Newsletter of the Society of Southwestern Authors
Vol. 37, No. 2 April/May '09
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Upcoming Events
April 6
Santa Cruz Valley Chapter @1-2:45PM
Conrad Joyner Library, Green Valley
Lynn Wiese Sneyd, "How to Promote Your Book"
April 11
Arizona Mystery Writers @10-2PM
Hometown Buffet, 5101 N. Oracle Rd.
Features Elizabeth Gunn workshop on police procedurals, "The Homicide, the Hooks and the Helpers"
and speaker, Mike White, of Ghost River Images on self-publishing.
$12, cash, checks, no credit cards.
April 19
Forum @11:30-2PM
Four Points Sheraton
Jennifer Lee Carrell
"Place, Time, and Acts: Using Facts in Fiction"
April 25
Saguaro Romance Writers @9-1PM
El Parador, 2744 E Broadway Blvd
features four-time Golden Heart finalist and Daphne du Maurier winner Karen Docter in a special, all-day workshop, "Plot: The Other White Meat for Plotters"
$20 members, $25 others. E-mail Crystal
Marshall at crystal@crystalcaterra.com
May 2
Saturday Workshop @1-3PM
Four Points Sheraton
David Cuillier, the National
Freedom of Information chairman for the
Society of Professional Journalists and
University of Arizona Journalism professor
"Effective Internet Research / Government
Resources"
$15. Register by APRIL 29, 2009. Contact
Jude Johnson (judejb@comcast.net) for more
information.
May 4
Santa Cruz Valley Chapter @1-2:45PM
Conrad Joyner Library, Green Valley
Greg Scott, well-known cowboy poet, musician and historian.
May 9
Arizona Mystery Writers @10-2PM
Hometown Buffet, 5101 N. Oracle Rd.
First Annual General Meeting/Elections; Speaker: Benjamin Jimenez, TPD Detective.
$12, cash, checks, no credit cards.
May 9
Saguaro Romance Writers @9:45-4PM
Sheraton Four Points Conference Center, 1900 E. Speedway
features Writer/Producer Howard Allan in a special, workshop, "Explaining is Evil: Dialogue has Text and Subtext"
$50 members, $60 others (included lunch & workshop materials) E-mail Linda Reed (specialevents@tucsonrwa.org)
www.tucsonrwa.org/workshopAllen.html
May 17
Forum @11:30-2PM
Four Points Sheraton
David Ray
"Writing and the Search for Identity Through Memoir, Fiction, and Poetry"
Future Forums:
June 21:
Marilyn Pincus -
"A Day in the Life of a Ghost Writer"
To R.S.V.P. Forum
Leave Phone Message
at 546-9382
or e-mail: forums@ssa-az.org
WEDNESDAY before the Forum
$25 paid at the door
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Place, Time, and Acts: Using Facts in Fiction
Our April 19th Forum will feature New York Times Bestselling Author Jennifer
Lee Carrell discussing the ways in which facts and real events establish credibility
in fabricated stories through the process of writing historically inflected fiction,
as well as the imaginative process of using place. She is the author of Interred
With Their Bones, a Shakespearean thriller that hit the bestseller lists of both the
New York Times and the Sunday Times of London, and published in 29 languages.
A new Kate Stanley thriller titled Haunt Me Still is due out in October.
Jennifer grew up here in Tucson, graduating from Rincon High School, and holds
her Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Harvard University, as well as
other degrees in English Literature from Oxford and Stanford Universities. She
won three awards for distinction in undergraduate teaching at Harvard, where
she taught in the History and Literature Program and directed Shakespeare for
the Hyperion Theatre Company. Her first book, The Speckled Monster, is a thrillerlike
work of historical nonfiction about battling smallpox at the beginning of the
eighteenth century. Much more information is available on her web site: www.jenniferleecarrell.
com.
Be sure to reserve your seat by April 16th. Call 546-9382 or email forums@ssa-az.org.
