Cactus Flower blooms Feb. 27-30

Created and performed entirely by funny female, binary and gender-nonconforming humans, the four-day Cactus Flower Comedy Festival will spark loads of laughs in anyone who is not looking for a lot of dick jokes.

The event, which takes place at Tucson Improv Movement's TIM Comedy Theatre, offers storytelling, stand-up, improv and sketch shows to watch, and workshops to exercise your own sense of humor and improve listening and communications skills. All shows are $5 or $7. An all-festival pass is $30, and workshops are $40 each. Reservations are via squareup.com.

Workshop leader Shannon Stott says she has seen improv change lives on and off the stage. She has performed and taught improv for 20 years and now regularly highlights that crossover.

The most important thing, she says, is “to listen to yourself and answer yourself honestly. Your body tells you so much information, and because of society's eyes (a.k.a. the audience) we often don't listen. The consequences can be painful.

That self-awareness makes all the difference in relationships. "Understanding what your relationship is to anyone will inform your scene," Stott says. "Much of the feedback I get sounds like ‘I didn't know I was doing that’. When you are unaware, choices are often made for you, on stage and off.”

Regarding festivals focused on women and non-gender-conforming performers, Stott says, “We must have safe places to practice being strong, outspoken, leading, being loud, silly, emotional and ourselves. Once you experience being heard and seen, you can recognize and internalize it so you can seek it out, on and off stage.”

The CFCF kicks off at 7:30 pm. Thursday, Feb. 27, with F*sT! (Female Storytellers) sharing their best of 2019. It’s likely to be the Fest’s first sell-out. The 9 p.m. show opens with improv duo Allreddy, featuring standup comedian Allana Erickson. Omega creates a long-form Harold, then Baby Fish Mouth Omega performs original sketches.

The 7:30 show Friday, Feb. 28, opens with duo team, I Was Promised Magic. Gretchen Wirges and Ally Tanzillo follow as Ex-Boyfriend. Then comes Phoenix’s RatQween, spontaneously formed at a recent Phoenix festival for female/non-binary/gender non-conforming people.

At 9 p.m., TIM’s premier team, Soapbox, create scenes inspired by true anecdotes from the lives of community leader and former mayoral candidate Randy Dorman and the Fest’s two nationally recognized workshop leaders, Stott and Jill Bernard. A founding member of Minneapolis’ HUGE Theatre, Bernard has been a principal in that city’s ComedySportz franchise since 1993. She has taught improv all over the US, Europe and South America.

Following the Soapbox, at 10:30 p.m., Nicole Riesgo hosts Beginners and Veterans, a standup showcase featuring Rebecca Tingley, creator of the Let’s Talk About Sex, Baby comedy panel, and her frequent co-host, Cami Anderson. Also performing is Steena Salido, co-creator of Tucson's popular standup show Cunts Being Cunts Talking about Cunts and the all-Spanish-Language standup and improv show, Carcajadas, that features TIM’s Como Se Dice team. The rest of the bill comprises comedians who completed TIM’s standup class led by Mo Urban, founder or co-founder of five comedy series in Tucson. Graduates are multiple Moth award-winning storyteller Molly McCloy, TIM Company improviser Holly Hilton, and high-energy newcomer Brandi Dierinzo.

On Saturday at 6, TIM indie teams Three-Headed Monster, #PurseWine and Rough Around the Curves lead up to Unscrewed Theater’s From the Top musical improv team. At 7:30, Urban hosts an especially diverse CFCF Stand Up Comedy Showcase, featuring Jackie Kibler, Andrea Carmichael, Andrea Salazar, Savannah Hernandez and Bethany Evans.

The 7:30 p.m. show features Como Se Dice, TIM’s premier all-female team The Riveters and Jill Bernard performing her one-woman show, Drum Machine. It’s described as a “sweepingly epic, unscripted musical featuring multiple characters.” It’s been featured in more than 40 improv festivals.

Stott and Bernard each lead two workshops on Saturday and Sunday.

