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Invitation to Intimacy by Dr. Judy Tiesel-Jensen

June 7, 2022

What the Marriage of Two Couples Therapists Reveals About Risk, Transformation, and the Astonishing Healing Power of Intimacy By Erin WoodMaumelle author and therapist Dr. Judy Tiesel-Jensen has won the prestigious Nautilus Book Award as well as an Independent Publisher Book Award for her book, Invitation to Intimacy: What the Marriage of Two Couples Therapists Reveals About Risk, Transformation, and the Astonishing Healing Power of Intimacy, released November 16, 2022.

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Beanies, Ballcaps, and Being Bald

May 1, 2022

By Erin Wood Following the Oscar’s slap heard ‘round the world, public recognition quickly grew for a condition that impacts millions of Americans: alopecia. According to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, alopecia areata is a common autoimmune disease impacting the skin, which causes hair loss on the scalp, face, and other areas of the body. It affects as many as 6.8 million people in the US, and is not limited

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From Cotton to Silk: The Magic of Black Hair

April 1, 2022

By Erin Wood Just over a year ago, on March 20, 2021, Crystal C. Mercer’s children’s book From Cotton to Silk: The Magic of Black Hair launched on the birthday of her late grandmother, in whose honor she sewed the book’s pages.   Reflecting 467 hours of hand-stitching, the textile renderings that became the book’s pages incorporate fabrics Mercer studied as part of her graduate work in Ghana, Africa, textured with

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Arkansas Books

March 3, 2022

The Exquisite Egg By Erin Wood A Hot Springs native, artist Isabel B. Anthony’s lifelong passion for embellishing eggs—ignited in the 1960s by a Ladies’ Home Journal article about the enameled and precious-jeweled Easter eggs of world-renowned Russian jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé—is reflected in her new book The Exquisite Egg: One Artist’s Embellished Creations.  Releasing March 1, just in time for Easter baskets, the book shares images of over 100

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The Unseen Faithful

January 28, 2022

By Erin Wood When young writer and Nashville, Arkansas, native Kaden Peebles should have been preparing for a high school cheerleading competition, she was knocked out by debilitating pain. She was eventually diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare bone cancer.  This diagnosis marks the start of her book, Chemo and Good Eyeliner: A Cancer Memoir (forthcoming spring 2023). Peebles eventually completed 35 rounds of chemotherapy, 32 localized radiation treatments, 8

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Porter Prize Awarded to Little Rock Author Jen Fawkes

November 29, 2021

By Erin WoodAt a November gala at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum in Little Rock, Little Rock fiction writer Jen Fawkes was celebrated as the 36th winner of the Porter Fund Literary Prize.  Established in 1984, The Porter Prize is a nonprofit supporting Arkansas writers and poets, founded by Phillip McMath in honor of Dr. Ben Kimpel. Past winners include our current Arkansas Poet Laureate Jo McDougall,

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Invitation to Intimacy

October 30, 2021

By Erin Wood While Maumelle resident Dr. Judy Tiesel-Jensen now enjoys being “creatively retired” and watching pelicans fly over the Arkansas River from her writing desk, she keeps one foot firmly planted in her three-decades-long career as a couples therapist.   Her new book, Invitation to Intimacy: What the Marriage of Two Couples Therapists Reveals About Risk, Transformation, and the Astonishing Healing Power of Intimacy, forthcoming November 16, is one part

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Truths We Tell: Stories From The Yarn Stage

September 30, 2021

By Erin Wood The Yarn—a Little Rock-based nonprofit that uses the power of storytelling to amplify voices, build understanding, and create space for human connection—is releasing its first book on October 12. Truths We Tell: Stories From The Yarn Stage is curated from the show’s first four years of productions under the direction of co-founder and producer Hilary Trudell.  Trudell shares, “I couldn’t be more excited to present this anthology

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Six Bridges Virtual Book Festival Takes Place Oct. 21-31

September 30, 2021

By Erin Wood Authors and presenters for the 2021 Six Bridges Book Festival have been announced. The event, which will take place virtually from October 21-31, features nearly 70 national authors including Lauren Groff, Margaret Renkel, Charles Yu, Jaqueline Woodson, and local authors including Kevin Brockmeier and Crystal C. Mercer—among a robust roster of others.  Many formerly knew this celebrated festival as the Arkansas Literary Festival. The new name, Six

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Save the Date for Six Bridges Book Festival Oct. 21-31

August 28, 2021

By Erin WoodAuthors and presenters for the 2021 Six Bridges Book Festival have been announced. The event, which will take place virtually from October 21-31, features nearly 70 national authors including Lauren Groff, Margaret Renkel, Charles Yu, Jaqueline Woodson, and local authors including Kevin Brockmeier and Crystal C. Mercer—among a robust roster of others. Many formerly knew this celebrated festival as the Arkansas Literary Festival. The new name, Six Bridges

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AR PBS Airs Summer Learning Program Through Mid-August

July 31, 2021

By Erin Wood If you have K-5 kids, you won’t want to miss the six-week summer learning program, “Rise and Shine,” now airing on Arkansas PBS in collaboration with the Arkansas Department of Education. Featuring lessons led by Arkansas teachers to reinforce learning in key subjects including literacy, math, science, and social studies, the program began July 6, airing weekdays from 8 to 11:30 a.m. through mid-August.  “Boosting literacy is one

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Author & Parent Advice for Summer Reading with Kids

July 1, 2021

By Erin WoodPrepare Little Listeners: Preschool music teacher and author/illustrator Carol Dabney says, “When reading my children’s book, Butterfly Dreams, I say ‘Little caterpillar Carlos will be going through some big changes. Listen carefully to what changes take place so you can tell me about them after we finish.’” Let Them Choose: Crystal C. Mercer, author/illustrator of From Cotton to Silk, says, “I let my nieces choose the books, use

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“One in a Million”   Directed by Itab Azzam & Jack MacInnes Featured in the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival Wednesday | October 14 | 4:30 PM Arlington Hotel Cinema 1  October is here at last, bringing festivals, fall fun, and, hopefully, some cooler days. One of the season’s biggest highlights is the 35th

OCTOBER 2026: A Month of Deep Review & Transformation 

Greetings, Fellow Travelers,   October 2027 carries a powerful Libra-to-Scorpio progression, shifting the collective focus from relationships, balance, and cooperation toward deeper truth, intimacy, transformation, and emotional honesty. Mercury turns retrograde October 7 in Scorpio, encouraging reflection around communication, trust, shared resources, and unresolved emotional matters. Venus enters Scorpio October 8,

A Spook-tacular October at the Library! 

Staff member RoMaecia Thomas and daughter Leilani are enjoying Fish-O-Ween at Family Park.  By Annie GerberFish-O-Ween Join us for our annual fall festival and fishing derby, Fish-O-Ween, on Saturday, October 24, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Family Park (215 Family Park Road). All ages are invited to enjoy a

Tinderbox Gallery Launches Room for Strangers  

Tinderbox Gallery will launch Room for Strangers, a new curatorial initiative bringing original contemporary artwork into hospitality spaces, this October at Dame Fortune’s Cottage Court in Hot Springs. The inaugural installation features three paintings by Texas artist George Zupp in Room 11. Rooted in the people, humor, and landscapes of