VIEWS NOVEMBER 2009

Give Thanks

NATIONAL WRITERS ASSOCIATION LOS ANGELES CHAPTER NOVEMBER 2009

VIEWS

What Can a Publicist Do For Me That I Can’t Do For Myself?

Marion Rosen Has the Answers!

With A Kid From Pittsburgh, her newest project, Rosen thought it would be a good idea to try handing over the reins of marketing to a professional publicist. “Why not?” she reasoned. It would take the responsibility off her hands and be a good experience to learn how the pros do it.

As she learned the unadulterated story of the war from a private’s perspective, she also came to understand the heartbreak of a boy who’d run away from a wretched home life to go off to war at 17. War is never an easy topic to grasp, but A Kid From Pittsburgh is sensitive yet out-spoken, rowdy, yet gentle. Merciless circumstances are made comprehensible. War is interpreted by a kid who grew up without even realizing it.

THE BOOK Marion Rosen first conceived the idea for a biography about her husband’s early life from age 13 to 20 while touring Europe HISTORY in 1994 for the 50th anniversary of D-Day. Marion Rosen received a BS in English For this journey, World War II veterans from Kutztown State University in Pennfrom the US Army’s Third Division and sylvania. She moved to California and received her Master’s some of their wives Degree from Calitraveled over the same COME AND FIND OUT WHAT MS. ROSEN FOUND OUT! fornia State Univerpaths the division had JOIN US AT 2:00 p.m. sity. After teaching followed 50 years earDENNY’S DINER English and Creative lier while struggling to HOLLYWOOD Writing for 20 years take back territory that 5751 SUNSET BOULEVARD in the Los Angeles Hitler had seized. for a book signing Unified School Dis(Sunset Exit Off the 101) trict, she shifted into By witnessing ~Web Sites~ her wide-ranging first-hand the inhttp://issuu.com/the-taylor-trust/docs writing career when credible obstacles or she was hired by our troops had www.nwala.org Macmillan/McGraw to overcome, Ms Hill to work on two Rosen instinctively text­book projects. understood that these men had gone through much more than In 1993, Marion Rosen’s first mystery, the history books have reported. Her own Death By Education, was published by St. husband, Morris Rosen, usually chose to Martin’s Press. This book has since been talk about only a few incidents that were optioned by Emmy Award-winning Simon at times hilariously funny, but she wantLewis Productions and was also published ed to delve deeper. She talked to veterans in Germany by Droemer/ Knaur. who were willing to confide in her and chronicled their stories. She especially Don’t Speak To Strangers —the story wanted to know more about the almost- of a boy’s terror at the hands of a kidnapunbelievable events that still caused her per — was released August 1993. Foreign husband and the rest of the men to grow rights to this suspense-thriller, also from St. Martin’s, have been sold to publishers teary-eyed so many years later. in Sweden, Norway, Italy, and Germany.

The Undertaker was optioned by Saban Entertainment for a made-for-television movie in 1995.

Marion Rosen’s short story credits include: “Angel of Mercy” published in Murder by Thirteen; “The Donation” featured in A Loving Voice: A caregivers’ book of read-aloud stories for the elderly; “One Rotten Apple” presented in LA My Way; “Murder Weekend” showcased in Woman’s World Magazine, and “Horoscope Diet” published in Beauty Digest Magazine.

RITE OF SURVIVORSHIP In 1995, Rosen was diagnosed with not one but two deadly cancers, and based on her life-altering experience, she wrote Dance Like Nobody’s Watching, published in 2002. This riveting true story of courage and survival was praised on nation-wide radio by talk show host, Dr. Laura Schlessinger. Marion Rosen has spoken to hundreds of cancer survivors via public speaking engagements and radio spots.

Rosen is a member of the Author’s Guild, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and National Writers Association Los Angeles. She speaks before groups about her books and her husband’s life. The Rosens live in southern California.

President’s Corner

Forge Ahead

By Tom Howard

I look forward to our next communal gathering, Saturday, November 21, 2-4 pm at Denny’s Restaurant, 5751 Sunset Blvd., near the Sunset exit off the 101. It should be very interesting to hear one of our most accomplished members, Marion Rosen, discuss publicizing her WWII memoir, A Kid From Pittsburgh.

