Patricia Etter's "A Tramp Across Texas: A Diary of a Trip on the Bark Norumbega to Galveston, Texas, then Overland to California, March 8, 1849 to May 1850." was in the Overland Journal 24 (Fall 2006):86-113. It covers the adventures of California gold seeker, David Durie Demarest, who with a company of eager but greenhorn New Yorkers, trod with wagons and mules over rough roads to Frederiksburg, the last town on the Texas frontier. Here are their adventures as they passed the ruins of San Luis de las Amarillas, Horsehead Crossing, Falls of the Pecos, naming Independence Spring in honor of July 4th, over the Guadalupe Mountains, down to newly-discovered Thorne's Well and on to San Elizario and El Paso. They were among the first to trod on what they called the Upper Road. They were not without mishap: thirst, skirmishes with Indians, loss of trail, deaths by drowning crossing rivers, and loss of worn-out animals. Probably would be referred to as misadventure, rather than adventure.
Ed Kostro's latest book, Through Katrina's Eyes, Poems from an Animal Rescuer's Soul, received The Merial Human-Animal Bond Award in the 2006 International Cat Writers' Association Communication Contest.
The Merial Corporation, a world wide pet health care company, sponsors this annual award, and it is presented to the entry that best reflects and promotes the strengthening of the human-animal bond, highlighting the bond between a cat and its owner, as well as their relationship with their veterinarian as another direct caregiver.
Ed's book depicts his pet rescue efforts on the devastated Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, and is available at Amazon.com.
A. P. Minadeo's new book Shadow of the Sword can be ordered through www.publishamerica.com/shopping for the early discount rate, $19.95. Professional Member, Tony Minadeo's novel is a sequel to his EEWEE Crossing, an ongoing saga of T.M. (Top) Krebs, U.S. Marshal, and many of his fellow deputies, who are like himself, Air Force reservists who volunteered to work with the U. S. Border Patrol in El Paso, Texas, engaging in counter-drug operations. The story starts just days after 9/11 when Top, having previously crushed the Juarez drug cartel in El Paso, is summoned to the White House where the President asks him to stop any further attacks by Al-Quaida terrorists. When asked to secure the Canadian Border from further terrorist infiltration until Homeland Security can be established, Top builds and leads a new binational organization, comprised of U.S. Marshals and Canadian Mounties, teams on patrol who chase terrorists and stop a nuclear weapon from being detonated in the heart of New York City. Shadow of the Sword is a classic thriller.
Marilyn Pate's first book has been released by Publish America. Mary George, Her Book, historical fiction, takes place in Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. Using "literary archaeological" techniques, building on a foundation of fact, the author has created a window into the West in 1885-1895.
Mary's itinerant, troubled family travels from place to place seeking a slice of "Heaven on Earth." Mental illness, floods and famine, Apache kidnappers and cattle rustlers do not kill Mary's dreams for a better life with her childhood sweetheart,Tom.
The George family is truly one of the "Forgotten Founders" of the West as chronicled by Stuart Udall.
Extensive research into family diaries, historical accounts, church records and oral history all contributed to Mary George, Her Book.
It is now available online at the Publish America bookstore and can be purchased by December on Amazon or by order from your favorite bookstore.
E.J. Phillips' What She Has Done With Where She Has Been was recently published. The book tells the true stories of ordinary women surmounting extraordinary obstacles to reclaim and reshape their own lives. Read more about it at www.ejphillips.com
Denise Roessle took third place in the recent San Luis Obisbo NightWriters 17th Annual 500-Word Short Story Contest, with her entry "Mother's Day." A professional member of SSA for nearly a year, Denise is finishing her memoir about her tumultuous ten-year reunion with the son she gave up for adoption in 1970. She can be reached at droessle@mac.com.
Mike Rom's video, Gold, was submitted to the Mark Burnett/Steven Spielberg new reality show, On The Lot. It can be seen at www.thelot.com under "Sci-Fi & Fantasy."
