Southern Arizona authors pen romance, reflection, mystery, history

Author Roger Naylor is a member of the Arizona Tourism Hall of Fame, so it makes sense that he is unabashedly crazy about the Copper State. With this exuberant volume, he offers 200 reasons why.

For instance, Arizona is the only state in the country that can boast one of the world’s Seven Natural Wonders (Fact No. 2), so it’s no surprise that superlatives about geography, geology, flora and fauna are much in evidence. And, of course, there’s the weather. Arizona is the sunniest state (Fact No. 1), an honor erroneously implied by Florida’s “Sunshine State” motto. Arizona is not, however, the hottest state: that dubious honor does go to Florida (take that, Florida!). Arizona, says Naylor, is actually somewhere between fifth and 10th hottest (Fact No. 37), but Lake Havasu City lays claim to being the nation’s hottest city, having once hit a memorably high temperature of 128 degrees (Fact No. 34).

But there’s much more to Arizona than sunshine and canyons, no matter how grand. It’s a state that’s quirky by nature, and Naylor shares plenty of memorable achievements (an interstate highway built with a brigade of camels — Fact No. 116) and famous firsts (McDonald’s premier drive-thru window slid open in Sierra Vista, instituted for Fort Huachuca soldiers who weren’t permitted to leave their vehicles dressed in fatigues — Fact No. 19). And of course, there are memorable personalities (author Ray Bradbury discovered science fiction as a kid growing up in Tucson — Fact No. 151).

It’s a fun read, breezy and humorous, includes a useful index, and is sized to fit neatly into a daypack. Naylor, a prize-winning travel writer, is an entertaining and knowledgeable companion to take along on any Arizona adventure.

— Helene Woodhams

“Bad Moon Rising: Hemingway, Hollywood, Hoover and Castro” by Steven Bye. Published by the author. 142 pages. Available in Tucson at Antigone Books, Barrio Books (at Hotel McCoy) and Revolutionary Grounds. $20.

The book’s cover may look serene but don’t be fooled. Instead, be prepared for one man’s experience of the Cuban Revolution, narrated at breakneck speed.

West Point grad Sean Martin, assigned to a signal radio intelligence company in Korea in 1950, willingly deep-sixed his military career at the behest of a childhood friend by sharing privileged information and disrupting the chain of command. He meant well, but for his trouble he was dishonorably discharged.

It’s not the last time Martin would get into trouble by involving himself in someone else’s scheme. Five years later, working a fishing charter out of Key West, he encounters Ernest Hemingway, a persuasive man with an agenda and “a way with words,” who hooks Martin into his plans as adeptly as he reels in prize-winning marlins.

Author Steven Bye offers a mix of historic facts — gathered via Internet research and a memorable weeklong tour of Cuba — with adventures of his own invention. A star-studded cast of characters drop in and out, from Errol Flynn, Gary Cooper and Audie Murphy to the Castros (Fidel and Raul) and Che Guevara. There’s even a cameo appearance by Lee Harvey Oswald (yes, that Lee Harvey Oswald), and their presence indicates the depth, at the time, of the American media’s interest in Cuba — which was just the way Fidel Castro liked it. J. Edgar Hoover’s men, also on the scene, demonstrate Hoover’s fears about Communism’s offshore toehold. It’s a dangerous whirlwind, and Sean Martin finds himself irrevocably swept up in it.

Bye, who taught high school before retiring to Tucson, is also a painter. He created his own cover art.

— Helene Woodhams

“Remember Love’s Smile: Memories of 1950s Chicago Spur a Romance in 2019 Arizona” by Nick Pintozzi. BentDaiSha. 206 pages. $15.99.

Tony Romano’s great-aunt Zia prides herself on her matchmaking skills, and the fact that her great-nephew has reached the ripe old age of 33 without a hand-picked wife is a nagging source of frustration. Worse yet, Tony lives in Tucson rather than the old Chicago neighborhood, compounding her exasperation. Mamma mia! The best Zia can do is send a nice, marriageable Italian girl down his way. For his part, Tony’s love life is well in hand — he’s drawn to an attractive artist who helps run her family’s Tanque Verde ranch — but the sudden appearance of Zia’s Chicago-based entry in the matrimonial sweepstakes is presenting complications.

As a high school history teacher, Tony strives to make the past relevant to his present-day students. This theme resonates in his own life: when he receives his late grandfather’s mid-20th century journal detailing how he met and courted Tony’s grandmother, there are striking similarities that are not lost on Tony.

