Airliner Named for Marlon Green

On February 9 in Houston, Continental Airlines will unveil a new 737 named Captain Marlon Green during a ceremony attended by members of the U.S. Congress, Continental executives and employees, and the public. Marlon Green, the subject of Flint Whitlock’s Turbulence Before Takeoff, was the first African American hired by a commercial airlines company. On February 10, the Captain Marlon Green will fly more than 100 school children on its maiden voyage from Houston to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. For many of these children, this will be their first plane ride as well as their first time out of Texas. Continental will present the children with copies of Turbulence as a remembrance of their special day.
Dan Meador, author of At Cahaba will travel to southern Alabama on February 12 for signing events at the Selma/Dallas County Public Library at noon and at the Greenville Public Library at 5 p.m.
Rocky Lang, author of The Big Nasty, will be a presenter at the San Francisco Writer’s Convention on February 13 and 14. Rocky will be a panel member for “Transforming Small Type into Big Pictures: Turning Books into Movies,” on Saturday, February 13 and will present “Book Trailers: Using Sizzle Reels to Sell Yourself or Your Book Online” on Sunday, February 14.
As president of The Joe Toucan Diabetes Project (a 501( c )(3) organization, Rocky recently announced that the L.A. Lakers forward, Adam Morrison, will join their advisory board by stating, “We are honored to welcome Adam to our advisory board… He is a great example for kids that if you dream big and manage your disease, you can achieve all of your goals.” Rocky wrote Lara Takes Charge to help kids with diabetes.
Nancy Deville’s busy schedule this month includes some private wine & sign parties in California as well as a Q & A event on February 22 at the Santa Barbara City College.  Open to SBCC Screenwriting I students, the topic is “How Karma accomplished the arc of the character.”  On Saturday, March 6, Nancy will sign her books at the Tecolote Book Shop in Montecito, CA, from 3-5 p.m. This wine & sign party is open to the public.
Del Staecker plans to “check out the local color” on the Jersey Shore this month, researching for the fourth thriller in his Ledge Trabue series. Del’s third Trabue book, Chocolate Soup, is currently at press.
Following Chocolate Soup to press in the next few months are Dave Schmidt’s Jinx of the Black Lynx, the second installment in his Natural Forces series; Kim Kluxen Meredith’s Listen for the Whispers; and June Werdlow Rogers’ Cracking the Double Standard Code. Our Works in Progress section contains the latest updates on our many ongoing projects.
Pat McGrath Avery, author of The June Rogers Band, makes me long for spring with her bird-sighting reports from South Padre Island in Texas. But as the days get longer and the sun’s rays strengthen, there seems to be a glimmer of hope here for spring—even if the ground hog just saw his shadow…again.


Be productive, be happy, and prosper in this fledgling year.

Nan Wisherd, Publisher