Bob Burson; How to Become and Author in your Spare Time

Sunrise Rotary March 23, 2017  

President Tony called the meeting to order

Alan Miller led the Pledge to the Flag

Jack Anderson offered an invocation

Guests and Visitors:

Tina Pope was a visitor; she’s with Palomar Health

Bonnie Malone was introduced as a guest

Rosemary Burson was introduced as Bob Burson’s guest

Special Video Presentation:

Past President Rich Aeling shared a video from his recent trip to our Nation’s Capitol; He and Donna were at Arlington National Cemetery and Rich recorded the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown… Very impressive; thanks for sharing that important part of our National heritage…

Anniversaries and Birthdays:

Birthdays:

None

Anniversaries:

March 28    Past President Jeff and Cathy Johnson celebrating 30 years of                 marriage

Rotary Anniversaries:

None this week

Photos of the Week:

Past President Rich and Donna Aeling at the World Baseball Classic in San Diego

Past President Mike O’Malley behaving himself on St. Patrick’s Day… Say what????

Past President Mark Hoekstra and friends

Dates to Remember:

March        23:        Fisher House delivery; taking place today… George Beitner,                     Dave Herbert and Jack Anderson delivering the goods…

April        7-9:        RYLA; Facilitators still needed, see the website or speak                     with Jim Ponder

        8:        Mexicali Project “pre-build”; preparing footings and posts for                     playground equipment construction  

        15:        Gulls Hockey; Tickets for the special seats in the ‘Box’ are                     $60; see Past President Rich Aeling more information

        20-23:        Mexicali project

May        4:        Evening meeting; more details to come

        6:        Bunco at John Boyce’s home    

June        17:        Wine, Brews and Blues at the Arts Center; a fundraiser                     in conjunction with the Bonsall Rotary Club

        22:        Demotion event; Bye, bye President Tony and welcome                     President Dave Casey    

October    7:        Grape Day 5K; only 196 days till the big event!

High Fives and Announcements:

Past President Barry Baker was stuck in Maui for an extra two days… Poor Barry & Lee; so he brought President Tony a ball cap…

John Sawtelle announced that fliers were available for the Wine, Blues and Brews and Blues event in conjunction with the Bonsall Rotary Club. As we sell tickets, we are returned a share of the proceeds; last year our club earned $3,500 plus. Look for the event on June 17 at the Arts Center.

Constance Larson announced she needs part time help to digitize records in her office… President Tony volunteered, however he was rejected without an interview because of his vast skills in technology…

Past President Rich Aeling shared that Linda Bailey is undergoing some additional medical treatments and asked for prayer on her behalf…

 Program:

Brian Murphy introduced today’s program; our own Past President Bob Burson disclosing all of his fiction-writing secrets…

Bob, appropriately so, introduced his ‘silent partner’ in his fiction-writing second career, his bride, Rosemary…

Rosemary is his editor, marketing guru and chief whip-cracker in keeping him on task…

 Bob described for us the difference between a CPA (his former profession) and that of a writer… Basically detailing the left-brain, right-brain challenges he faces in his new endeavors. 

He outlined the creative, story-telling side of his efforts, and shared that as such he is much more evocative and active as he speaks… In another words, he uses his hands a whole lot more than a CPA would ever do…

Bob expressing himself with his hands, and not like his former analytical, accountant self…

Bob discussed the writing process he uses, and the ways in which he constructs his stories. He also lamented all of the important things to a fledgling writer that he ignored in his college English classes… Thinks like spelling, vocabulary, sentence structure and storytelling…

He is also learning the ‘ins and outs’ of marketing, social media, reviews and speaking engagements. One of his more recent endeavors was to enhance his search engine optimization so that his books appear early on in readers’ searches of the internet for certain types of books.

Regarding his interests as an author, Bob likes to create action-adventure stories with a geo-political influence. His work is a blend of works in the Nelson DeMille style along with some Tom Clancy influence. 

Bob has been fairly prolific in his production, having published books in 2007, ’09, 2010, ’11, and ’13… His current work is a two-volume piece…

Bob was very appreciative of the work of his ‘partner’ in this effort, Rosemary. Her experience with social media and writing in general has helped him along the way… Bob’s books can be found at rtburson.com and are available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Past President Bob and Rosemary Burson with President Tony…

Next Week’s Program:

Kiana Bright, the Manager of the Fisher House at Camp Pendleton will speak about the services they provide to military families.

Photo of our Club’s donations to Fisher House last week; pictured are George Beitner, Dave Herbert and Jack Anderson along with Kiana Bright…

Opportunity Drawing:

Lunch Money:    $17;    Mark Maus

Big Pot:        $288;    Past President Bob Burson; sorry, not so lucky today…