Upcoming Events

   August 16
SSA Forum @ 11am—2pm
Tucson City Center InnSuites
Gloria McMillan - "Orbiting Ray Bradbury's Mars"
(see article this page)

   August 30
SSA Valley of the Sun Chapter @ 2:30—4:30pm
Tempe Public Library
Eileen Brady - (veterinarian/author) "Writing About Animals"
(see article here)

   September 15 Deadline
2015 SSA Writing Contest
(see more at www.ssa-az.org/contest.html)

   September 20
SSA Forum @ 11am—2pm
Tucson City Center InnSuites
Mark Schwartz - "Building Your Writer's Platform with Cutting Room Scraps"
(see article this page)

   August 30
SSA Valley of the Sun Chapter @ 2:30—4:30pm
Tempe Public Library
Susan Pohlman (best-selling author/ screenwriter) - (veterinarian/ author) "Writing Creative Non-Fiction"
(see article here)

   October 5
SSA Santa Cruz Chapter @ 1—2:45pm
Joyner Library in Green Valley
Mary L. Maas author/ editor of Sisterhood of the Wounded Breast, will talk about women fighting battles with breast cancer and being survivors
(see article here)

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



   Gloria McMillan will discuss the University of Arizona essay collection that reflects how Ray Bradbury crossed all academic disciplinary boundaries in his time. He was not limited by the gulf between science and the humanities, as are most other people. Tucson was Bradbury's model for physical and other aspects of Mars, since he lived here as a teen in the 1930s.

   Bradbury had phenomenal energy—for many years he wrote at least one short story a week and rarely had writer's block—Gloria will discuss some of the methods he used to accomplish this. Based upon recent research, she will also cover the circumstances that led to Bradbury's first publishing breakthrough in NYC and will outline other major publishing deals that he made.

   Ray Bradbury was also connected to the film and TV industries in the 1950s and made use (and re-use) of many of his stories in venues such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone.

   Gloria received her Ph.D. in English from the University of Arizona, and an M.A. in literature from Indiana University. She is a Research Associate at the University of Arizona and teaches at Pima Community College in Tucson. Her University of Chicago English Department murder mystery, The Blue Maroon Murder (published in 2011), was her fist attempt to write a novel. She is the editor of Orbiting Ray Bradbury's Mars: Biographical, Anthropological, Literary, Scientific and Other Perspectives (McFarland Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy Series).

   She is a co-founder of the Arizona Theatre Company's Old Pueblo Playwrights, a group which works closely with ATC in developing new playwrights and play scripts. She has developed science and science fiction-oriented curricula for the University of Arizona's first-year composition classes, including a library unit on H. G. Wells. Her plays have been produced in Tucson and in the Chicago area. Her play Universe Symphony, about modern composer Charles Ives, was jointly produced by the Flandrau Planetarium and the Music and Theater Departments of the University of Arizona. She is a contributor to a number of academic journals, including Rhetoric Society Quarterly, Across the Disciplines, Kairos, The Adjunct Advocate, Extrapolation: MLA Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy, and Text Technology. She sits on the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory's Kuiper Circle education outreach committee.

   Gloria's talk is August 16 and 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.


   Writers often lose much of their research data as their projects progress toward final versions. A plan to productize the unused data can enhance writer platforms and generate contacts for networking—potentially leading to organizations and people with leverage. Unused research data can generate the following products:
  • Articles for magazines, blogs, and/or embedded in the author's website, and
  • PowerPoint-style presentations for speaking engagements.

   These are "complimentary" products and represent data recycling for creative solutions. Articles, published or in websites, provide author visibility and credibility—although financial gain is once-per-published article. Presentations do the same for author reputation and allow repeated speaking fees from various organizations. Additionally, presentations can move into formal and informal teaching situations, ranging from high-school to college levels. Mark Schwartz graduated from Ohio State with an Air Force commission and flew the F-4 Phantom II aircraft as a Navigator/Weapons Systems Officer. His civilian career

   in the aerospace industry spanned 35 years, including two aircraft companies, the Pentagon and Homeland Security groups. Mark currently lives in Tucson, Arizona and writes historical fiction novels for publication. He also advances local awareness of military science & history by teaching courses on civil-military relations, and speaking to local museums and military sponsor groups.

