Susan Cummins Miller Home Page
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Susan Cummins Miller Home Page
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About the Author
Welcome to my website! Here's a short bio:
I was born and raised in southern California and now reside in Tucson, Arizona.
My educational background is in the sciences and liberal arts. My degrees include B.A.s in history, anthropology, and geology, and an M.S. in Geology.
I worked for the U. S. Government (primarily with the U. S. Geological Survey), conducting fieldwork in California, Nevada, Idaho and Utah. Subsequently, I taught introductory geology and oceanography at the college level and offered short courses in writing, geology, paleontology, and oceanography in Tucson area schools. I am currently a Research Affiliate of SIROW (the Southwest Institute for Research on Women) at the University of Arizona.
***The fourth Frankie MacFarlane novel, HOODOO, a puzzle mystery set in the Chiricahua Mountains of SE Arizona, has just been released by Texas Tech University Press (ISBN-13: 978-0-89672-623-9; ISBN -10: 0-89672-623-1). HOODOO was an April, 2008, "Killer Book" pick of the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association [http://killerbooks.org/2008archive.html]. For those of you who wish signed copies, I've scheduled events in Tucson and Scottsdale, AZ; Lubbock and Houston, TX; San Mateo, CA; and Rio Rancho and Santa Fe, NM. You may also order signed copies from Clues Unlimited, Mostly Books, or Antigone's, Tucson; The Poisoned Pen, Scottsdale; 'M' is for Mystery, San Mateo, CA (after May 24); and Texas Tech University Press.
DEATH ASSEMBLAGE (TTUP, 2002; HC ISBN: 0-89672-481-6; PB ISBN: 0-89672-517-0), the first mystery featuring geologist Frankie MacFarlane, involves ancient and recent murders in Pair-a-Dice, Nevada. For those of you in bookclubs, the TTUP website (http://www.ttup.ttu.edu/books/deathassemblage.html) contains discussion questions and a conversation with the author.
DETACHMENT FAULT (ISBN: 0-89672-520-0), the sequel to DEATH ASSEMBLAGE, is set in Tucson, AZ, and the borderlands of Sonora, MX. After geosleuth Frankie MacFarlane pulls a body from the Sea of Cortez, a friend disappears in Mexico, and a colleague and student are slain in Tucson, Frankie's search for answers leads her into the shadow world of money-laundering and the antiquities trade. Berkley Prime Crime's mass market paperback version of DETACHMENT FAULT (ISBN: 0-425-20893-1) is now out of print, although copies can still be found on the internet.
When Frankie returns to UC-Del Rio, CA, to defend her geology dissertation in QUARRY (hardcover, ISBN: 0-89672-574X; cover photo above), police seek her help in resolving past crimes, her mentor is victim of a hit and run, someone's stalking her dissertation committee, and a student's disappearance triggers a manhunt in the Mojave Desert. Berkley Prime Crime released the paperback edition of QUARRY (ISBN 978-0-425-21488-6) in 2007. QUARRY was chosen as a 2006 Southwest Books of the Year Notable book, and a finalist for the 2007 WILLA Award (Contemporary Fiction). QUARRY also received the ForeWord Magazine 2006 Gold Award (Mystery) and the 2007 New Mexico Book Award (Mystery).
My poems have appeared in, among others, Sandcutters: Journal of the Arizona Poetry Society; OASIS Journal (2003-2007); and the anthology WHAT WILDNESS IS THIS: WOMEN WRITE ABOUT THE SOUTHWEST (2007).
In the non-fiction category: In December 2007, Texas Tech University Press released a new edition--with new preface--of my anthology, A SWEET, SEPARATE INTIMACY: WOMEN WRITERS OF THE AMERICAN FRONTIER, 1800-1922 (ISBN 978-0-89672-618-5). Signed copies are available from Texas Tech University Press.
At present, I'm working on Frankie's next adventure, FRACTURE, set in Arizona and northern California. In my spare time, I'm researching/writing about my grandmother's life, incorporating her published and unpublished autobiographical articles, short stories, and poems.