Over a year ago, I enjoyed a one woman show called Now That She’s Gone, written and enacted by Pasadena columnist and self-defense advocate, Ellen Snortland (www.snortland.com). Her play celebrates her uneasy rapport with her taciturn, Norwegian-American mom. So, when I saw an opportunity at a local art auction to bid for some instructional time with Ms. Snortland, I jumped in and won an hour of coaching plus three sessions of Ellen’s home-based class called “Writer’s Workout.”

In the spirit of spreading the wealth, here are a few of Ms. Snortland’s cool suggestions for Mrs. Foley’s Flowers, my project of collecting my mom’s stories:

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Start each chapter with a bang!

Be wary of perfectionism. Focus on getting your writing done.

Be careful, as you work, with whom you share it. Trust the babysitter!

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Look for your niche. Define your audience and test out your material.

As you are rewriting — when in doubt, leave it out.

Set artificial deadlines such as, “Each week, I will complete a chapter.”

Read Editor and Publisher and The New York Times Book Review to see trends in the publishing world (ironically, also my mother’s advice).

Have a thick skin as you collect rejections. Each one is closer to “Yes!”

(And last but not least) ... Get it done! Get it done! Get it done!

Writers’ Contest

Announcing The Florida Review 2010 Editors’ Prizes in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry $1000 Award and publication

Submit a group of 3-5 poems, one story, or one essay with a $15 reading fee (which includes a year’s subscription), payable to UCF/Florida Review.

For each entry, include a cover letter with your name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and the title(s) of submitted work. Manuscripts must include the title of the work on each page, but no identifying information about the writer (name, e-mail address, etc.). This is a blind read. Writers may enter in more than one genre, but each additional submission requires a separate envelope and

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entry fee. Simultaneous submissions to other journals are permissible, but please notify us if the work is accepted elsewhere.All submissions will be considered for publication. Winners will be announced in summer 2010. For notification, include a SASE. Postmark DEADLINE: February 26, 2010 Submit to: The Editors’ Award (Indicate Genre) The Florida Review Department of English MFA Program PO Box 161346 University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida 32816-1346 Please visit our Web site at: www.flreview. com

NWALA MEMBER SPOTLIGHT Kellee Henderson

By Jo Ann Colton

If Kellee Henderson’s name is not readily familiar to you, there are two good reasons why. First of all, Kellee (formerly Kellee Vertin) remarried in June 2009 so her last name has changed. The second reason that you may not recognize Kellee’s name is because although she has been a member of our group since 2007, she has never come to our meetings… This truth may seem shocking in light of our terrific program agenda, but the explanation of why she has never graced us with her presence does make a lot of sense once you read on.

today’s book world and an editor must look at things from a much broader perspective than might friends and family of the author,” she professed, indicating her company brochure (which she would be happy to send to all NWALA members) that discusses her editing services and process in detail.

Editing consists of three levels: proofreading (grammar/spelling/punctuation); copyediting (light, medium, and heavy); and substantive or content editing (re-

IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY The granddaughter of our current vicepresident (and former president) Joe Panicello, Kellee is also the daughter of this author who is also a member of NWALA. Born in California and a one-time resident of Nevada, Kellee has resided for the past three years in the foothills located fortyfive minutes southwest of Denver (in a mountain community commonly referred to as “God’s Country”).

ECLECTIC BACKGROUND Kellee Henderson has been editing for 18 years in conjunction with earning a BA in Psychology, an MS in Counseling and holding full-time diverse positions in human resources management, retail sales management (as the administrator for the Tower Shops Mall in Las Vegas’ Stratosphere Hotel), and as a marriage and family therapist. Since her relocation to Colorado, Kellee now works full-time, nationwide, as an editor of trade and textbook manuscripts, magazines, business/ technical material (manuals, policies/procedures, and newsletters), health-related articles, etc.

“Editing entails more than just reading a manuscript for spelling, punctuation, and grammar. There is a lot of competition in

quiring the most work and time). There is a very fine line between levels because each one builds upon the previous one.

Kellee admits she tends to err on the side of giving her clients more rather than less.

Even if she notices some glaring mistakes or inconsistencies that would categorically fall under a higher service level, she always advises her clients accordingly, and she wouldn’t run her business any other way.

FACTORS AFFECTING OUTCOME While most editors can offer the same types of service, Kellee believes there are differences in: the quality of an editor’s work, editing fees, and the personality compatibility between editor and writer.

“My fees are competitively based on the

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industry’s benchmark, The Writer’s Market, the ‘market bible’ for writers since 1921,” Kellee asserted. “Manuscript fees will vary based on page count, level of editing service, and the quality of the writing.