   Mark's talk is September 20 and 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 The Practical Pendulum is a no-nonsense guidebook to pendulum dowsing designed to teach the novice and enhance the skills of the experienced practitioner. Baldwin is an experienced dowser who uses his skills to help find missing persons and to solve crimes. His approach is to demonstrate how to effectively use an incredible-yet-practical tool, an instrument that bridges the gap between a higher power and the human subconscious. The information you want to know is knowable—everything from where you lost your car keys to addressing everyday challenges and opportunities to discovering the purpose of life. The pendulum provides a proven way of accessing that information directly and through your own efforts. Topics covered include defining the pendulum and pendulum dowsing, selecting a pendulum, dangers to avoid and benefits to seek, pendulum language, problem solving tips, diagnosing problems, map dowsing, and a step-by-step how-to guide to conducting a successful pendulum session. Baldwin says a pendulum is nothing more than a weight on a string—a tool—but it is a practical tool that can open to new levels of self-awareness, personal achievement and a happier and more successful life. Ordering Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YW5T0FU

Mary L. Maas has a new book, Sisterhood of the Wounded Breast, available on Amazon.com in print and as an eBook. Her book is a collection of women's journeys through breast cancer. "Each chapter was written, or given to me to write, by individuals whose essay and experience is as unique as they themselves are."
This book was written to give hope and encouragement to those who have been diagnosed, or are receiving treatments, or will be diagnosed in the future. It seems that every family has someone who is struggling with cancer, or knows someone who is, or has, faced a form of this disease.

Gene Twaronite, Tucson author (and former science teacher, landscaper and UA Instructional Specialist) will be performing some of his zany essays accompanied by animated images from the weird world of nature. The next event in Gene's "Afternoon with an Absurd Naturalist" series is scheduled for the Oro Valley Public Library on Wednesday, August 12, from 4-5 pm. https://pima.bibliocommons.com/events/55943cd253504300500466d3 Copies of his latest book The Absurd Naturalist: Irreverent Musings on Nature will be available for signing.
The Absurd Naturalist is a collection of 43 humorous essays and sketches published over a span of 30 years, and assembled here for the first time. Included are pieces dealing with tofu hunters, the art of toad throwing, same-species marriage, getting rid of nature, lizard watching, reasons why you shouldn't garden, how to sell belly buttons, the right to bear arms, and the origin of toaster ovens, to name only a few. A unique cross-genre book, it will appeal to readers of natural history, the environment, and gardening as well as those general readers seeking an entertaining blend of science, satire, and absurdity. It is available locally at Antigone Books and at Amazon.com.

Glenda Taylor's Surviving: Life with a Maternal Bully has been published after four years of creative spurts, nail-biting frustration and rewrites. Any child will know when she's loved unconditionally. And every child should be entitled to a nurturing environment and love—but this is not what always happens. In 1943, Anna Townsend, at the age of six weeks, is adopted by a couple who is unable to have children of their own. With her pretty red curls, the little infant has no way of knowing she's been adopted for the wrong reasons: Vera wants the status that "being a mother" will bring her among family, neighbors, and friends. Her husband, Alf, is enchanted with the pretty little child. However, his fatherly affection will prove the undoing of their father/daughter relationship because Vera is unwilling to share love or attention with the little girl they have named Glenda. Follow Glenda Taylor's account of struggle for survival in a story of societal expectations that is also a case study in parenting. After enduring nineteen years of bullying, she leaves home to begin a new life. Building on skills from school, she hones her secretarial talents working for a major tobacco company in England. Her resiliency blossoms, and she accepts a position abroad for two years before immigrating to the United States, where she works for a prestigious legal firm in San Francisco. In her mid-forties, she finds her niche as a compliance officer in northern Arizona, investigating civil rights complaints in employment and public accommodation and establishing a mediation program. In 1994, she relocates to southern Arizona and finishes her career working in human resources. She currently lives in Tucson, Arizona. Her life story—at times poignant, sometimes uplifting examples of the human spirit and others heartbreaking accounts of pain and loss—are woven into a compelling story of triumph and survival. Available in print and eBook on Amazon.com and Smashwords.com.




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

Board of Dirctors

President
Chris Stern:
azwritten@gmail.com

Vice President
Donna Young: karmamiranda@aol.com

Treasurer
Jay McCall: jmccall415@msn.com

Recording Secretary
Jean Young: migralaws@aol.com

Corresponding Secretary
TBA

Membership & Forum Programs Chair
Penny Porter: wporter202@aol.com

Forum Reservations Chair
Duke Southard: dukesout@dukesouthard.com
Reservations: 546-9382 or
E-mail: ssabrunches@gmail.com

Members at Large
Dan Baldwin: baldco@msn.com

Bob Hunton: rlh10@cox.net

Sharon Lashinger: srlashinger@hotmail.com

Rajendra Srivastava: rajendrasrivastava@outlook.com

Danette Young: dmyoung3@gmail.com

Committees

Conference Co-Chair
TBA

Writing Contest
Bob Hunton: info@ssa-az.org
contest page

Speaker's Bureau Coordinator
TBA

Writing Group Coordinator
&
Write Word Editor
Mike Rom: writeword@ssa-az.org


SSA Home Page:

http://www.ssa-az.org

Webmaster
Mike Rom: writeword@ssa-az.org

NOTE: Deadline for next issue is the 15th day of September