I'm a SIROW Scholar and a member of the Geological Society of America, Mystery Writers of America, Society of Southwestern Authors, Women Writing the West, Sisters in Crime, Arizona Geological Society, and Western Literature Association. I'm also a member of Southwest Crime Ink with mystery writers Elizabeth Gunn <http://home.comcast.net/~pgunn18/ElizabethGunn.html>, J. M. Hayes <http://www.jmhayes-author.com/>, and J. C. Black <http://www.jcarsonblack.com/>.
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Upcoming Events and Signings, 2008-9
I'll be teaching, participating in author-panels and workshops, giving readings, attending conferences, and/or signing copies of my books at the following locations:
2008:
Thursday, May 8. Clues Unlimited, Tucson. Panel discussion with Tucson writer/historians Carolyn O'Bagy Davis and Jane Eppinga. I'll be signing the new edition of my anthology, A SWEET, SEPARATE INTIMACY: WOMEN WRITERS OF THE AMERICAN FRONTIER, 1800-1922, as well as my new mystery, HOODOO. 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 24. 'M' is for Mystery, 86 East Third Avenue, San Mateo, CA, 2 p.m. (signing/discussion).
June 10-14. 2008 Western Writers of America Conference, Chaparral Suites Resort, Scottsdale, AZ.
Thursday, July 10. Rio Rancho Public Library, Rio Rancho, NM. 2007 New Mexico Book Award Winners group signing, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Saturday September 27. New Mexico Women Authors' Book Festival, Milner Plaza on Museum Hill, Santa Fe, NM. Presentation on Nancy Curtis Burlin and Alice Corbin Henderson (from A SWEET, SEPARATE INTIMACY: WOMEN WRITERS OF THE AMERICAN FRONTIER, 1800-1922) at the “History and Biography Pavilion,” 10 a.m., followed by signing.
October 5-9. 2008 JOINT MEETINGS--GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA (GSA), Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies, and Gulf Coast Section of SEPM (GCAGS); hosted by the Houston Geological Society (HGS)--celebrating the INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF PLANET EARTH. [Author event sponsored by GSA Bookstore during opening of the Exhibition Hall, Sunday evening--TBA.] Houston, Texas.
Saturday, October 18. AAUW Branch Meeting, The Fountains at La Cholla, Tucson, 9:30 a.m. (speech/signing)
2009:
Sunday, January 11. Book discussion & signing, small clubhouse, Desert Pueblo Senior Park, 1302 W. Ajo, Tucson, 1 p.m.
March 7-12. Left Coast Crime 2009, Waikoloa Marriott, Hawaii.
March 13-15, Tucson Book Festival, UA campus, Tucson.
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Recent Awards
Artist-in-Residence, Djerassi, Woodside, CA (Winter, 2008).
Winner (Turquoise Award), 2007 New Mexico Book Award (Mystery), for QUARRY.
Finalist, 2007 WILLA Award (Contemporary Fiction), for QUARRY.
Gold Award, ForeWord Magazine 2006 Book of the Year (Mystery), for QUARRY.
Notable Book, 2006 Southwest Books of the Year (TPPL), for QUARRY.
2006 Arizona Humanities Council grant for program presented at the Arizona Book Festival.
Finalist, 2004 Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers' Book Award (Adult Fiction), and Honorable Mention, ForeWord Magazine 2004 Book of the Year (Mystery), for DETACHMENT FAULT.
Finalist, 21st and 22nd Annual Tucson Poetry Festival Statewide Poetry Contests (2004, 2005).
Artist-in-Residence, Djerassi, Woodside, CA (Winter, 2004).
2002 Amanda and Mike Tevis Fellowship for residency at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Woodside, CA.
Artist-in-Residence, Djerassi, Woodside, CA (Spring, 2002).
1st and 3rd places, Arizona State Poetry Society Annual Contest 2000.
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