can be found at www.lisawingate.com.
2026 PRESENTATION (Saturday)
LISA WINGATE: HOW TO ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS IN THIRTY NOVELS OR LESS
Krista Rolfzen Soukup
Krista Rolfzen Soukup is a literary publicist, marketing consultant and owner of Blue Cottage Agency, founded in 2009. She has a passion for helping writers and authors successfully promote their work and establish their platform. Through her expert guidance, knowledge of the publishing industry and vast experience, she has successfully supported writers and authors across the country and Europe. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Marketing and has over 35 years of experience in sales, promotions, and marketing. Visit her website at BlueCottageAgency.com.
2026 PRESENTATION (Friday)
KRISTA SOUKUP: AN AUTHOR’S JOURNEY: NAVIGATING CHALLENGES, EMBRACING JOY, AND BEST PRACTICES FOR LONG TERM SUCCESS
2026 SCHEDULED PRESENTERS
E. JOE BROWN pursues his passions as an author writing a series of historical fiction novels with Artemesia Publishing. He’s a member of Western Writers of America, the Board of Directors of the Homestead Foundation, SouthWest Writers, the Military Writers of America, aand the New Mexico Westerners. He served as a New Mexico State Music Commissioner appointed by Governor Susana Martinez and on the International Western Music Association Board of Directors. In these roles, he influenced the culture of New Mexico and the American Southwest through literature, music, poetry, and education. He is a proud retiree of USAF.
2026 PRESENTATION:
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CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BOOK TOUR
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Friday: Session 1 Hickory
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E. JOE BROWN
XAVIER POE KANE is an award-winning author and disabled Air Force veteran. Writing in the horror genre, he is passionate about helping his fellow authors infuse their characters with an authenticity that will resonate with the military community whether a reader is currently serving or are veterans. He also provides tools that will assist writers in avoiding common mistakes whether they are editing a fifth draft or thinking about their first military character. Xavier's approach to horror goes beyond entertainment. Having battled depression and anxiety for over two decades, he harnesses the power of the genre as a tool for healing from trauma. Xavier demonstrates how horror is a cathartic and transformative medium. With an MFA in Popular Fiction Writing & Publishing from Emerson College, Xavier is dedicated to advancing the field of indie and small press authors and publishers. His short story anthology Broken Hearts & Other Horrors received a "GET IT" accolade from Kirkus Review. His novel A Mother's Torment was a finalist for the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award. His first children’s picture book Leo and the Spooky Forest also earned a "GET IT" accolade from Kirkus Review. When not crafting spine-tingling tales, Xavier resides in St. Louis with his wife Morticia, their loyal canine companion Jabba and a feline familiar named Freya.
2026 PRESENTATIONS:
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HEALING THROUGH HORROR & TRUE CRIME
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Friday: Sesson 2 Willow
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THE QUIET PARTS OUT LOUD: CRAFTING AUTHENTIC VETERAN CHARACTERS
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Saturday: Session 2 Willow
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XAVIER POE KANE
MAX MCCOY is an award-winning author and journalist. A native Kansan, he started his career at the Pittsburg Morning Sun and was soon writing for national magazines. His investigative stories on unsolved murders, serial killers and hate groups have earned him first-place awards, mostly for his work as a writer for the Joplin (Missouri) Globe. His commentary has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, the Asahi Shimbun, the Kansas City Star, the Kansas City Pitch, the Kansas Reflector and other outlets. His novels include three original Indiana Jones adventures for Bantam/Lucasfilm and the novelization of the Steven Spielberg epic miniseries, Into the West. A nonfiction book, Elevations: A Personal Exploration of the Arkansas River, was named a Kansas Notable Book by the state library. Elevations also won the National Outdoor Book Award, in the history/biography category. McCoy’s weekly opinion essays for the Kansas Reflector news site, kansasreflector.com, have gathered first-place awards from the National Society of Newspapers Editors and the Kansas Press Association. Max lives in Emporia, in east central Kansas. His website: maxmccoy.com
2026 PRESENTATION:
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FOLLOW THE WILD TRAIL
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Friday: Session 2 Sycamore
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MAX MCCOY
GEORGE FRAZIER is an author of books about wild places and the environment, including Riverine Dreams: Away to the Glorious and Forgotten Grassland Rivers of America (Univ of Chicago Press) and The Last Wild Places of Kansas (Univ Press of Kansas). His writing has appeared in National Parks Magazine, Wild Earth, and many other journals and magazines. George Frazier georgefrazier@yahoo.com
2026 PRESENTATION:
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THE ART OF TRAVELOGUE
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Saturday: Session 1 Sycamore
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GEORGE FRAZIER
BETSEY KULAKOWSKI is the award-winning, bestselling author of The Veritas Codex paranormal thriller series, and The Manifest Destiny paranormal series. As a retired safety professional with a degree in emergency management, she is a federally trained investigator and served on disaster response teams at the Alfred P. Murrah Building Bombing, the World Trade Center, and Hurricane Katrina, among others. She’s won numerous awards for her books, including multiple 1st place awards from The Bookfest Awards. THE KING'S RANSOM (Book 7 of the Veritas Codex Series) won first place for Best Published Fiction at WriterCon in 2024. When she’s not writing, she can be found wandering the woods of Central Arkansas looking for Bigfoot or kayaking on the many lakes and rivers. She’s also the co-host of The Unfreakingbelievable Podcast. You can follow Betsey on Instagram, X, Threads, and TikTok @authorbetseyk and sign up for her newsletter on her website at www.authorbetseykulakowski.com.
