|
|
Upcoming Events
August 17
SSA Forum @ 11am—2pm
Tucson City Center InnSuites
John Irby -
"Never Give Up"
(see article this page)
September 21
SSA Forum @ 11am—2pm
Tucson City Center InnSuites
James Gurley -
"A Walk on the Dark Side: A Small Press Horror""
(see article this page)
August 15
SSA Writing Contest Deadline -
Check out our writing contest at ssa-az.org/contest.html
October 19
SSA Forum @ 11am—2pm
Tucson City Center InnSuites
Come to the forum and see which stories are selected for the StoryTeller.
November 21 (PHX)
November 22 (TUC)
Arizona Writing Workshops
"Get Your Writing Published"
Phoenix 9/21 - 9am—4:45pm
Burton Barr Library, 1221 N. Central Ave., Phoenix
Tucson 9/22 - 9am—4:45pm
Pima Community College Downtown Campus. Amethyst Room, 1255 North Stone Ave., Tucson
(see more at arizonawritingworkshop.com)
To R.S.V.P. SSA Forum
Leave Phone Message
at 546-9382
or e-mail: ssabrunches@gmail.com
WEDNESDAY before the Forum
$25 with reservation or
$30 paid at the door
|
|
Getting published can be an overwhelming, life changing experience. At our August forum, John E. Irby who published his first novel, Red-tailed Rescue, in February 2014 will share his grueling efforts to get his novel published. It took him six years and over three hundred query rejections before he finally landed a contract with a small publisher in Salt Lake City. He will explain how having faith in your writing abilities, confidence in what you've created, and bold persistence will eventually pay off. If you are frustrated and ready to put your manuscript at the bottom of the drawer, or worse yet, throw it in the trash, his light-hearted message is important for you to hear.
For John, one small question that popped into his mind while driving became a scribbled sentence on a restaurant napkin, and in a year's time bloomed into a 62,000-word manuscript. If you love birds or animals, you'll most certainly enjoy and benefit from his presentation.
He will also explain how he made the transition from his first days of querying literary agents via snail mail to the much more efficient electronic methods of today using a free on-line service called Query Tracker.
A retired junior high school English teacher with thirty years experience trying to help
young teens become better readers and writers, John and his wife Nori, sold their Seattle home and moved to Marana four years ago. He writes novels and short stories for teenagers and adults. Just as a note: a memoir, "Cursive, Circa 1948," John entered in the Pacific Northwest Writers Association annual contest won first place in the Adult Essay/Memoir category.
Forums are at Tucson City Center InnSuites. Remember, you save $5 when you register by Wednesday prior to the forum ($25 for registered guests, $30 at the door). Call in your reservations to 546-9382 or e-mail ssabrunches@gmail.com.
The battle still rages between self publishing and traditional publishing. Small press offers a third alternative. Small publishers cannot offer large royalties, but can offer a higher percentage. They also take care of editing, covers, and formatting. Depending on the publisher, your novel is available as e-book and print through a variety of outlets.
The Dark Side—Let the Author Beware
A small number of small press publishers have poor editing, limited outlets, and place the lion's share of publicity on the author. While the author must expect to become his own publicist, even with the larger publishing firms, it works best as a partnership between writer and publisher.
James has published 16 novels through LuLu.com, Publish America, Damnation Books, Severed Press, Montag Press, and Angelic Knight Press. Most have been horror or dark fiction, although he has one Middle Grade Horror, a Young Adult Science Fiction, a second science fiction, and a fantasy among them. From this experience, James has gleaned a few pertinent facts that he says, "would be my honor to share with my fellow SSA members."
James Gurley is a 60-year-old retired chef living in Marana, AZ with his wife, Kim, and two cats, Shoes and Coco. When not writing, he plays guitar
and keyboard in local bands, as well as for his church, The Regeneration Church, in Marana. He writes as J.E. Gurley and James Gurley.
Forums are at Tucson City Center InnSuites. Remember, you save $5 when you register by Wednesday prior to the forum ($25 for registered guests, $30 at the door). Call in your reservations to 546-9382 or e-mail ssabrunches@gmail.com.
|
Successes
Dan Baldwin's western novel, Trapp Canyon, was a finalist in the 2014 National Indie Excellence Awards competition—www.indieexcellence.com/indie-results-2014-finalists.htm.