The course of true love never did run smooth. (If there’s a way to express that in Italian, Zia will know what it is — aphorisms are her specialty.) In this sweet and lively story of blossoming romance vs. old country traditions, can love find a way? How could it not? Author and long-time Tucsonan Nick Pintozzi, himself a native Chicagoan, is a retired journalist. He was a copy editor at the Arizona Daily Star for over 20 years.

— Helene Woodhams

“Fateful Words” by Paige Shelton. Minotaur Books. 296 pages. $20.52 hardcover; also available as an e-book.

So, what could be cozier than a “cozy” mystery laced with literary references set in a quaint bookstore in historic Edinburgh? Not much, really. Arizonan Paige Shelton’s Scottish Bookshop series offers up some pleasing reads.

The eighth in the series, “Fateful Words,” finds Kansas-to-Edinburgh transplant Delaney Nichols, employee of the Cracked Spine bookshop unexpectedly shoved into the role of literary Edinburgh travel guide. Delaney’s boss, Edwin MacAlister, who could spin a literary tale for every major site in the city, has been mysteriously called away, and it devolves to Delaney (“But I’m not even Scottish!”) to squire four book lovers around town. When the owner of the inn at which the guests are staying takes a fatal header off its roof, and then one of the guests goes missing, Delaney gets caught up in sleuthing. Then, when her sleuthing gets the better of her, she finds herself trapped in a Hogwarts-like school building with no magic available for succor.

Shelton’s characters are nicely drawn and appealing; the action is sustained, and her literary allusions entertain. Additionally engaging are the stories she relates about real Edinburgh sites (Is Victoria Street really the inspiration of Harry Potter’s Daigon Alley?). This reader, who enjoys settling down with a cuppa or a wee dram with the Cracked Cover, and its resident pup, and Delaney’s husband Tom’s pub, already looks forward to the next in the series.

— Christine Wald-Hopkins

“Short Stories of Life, Love, Choices and Consequences” by Tony Abruzzo. Austin Macauley Publishers. 224 pages. $15.95 paperback; $4.50 e-book.

Roman Catholic faith practices and grace accorded by the power of love and human connection underlie these stories by retired Tucson attorney Tony Abruzzo. They involve domestic situations and interpersonal relations. A middle-aged man awaiting an X-ray, for example, witnesses acts of complete physical and spiritual communion in an elderly couple (“Two immersed human beings navigating life’s demands …. A balancing act on the tight rope of survival.”) It’s not a condition, he realizes, that he could attain with his wife. In another tale, family members revisit their individual failings as their matriarch lies dying — as she herself is visited by a guardian angel. In a third, a lawyer representing a transgender person attempts to persuade them to be candid and honest with a potential love interest. It may not work out well.

Truth be told, interest on the part of this non-Roman Catholic reader was not piqued by the early stories’ resolutions, brought about by prayers, declarations of God’s love, or doctrinal obedience. It was the later stories — lengthier, less simplistic and admittedly, more critical and nuanced — that become more interesting. Abruzzo creates a well-wrought tale of GIs behaving badly in “Sergeant Mickey Corcoran WW2 Veteran,” and an unexpectedly suspenseful situation with a conflicted priest in “The Confession.”

— Christine Wald-Hopkins

“Sticky Karma: Meditations on Meaning and Madness in the Time of COVID” by Lee Shainen. Latah Books. 279 pages. $19.95.

And, what might compel a compulsive journal keeper to round up and publish his personal thoughts? What compelled Samuel Pepys or Daniel Defoe? Nothing short of plague….

In “Sticky Karma,” retired Pima College writing instructor Lee Shainen examines personal and societal issues in the context and following the chronology of the COVID-19 pandemic. Weaving poetry with reminiscences, reflections, unexpected encounters, recurring concerns, and ongoing pandemic developments reveals the external and internal life of a searcher, care- and risk-taker … and golfer. We see the passion of a garbage man turned college teacher rendering full-life into words.

There is a mystery in this memoir that Shainen (skillfully) teases us to follow. In many ways, “Sticky Karma” is a love letter to his wife Susan, with whom he would isolate from the world of a raging virus. It is also a celebration of life, as Shainen nearly bled to death during COVID from a ruptured abdominal tumor.

Shainen, who was a founder of the Southern Arizona Writing Project, convincingly demonstrates in this text the power of writing to make sense of the world. We, who didn’t record our days during the pandemic, are reminded of how it unfolded through Shainen’s work. Just as we can imagine London during the Great Plague, thanks to Pepys and Defoe.

— Christine Wald-Hopkins