That’s a Wrap!

Patriotic Bus Honoring the US Military - Enlarged

A Motor Coach sitting in a warehouse in Forney, Texas proudly wears a new dress created by Wrap Experts. Wrap Experts owner-creative designers Robby Burnett and partner Duston Noble found themselves in the big middle of the Freedom 250 project when they joined forces with corporate sponsors tagged by the U.S. Department of the Interior […]

On Writing Nightflower of Comanche Mound

Desert Scene

Nightflower of Comanche Mound is a story for young adults, but, surprisingly, it’s adults who are buying it. I didn’t set out to write the novel that evolved. It started with a girl and a horse on a ranch in West Texas, a girl some younger. Research took me on a very different path as […]

The 2026 Denton READilicious Book Palooza

Katlyn Bates - Harvest House Promotional Image

Following a month of bookishness in Denton’s citywide celebration of literacy, join us for the main event of community fun Saturday, February 28. Find your favorite local authors, and discover new venues as you support local businesses, bookstores and libraries to raise funds for literacy and library non-profits.  Proceeds benefit Denton Public School Foundation, Emily Fowler Foundation, and Denton Friends […]

A Christmas Cookie Tradition

Decorated Christmas Cookies

No matter what shows up on television or in the stores, Christmas, for me, begins the day ‘the girls’ soldier-up over wads of dough…Christmas cookie dough.           The skill! The talent! The sugar!           This year, the grands, ages 13, 16, and 19, owned it! Though they’d taken  the reins for the past couple years, […]

WE TOOK A LITTLE TRIP WEST OF THE MIGHTY MISSISSIP…

Something like that— And discovered Louisiana has a sandy beach! We like to travel on the backroads, an attitude of, “I wonder what’s down that road?” That’s how we discovered Louisiana has a sandy beach! On the prowl for a Louisiana Bird and Butterfly Sanctuary so new it wasn’t even on the hotel’s ‘local attractions’ […]

Big Announcement

Spur Award Featured Image

Big Announcement March 15, 2025, Tucson AZ — Katlyn Bates’ Nightflower of Comanche Mound Named Western Writers of America 2025 Spur Award Finalist! Nightflower of Comanche Mound, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D836QLVT, a contemporary young adult action-adventure novel set on the hostile plains of the Texas Staked Plains, follows 16-year old Charley Kensey who, seeking a sense of belonging, brashly invites herself […]

2025 World EXCA Coming to Texas in October

Horseback Riding

Listen up, Texas neighbors and beyond. There’s a different kind of rodeo coming to Texas. From youth to pro, World Extreme Cowboy Association (EXCA) members are tuning up their horses for the 2025 show-me-your-stuff competition October 28 through November 2, in Glen Rose, Tx., hosted by the Somervell County Expo Center. LINK Entrants, ages eight […]

Western Writers of America 72nd Convention in the Rearview Mirror

Katlyn Bates Accepting Award

The 2025 Western Writers of American Convention, held in Amarillo, TX this year, was Western Writers’ 72nd convention, and my first. What an honor it was to attend. An honor and an education to sit among so many polished writers of Western literature, http://WesternWriters.org an honor to hear the excellent and entertaining speakers, such as […]

Big Announcement!

When things change inside a house, they change on the outside, too.