All about angels- January Central Chapter meeting
APW Central Chapter hosted Jody Sharpe in January on the topic of “The Angels On The Writer’s Shoulders.” Writing about angels became healing for Jody after losing her daughter. The valuable lessons learned about moving forward have set her on a mission to tell stories with love and spiritual awakening, which she shared with the attendees.
Central Chapter Director, Barbara Lacy, said of the meeting, “I have been thinking about ‘my’ Angel ever since!” Two memories came to mind. Here’s one of them in Barbara’s words”
“..two things that happened because of Amazing Coincidence’s. . .that I never could have imagined.
“In 1977, my family and I lived on the Navajo Reservation. I was working on a book about Navajo plant use—being careful to leave out anything about sacred plants. I even had a publisher.
“Then, the Navajo Medicine Men’s Association heard about the book and, as men who were charged with protecting the Tribe’s sacred knowledge of plants, they banned my book. I had finished my project by then. . .and left the Reservation that week.
“Almost 10 years later, a woman professor from Illinois who came to the reservation every summer to research Navajo music, walked into the (now defunct) Navajo Press Bookstore to see what was new. Sitting on the counter was my manuscript!
“’Oh,’ she said, ‘Are you publishing Nanise?’
“’We want to, but we can’t find the author,’ the clerk said.
“My friend (or Angel!) pulled her address book out of her purse and gave her my Phoenix address! (I had met her the summer I stayed behind, after my family had moved to Phoenix, to finish up book details. She spoke Navajo and had been in the room when the Navajo Medicine Men banned the book and told me of their decision right after the meeting. I knew her for all of three days that summer and had no contact with her once I left the Reservation.)
“Did my Angel put the manuscript on the counter that day and direct my friend to the bookstore? Had that meeting almost ten years earlier been directed by my Angel?”
Next month we hear from Jan Cleere who researches interesting Arizona women and writes about them and will talk about sources for research.
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- Barbara Lacy
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- Jan Cleere
Rim Country Chapter January 8, 2020 meeting
An Arizona Professional Writers meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 8, 2020 from 1:00-2:00 pm at the Majestic Rim on Tyler Parkway in Payson. Members and guests are welcome. Our guest speaker is Andy McKinney who will be speaking on the history of storytelling and will give some examples of first paragraphs that do or do not grab the reader.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Andy lived for thirty years in Alaska. The long winters gave him plenty of time to watch movies. He now lives in the Great American Southwest in retirement. He writes a regular newspaper column on current movies for the Payson Roundup. This is his second nonfiction work. He loves the flickers and finds zombie films fascinating and loads of fun. His book, A Gross of Zombies is his second non-fiction book after The Armed Forces of Iran.
DATE: Wednesday, January 8, 2020
TIME: 1:00-2:00 p.m.
WHERE: Majestic Rim at 310 E Tyler Parkway, Payson
SPEAKER: Andy McKinney, author, columnist and movie buff
Note: If you haven’t paid your 2020 dues you can bring your check to the meeting.
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- Andy McKinney
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- A Gross of Zombies by Andy McKinney
First APW event of 2020! – Central Chapter presents Jody Sharpe
Author Jody Sharpe
Saturday, January 11, award-winning author Jody Sharpe will be speaking to members and guests of Arizona Professional Writers in Phoenix on “The Angels On The Writer’s Shoulders.” A light lunch will be served.
DATE/TIME: Saturday, January 11 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
WHERE: the Fireplace Room of Shepherd of the Hills Church, 5524 East Lafayette Blvd., Phoenix, AZ., 85018.
COST: $15, which includes a light lunch. Pay at the door.
RSVP: by January 7 to Barbara Lacy- lacyarts@gmail.com or 480-620-1358.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Jody had a rewarding career as a special education teacher. Writing about angels became healing after losing her daughter. The valuable lessons learned about moving forward have set her on a mission to tell stories with love and spiritual awakening.
Says Jody about her writing, “I believe angels have always been guiding me. After my daughter’s death, experiencing messages in dreams, meeting a man who might have been a real angel set me on the spiritual journey of writing novels where angels live as humans, and no one knows the secret.” Books in her Mystic Bay Series are: “The Angel’s Daughter,” “To Catch an Angel” and “Town of Angels.”
President’s message – December 2019
Christmas Luncheon APW RIm Chapter 2019
President’s Page – December 2019
As we end this year, we want to thank each member who has been participating in all of our monthly meetings with many excellent speakers.
What we have accomplished in 2019
- We have increased our State and National membership.
- The PHX Central Chapter is up and running again, thanks to Barbara Lacy. (She will need more help in 2020.)
- Southern Chapter had a meeting and Barbara Marriot has agreed to be the contact person there.
- Our Trade Name is current with the Secretary of State.
- We revised our Bylaws and will be voting on them in May at our Spring Conference May 9.
- We were involved with ASU for several programs.
- Our joint fall conference with ANA was a success. Bobbie Bennett helped me with the logistics.
- We had a successful Payson Book Festival AGAIN thanks to Connie Cockrell and all our volunteers.
- The website and Faceboook pages are current with interesting information thanks to Jaimie Bruzenak.
The APW Treasury is in good hands thanks to Cheryl Kohout.
Member News
- Carol Osmon Brown lost her husband and best friend, Bing this year. She had to resign as Secretary and moved with her family to California. I keep her updated about APW happenings.
- We lost a long time member in 2019 Jane Eppinga and will be having a celebration of her life next year.
