|
|
Upcoming Events
June 20
SSA Forum @11:30-2PM
Four Points Sheraton
Donis Casey -
"How to Get Away With Murder!"
(see article this page)
June 26
Saguaro Romance Writers @9-1:30PM
El Parador Tropical Restaurant, 2744 E. Broadway Blvd, Tucson
Speaker: Linda Style, "Conflict, Action and Suspense"
$20 members, $25 non-members. To make a reservation, email Crystal Marshall (membership@tucsonrwa.org)
July 18
SSA Forum @11:30-2PM
Four Points Sheraton
Anastasia Rabiyah -
"Adding Love & Sex To Your Writing"
(see article this page)
June 26
Saguaro Romance Writers @9-1:30PM
El Parador Tropical Restaurant, 2744 E. Broadway Blvd, Tucson
Kenneth R. Janes, Chief of Detectives in the Investigation Division of the Pima County Attorney's Office will speak to us regarding the specifics of the investigative service units, and in the afternoon he'll discuss actual closed cases, of which one became a made-for-TV movie.
$20 members, $25 non-members. To make a reservation, email Crystal Marshall (membership@tucsonrwa.org)
September 24-26
Wrangling With Writing Conference
Radisson Suites on Speedway
We have a fabulous faculty lined up with many award winning authors, publicists, eleven agents and seven editors!
(find out more HERE)
June 20
SSA Forum @11:30-2PM
Four Points Sheraton
Writing Contest winners will be announced.
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
|
|
Have you ever wanted to commit murder and get away with it? Well, now you can—on paper! Mystery writer Donis Casey is going to share with us the secret of committing murder, and making it believable.
Donis Casey was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A third generation Oklahoman, she and her siblings grew up among their aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents and great-grandparents on farms and in small towns, where they learned the love of family and independent spirit that characterizes the population of that pioneering state. Donis graduated from the University of Tulsa with a degree in English, and earned a Master's degree in Library Science from Oklahoma University. After teaching school for a short time, she enjoyed a career as an academic librarian, working for many years at the University of Oklahoma and at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.
Donis left academia in 1988 to start a Scottish import gift shop in downtown Tempe. After more than a decade as an entrepreneur, she decided to devote herself full-time to writing. The Old Buzzard Had It Coming is her first book. For the past twenty years, Donis has lived in Tempe, AZ, with her husband.
Make reservations by June 16. Call 546-9382 or email forums@ssa-az.org.
We all have heard that sex sells. But how do we spice up our writing with love and sex? Anastasia Rabiyah is going to share with us her secrets for making love scenes sizzle. First published in 2007, Anastasia Rabiyah primarily writes erotic romance and dark fantasy but has also crossed into contemporary works.
In addition to writing, she designs cover art for several small publishing houses: Amira Press, Sugar and Spice Press, loveyoudivine, Mundania Press and its imprints, and Whimsical Publications. She edits, line edits, and formats books for e-book release and for print for two small publishing houses. Her latest fantasy release is Althyn and the Othian Dagger, published by Purple Sword Publications, and her most recent contemporary erotic romance is Lost and Found Again, published by Sugar and Spice Press. She is a lover of fantasy and enjoys exploring the dark worlds of vampires, werewolves, and mythical beasts usually unloved and unwanted until they meet that special someone.
Anastasia lives in Tucson with her husband and three small children, all who keep her busy when she isn't sneaking away to the keyboard to write, edit, or work on another author's book cover. She is a member of Romance Writers of America and the Saguaro Romance Writers. To find out more about her, please visit her website at www.RabiyahBooks.com.
Reserve your place by July 14. Call 546-9382 or email forums@ssa-az.org.
|
Successes
Carol Costa, Liisa Kyle and Maggie TerryViale have a new anthology called Happiness Awaits You! It is inspirational and contains 68 stories from 44 authors. It all began with Maggie TerryViale's desire to bring more happiness into the world. She realized loss and other life changing events often cause us to lose sight of the people and things that bring us joy. She has gathered a diverse blend of people who share their personal journey to happiness. Many SSA members contributed to it. You can read samples and get the book at www.happinessawaitsyou.info
Gail Gibbs is pleased to announce the publication of Fresh Blood, a personalized paranormal romance e-book available at the website www.YourNovel.com. As with all YourNovel.com titles, couples become the stars of their own personalized novel or e-book, by filling out an online questionnaire of 26 details, such as pet names for each other, names of best friends, favorite music, favorite perfume and cologne, and more. They can even choose whether the romance will be "wild" or "mild", resulting in an intimate reading experience.