The Switch switches to Skybar

Fans of The Switch, where comedians riff off-the-cuff on suggestions texted in by the audience, must remember to head to Skybar at 8:45 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 27. The event has moved following a long run on Mondays at The Hut. The lineup for the debut includes Phoencians Anwar Newton and Erick Biez.

Standups sing, now

Both Tucson’s improv companies have musical teams, and there’s the child of Musical Mayhem known as One Rehearsal Short. Young, brash, awkward and twisted genius Jeremy Segal now has created Show Tune ShowCase, in which seven favorite Tucson Comedians sing show tunes in their sets. We hold our breath for voices we didn’t know existed, but Mo Urban’s always knocks us out in her rock duo. Others in this debut include Joe Tullar, Steena Salido, Tim Maggard, Eli W.T., Jesus Otamendi and Chris Quinn. It’s $5 at 7 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 29 at The Screening Room.

Let’s Talk About Sex, Baby

Rebecca Tingley’s no-holds-barred panel of comedy experts returns to Club Congress at 8 p.m., Tuesday March 3. The show pokes fun at taboos, silliness, awkward moments and other somewhat less than graphic aspects of the act, (because, after all, we all know the actual mechanics). Panelists and guests include Cami Anderson, Paul Fox and Charles Ludwig.

Even More Laughs!

Friday, Feb. 28, standup with Andrew Rivers (see last week’s Laughing Stock), 8 p.m., The O ($15, $30 VIP, via Eventbrite.com; $30, door); Patrick Deguire featuring Zach Pugh, 8 and 10:30 p.m., Laffs Comedy Caffe ($12.50, $17.50); and Last Friday - Last Laughs featuring Roxy Merrari, Ali Musa, Phoenix comic Noni Shaney, Battle at the Roast Room winner Allana Erickson, Michael Barnett, Stephanie Lyonga, Jeremy Segal and Eden Nault. Family-friendly improv with Not Burnt Out Just Unscrewed (NBOJU) at 7:30 p.m.($5 kids and $8 adults),and Free Form Friday Fight Night 9 p.m., Unscrewed Theater (free).

Saturday, Feb. 29, Standup with Patrick Deguire featuring Zack Pugh, 7 and 9:30 p.m., Laff’s Comedy Caffe ($12.50, $17.50). Family-friendly improv with (NBOJU) at 7:30 p.m., Unscrewed Theater ($5 and $8)

Free Open Mics

Sunday, March 1, 6:30 p.m., The O, and 8 p.m., Chuckleheads in Bisbee.
Monday, March 2, 6:45 p.m., The Surly Wench; 9 p.m., Kava Bar.
Tuesday, March 3, 6:45 p.m., Neighborhood Comedy. The Music Box Lounge.
Wednesday, March 4, 7 p.m., The Screening Room; 8:30 p.m., The Rock.
Thursday, March 5, 8 p.m., Laffs Comedy Caffe and 8:30 p.m., Rockabilly Grill.

Raise a glass in support of animal conservation at Reid Park Zoo’s fourth annual Wine Gone Wild, which returns to town Saturday, April 25 from 6 to 8 p.m.

The wine tasting and food pairing event benefits the zoo’s operations and will help “provide quality animal care through innovative medicine and enrichment and to inspire the next generation through conservation and educational programs.”

Wines and spirits will be provided by local and international wineries, distilleries and distributors, and will be paired with finger food from local eateries.

Other activities include wine glass painting, meeting ambassador animals and plenty of live music.

Pre-sale tickets are $65 per person and $60 for Zoo members. Designated drivers get in for $25. VIP Packages are $125 per person (only 30 VIP tickets available). Day-of event regular admission tickets will be sold at the door for $75 per person and $70 for Zoo members. Buy tickets online at https://reidparkzoo.org/event/wine-gone-wild-2020/.

The VIP “Winos for Rhinos” package will include an opportunity to meet one of the zoo’s white rhinos and a special T-shirt and bottle of wine. VIP guests also start the night at 5:30 p.m.

Guests at Wine Gone Wild must be 21 and older only with valid photo ID.