Writing and the Search for Identity Through
Memoir, Fiction, and Poetry
Join us Sunday, May 17 for an informative forum by David Ray as he
shares his life as a writer in several genres, and how a good relationship
between writer and editor is vital to the author's work. David is author of
22 books, the most recent being After Tagore: Poems Inspired by Rabindranath
Tagore. His book, The Endless Search, is a probing account of his early years
and has been described as "Dickensian, full of abuse and tragedy," a study
of personal history both clinical and mystical. David has been a professor
at universities in the U.S., India, New
Zealand, and Australia, and has presented numerous readings
and lectures, including at The Library of Congress, B.B.C., N.P.R.,
Harvard, and The Folger Shakespeare Library.
More information is at his website: www.davidraypoet.com.
Please make your reservations by May 14th; call 546-9382 or
email forums @ssa-az.org.
Note: Forum price is now $25!
The Art of Access
SSA Web Workshop - Saturday, May 2, 2009
Research—every writer needs to find reliable information at one time or another. But where do you look? And how can you be sure it's accurate information? Join us from 1:00-3:00PM on Saturday, May 2nd, and learn the basics of acquiring government records in researching a book project. University of Arizona School of Journalism assistant professor David Cuillier, Ph.D. will show you how, including where to find documents online, and offer tips for hundreds of public records that can be useful in research and everyday life. David teaches public affairs reporting, database journalism, and access to government information. He is chairman of the Freedom of Information Committee for the Society of Professional Journalists and conducts research in access to government documents.
Deadline to register is April 29. Cost for the workshop is $15 and includes beverages. Call the SSA reservation line at 546-9382 or email forums@ssa-az.org.
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Successes
Peter Bernhardt's thriller, The Stasi File,
Opera and Espionage: A Deadly Combination,
ranked as a bestseller on YouWriteOn.
com, has just become available to readers
through bookseller sites Amazon.com
and BarnesandNoble.com. The novel
features a critical period in recent history:
dust from the demolished Berlin Wall has
barely settled, the East German police
state is teetering on the edge of collapse,
and Stasi General Holger Frantz will
stop at nothing to save it. Further details,
including the first chapter and reviews,
may be found on the author's website:
http://sedonawriter.tripod.com.
Carol Costa's paranormal mystery,
Invisible Force, has just been released as an
e-book by Champagne books. The print
edition will be out in June. You can view
it at www.champagnebooks.com. Click
on the cover to read an excerpt.
Sandra Farris' third book, Lady Ace, has
just been released and can be ordered
through barnesandnoble.com, amazon.
com, booksamillion.com or iUniverse.
com.
On a charter flight with a passenger on
board to Oregon's Briar Meadows Ranch,
the left engine of Cimmaron Air's Beech
Baron freezes on final approach. Kasey
O'Brien has to set the plane down without
the aide of emergency services, thus
earning her the nickname, Lady Ace.
During the inspection of the engine, she
discovers an oil line has been purposely
cut and is forced to stay at the ranch until
a replacement can be flown
in. Since he failed, would the saboteur make another
attempt on her life̢ or was her passenger the target?
Karen V. Kibler's The Second Chasm
was released January 7th
(Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing, Inc).
Written by an average person who
experiences grief not unlike so many
others, The Second Chasm is not a story of
the greatest tragedy or the most difficult
challenge; rather, it is the story of a
common tragedy and an all-too familiar
challenge. It is unique because it bridges
two of the most common losses faced in
this world: divorce and widowhood. The
two separate chasms that resulted not
from grief, but from depression, were
born of the same illness. The recoveries
offer a message of hope, as Karen Kibler
describes her journey from despair to
healing. The book is available through
Amazon, Ingram, and Baker and Taylor.
More information is available on the
website: thesecondchasm.com. $15 Trade
Paperback, ISBN 978-1-932279-31-3.
Frederick J. Masterman's The Jewels of
Stonehenge, published in January 2009, is
the second novel in the action-adventure
series entitled The PlanetCare Discoveries.