2026 PRESENTATIONS:
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The ABCS OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
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Friday: Session 1 Sycamore
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IMPOSTER SYNDROME: WHAT IT IS, HOW TO AVOID IT, & HOW TO TAME IT
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Saturday: Session 2 Sycamore
BETSEY KULAKOWSKI
TERRY ALEXANDER and his wife Phyllis live on a small farm near Porum, Oklahoma. They have three children, thirteen grandchildren, eleven Great grandchildren. Terry is a member of the Oklahoma Writers Federation, Ozark Creative Writers, Western Fictioneers, and Tahlequah Writers. He has been published in various anthologies from, Wolfsinger Publications, Airship 27, Man Cave Entertainment, Wicked Shadow Publishing, Pro Se Productions, and Oghma Creative.
2026 PRESENTATION:
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MY WRITING JOURNEY
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Thursday: Hickory
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TERRY ALEXANDER
TIERNEY JAMES has been in education for over thirty years. After finishing her teaching career at a junior college, she decided to pursue her writing career. Creating a workshop for beginning writers, speaking at schools and serving as an officer in the writing group Sleuths’ Ink, are some of the work she does when not writing. Thanks to a fifth-grade teacher and forced to write a puppet play, Tierney fell in love with the written word. Along with serving as a Solar System Ambassador for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and attending Space Camp for Educators, Tierney has traveled across the world. From the Great Wall of China to floating the Okavango Delta of Botswana, Africa, she ties her unique experiences into other writing projects such as the action thrillers in the Enigma Series. Living on a Native American reservation and in a mining town for many years, fuels the kind of characters she never tires of creating. Besides teaching and writing, Tierney enjoys family, gardening, reading and music. Other pursuits involve researching Biblical archeology and other holy sites that will be included in an upcoming series. Other kinds of research have involved learning new skills with weapons such as a samurai sword. She has finally settled in Oklahoma, but there’s never a dull moment in Tierney’s life. And that is just the way she likes it.
2026 PRESENTATIONS:
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THE ART OF ALMOST: HOW TO BUILD SEXUAL TENSION WITHOUT RIPPING THEIR CLOTHES OFF
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Friday: Session 2 Hickory
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SLOW BURN VS. EXPLOSION: CRAFTING THRILLERS AND ACTION-ADVENTURE STORIE
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Saturday: Session 1 Hickory
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TIERNEY JAMES
DAVID C. REED is a veteran and a retired criminal investigator who channels real-world experience into taut, hard-edged storytelling that grips from the first line and cuts deeper with every page. His work is steeped in authenticity, grit, and the raw choices that reveal the best and the worst of us. If you went dead in his city, your ghost now haunts the pages of his novels. He has published Cold, Dark, and Silent, The Blockade Runners, and The Elite Watch. Song of the Surrogate, and The Absolute Alibi will be out soon.
2026 PRESENTATIONS:
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PERSONAL CYBER SECURITY
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Friday: Session 1 Willow
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WHAT WRITERS GET WRONG ABOUT COPS
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Saturday: Session 1 Willow
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DAVID C. REED
The Friday Night entertainment for the 60th Anniversary will be presented by Nuance. Nuance is Jude & Terry Bales, a singer-songwriter duo based in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Musically creative from an early age, they are passionate about an organic approach to writing & recording songs. Nuance has recorded & released 3 Cd's: On Down This Road, Images I Feel, & "The 12", all on Dreaming Eye Records. They have also had 4 train songs released on NBT Records, based in Berkeley Springs, WV. Several of their songs have had radio play around the world. They have played at songwriter showcases, the Route 66 Festival in Springfield, Mo, & many venues in the Springfield & Eureka Springs area. You can listen to their music on SoundCloud.com, under Nuance Duo, and on Facebook. Jude is also an author & has released her first book "The Muffin Chronicles" in 2025. She is currently working on a collection of childhood stories.
2026 PRESENTATION:
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MY WRITING JOURNEY
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Thursday: Hickory
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ENTERTAINMENT