Laughing Stock
By Linda Ray

In a backwards ball cap, Andrew Rivers looks a little like Eminem without the pout or the baggage. His affect is a that of a slightly more animated Seinfeld. There’s no threat to his roll, but his comedy won’t let you get away.

Easily relatable, his jokes emerge unexpectedly from stories of life on the road with a not-that-weird upbringing in the rearview. His Dad was a well-known local radio personality and, as he tells it, his mom a lifelong chain- pot-smoker. Looking for love just leaves him bewildered.

Rivers’ laser-focused commitment to the comedy grind keep him on the road half the year. “Now that I’ve had some accomplishments and a comedy special. I’m hoping to take advantage of (it) and just book my own tours.

“I can’t keep plants or animals alive,” he says, “but there is something growing in my fridge right now. I haven’t named it yet.”

The comedy special Rivers’ cites drew 15 million Facebook views. His Dry Bar show, a 42 minute video of clean comedy, is available from his website along with two, full length CDs and a recording of jokes he made on his cell phone for each town he visited in 2016. He’s also in lots of podcasts.

“Having more outlets means more eyeballs on comedy. People can read this and then Facebook stalk me and buy tickets to the show within 5 clicks!”

Rivers performs at 8 p.m., Saturday, February 28 at The O. Tickets are available on Eventbrite for $12 to $30.

Estrogen Hour: Leap of Faith

There may never be a better name than “Leap of Faith” for this loosely-quarterly fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Like some ancient ritual, the event always coaxes a couple of Tucson’s leading women off the cliff into their first-ever standup comedy set. Miraculously, they find thunderous applause from a room full of friends and well-wishers. It almost always sells out.

On Sunday, Feb. 23 at 6:30 p.m., long-time crime reporter, journalist and author A.J. Flick takes the plunge, along with former soldier, radiologist and attorney Ramie Fisher.

The rest of the lineup is seen more often on Tucson’s standup, improv and storytelling stages. Amy Beson, Andrea Victoria Carmichael, Cathy Sproul, Claire Maguire, Mo Urban, Nicci Radhe, Rebecca Tingley and Suzie (Agrillo) Sexton. Estrogen Hour co-founder and Tucson Comedy royalty Nancy Stanley hosts.

Reservations are available for $15 via co-organizer Mary Steed’s LLS fundraising page at https://pages.lls.org/tnt/az/hikepnw20/MSteed. Laff’s has a two-item minimum.

My Bloody Valentine: A Comedy Showcase

Comedy at the Wench explores all the ways love can go wrong with its monthly comedy showcase at 7 p.m., Monday, Feb. 24. Comedians include locals Allana Erickson-Lopez, the stand-up half of the improv duo Allreddy; Aaron Panther, Eden Nault and recent Austin ex-pat Joe Tullar. Headlining is Curt Fletcher, who has been compared to Steven Wright and Mitch Hedberg. Also featured is Tamale Sepp, stopping by while living the dream on a two-year tour in her van.

This event has been selling out, and the layout makes it wise to arrive early to get a seat and order food and drink before the show. Reservations are $5 on Eventbrite.com.

Cactus Flower Comedy Festival

This great annual festival of female funny runs Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 27 through 29 at TIM Comedy Theater. There will be lots more about this in next week’s Laughing Stock, but it kicks off Thursday, with Tucson’s beloved F*ST (Female Storytellers) sharing their favorite stories of 2019 a 7:30 p.m. The 9 p.m. show features women from Allreddy, Harold Team Omega and sketch comedy by the women of TIM’s Baby Fish Mouth sketch team. The shows are $7, or included with a $30 fest pass.

Even More Laughs!

Friday, Feb. 21, Intimate Magic with illusionist Rod Wayne Housley, 8 p.m., The O ($15 via brownpapertickets.com; $20, door). Standup comedy with Gabriel Rutledge hosted by Mo Urban, 8 and 10:30 p.m., Laff’s Comedy Caffe ($12.50, $17.50). Improv with Harold Beta and Improv 101 Showcase, 7:30 p.m. ($5) and The Soapbox featuring Cero Tucson, 9 p.m., at Tucson Improv Movement (TIM Comedy Theatre) ($7 or $10 for both shows). Family-friendly improv with Not Burnt Out Just Unscrewed (NBOJU) at 7:30 p.m.($5 kids and $8 adults), and Free Form Friday Fight Night 9 p.m., Unscrewed Theater (free).