The series is published by Orchard
House Press, a medium sized traditional
press located in Seattle, Washington. As
with the first book, Season of the Plant,
released in late 2007, the story focuses on
a scientific expedition, in the course of
which bizarre and deadly discoveries take
place. The core of The Jewels of Stonehenge
is a set of otherworldly gems originating
in the ancient monument, which when
assembled will create a device of alien
power. The publisher provides an author
webpage, through which the books
may be ordered (orchardhousepress.
com/frederickjmasterman) or you
may contact the author directly
(masterman1225@yahoo.com or 818-
9124).
Sheri McGuinn's new YA novel, Michael
Dolan McCarthy, has been selected as a
quarter finalist in the Amazon Breakout
Novel Awards (abna). That means a short
excerpt is online, available for public
reading and review. There's no cost
to download the review or leave your
comments.
"I figure the more positive reviews it
gets, the more likely it will end up with
a traditional publishing contract. Please,
check it out and leave a review & pass
the link on to all of your friends to do the
same. THANK YOU!"
www.amazon.com/dp/B001UG3CYO or
amazon.com/abna and choose thriller/
suspense, then skim through the entries
for Michael Dolan McCarthy by Sheri
McGuinn.
Sheri's first novel, Running Away, got
an honorable mention in Writer's Digest
International Self-Published Novel
Awards. Check out p.45 of Writer's Digest
March/April 2008 issue.
Ashleen O'Gaea's short story, "The
Chicken Race," will be included in the
2009 WOW [Wizards of Words] Anthology,
to be released in June. In Ashleen's tale,
the protagonist is resigned to attending
another of his company's annual retreats.
But his car breaks down near the very
small town of Descuido, stranding him
there just in time for the annual Chicken
Race, and the three-foot tall racing
roosters and their quirky fans help him
put his life in perspective. Visit her
website AshleenOGaea.com!
Bob Rogers has published The Return of
No. 44 through New Bohemians Press. In
honor of the upcoming centennial of Mark
Twain's death and as a tribute to his last
work, No. 44, the Mysterious Stranger, The
Return of No. 44 is an homage to Twain's
ability to use picaresque characters and
outrageous tales to forge substantial,
frequently dark, social commentary. The
backdrop for the novel's climax is Old
Town Portland, while other scenes draw
from Fields, Oregon and the Olympic
Peninsula of Washington. Rogers'
research led him to live homeless on the
streets of Portland for authentic detail.
Rogers worked in television news and
as a print photojournalist before earning
an MFA in the visual arts. He published
short stories in literary magazines and
taught art. After a period in business, he
resumed creative writing and returned to
journalism. He is a featured contributor
to http://justoneopinion.com. He and his
wife Claire tour the world on a tandem
bicycle, 39,000 miles and counting.
Their travels are documented at www.
NewBohemians.net. The Return of No. 44
is available through Amazon.com.
Barbara Stahura is co-authoring with
Susan B. Schuster M.A., CCC-SLP a
journaling workbook for brain-injury
survivors, titled After Brain Injury: Telling
Your Story, for Lash & Associates, the top
publisher of materials for people with
brain injuries and their families. To be
released later this summer, After Brain
Injury: Telling Your Story will provide
dozens of journaling exercises designed
to help brain-injury survivors cope with
the realities of their new life and continue
their emotional healing and recovery
process. Twice yearly, Barbara and
Susan facilitate the six-session workshop
from which this book was developed
at Tucson's HealthSouth Rehabilitation
Hospital of Southern Arizona, and their
next project is a journaling workshop
and workbook book for the spouses
and partners of brain-injury survivors.
Barbara's husband, Ken Willingham,
sustained a traumatic brain injury in
December 2003, and their experience
of going through this ordeal led to the
creation of the workshops and the books.
Susan was Ken's speech therapist, and she
continues to offer skilled therapy to other
clients of HealthSouth.
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