Archive by Author | calamityjaimie

Jody Sharpe – 3rd place winner!

Jody Sharpe won third place in Fantasy in the At-large division of the 2021 NFPW Communications Contest! She won for her book, Town of Angels Christmas. Congratulations, Jody!

There was strong competition in the At-Large division with entrants from 18 states, the District of Columbia and Spain.

Jody and the other APW members who won awards in the contest will be honored at our annual State Conference on May 14 at Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West. Besides our business meeting and honoring winners, we’ll have two excellent speakers, a salad lunch and a private docent-led tour of the museum. (Free parking is available.) See the tab above for details and to register. Both members and guests are welcome.

Chrisann Dawson – two awards!

In the At-large division of the 2021 NFPW Communications Contest, Chrisann Dawson won 2nd in General Non-fiction for her devotional, Principles and Proverbs from Pride and Prejudice. And she received an honorable mention for her novel in the Fiction for Adult Readers category, Congo Crisis.

Chrisann will be recognized at the 2022 APW State Conference on May 14 (see tab above) and  will be selling her books at the Payson Book Festival on July 23.

This year’s At-large division of the Communications Contest had strong entries from 18 states, the District of Columbia and Spain.

Congratulations, Chrisann!

 

 

 

Marie Fasano – another multiple award winner!

APW member Marie Fasano won three second place awards in the 2021 NFPW At-large division of the Communications Contest! Congratulations, Marie!

Marie won 2nd place, photo/writer; 2nd place, Informational Column and 2nd place, Feature story. Her entry, “Celebrating women of Rim Country working in non-traditional roles,” appeared in the Payson Roundup. (Click on the link to read her article.) The photos accompanying the article are in the gallery below.

There was stiff competition in the At-large division with strong entrants from 18 states, the District of Columbia and Spain. Marie and all APW winners will be honored at our annual state conference on May 14. (See tab to get details and to register.)

Bobbie Bennett – multiple awards!

APW member Bobbie Bennett won four awards in the At-large division of the 2021 NFPW Communications Contest. The awards were for the February 2021 edition of the Beaver Valley Bulletin, the community newsletter she regularly edits and writes for.

Bobbie’s awards included 2nd place, Publication regularly written by entrant; 3rd place, Publication regularly written by entrant; and two honorable mentions for Publication regularly written by entrant. The At-large division was extremely competitive this year with entrants from 18 states, the District of Columbia and Spain.

Good job, Bobbie! The Bulletin is chock full of news pertinent to this Arizona community and is clearly a labor of love.

Brad Graber – another 1st place winner!

Brad Graber was the second of three First Place winners from APW in the At-large division of the NFPW 2021 Communications Contest!’

Boca by Moonlight won first place in the category “Fiction for adult readers.”

Brad’s book will go on to the national level of judging. National award winners will receive a Certificate of Achievement at the NFPW National Communications Conference Awards banquet to be held in Fargo, ND June 23-25 plus be recognized at our state conference on May 14. Entries from 18 states, the District of Columbia and Spain competed in the At-large division.

Brad is the afternoon speaker at our State Conference. His talk is ” THE STORIES WE TELL OURSELVES: THE IMPORTANCE OF SHIFTING OUR MINDSET.” Find out how his tips could help you create an award-winning book too! Click on the tab above or go to https://arizonaprofessionalwriters.org/2022-apw-state-conference/

APW Book Group 4/23/22 Marylee MacDonald

Karen Lateiner is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: APW Book Group – Speaker Marylee MacDonald on Body Language
Date: Saturday, April 23, 2022
Time: 10:00 AM Arizona
Zoom: The Zoom link has been sent to book club members. APW members and nonmembers are welcome to attend. Contact Karen for the link. It is also posted in the Members Only tab.

Message from the speaker:

Hi Everyone,
I made a short video about the book, and I invite you to watch it. A picture is worth 1000 words!

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/678908333?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=58889930

Here’s the Amazon link. https://www.amazon.com/Body-Language-unforgettable-portraits-heartbreak-ebook/dp/B08414S74Y/  An audio version is also available, narrated by Adam Barr.