Dr. Nomi Sweetfire's 2nd book, Indigo Elder, is now available through Amazon.com or at Borders. Her son, Butch Spoon, created the cover design accepted by Publish America. (b-graphic@cox.net)
"Indigo Elder is my true story about my early childhood near death experience."
"Many years later, I discovered the research being done concerning Indigo Children. The research showed that not only was I an Indigo, but all eight of my children also follow in my footsteps."
"Being a strong believer that Peace begins with one person, my book tries to stimulate others to educate themselves about the Indigo/Crystal generation and do their own research."
Nomi also has a story, "The Marines of Midway," included in a brand new book, Duty, Honor and Valor, "a beautiful book filled with true stories written only by professional writers of the Society of Southwestern Authors." All the stories accepted have been researched and many were written by veterans who served in these wars . . . even Iraq. This book is being published through Wheatmark Publications in Tucson and can be ordered by going to www.wheatmark.com.
"I was able to meet and interview many of the survivors celebrating this 60th anniversary of the fateful day in Midway. They were attending their 26th reunion of the Sixth Defense Battalion in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky at the Drawbridge Inn Estate. It was an honor to hear the stories and watch the sparkle in their eyes as they told about this experience as very young Marines, stationed on a small forgotten island out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. They were the only organization of its kind to remain static at one location throughout the entire war in the Pacific, with one thought "we'll hold Midway 'till HELL freezes over."
Karen Ferguson Tauber, author of All Pretty and Bright: Stories of Courage and Hope for the Teaching Life is having a signing at Borders Books in Mays Landing, New Jersey as part of Educator Savings Week. This fifteen story anthology that focuses on what it means to be a woman, public school teacher is available on: Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, and at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona and Jonathan Educational Resources in Tucson. It makes a great holiday gift for the teachers in your life or perhaps for yourself.
Gerald (Jerry) M. Weinberg's book, Weinberg on Writing: The Fieldstone Method, Dorset House Publishing (www.dorsethouse.com/books/wow.html) was one of three finalists for the Best Books 2006 Awards, Writing/Publishing Category, USA Book News (www.usabooknews.com/bestbooksawards2006.html).
Randy Rice, Author, Editor, and Publisher wrote about WOW: "This book set me free as a writer. I recommend this book to anyone who writes, who may aspire to write and also to those who are intimidated by the thought of writing."
Sharon Lee Willing announces the self-publication of her late husband's biography, No One to Cry To, A Long, Hard Ride into the Sunset with Foy Willing of The Riders of the Purple Sage, (Wheatmark). Although it's been many years since Foy's spectacular rise to national stardom through radio, personal appearances, million-seller recordings and "B" western movies, there are still people today who remember him and "the smoothest western sounds ever recorded," as voiced by western music historian, O.J. Sikes. And for those who don't recall those more-innocent days, No One to Cry To panoramas the Golden Age of Radio and the rip-roaring cowboy movies with Monte Hale and Roy Rogers of the 40s and early 50s. NOTCT is also the story of a musical genius's sad decline from a star-studded life to a recovering alcoholic's struggle to regain recognition for his song writing, singing and inimitable arranging talents. The story of that comeback, cut short at its imminent pinnacle, is aptly described by Ranger Doug (of Riders in the Sky and author of Singing in the Saddle"), who said: "I found No One to Cry To to be a moving and deeply personal look at the troubled life of a hugely talented performer. To see Foy's terrible struggles as well as his enormous successes gives a set of insights unobtainable anywhere else . . . deeply affecting." Sharon's busy upcoming schedule includes interviews and book signings, attending the 2006 Western Music Association Conference in Albuquerque, and she's been invited by the Gene Autry Museum to sign at their annual barbecue on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles and share the museum's booth at the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival next April. As a complement to at least one California signing, "Foy Willing's Riders of the Purple Sage" musical group will perform, under the direction of master musician Cody Bryant.
Both of these successful sisters have affection for Arizona as deep as their desert roots. Both writers grew up in Tucson and have degrees from the University of Arizona.