Saturday, Feb. 22, Standup headlining local comedy award winner John Raymond with John “Jon Jon” Hernandez, Nick Chant and host, Rich Gary, 8 p.m., The O ($5) Standup-improv mash-up, Set Unlisted, 7:30 p.m., and The Dating Scene at 9 p.m., TIM Comedy Theatre ($7 each, $10 both). Standup comedy with Gabriel Rutledge hosted by Mo Urban, 7 and 9:30 p.m., Laff’s Comedy Caffe ($12.50, $17.50). Family-friendly improv with Not Burnt Out Just Unscrewed (NBOJU) at 7:30 p.m., and Unscrewed Double Feature at 9 p.m., Unscrewed Theater ($5 and $8)

Wednesday, Feb. 26, Stand Up Science with Shane Mauss and a cast of scientists and comedians 7 p.m., 191 E. Toole. ($22)

Free Open Mics

Sunday, Feb. 23, 6:30 p.m., The O, and 8 p.m., Chuckleheads in Bisbee.
Tuesday, Feb. 25, 6:45 p.m., Neighborhood Comedy. The Music Box Lounge.
Wednesday, Feb. 26, 7 p.m., The Screening Room; 8:30 p.m., The Mint; 9:30 p.m., The Rock.
Thursday, Feb. 27, 8 p.m., Laffs Comedy Caffe and 8:30 p.m., Rockabilly Grill.

Romantic Comedy stars Vanessa Hollingshead

Maybe Laff’s should offer a prize for the first engagement of the evening. Valentines Day date night starts with dinner at 8, featuring dreamy “sirloin medallions with roasted garlic and bacon, smothered in a creamy Marsala sauce” or similarly salacious sounding chicken and salmon options. Sides include salad, vegetables and steamed basmati rice.

The main course, so to speak, are the laughs, delivered with style and sass by the estimable Vanessa Hollingshead. Classy and vulnerable under a veneer of New York brass, Hollingshead is an actor and playwright as well as a comedian. At age 18, she won a scholarship to study at the Lee Strasberg Theatrical Institute.

Her upbringing, though, was weird and awful, with occasional twists of psychedelic color. Spawned by self-absorbed, committed drug addicts in stereotypically hippie camouflage, Hollingshead has told interviewers that her mother rewarded her house housework with amphetamines. A tour of foster homes ensued. At least some prestige was involved: Her Father apparently introduced Timothy Leary and Sir Paul McCartney to LSD.

Once she learned she could make people laugh she worked as much as possible. Among her jokes, she’s created enough hilarious characters to populate a madhouse. Within two years, she began supporting herself with comedy. When personal tragedy took her off-track for a few years, she says, a cruise-ship booking eventually rescued her. Call it a Love Boat.

Reservations for Love and Laffter: Dinner Date at 8 are $30 via laffstucson.com/valentine. Beverages, tax and tip are added after the show, Hollingshead also performs at Laffs’ regular showtimes: 10:30 Friday, and 7:30 and 9 p.m. Reservations are $12.50 and $17.50 via Laffstucson.com

Minting Mishka

If you’ve been looking for a reason to revisit The Mint, here’s a great one. Author, guitarist, songwriter and comedian Mishka Shubaly performs there at 8 p.m., Wednesday, February 19. Admission is by donation.

The Mint's interior has benefited from some deft remodeling by its most recent owners. The bar feels lighter and roomier. The stage is smaller, but brighter and ideal for the Wednesday, 9 p.m. open mic hosted there most of the year by long-time Tucson comedian Joey Giron.

Shubaly released his 12th Amazon book last December in audiobook form,  It’s his fifth since his 2011 bestseller, The Long Run. Jeff Bezos is a fan. Titled This Van Could Be Your Life, the new work explores the meaning of family as revealed over a thousand-mile journey in a rickety van with seven family members in crisis.