I do give written quotes for each level.

The higher the editing level, the greater the time and effort required to read, scrutinize, and dissect words and details and then make notes to the author,” explained Kellee who also offers a “writer’s stimulus payment plan option” to help ease the pressure of the current economy.

Kellee, an avid reader, is also a devoted scrapbooker and has been a Creative Memories Consultant for the past six years. Over the years, she has conducted numerous seminars and workshops that discuss not only how to safely archive and preserve your family photos and related memorabilia, but also how to incorporate journaling and memoirs writing with your pictures to create treasured memory albums that can be enjoyed by future generations. Her own writing focuses on short story submissions for publication.

She has recently identified several ideas for both fiction and nonfiction books and plans to put pen to paper as soon as her busy editing schedule permits.

Kellee Henderson holds professional memberships in the National Writers Association and area chapters (LA and Evergreen’s Foothills & Vicinity Writers Group) and is listed on the National Writers Associations’ web site as an editing resource. Regardless of genre, she takes an unbiased approach to the written word, just as she would if she were working with a client as a therapist. “I think of myself as a therapist for the writer’s creative mind,” she said. Kellee Henderson of Edit Write, Ink can be reached at 303-709-1431 or by e-mail at: editwriteink@q.com.

Book Review

Pieces of the Puzzle

By LaVonne Taylor

Take a redheaded, green-eyed vixen, stir in a mix of sex, drugs, murder, lots of money; then add a charming villain and you have the makings of a suspensefilled page turner. That’s what Jo Ann M. Colton did when she set out to write her first mystery.

Her protagonist, Julia Baron, just opened a corner grocery with her husband, Rob Baron, in a San Fernando Valley neighborhood. She has a background in marketing, but left to help him get the family business up and running. Although she is happy with the arrangement, the hours are long at the market, pulling her away from her two small children, and her days are filled with early-morning meetings to late-night bookkeeping.

Then things start churning in an ominous direction. A high school girl turns up missing, and there’s an odd sense of amorphous threat that begins to hang over the little store.

An LAPD detective, Michael O’Hara, shows up on the scene. Questioning the girl’s family and other people in the neighborhood, but coming up without clues has left him frustrated. He is attracted to the redheaded market owner, however respects her marriage.

Through O’Hara, Julia learns of the Hanbury Heights Chamber of Commerce antidrug committee to which she decides to volunteer time and talents.

It is in this committee that Julia meets the charming Dr. Grant Robertson, a well-known antidrug activist and Hanbury Heights High School principal. He becomes obsessed by Julia’s obvious charms. While the reader can see what his machinations are leading to, it seems the naive Julia is a little slow to figure it out. She ultimately winds up south of the border in rural circumstances that makes the reader wonder how she will ever get out of the fix that she managed to get herself into.

Other characters like the hapless Tommy, pathetic Lila, and mysterious Mr. Hightower are well-drawn and contribute to the fascinating stew that Colton has cooked up. This first novel is a good read and we hope that Ms. Colton plans on more to follow.

Colton is also the author of the nonfiction The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Business Basics 101 Pieces of the Puzzle $14.99 ISBN: 1-4208-5428-3 Published by AuthorHouse, Bloomington, Ind. 1-800-8398640 authorhouse.com & amazon.com VIEWS, a newsletter for the members of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Writers Association is published monthly, except for July and August of each year. The meetings take place at 2 p.m. on the third Saturday of every other month, except July and August, at Denny’s Restaurant, 5751 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood OFFICERS President-Tom Howard Vice President-Joe Panicello Secretary-Arturo Ruiz Treasurer-LaVonne Taylor CHAIRMANSHIPS Historian/Photographer-Madelyn Beck Hospitality-Mary L. Ports VIEWS editor-LaVonne Taylor Fundraising-LaVonne Taylor Membership-Jack Clubb

For information, call: 323-876-3931 or click on www.nwala.org or www.nwalablog.wordpress.com __________________

Spunky St. Jude (r), NWALA Mascot, with pal Sugarbabee

Call for Submissions

Unlikely Stories of the Third Kind, the physical embodiment of all that is UnlikelyStories.org, is now accepting submissions! It will include a CD (suitable for playing in a computer or traditional player), a DVD (suitable for playing in a computer or traditional player), and 400 pages of poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, essays, reviews, interviews, and visual art, both in color and black-and-white.

