SSA member Gene Twaronite is a Tucson writer and author of the recently published book The Absurd Naturalist: Irreverent Musings on Nature, a collection of forty-three humorous essays and sketches on nature and gardening. He will present a special PowerPoint reading/performance of some of his essays, accompanied by animated images guaranteed to amuse and delight. He will also discuss how PowerPoint can be used to create dynamic, colorful presentations that can help promote your book to the public, with remaining time devoted to hands-on tips and questions.

   The Absurd Naturalist includes pieces dealing with tofu hunters, the art of toad throwing, same-species marriage, getting rid of nature, lizard watching, reasons why you shouldn't garden, how to sell belly buttons, the right to bear arms, and the origin of toaster ovens. A unique cross-genre book, it will appeal to readers of natural history, the environment, and gardening as well as those general readers seeking an entertaining blend of science, satire, and absurdity.

   A former junior high school science teacher, newspaper columnist, landscaper, and Instructional Specialist with the University of Arizona, Gene has over 40 years of writing and publishing experience. He is also the author of the middle grade novel The Family That Wasn't, the young adult novel My Vacation in Hell, Dragon Daily News: Stories of Imagination for Children of All Ages, and Approaching Wilderness: Six Stories of Dementia.

   So many emerging writers find themselves transfixed by the importance of plot, oftentimes focusing too intently on what happens and in what order. Plot, under the right circumstances, is merely the skeleton on which the true story hangs, not the story itself... but it's easy to confuse plot with purpose. In a comparison of plots of four remarkable short stories, Joshua Cochran will attempt to allay the fears and deflate the importance of plot from among the seven elements of fiction. Once a writer is free from the weight of plot, a better story often emerges. How? We'll find out.

   Mr. Cochran asks that participants read and be ready to discuss the following stories: "The Necklace," by Guy de Maupassant; "Hills Like White Elephants," by Ernest Hemingway; "A Worn Path," by Eudora Welty," and "Nawabdin Electrician," by Daniyal Mueenuddin. All stories can be found for free online.

   Born in 1972, Joshua Daniel Cochran is a novelist and college instructor currently living in his hometown of Tucson, Arizona. Cochran was the first in his family to attend college, and received his B.A. from the University of Arizona in 2002 after spending six years as a firefighter and EMT with the US Forest Service. While an undergraduate student, he garnered the Fred Scott Award for Nonfiction, the Bill and Jane Spain Award for Poetry, and was awarded Outstanding Senior of the Year for the College of Humanities.

   Cochran went on to receive his M.F.A. at City College of New York in 2006 where he also taught creative writing, world humanities and composition. At CCNY, Cochran received the Eugene Grant Award for Academic Excellence in 2004, and was recognized as Outstanding Teacher of the Year in 2006. While teaching and working in Manhattan, Cochran began his public writing career, publishing dozens of short stories, non-fiction articles and poems in numerous journal and anthologies. He served on the editorial board for Fiction magazine and Global City Review and Press. His first novel, Echo Detained, was published in 2007.

   Having moved back to Arizona in 2008, Cochran is eagerly finishing a magical-realist, novel/memoir that tests the boundary between fiction and nonfiction. Looking beyond this project, the canyons of Manhattan have nothing compared to the canyons of the American Southwest, so Cochran's next novel will concern the convergence of Indian, Latin American and Anglo cultures that have so influenced him throughout his life.

   Joshua Daniel Cochran relishes his faculty position at Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona, as it allows him ample time to write while still teach creative writing, literature and composition. Cochran considers himself fortunate that his life, on all levels, is immersed in what he loves most—the written word. He is also a publisher of new and important books with his Cairn Press.

Books

Echo Detained (Fractious Press, 2007)
The Most Important Memoir Ever Written Ever (Cairn Press, 2014)

Anthologies

First Phantasma (Black Cat Press, 2012)

Journals

Argestes, Bourbon Penn, Global City Review, Midwest Literary Magazine, Promethean, Skive Magazine, Verdad

Prizes

Outstanding Teacher of the Year, The City College of New York, NY, 2006.
Eugene Grant Award for Academic Excellence, The City College of New York, NY, 2004.
Outstanding Senior of the Year, College of Humanities, University of Arizona, AZ, 2002.
Fred Scott Award for Nonfiction, University of Arizona, AZ, 2002.
Bill and Jane Spain Award for Poetry, University of Arizona, AZ, 2002.