Shubaly is best known in the comedy world for having composed the soundtrack for The Unbookables, a raunchy film frolic through the travails of Stanhope’s friends and acolytes on a tour of sketchy midwestern comedy clubs. Among the film's comedians is Kristine Levine, now co-host of The Frank Show on 96.1 KLPX. Levine frequents The Mint open mics, and Stanhope has made unannounced visits there to perform with friends.

Shubaly's official featured comedian is Ray Porter whose main hustle is narrating audiobooks. According to industry resource Audiofile, Porter can speak with 27 accents. That could be a whole set.

Comedy A – Z at The O

Ali Musa and Matt Ziemak, two of Tucson’s hardest working, and commensurately popular, local comedians, play on their names for the title of their show at 8 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 15 at The O. Tickets are $5. It’s a chance for Tucson comedy fans to see them stretch into much longer sets than local showcases allow.

Ziemak co-hosts, with Rory Monserrat, the monthly comedy showcase Brew Ha Ha at Borderlands Brewery. He also co-hosts, with Green Shirt Guy Alex Kack, the popular concept show, The Switch, which moves from The Hut to Skybar starting Thursday, Feb. 27 at 9 p.m. The Switch invites audience members text fun words for the night's lineup of comedians to riff on. The show is free.

Register to vote by Feb. 18!

Thank goodness for Capitol Steps. Founded in the Reagan era, they’ve continued to remind us that politics can be funny, and that without the First Amendment, we might not be able to laugh about it. On Saturday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m., the D.C. comedy troupe performs at the Fox Tucson Theatre to benefit the UArizona Hillel Foundation’s annual campaign. Tickets are $65 to $145 via foxtucson.com, and $180, which includes a $90 donation to the Hillel Annual Campaign, at uahillel.org.

Lots More Comedy

Thursday, Feb. 13, improv showcase for Improv 101 and 201 at 7:30 ($5), and a free public improv jam at 8:30, TIM Comedy Theatre (Tucson Improv Movement), and standup

Friday, Feb. 14, standup with The Amazing Cop Comic Jim Perry with locals Chris Haughton and Allana Erickson-Lopez, 7 p.m., Coyote Trail Stage, 8000 N. Silverbell Rd. ($10); long-form improv with Harold Team Alpha and The Dating Scene at 7:30 p.m. ($5) and The Soapbox at 9 p.m. ($7) at TIM Comedy Theatre (TIM)($10 for both shows). Family-friendly improv with Not Burnt Out Just Unscrewed (NBOJU) at 7:30 p.m. and Freeform Friday at 9 p.m., Unscrewed Theater ($5 and $8).

Saturday, Feb. 15,  improv with The Laugh Tracks and Game Show Show at 7:30 p.m., and Standup 101 Showcase and The Dating Scene at 9 p.m. at TIM ($7, both shows for $10, $2 off with Cat Card). Family-Friendly Improv with NBOJU at 7:30 p.m., and House Team Double Feature at 9 p.m., Unscrewed Theater ($5 and $8).

Free Open Mics

Sunday, Feb. 15, 6:30 p.m., The O, and 8 p.m., Chuckleheads in Bisbee.
Monday, Feb. 16, 7 p.m., Comedy at the Wench,
The Surly Wench Pub.
Tuesday, Feb. 17, 6:45 p.m., Neighborhood Comedy, The Music Box Lounge.
Wednesday, Feb. 18, 7 p.m., The Screening Room; 8:30 p.m., The Mint; 9:30 p.m., The Rock.
Thursday, Feb. 19, 8 p.m., Laffs Comedy Caffe and 8:30 p.m., Rockabilly Grill.

Led by frontwoman Marta DeLeon, on “Baby” The Weekend Lovers gnash their teeth and snarl unrepentantly while fending off those pesky ghosts that cause disturbances in the night.

“Yes it's another song called "Baby" about breaking up with macro and micro manipulations, insomnia, ghostly lost dreams and double jointed arms that don't bend for you,” says DeLeon.

