September 12th, 10:15 a.m., Leon Unruh
What Works for this Successful Author
Leon's presentation, “Keeping the Suspense Alive in a Political Thriller,” will look into the process of writing his second novel, Saltwood. He will discuss how he developed the themes – corruption, legacy of war, love of land, acceptance of loss, and the ever-popular healing power of transient romance – and why he set the plot in the heart of the United States. He'll talk about which writing techniques worked best for him.
The story follows protagonist Nick Deveraux, a Russian-born assassin who was captured in Kansas at the conclusion of Dog of the Afterworld, the first book in the series. After a couple of years, the FBI hands him back to his Russian master, who orders him to complete his failed mission – assassinate Harriet Gayfeather, the last remaining moderate Republican in the Senate. There’s no way he can complete his mission and survive, even in the upside-down world of contemporary international relations. Using his wits, however, he lives another day and flies to Kansas, where he is nearly killed by an explosion at a Saltwood Exploration oil rig on the edge of a national wildlife refuge. He still must kill the senator, but now he’s caught up in a much bigger web of corruption even as he befriends the senator’s deputy and draws the evil eye from Saltwood’s hardnosed troubleshooter.
Meanwhile, a discount store clerk is fired in Wichita, the state’s largest city. The clerk seeks help from his megachurch pastor before becoming enchanted by right-wing militants. Out in the state, at the same time, a charismatic woman promises to kill an unidentified person; she becomes a TikTok star as she encourages folks to push for economic justice. She befriends Deveraux, the senator betrays the country and her deputy, and Deveraux and the deputy wage a bloody battle against Saltwood.
Come hear one of our own share his writing process! Leon will have copies of his books for sale.
About Our Speaker
Leon Unruh grew up in Pawnee Rock, Kansas, a town midway along the Santa Fe Trail. He wrote for several small newspapers in Kansas and was an editor at dailies in Austin and Dallas, Texas; Wichita, Kansas; and Anchorage, Alaska. He started editing college textbooks and business trade books in 1989, in addition to his newspaper work.
He was later the editor at the Alaska Native Language Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He created and operated PawneeRock.org, a website about his hometown’s history, work that was honored by the Wet/Dry Routes Chapter of the Santa Fe Trail Association.
Saltwood is the second thriller in Unruh’s Dog of the Afterworld series.
Unruh also is a co-author of Final Destinations: A Travel Guide for Remarkable Cemeteries in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana, written with colleagues at the Dallas Morning News. His essays and short stories have appeared in 105 Meadowlark Reader, Ice Box, and plainchina.org.
Unruh lives in Tucson. He serves as co-membership chair of Arizona Mystery Writers.
About the Meeting
We will meet at The Catalyst Creative Collective at the Tucson Mall, – Lower Level, near the Sears and JC Penney entrance
4500 N. Oracle Road, Suite 110, Tucson, AZ 85705.
The meeting will run from 10:15 a.m. to 11:45 a.m., with time for catching up until noon. For a map to our meeting location in the Tucson Mall, check our site. The mall opens at 10; hence our 10:15 start time!
The fee is $10 for members, $15 for nonmembers, with a voluntary suggested donation of $5 for Zoomers. You may pay via Paypal or Zelle sent to amwtreasurer@gmail.com, or at the door with cash or check.
Bring some cash and participate in our book raffle, another way we cover the space rental costs.
