Will Rogers Medallion Award

 

by Charlotte Hinger

What a surprise! When I picked up my mail this evening there was a brown envelope sent from Fort Worth. It contained a letter from Chris Enss, the Executive Director of the Will Rogers Medallion Award Committee. My short story "The Book Mama" is a finalist for the Will Rogers Medallion Award. I am absolutely thrilled. 

I was honored to be included in this quartet of writers and am proud to announce that of the six finalists for the Short Story Award, Randi Samuelson-Brown, Mark Warren, and Candace Simar--the other three contributors to Librarians of the West--are also contenders for the coveted medallions. Our publisher, Gale Cengage/Five Star has been a leader in supporting westerns and historical novels about the American West. 

My historical novel about the African American community of Nicodemus, Kansas, The Healer's Daughter, won the silver medallion in the Western Maverick category in 2020. How I wanted to attend that ceremony, but Covid was rampant that year and I decided not to try it. Wild horses can't keep me away this year. 

The Annual Awards Banquet is held in Fort Worth in October. I'm going all out. I'll attend the Friday afternoon book signing and the evening Meet-and-Greet. It's terrific to see organizations and conventions return to their regular activities. So many events in the publishing world were cut back or eliminated in 2020 and 2021.

Luckily, I'm close enough to drive. I've heard from a number of people who have had problems with airlines. 

My daughter and son-in-law were going to a Lisbon, Portugal to a business sponsored retreat. The first stumbling block was that she tested positive for Covid. He was negative. Then when they both had proof of negative test, the plane was delayed several hours, then a day. Finally, they were able to board. Then I received a text that the plane was broken. They couldn't fly. No chance of making the connecting flight. Then after a harrowing bought of rescheduling everything worked. 

My good friend, Angela Bates, and I will be traveling to the Western Writers of American convention next Tuesday. Unless I develop a miraculous reserve of energy, we will have to break the trip into two days. 

I very much love the energy boost I get from writers' conferences. However, since I write both historical novels and mysteries, for financial reasons I select carefully. I could easily attend a conference a week. 

And then where would I be? Besides, broke, I mean.

Another writer who isn't actually writing. That's where.