“It's crazy the way you haunt my dreams.../Don't worry me it's not my arms you want/It's just the way they bend/I wanna sleep throughout this life/Instead of waiting round again/I'm not so sweet, you're not as wild as that, it's just the way it ends/I'm not the seat for you to ride upon to get to where you're at.” –Marta DeLeon, Weekend Lovers, from “Baby

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Recorded at Midtown Island Studio, with Matt Rendon behind the mixing board, “Baby”—the Lovers' latest single—packs a Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em sonic wallop.

The track surges with a torrent of organ, towering backup vocals and chiming guitar that evinces another era, while DeLeon’s voice seethes, with a velvety wistfulness reminiscent of a leather jacket-clad Christine McVie, rising to a throaty boil.

“Baby” is released in advance of a forthcoming album.

Check it out here.

In line with ancient Celtic myth, not unlike the mighty Boudica, Queen of Iceni, on The Orange EP these formidable women warriors lead us to higher realms of feminine intuition and spiritual wisdom, to arrive at a mysterious landing.

Otherworldly voices, folk harp and viola delicately commingling, Mariah McCammond (Loveland) and Deanna Cross (The Unday, For Love or Absinthe) are The Hatpin Duo.

McCammond’s voice, underpinned by her delicately plucked harp, call out like a siren, planting dreams, entwined with Cross’ fine-drawn viola lines together form a potent hothouse for the mind to put forth shoots.

The Hatpin Duo celebrate the release of The Orange EP with a soirée. On Saturday, Feb. 8. The event features a dance performance by Kinetic Arts, an art exhibition by Liz Weibler (The Orange EP cover artist) and a set from DJ Buttafly. At Kinetic Arts Tucson.

Tucson chef, Jeronimo "Mo" Madril, owner of Geronimo's Revenge food truck, wins the top prize on last night's Guy's Grocery Games, hosted by Guy Fieri. Madril and his team partner will be taking home $16,000.

The episode's theme was World Fusion, where contestants were teamed up with another chef representing a different country. The match ups were China and India, Philippines and France, Mexico and Singapore -Madril represented Mexico.

Madril's team easily got through to the second round, sending home the China/India team.

"I felt India and China had it. It's a winning combination that has been going together since the dawn of time," Madril said in regards to his feelings starting the first round. "We felt privileged to be in that position."

Madril and his partner went head to head against the Philippines/French team in the second round, where the challenge was to have a creative take on a traditional dish. Since Mo's team won the first round they got to choose their dish - fish and chips.

Mo's team created a Sapporo-battered fish, marinated in green curry and tamarindo, with yucca tots on the side. With less than 10 minutes to go, disaster struck for Mo's team - the tot's turned to mush in the fryer.

"Everything shattered, and I knew taking on those tots would be a big challenge," said Madril. "We just looked at each other can came up with our next best option of yucca chips."

Madril said he and his partner had discussed making yucca chips from the start, but opted to do something a bit more challenging to WOW the judges.

"Taking on fish and chips, we wanted to present something that was a challenge and not do basic stuff," Madril said. "But yucca chips was the way to go at the last minute."

The judges agreed and Mo's team beat out Philippines/France to win the show and $16,000.

You can congratulate Madril at his food truck usually parked at Che's Lounge on any given weekend night. Jim Vancza, co-owner of Che's Lounge, said the whole staff and the bar's regular patrons are very proud of Madril. Madril, who was a barback for many years at Che's, got his start hosting pop-up dinners on Thursday nights at the bar.

"He was a very dedicated employee and we saw his potential in the culinary arts," Vancza said. "We've been proud to support him through all of his ventures and very proud of his accomplishments."

Break out the chips and frost those tips because Tucson chef, Mo Madril of Geronimo’s Revenge food truck is appearing on Guy Fieri’s Guy’s "Grocery Games" this Wednesday night on Food Network at 8 p.m. MST.

If you’ve never seen the show, the best way to describe it is as a reboot of legendary '80s daytime game show, "Supermarket Sweep," but with a cooking element. It stars flaming-rayon-shirt enthusiast, Guy Feiri.

