It is a great thrill to announce that Golden Spike, The Iron Horse Chronicles, Book 3, has been nominated as a finalist for the 2018 Will Rogers Medallion Award in the category of Younger Readers. The winners will be announced at the annual banquet in Fort Worth, Texas, on Saturday, October 27, 2018. I am making plans to attend the ceremonies.
Eagle Talons, The Iron Horse Chronicles, Book 1, received the Bronze Will Rogers Medallion Award for Younger Readers in 2015, and Bear Claws, The Iron Horse Chronicles, Book 2, received the Silver Will Rogers Medallion Award for Younger Readers in 2016. Followers of this blog will recall that Bear Claws was also awarded first place in fiction in 2016 by the Wyoming State Historical Society.
You can see the complete list of finalists for the 2018 Will Rogers Medallions in all categories at this website: www.willrogersmedallionaward.net/press-release-wrma-2017
I attended the 2018 Western Writers of America Convention in Billings, Montana, from June 20 through June 23. On the final day of the convention, I joined two bus-loads of fellow WWA members for a trip to Cody, Wyoming, to visit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. A recent addition to the McCracken Research Library, located within the center, is the Western Writers Hall of Fame. I am not a member of the Hall of Fame, but as a part of the display, current WWA authors are included in the display. It was a great thrill to stand beside the entry for my trilogy, The Iron Horse Chronicles. Golden Spike, Book 3, is not yet included in the display. I will take steps to get that corrected.
Park Service will be planning major celebrations when the sesquicentennial celebration of the completion of the first transcontinental railroad takes place next year. Those who can make the trip to Promontory Summit, Utah, for the festivities will be well rewarded. Whether or not you do, you can read my trilogy, The Iron Horse Chronicles, about how this important historical event contributed to ending the traditional way of life of the nomadic Indians.
“Writing a Historical Trilogy” is the title of an article I wrote for the Spring 2018 issue of WriteRiders, the quarterly newsletter of the Nevada chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators. Link to the article (it’s on page 4 of the newsletter) 
On Saturday, April 21, 2018, I joined seven other members of Anthem Authors at the 2018 Sun City Anthem Spring Arts & Crafts Fair in Henderson, Nevada.
It was an honor to be included among the sixty authors who sold and autographed their books for the many patrons who visited the event. This was my fourth time to participate. It was obvious that the attendance was greater than any previous event. Thank you Henderson Libraries for organizing and managing this great showcase featuring all the talented authors who reside in the Vegas Valley.
My wife, Barbara, is seated to my left. Opposite me is Carol White, our casino hostess, who arranged the dinner. To my right is Carol’s sister, Connie. We had a delightful meal, as always, at Hank’s. The special highlight of the evening was the birthday cake!
There are 57 articles nominated, so the competition is humongous, to say the least. The authors of most of the articles are well established, famous western authors. Just to be nominated is a great honor. Thank you WWA and Roundup Magazine.
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