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Marsha Ward
Westerns with Heart & Grit


About the Author

Author Marsha Ward at Festival of the West

Marsha Ward was born in the sleepy little town of Phoenix, Arizona, and grew up with chickens, citrus trees, and lots of room to roam. She began telling stories at a very early age, regaling her neighborhood chums with her tales over homemade sugar cookies. Visits to her cousins on their ranch and listening to her father's stories of homesteading in Old Mexico and in the Tucson area reinforced Marsha's love of 19th Century Western history.

After fifty+ years in the city, Marsha now makes her home in a tiny hamlet under Central Arizona's magnificent Mogollon Rim. When she is not writing, she loves to spoil her grandchildren, travel, give talks, meet readers, and sign books. She welcomes readers' comments addressed to her at

PO Box 53
Payson AZ 85547
or by email to marshaw@marshaward.com

Writing Background

Marsha Ward is an award-winning freelance writer and editor who has published over 900 articles, columns, poems and short stories. Marsha has been a writer and editor for four different newspapers published for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

  • The Latter-day Sentinel
  • The Latter-day Sun
  • The Latter-day Journal
  • The Beehive, Arizona Edition

Marsha also was the editor and publisher of a newsletter for writers and a small magazine: Aztec Peak and WestWard Quarterly, The Magazine of Family Reading. The latter is now edited by Shirley Anne and Richard Leonard and published by an arm of their Christian ministry, Laudemont Press.

Marsha works with other writers as a mentor, creative consultant, editor, workshop presenter, contest judge, coach, and teacher. In 1986 she founded American Night Writers Association (ANWA), a network for women writers of the LDS faith, and was the facilitator of the group for many years. She became the first President, and now is the Membership Secretary and Webmistress. She has served on the Executive Committee of LDStorymakers, Inc., the LDS writers guild; and in leadership capacities with other writers associations.

Marsha taught creative writing at Irving School and newspaper writing at Carmel Charter School. She has read her work at Yavapai College and the Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott, Arizona. Her current projects include completing the fourth volume in the acclaimed post-Civil War fiction series, The Owen Family Saga; and finishing another novel set in Arizona in the 1890s.

Awards

Marsha has won many writing prizes and received "Special Honorable Mention" in several national contests.  Among her recent accomplishments are the following awards:

  • September 2001: Second Place in Fall Contest, Superstition Mountain Scribes
  • 2001: Finalist in Short Fiction Awards with "War Party," ByLine Magazine
  • March 2002: Winner in Annual Poetry Contest with "My Mother's Bureau Drawer," Superstition Mountain Scribes
  • November 2002: Winner in Poetry Competition with "My Mother's Bureau Drawer," Arizona Association of American Mothers Inc.
  • March 2003: Winner of national Alice Abel Literature Competition in Poetry with "My Mother's Bureau Drawer," American Mothers, Inc.
  • February 2004: Fourth in Top Ten Finalists in the 2003 Readers' Poll in the category of "Novel - Mainstream" with novel Ride to Raton, Preditors & Editors
  • October 2010: Finalist in the "Western Fiction" category of the "Best Books 2010" Awards with novel Trail of Storms, sponsored by USA Book News.

Memberships

Marsha is a member of:
  • Western Writers of America, Inc.
  • Women Writing the West
  • LDStorymakers, Inc.
  • American Night Writers Association (ANWA)
  • Rim Country Writers

Presentations

Recognized as an award-winning writer and authority on Southwestern history, Marsha Ward is based in Central Arizona. She is available for presentations, talks, and workshops at writers events, community and civic groups, and book clubs. Presentations can be structured from 45 to 90 minutes. Programs include:

  • Basic Elements of Good Writing
  • So You Want to Write a Book?
  • Dialogue: It's Not Just Conversation
  • Use Your Common Sense! Capture Your Reader with Sensory Writing
  • Building Characters from the Inside Out
  • Blatant Self-Promotion: Thinking Outside the Bookstore
  • Writing Despite a Crazy-Busy Life: Time Management and Goal Setting
  • Self-Publishing: From Writing to Distribution
  • Reading and Writing and EBooks, Oh My!
  • Blogging and Tweeting and Facebook, Oh My! Building a Brand through Social Networking
  • How Well Do You Really Know English?
  • Literacy Begins at Home: How to Build Reading into Your Family Activities
  • Is the Western Dead? Everyday Evidences to the Contrary
Contact Marsha at marshaw@marshaward.com for arrangements.

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