In Fresh Blood the starring couple is once again involved in passionate vampire games of jealousy and intrigue. Although the characters from Gibbs' first e-book return, it is not necessary to have read Vampire Rhapsody to enjoy Fresh Blood.
This is the third time Gail had written for YourNovel.com. In 2002, Gail was one of ten winners in the YourNovel.com tenth-anniversary writing contest, including publication of her story "Passion Among the Stars" in the anthology Celebrating Romance, still available from the website. Vampire Rhapsody was released in October, 2009.
Susan Lobo's book, The Sweet Smell of Home: the life and art of Leonard F. Chana (University of Arizona Press, 2009), written in collaboration with Leonard F. Chana and Barbara Chana was named by the Pima County Public Library as one of the "Southwest books of the Year 2009." Bill Broyles says "You want to know about the ageless life in the desert? Read this. It's a joyous passport to the Tohono O'odham Nation. . . . The paintings and drawings of native artist Leonard Chana jump with life . . . they are pure delight. And the text? It bounces with the talk of real people, ones you'll enjoy knowing." Ethnohistorian Bernard Fontana comments about the book, "Leonard Chana spoke, and painted, from his heart and deep cultural roots . . . While "The Sweet Smell of Home" is about these quintessential desert dwellers, it is also about all of us who find ourselves joined in an enterprise we call 'life.'" And anthropologist Jim Griffith of the Southwest Center called it a "truly generous book . . . (it) gives us even greater access to the next-door but far-off world of the Tohono O'odham." Susan Lobo's other book published in 2009 by Prentice Hall/Pearson is Native American Voices: a Reader. This is the third and greatly revised edition written in collaboration with Steve Talbot and Traci L. Morris. It is intended for use primarily in college level introductory courses in American Indian Studies, but is also of real interest to the general reader. It presents a broad approach to the study of American Indians through the voices and viewpoints of Native Peoples themselves. It includes fifty-six articles, as well as poetry and art, comprehensive overviews beginning each part, and helpful appendices. For more information on these and other books by Susan Lobo, go to her home page at: www.u.arizona.edu/~slobo/
Michaele Lockhart is pleased to announce the April 2010 publication of her second novel, Last Night at the Claremont. Described by one reviewer as a "charming mix of fairy tale, allegory, and personal discovery," in Last Night at the Claremont classical pianist Renata DiMonte abandons her career of a lifetime with the symphony to find herself puzzled by what appear to be paranormal phenomena, as she entertains in the elegant Piano Bar and Lounge of the gracious Claremont Arms, one of New York City's premier luxury hotels. Nothing frightening has happened—yet—but these encounters aren't remotely normal, either. Are Renata's experiences flukes, products of an overactive imagination, or does this rare, historic grand piano possess supernatural qualities?
Last Night at the Claremont is available on the author's website at www.michaelelockhart.com, Amazon.com, or through Wheatmark Publishing.
Michaele Lockhart, passionate historian, author, and avid reader lives in Tucson, Arizona, and is acutely aware of the need for contemporary fiction that portrays and appeals to the vast spectrum of today's multigenerational readers. A registered nurse and former teacher, she is currently writing a mystery/suspense series set in the Southwest.
Bob Natiello has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, the prestigious literary award that annually honors the best poetry, short fiction and essays published in America's small presses. Natiello earned nominations in two categories—short story and memoir. Winners will appear in Pushcart Prize XXXV, Best of the Small Presses due for release November 1, 2010.
Kris Neri received a great review on her new book, Revenge For Old Times' Sake, by Vikki Walton in the April 26th web issue of I Love a Mystery. Vikki said, "Neri keeps the killer pace throughout the story so that you're always guessing what will happen next. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED." You can read the whole review at www.iloveamysterynewsletter.com.
|
|
|