Knowing this group, I’m thinking that the stories you would most enjoy reading are “The Blue Caboose,” “Voices,” and “Year by Year.”

Although you might not guess it, the story that is drawn most directly from personal experience is “Body Language.” My personal favorite is “Tito’s Descent.”

If you’re short of time, my suggestion is that you skip to the middle of the book and find the three stories I’m recommending that you read. The good thing about short stories is that you can read them in one sitting, and I hope you will enjoy the chance to dip into the lives of some of my favorite people.

 

Jan Cleere – 1st place winner!

Jan Cleere is one of three First Place winners in the At-large division of the NFPW 2021 Communications Contest!

Jan won 1st place in the Books, Biography or History category. Her entry, Military Wives in Arizona Territory: A History of Women Who Shaped the Frontier, will go on to the national level of judging. National award winners will receive a Certificate of Achievement at the NFPW National Communications Conference Awards banquet to be held in Fargo, ND June 23-25.

Accord to Teri Ehresman, contest director , “We had an extremely competitive at-large contest again this year. We had strong entries from entrants from Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Spain, Washington D.C. and Washington state.”

Congratulations, Jan, and good luck!

 

 

APW wins big in the At-large contest!

Arizona winners in the 2021 At-large NFPW communications contest

From Teri Ehresman, Contest Director: “You have an outstanding number of winners again this year in the NFPW at-large communications contest.”

Bobbi Bennett – 2nd place, Publication regularly written by entrant; 3rd place, Publication regularly written by entrant; two honorable mentions for Publication regularly written by entrant

Wynne Brown — Honorable Mention, Books, Biography or History

Jan Cleere — 1st place, Books, Biography or History

Chrisann Dawson – 2nd place, general fiction; Honorable Mention, Fiction for adult readers

Jodi Decker — Honorable Mention, Specialty Articles, History

Marie Fasano — 2nd place, photo/writer; 2nd place, Informational Column, 2nd place, Feature story

Rebecca Goodrich — 1st place, Short Stories

Brad Graber – 1st place, Fiction for adult readers

Janelle Molony – Honorable mention, specialty articles, history

Jody Sharpe — 3rd place, Novellas

We had an extremely competitive at-large contest again this year. We had strong entries from entrants from Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Spain, Washington D.C. and Washington state.

Congratulations to all! First place winners in their category move onto the national contest.

APW State Conference

Registration is opening for our 2022 State Conference!

May 14, 2022 from 10-3 at the Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West

The conference is presented by Arizona Professional Writers (APW), a non-profit statewide organization of professional women and men in the communications field. We invite both members and nonmembers. The conference includes two excellent speakers, a salad lunch in the garden, and a private tour of the museum. Free parking is available.
Cost for all this is $50 for members, $60 for nonmembers and $75 at the door.
Our morning speaker is Dr. Karen M. Bryson (Dr. B) speaking on “TOP TEN REASONS YOUR BOOK ISN’T SELLING AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT.”
Brad Grabor is our afternoon speaker, whose topic is “THE STORIES WE TELL OURSELVES: THE IMPORTANCE OF SHIFTING OUR MINDSET.”
We hope to see you there!

APW April Virtual Meeting 4-9-22

To All APW Members: Susan Anderson is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

TOPIC: APW Central Meeting – Elizabeth Graham on her book –Democrazy
DATE: Saturday, April 9, 2022
TIME: 10:00 AM Arizona
ZOOM: The Zoom link has been sent to members. Nonmembers are invited to attend as well. If you did not receive the link and would like to attend, email Marie Fasano at mafasano1@gmail.com or look under the Members Only tab for the link.

Bio: Elizabeth Graham had a top secret clearance at the age of seventeen with the CIA. She spent about twenty-five years living and working abroad: Soviet Union, then Russia, Central Asia, and other former Soviet pack countries. She was a consultant in war-torn Afghanistan, Rwanda, and Bosnia. Her real-life multi-cultural experiences in totalitarian and dictatorship countries give her a great vantage point to comment on the Trump-era and how other countries view the U.S. racism, violence, and our democracy. She recently authored DEMOCRAZY, Version 2020 and is working on her second book.