“It was quite an experience,” Madril said. “I needed to learn where everything was and you get like 30 minutes to figure everything out.”

World Fusion is the title of the upcoming episode. While Madril can’t discuss too much about the show or what he made due to contractual obligations, he did say he “definitely represented Mexico."

“We got teamed up with another person from a different country and we had to work together,” Madril said. “We didn’t know who we were being paired with until we got there.”

Madril can talk about meeting Fieri. He said His Flamed Highness is just as boisterous as you would expect but a “really nice guy” who is actually concerned about how well the show’s contestants do.

“(Fieri) wants you to win, he really wants you to go for it,” Madril said. “It’s not like he can tell you much, but if you need anything he’s there to help.”

There will be a viewing party at Che’s Lounge located at 350 N. 4th Ave. on Wednesday, starting at 7 p.m. Madril said he’ll be recreating the signature dish he made on the show for guests to try, but he still can’t talk about what the actual dish is.

“I got my start at Che’s, building up my reputation doing pop-up dinners on Thursday nights,” Madril said. “I definitely have to pay tribute to my home base.”

On January 14, Tucson author Nancy E. Turner released her newest novel, Light Changes Everything. The historical fiction based in rural Arizona focuses on a young feminist in 1907 aiming for a better future. Light Changes Everything is a new take on the experiences of young women living in the Wild West. Turner, a University of Arizona alum, recently shared her inspiration behind protagonist Mary Pearl, a girl looking to attend college and stray from the norm of marriage, believing her value to be greater than that of only a housewife.

Light Changes Everything was published by St. Martin's, and is available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon and more.

What was your inspiration for the book?

The idea came because back in 1907, Arizona was not quite a state yet, it was pretty much just the wild west. I had an opinion on the people who lived there and how they lived. Women had a whole lot of rights that they did not have in-state, meaning they could own businesses, they could be the boss of things, they could make contracts and have bank accounts without having a father or a husband in charge of their lives. Whereas in the eastern states, if a girl married, she belonged to the man. They did not have the kind of right that a woman in a territory had, so I imagined a young woman from that year with the feeling that she was her own boss packing up her pistols and going off to school… Then I looked for where might she go to school and discovered that in 1906, Wheaton College in Illinois was the only institute of higher learning that was openly recruiting women students and I thought that would be a great place for her to go and meet the challenges of a completely different set of rules.

Are there any writing or storytelling techniques in this book that you feel you were unable to manage in your first book?

I think there was a lot more crafting as far as editorially putting together seeds that depicted the story as opposed to just telling a straight linear tale.

Your book alludes to much of Jane Austen’s work and her stance on feminism, how do you think you contributed to her ideas?

I think in terms of maybe giving someone something to think about, Jane Austen's books that I mentioned that were typical of the era where the women had to marry someone or they would starve, they were really in a fix and finding the right husband was key to their happiness. So my character Mary Pearl is absolutely determined that that's not what her life is going to be about. So I suppose if it contributes anything it may contribute some talking points for the opposite idea that a girl could amount to something without having a husband that they could depend on. It’s a little more modern take on it because in Arizona the women had so much freedom in those days that I think it would have been appropriate to the era.

Jane Austen was a big inspiration to your character as well. Who are some of your literary influences?

I would have to say that the very first book I ever read and that made me feel as if I wanted to become a writer and be able to do that was Truman Capote. The reason is those are two extremely different [Grass Harp, In Cold Blood] stories. One was a real life account of a murder and the other one was a beautiful, lyrical growing-up story about a boy who lives with two crazy old aunts, and it's so completely opposite and yet they're both so touching and gripping. I felt like his command of word is something I wanted to go for. I'm not saying that I come close to that, but I read a lot of different authors and particularly, I'd have to say Truman Capote, Barbara Kingsolver, Mark Twain and even Nathaniel Hawthorne are my most favorite writers. Their works stand the test of time and that truly is amazing… I always look for unsung heroes, especially women, who had to be strong against odds that people face today but we don't even realize how much strength it takes. I’m always, always impressed by women who are kind of going against the grain.