Submissions will be open until March 31, 2010. We will endeavor to answer all mail by May 31. Publication is slated for August, 2010.

Unlikely Stories of the Third Kind will not be a periodical. I don’t know if we’ll ever attempt something like

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this again, but we sure won’t on this side of the Mayan calendar. So check out the guidelines at http://www.unlikelystories.org/printsubmissions.shtml and get those submissions in, folks.

And hey! Did you know that The First Annual WRITE REAL GOOD Poetry Chapbook Contest is still open?

Check it out http://www.unlikelystories.org/writerealgood1.shtml Happy thoughts and sad angry poems, Jonathan Penton http://www.unlikelystories.org/

SHOWCASE Streams of Thought

By Don Peyer

Old age has its memories. These memories die unless recorded. In the old days this was done by word of mouth passed down from the old to the young, from generation to generation. The great composers of central Europe recorded their compositions in writing and we enjoy them today. Historical events in the past are known today because they were written down I saw a television program about an ancient civilization that hid their records in caves before they went into battle. They lost the battle and were all slain. Centuries later, thier records were found -- The Dead Sea Scrolls.

Some of the first writings were written in longhand by clerics, religious people trying to put forth their beliefs. God and the gods were on people’s minds because they were looking for their origins They tried to write of their origins — where did they come from?

Was it a god or gods? How could they know? There was nothing written so maybe they made it up — or maybe they didn’t.

The same can be said about families. Some families are remembered by their part in history because “it was written down.” I think it is even more important now when letters are rarely written and e-mail is everywhere the means of communication — read it today, delete it today, remember it tomorrow; maybe for a short while. Maybe that is why I write in print. Books or notebooks take up so little space and contain so much, whether it is in the form of diaries or memoirs. Your writings may not

be important to the world but how about your descendants?

I’m sure this doesn’t register with a lot of people. However, if you are at all interested in the past and learning from the mistakes of others it should be. Maybe this is why so many mistakes are made over and over again. Wars happen over and over again because nothing is learned from the last wars. If Hitler had stopped when he saw objections to his threats to other peoples’ welfare, all would have been for the best. He went ahead, however, people resisted and the world was thrown into war. Millions died. Millions more suffered and nothing was accomplished.

When I was in Ireland years ago we went one evening to see a famous comedian. He told one funny story after another. When the people laughed, he said, “Write it down.” It was a funny line then, but I don’t think people took his advice seriously. To them it was just another one-liner.

It doesn’t have to be a funny story. If you think it will be interesting to people or descendants later on, write it down. It’s history.

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SHOWCASE B u t t e r f l y

Thanksgiving’s Gifts (acrostic)

Butterfly kisses on my toes In the morning, wake me from My delightful dreamy slumber.

Those liquid, chocolate eyes Worship in ways without number.

Thanksgiving comes, with laden arms, to bring Butterfly kisses on my nose Her harvest from the earth, for all to share. Mary L. Ports In the afternoon, tell me how Much she loves me, and How true to me she will Another feast with friends and family Always be, without duplicity.

No one should be alone, with none to care.

Butterfly kisses on my ear Whisper devotion true and kind.

She depends on me for loving care Keep honoring, with grateful heart, this day: K And in return, protects me fiercely, i Stiff-necked challenge in her stare.

Staid visionaries’ sacrifices made s Butterfly kisses on my cheeks From a soft, pink puppy tongue Give reason to remember and to say s Reassure me I am the only one e To ever be so adored ... with In thoughtful prayer: “We know the price was paid.” s Loyalty that cannot be undone.

Butterfly kisses on my hand Vast treasures from the earth, we do enjoy Melt my heart, and reinforce the bond Between my little dog and me.

Her loving spirit will be engraved Inheritance – the Pilgrims’ plight and plea.

Upon my soul throughout eternity.

November comes to celebrate, employ Her butterfly kisses remind me LaVonne Her life span is the same as mine.

Taylor We are companions to each other God’s gracious gifts of love, in memory. ... On this side of the veil And, I hope, on the other.

Everything should be treated poetically — law, politics, housekeeping, money. A judge and a banker must drive their craft poetically as well as a dancer or a scribe. That is, they must exert that higher vision which causes the object to become fluid and plastic.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson as excerpted from A Transcendental Almanac by Neal Whitman Poetry is, above every other human endeavor, the place where person or society are not merely joined but revealed in their original unity.

— A.F. Moritz as excerpted from Poetry, November 2009

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