Can A Man Find Redemption Through Murder? Vengeance drives Grat O'Brien to find the wagon driver who left him to die in the desert flats of southern Arizona Territory. He attacks the driver's freighting company one station at a time—random acts violence that make him a man wanted by the law and hunted by hired killers. O'Brien forces himself to become educated and to learn critical thinking and planning so he can mix with the merchant class of Tombstone to learn the name of the man he seeks. He makes enemies and allies and finds a passion for the elegant daughter of the freight line company owner—a woman with her own dark and dangerous secrets. As the violence escalates, so does his awareness of who he is, what he has done, and—significantly—who he can become. When he at last confronts the driver, the brute O'Brien faces the aware O'Brien. Will he torture and kill or will he forgive and forget? Or can he devise a third alternative? The answer is found in a place called Trapp Canyon.
Trapp Canyon is available in paperback and for download on Amazon.com.
Robert L. Hunton, wraps up his Borderlands Trilogy with Coyote-Meeter's Abyss (OBP, 2014), in which the emotional adventure/mystery saga of a young Tohono O'odham boy and his grandfather comes to an unforgettable conclusion.
Strange halos of light are appearing in the night sky above Baboquivari, sacred mountain of the Tohono O'odham. Eerie sounds of weeping echo through the dark canyons. Two reservation men are fiercely attacked by spirits of the dead near the Mexican border. Frightened residents confront village elders for answers to the mystery. Danny Rivas's grandfather, Joseph, knows their tribal way of life has been ignored for too long. They must move quickly before utter chaos engulfs the reservation. Danny, the coyote-meeter, and his friend Diego devise a plan to offer the sacred medicine pouch of Chief Gray Horse to appease the powerful spirits and save their people. Badly injured in the process, they are trapped in a mine with a nest of rattlesnakes and a family of wolf spiders! Will they be rescued in time?
Arthur Kerns' The African Contract is the second book in his Hayden Stone thriller series, published by Diversion Books, Inc, NY, NY.
Hayden Stone is brought back into the CIA to help navigate the choppy diplomatic waters between the U.S., Canada, England, South Africa, and any number of other players in a mission to prevent the worst of weapons from falling into the wrong hands. While representatives from other countries are there to help him, Hayden knows the only person he can trust is himself, and that once the weapon is located, all bets are off. His mission will take him into palatial mansions and parched-earth slums, into the shadowy world of black ops and the chaos of an endless war. It will lead him directly into the cross-hairsÌÔbut whose finger is on the trigger? The African Contract is available in print, eBook, and Audible from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, and KOBO. It is also available at Poisoned Pen Bookstore, Scottsdale; Book Passage, Corte Madera, CA, and Mostly Books, Tucson.
Mabel Leo's first book, The Saga of Jack Durant, is the true story of the original owner of Durant's Restaurant in Phoenix, Arizona. It relates how a young boy hopped the train and left his home in Tennessee with dreams of being a professional baseball player. Instead, he became the most trusted friend of the infamous gangster, Bugsy Siegel. Because Jack lied so much, finding the truth took five years of research, traveling to Tennessee, Nevada and numerous places in Arizona, interviewing everyone who knew Jack or thought they did. Leo uncovered his three aliases, three ex-wives, and the fact that, according to official records, he was born in three different states. Mabel received 127 pages of F.B.I. records on Jack. He was one bad, dangerous dude.
Phoenix playwright, Terry Earp, read the book and quickly wrote the play, In My Humble Opinion, based on the book. The play ran for 22 sold-out performances at its first run and 15 sold-outs on the second run. The play won four awards from The ariZoni Theatre, similar to the Emmys in Los Angeles. That was in 2005.
In 2014 a phone call brought Jack back. Phoenix film company, Running Wild Films and 5J Media, wanted to bring Jack's story to the screen. Mabel met with Travis Mills, the producer, a contract was signed, the forthcoming film titled Durant's Never Closes, and auditions began June 28, 2014.
Shortly afterward, actor Tom Sizemore was cast to play Jack Durant. An American film and television actor, the numerous roles he is best known for include Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down and Pearl Harbor.
The love of Jack's life, Susie, will be played by Dina Meyer. Dina is best known for her leading role in Starship Troopers and four of the Saw horror movies. She continually appears in films and television shows.
Mabel's motto—When a door opens, walk through it!
Mike Rom was named "Artist of the Month" for the Southern Arizona Arts Guild (SAAG) for his 3D Wire-face sculpture.
He also will have two of his digital photos "Eye-to-Eye" and "Neon Look," as well as his "Gila Monster" color pencil sketch in the Cababi—Pima College Downtown Art & Literary Magazine coming out in the fall.
Donna Young was the subject of an article written by Mrunmayi Ainapure, "Goa Through the Eyes of an American," published July 5, 2014 in The Goan on Saturday. It talks about her experiences writing, publishing and promoting her books Defining Goan Identity—A Literary Approach and Mirror to Goa.
You can read the article at www.thegoan.net/The-Great-Goan-Weekend/She/Goa-through-the-eyes-of-an-American/08223.html.
|
|
|
