Newsletter of the Society of Southwestern Authors|
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Newsletter of the Society of Southwestern Authors |
Vol. 2, No. 13 Apr-May '98 |
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Dinghy Sharp tells how it was and is
You think your short story or novel has an original plot? Maybe not.
Dinghy Sharp, Ed.d., a learning consultant, author and speaker who is recognized as
a pioneer in remedial education, is also an authority on the history of
oral communication.
What she knows about fables and myths, their origins and theme variations has enthralled, entertained,
and educated audiences throughout the nation. For example, "The Cinderella
story has a long history of variations on the universal theme of good prevailing
over evil." She is a member of the National Storyteller Association, the
Detroit Storyteller League, and has been instrumental in establishing a
Tucson branch of the Story League. Her speeches include references to such great writers
as Washington Irving and Edgar Allen Poe. Emphasizing how writers are the
product of their backgrounds, she illustrates
her stories with references to her own childhood in Detroit. She frequently
tells how an ancestor of hers, Clement Clarke Moore, created "The Night
Before Christmas" and she explains such details as how the reindeer got their names.Sharp says, "Writing is a God-given talent. Writers should develop their own unique style because every person is unique. Their language and learning patterns are unique." She explains that she is dyslexic and, in spite of that handicap, she has excelled as an educator, having retired from the Farmington, Michigan schools as a learning consultant to pursue a career as a speaker on the subject of children and young adults reaching their fullest potential academically and creatively. The message she emphasizes is that oral communication came before the written. "Listen, and your ears will tell you what to write." Dinghy is our April 19th speaker.
Following Your Calling As A Writer
To come into your full voice and power as a writer, to speak with your
greatest authenticity, you must listen and respond to what your life and your talents
are calling you to write, to say to the world.
In this inspiring presentation, Gregg Levoy, author of Callings, and This Business of Writing, will explore the passions and callings of the writing life, what makes us say yes and no to them, and how we can open to not only our own deepest voices, but the Larger Voices that want to speak through us. Gregg Levoy, a former adjunct professor of journalism at the University
of New Mexico, is a full-time freelance writer whose work has appeared in
the New York Times Magazine, Washington
Post, Omni, Psychology Today,
Reader's Digest, and many others. A former columnist for the
Cincinnati Enquirer and USA Today, and winner of a first-place writing award from the
Associated Press, he lectures and teaches widely on the subject of callings. |
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RECENT SUCCESSES
Jerry Airth will have two items in this month's Calliope, MENSA's literary magazine--his poem "Marilee" and
a book review on John Wood's How to Write Attention-Grabbing Query
and Cover Letters. Jerry is almost a regular in the magazine now.
Calliope's General Editor, Cynthia
Scribner, encourages SSA members to send stories, poems, and how-to articles
for writers.
Michael M. Alvarez's audio mystery, Deliver Us From Evil, is scheduled for release on May 25th. According to his publisher, it should be available through local marketing chain stores, such as Wal-Mart and Barns & Noble. Also, he recently sold two short stories "Summer, My Old Friend" and "The House on Rosewood Drive" to The Literary Journal. The Stories are scheduled to appear in the June and September issues. Leslie Clark and Sheran Vaughn have coordinated the writing of a mystery novel, Postcards from the Borderland, with three other members of the High Desert Working Writers' AssociationKatherine Baccaro, Jinx Schwartz, and Holly Whitman. The story is being published in the Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review--beginning Feb. 8 and running every Thursday & Sunday until all 18 chapters are published. The authors are looking for a publisher to release it in book form. Mary Miller Hall has a new book released in paperback. The title is Prostitution of Our Constitution. It discusses illegal acts committed by judges and attorneys in our judicial system. It contains actual court documents and names the criminals involved. It is available at Borders Bookstores and in Malkia Shop at 2900 East Broadway (next to Laffs Comedy Club). The price is $12.00 per copy. Bobbie Herring had 3 articles published in the Raytheon Newsletter & one on Raytheon employess who volunteer for the Special Olympics in the Club Newsletter. She also had an article in The College Connection at Pima College East Campus about touring their Chemistry, Biology, and Environmental Testing Labs during "College for a Night." Lorraine Lachs will be reading from her novel, Flowers for Mei-Ling, at the east side Barns & Noble in Tucson (4/22) at 7pm. She will be interviewed on Books & Co., Public Television, in Phoenix and a Dutch language edition of her book has recently been issued in the Netherlands. Jennifer J. Stewart just signed a contract with Holiday House. Her children's novel Please Don't Eat the Princess will be out in hardcover sometime in 1999.
The Write Word
President
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