Newsletter of the Society of Southwestern Authors                                                     Vol. 32, No. 5 Aug./Sept. '04


Important Dates

   August
15 Sunday
SSA Forum
Carol Costa

   September
19 Sunday
SSA Forum
Michael Blake

   30 Thursday Submission deadline
SSA Writing Contest

   October
17 Sunday
SSA Forum
Brooke Bessesen

28, 29, 30 Sunday Multi Author Book Signing (See Write Word page 7)

   November
21 Sunday
SSA Forum
Jennifer J. Stewart

   December
19 Sunday
SSA Forum
Holiday Program

Forums on Sundays
11:30am-2:30pm
Sheraton Four Points
S/E corner of
Speedway & Campbell

To R.S.V.P. Luncheon
Leave Phone Message
at 546-9382
before noon the
Wednesday before Forum

$20 paid at the door

August 15 Carol Costa "Marketing Your Words"

Carol Costa
   You have written your masterpiece. The editing is complete and now the hard part begins. How to get the thing sold? Carol Costa will share information on how to market writing in various genres; books, articles, short stories, plays and movie scripts.

   As the published author of six books, an award winning playwright, journalist and editor, Carol is well qualified to teach others how to market their work. Her talk will include tips on the marketing sources she uses and explain how to write query letters to approach potential buyers in a professional manner.

   Her plays have been produced in NYC, LA, and regional theaters across the country. For ten years she was associated with Star Literary Service, an agency that handled screenplays and television material. Currently, Carole writes a monthly column for Arizona Player, a gaming magazine.



September 19 Michael Blake " Hollywood, an Insider's Look"

Michael Blake
   As the director of two films (Laughing Horse and Winding Stair) and the writer of three screenplays (Stacey's Knights, Dances with Wolves and Winding Stair), Michael qualifies to lead us on a tour inside the workings of movie making.

   His screenplay for Dances with Wolves, won Michael an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a Spur award from the Western Writers of America and an award from The Writer's Guild of America.

   His writing credits also include the novels, The Holy Road, Airman Mortensen, Marching to Valhalla, and his autobiography, Like a Running Dog. Michael has created two musical CDs, End of the Century and I'm Alive which he performed at the Derby in Hollywood.

   Current projects include bringing The Holy Road to the screen, a second installment of his autobiography and a new novel titled, Slade.




Bylines in the Headlines

Faye Brown shares current news of her book Letters Home, The True Story of Lt. Harry Frank Hunt, Veterinary Reserve Corps, American Expeditionary Forces, World War I published in 1998. Dr. Ivan Katic, co-author/editor of Guide to Veterinary Museums of the World, published in Denmark, requested a copy of Faye's book, to present as part of his lecture, "World War I As Remembered by Veterinarians," at the 35th Inf. Veterinary Historical Congress in Torino, Italy, in September. Faye was happy to oblige!

Kay Lehman had an anecdote published in the July issue of Arizona Highways.

Patricia Gould Patricia Gould entered her book Abraham's Journal, The Life & Times of Abraham Blish, 1616-1683 in competition for the (IPPYs) Independent Publisher Book Awards. Her book placed 16 out of 53 entries in the category, scored 25 out of 35 possible points, and earned the following comment.
"Thanks for entering your excellent book. It looks as though the judges found your writing and content excellent, but found the design and presentation fair to average. You have certainly written a wonderful book for the families, residents, and students of the Plymouth Rock/Barnstable region." Pat promoted her book with an interview on ACCESS TV and a book tour in Cape Cod.

Mary P. Bull is pleased to announce her travel book New Zealand Tales and Tours, South Island Adventures. This book is 302 pages filled with photos, drawings, maps, tales, history, geology, my 23 years of New Zealand travel experiences, Maori legends, where to ski, play golf, tramp or fish and what to see and do. There are four tours that can be enjoyed separately or combined for more variety. The tours all start in Christchurch, the largest city in the South Island. So come along and enjoy this peaceful, English speaking country or have a good read. For more information or to order info@SouthIslandAdventures.com or bill@activetectonics.com. The book is also available on Amazon.com.

Ed Kostro's second novel, Cemetery Island, has been published by www.iuniverse.com. It's a time travel adventure story in which a young couple and their strange little dog suddenly find themselves hurled backwards through time in a Canadian wilderness storm. Suddenly, they find themselves face to face with French-Canadian voyageurs, Ojibwa Indians, and a man-eating Grizzly. Sometimes, vacations just don't turn out the way you hoped they would.

Ann Staadt's A New Moon For Emily (PublishAmerica) will be available in September on PublishAmerica.com and from Amazon and the usual sources. Emily McAllen has a dream. She longs to quit her library job, move to an island off Nova Scotia and live with her grandma. Always her father has ruled her life. She can't cut her hair, she must buy a Buick and she shouldn't quit her job. When her grandma dies, Emily believes she's lost the chance to escape her father's heavy hand.
Gram's will is a surprise and Emily leaves her job, buys a purple Volkswagen and flees to the island. As she settles into her grandma's Victorian house, childhood friends Jared Adams and Mike Yorke rush to show her a good time. Emily becomes a part of the Island, giving her neighbors a helping hand but no one can know Emily's heart and advise her whether to marry Mike or Jared.

JA Jance J.A. Jance spoke to over two hundred fans in the Borders at Park Mall. Most of those who waited to meet Ms. Jance held multiple copies of her newest book, Day of the Dead. The third thriller in a series about Diana Ladd Walker and her family and friends.
Attempting to solve a thirty year old murder of a young Indian girl, Brandon Walker brings to bear the modern tools of DNA identification as well as the ancient wisdom of the Desert People as he pits himself against a pair of remorseless killers who have sown decades of death across the Arizona desert.

Anyone submitting articles or news of successes PLEASE include a photo.




The Write Word
published bi-monthly by the Board of Directors
of The Society of Southwestern Authors
P.O. Box 30355, Tucson, AZ 85751

President
Mark Sneller: (520) 326-4771
e-mail: allergy@mindspring.com

Vice-President & Membership Chair
Penny Porter: (520) 296-5299 (FAX: 296-0409)
e-mail: wporter202@aol.com

Recording Secretary
Jean Gietzen: (520) 352-2009
e-mail: octodon31469@cs.com

Treasurer
Terry Skaug: (520) 625-1587
e-mail: SSAWriteWord@msn.com

Forum Chair
Connie Kazal: (520) 682-8009

Conference Director
Al Petrillo
e-mail: apetrillo@earthlink.net

Conference
Chris Stern
e-mail: cstern@usibm.com

Contest Chair
Barbara Stahura
e-mail: barbara@clariticom.com

By-laws
Dale Adams
e-mail: 2dale@dakotacom.net

Conference Interview Coordinator
Sharon Landeen
e-mail: SLLandeen@aol.com

Write Word Editor
Terry Skaug: (520) 625-1587
e-mail: SSAWriteWord@msn.com


SSA Home Page:

http://www.azstarnet.com/nonprofit/ssa

Webmaster
Mike Rom: (520) 410-1294 (beep)
mike_rom@hotmail.com

Deadline for next issue is the 21st day of September