How do you think your novel differs from others' historical fictions?

I think it differs in that the main character is the narrator so it requires really getting into the mindset, the morality, social things of the time like a girl couldn’t contact a man, she’d have to wait to be asked… It’s a fictional character but everything is so heavily based on my research that I do believe it could have happened. It's not just a romance, it's not about romance, it's about personal growth.

Ana Teresa Espinoza is a University of Arizona journalism student and Tucson Local Media intern.

On Queenie, songstress Just Najima’s debut album, her impassioned voice simmers and seethes. Her prose dripping with ‘tude—“I Ain’t Got Time (For That Shit)”—can impale a stake straight into the gut.

Like on “America Blues,” she wails about Michael Brown and how the system let a murdering cop go free, “injustice crying out.” Defiant, Najima holds her ground, firmly. “I said I won’t pledge allegiance, until I see some equality, for black folks like me.”

Queenie is not easy listening. Just Najima’s unique “Southwestern Gothic soul”—conveying a modern sense of urgency veiled in a traditional framework—is unafraid to walk through the darkness. Fearlessly she chants, “It’s a wicked world. Let’s burn it down.”

Najima shares a few thoughts with XOXO.

How did Queenie come about?

When my last band [The Sinners] broke up in 2018, I was devastated. I poured my heart break into writing a bunch of songs. But those songs were also a leap of faith. I had no money, no connections and no band. Around that time I got involved in a group for female musicians and met Jillian Bessett. Jillian was about to start offering to do independent recording in her home studio. So I became her first client.

Without material, what did you work on?

Initially, we sang mostly old blues songs. No originals. So it is a new thing for me to write and arrange/compose my own music. Working with Jillian was amazing. We were able to communicate, through music, in a way that helped me to take this stuff from inside my head and make it real.

Is the material on Queenie written entirely by you?

Yes, for the most part. “Somebody Talking About Jesus” is an old spiritual Christmas song. I changed the lyrics to be about the broader crisis. “America Blues” is my take on JB Lenoir’s [American blues guitarist/singer-songwriter, active in the Chicago blues scene in the 1950s and ‘60s] old civil rights song “Alabama Blues.” But the rest of the songs I wrote and composed myself. Jillian helped me make them real and we worked on producing them together.

Is there a message that you are trying to convey to your audience?

The album is about the journey, I believe, all intelligent, empathetic people have been feeling the last several years. We went from 'Yes, we can' to 'holy shit, I guess we can’t.' It’s been an ugly and dark time. I know lots of people have felt battered and disheartened by the world around them. The album goes on that journey from carefree to dark and disaffected. But it ends on a bittersweet note of resilience and resistance.

Who else played on the recording?

Chris Callahan (Shrimp Chaperone) played guitar. Becky Diamond and Sarah Mohr played piano. Backing vocals, Jillian, Katherine Byrnes and me. It was a small shop and we cranked it out, working mostly nights, because Jillian has three kids and I have one. It was really just love, love, love and women supporting one another that really created this album.

When was Queenie recorded?

Last February. It’s all just like fallen into place. And honestly, I don’t really know how. I mean, obviously, I’ve been busting my ass. But, I can’t believe how far I’ve come in such a short period of time.

So, what’s next for Najima?

I’ve been singing my entire life. But always lending my voice to other people’s music. I’ve always had a powerful voice. But, I never thought of myself as a real musician. After my band broke up in 2018, I started singing mostly backup. But, the truth is I had limited myself and I just couldn’t see it until the band ended. I was scared to be the front person. I was scared to have a vision. But, then I was like...I think I can do this. And, I started writing.

And, the future looks bright. Here's a glimpse.
Just Najima celebrates the release of Queenie with an extravaganza: The Apocalypse Cabaret explodes with fabulousness on Friday, Jan. 31. At Club Congress. Flor De Nopal, Jaime J. Soto and Jeena Doucure provide musical, drag and burlesque performances.

Queenie is available on iTunes, Spotify and Bandcamp on Jan. 31.