The Board of Directors: We will be having an election in May 2020. In the meantime, we want to thank Joan Westlake for her many years of service on the Board. She is busy with her consulting work. She will be turning over the membership duties to Connie Cockrell as of January 2020. Brenda Whiteside has agreed to replace Carol Osman Brown as Secretary. We thank them for their willingness to help at this time.
Enjoy your Holidays!!
Keep Writing,
Marie A Fasano
President, Arizona Professional Writers
Join APW or renew now for 2020!
Hi APW members! APW, Arizona Professional Writers, is affiliated with the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW).
This is a friendly reminder that your NFPW/APW dues will come due on January 1, 2020. If you are an NFPW member, you will receive a reminder directly from them. If you are a state-only member, you can pay anytime by sending a check to our APW treasurer, Cheryl Kohout:
Cheryl Kohout
751 S. Brown St.
Tucson, AZ 85710
Please mark on your check, or include a note, that it is for your 2020 dues. Also, if your contact information has changed, please make a note of that. You can also send any contact changes to Jaimie Bruzenak who keeps the directory up-to-date.
If you did not pay your dues last year, please reconsider joining! Being an NFPW member has many benefits. There are 4 types of membership—professional, retired, student and premium professional. See https://nfpw.org/join/
Our hope for 2020 is to continue the efforts APW President, Marie Fasano, has started, revitalizing APW and our chapter. The Fall Conference was a success. We will hold the Spring Conference on May 9, with a recognition ceremony, speaker and luncheon plus a fun activity. Both Rim Country and Central Chapters have been holding monthly meetings with excellent speakers. Jane Eppinga, who was chair of our chapter, recently passed away so for the time being, Southern Chapter will organize carpools to Central’s meetings.
Please join us and reap the benefits of our APW/NFPW membership!
Welcome, Elsa Bobier!
Elsa Bobier
We welcome new member Elsa Bobier to the APW Rim Country Chapter. Elsa has lived in the Rim Country area for the last 20 years. She enjoys the beautiful weather, nature and panoramic scenery. She has published poetry and writes many reports in her work as a senior Social Services Case Manager.
President’s Message – November, 2019
President’s message for November, 2019
Marie Fasano
In November we start planning for the holidays. Some may have family members over to their home; others share the days with friends and neighbors. Lots of writing takes place even if it’s just in cards and email notes.
This year, my first Thanksgiving as president, I am writing to you, the members of APW, to say “Thank you” for your commitment to your chapter by attending meetings to share your writing stories and learn more from excellent speakers.
We have recruited several new members in Central and Rim Country Chapters. There are new ideas to get the word out about you as a writer and to promote APW. Jaimie Bruzenak, our webmaster, has sent out a call to see who might be interested in participating in developing a short video for YouTube or an audio Podcast. Let us know what you think about this idea.
We are excited to announce our plans for 2020 including:
APW representation at the ASU Desert Nights Rising Stars Writers Conference on February 22 by six members: Jan Cleere, Jody Sharpe, Susan Anderson, Jane Ruby, Mary Rechkemmer Meyer and Barbara Lacy. To help with the registration fee, each author will pay a small amount to participate with APW taking up the remainder of the cost. This is just one advantage of being an APW member.
Plans are in place for a spring conference on May 7 in Payson. More info later. Save the date.
Don’t forget Rim Country’s Payson Book Festival July 18, 2020. Sign up early in January to hold your place.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Keep Writing,
Marie A Fasano
President, Arizona Professional Writers
Nancy Pellegrini to speak December 14 at Central Chapter meeting
Imagine being paid to write in a foreign land! Like our late member Patricia Myers, who spent summers in Paris writing about the jazz scene, Central Chapter speaker for December, Nancy Pellegrini, spent decades writing from South Korea, China and Europe. She will share her experiences with members and guests.
DATE: Saturday, December 14, 2019
TIME: 10 a.m.
LOCATION: Shepherd of the Hills United Church of Christ, 5524 E. Lafayette Blvd., Phoenix.
LUNCH: A $15 lunch will be served.
REGISTRATION: Members and non-members are invited. Register for this event by sending an email Barbara Lacy or call 480-620-1358.
SPEAKER: Nancy Pellegrini
Nancy Pellegrini
Nancy Pellegrini, a journalist who spent decades writing from South Korea, China and Europe, will share her experiences with Arizona Professional Writers at APW Central Chapter’s December meeting.
Nancy wrote The People’s Bard: How China Made Shakespeare Its Own (Penguin), 2016 and more than 1,000 articles on performing arts in China. She copyedited and proofed Penguin manuscript, wrote United Nations policy papers, and created articles for publications like the Christian Science Monitor.
Nancy managed a Beijing-based North Korean art gallery and led 40 tours in the country. In her spare time, she volunteered at the Beijing Zoo on orangutan enrichment projects. Now in Phoenix, she has opened Nancy Pellegrini Editorial Solutions, LLC, an editorial solutions business offering writing and editing services, copy editing, rewrites, ghostwriting and feature stories.
APW member Jane Eppinga passed away
Sad news to report:
Tucson has always been blessed with an abundance of creative people–particularly writers. One unique and talented voice was silenced today with the death of Jane Eppinga. Jane, a prolific writer, told us mostly true stories, mostly of Arizona’s past. She did it with enthusiasm and precision and dedication to accuracy. I first met Jane at a meeting of the Society of Southwest Authors. I saw her standing in a line and somewhat timidly approached her, because I knew she had a reputation for being a grande dame of Arizona writing. She quickly made me feel relaxed with her friendliness and genuine desire to be helpful. If she was a grande dame of anything, she didn’t know it! Jane took delight in many things–particularly her trips to Holland where she visited family. She lived alone, but connected to an enormous community of writers and readers. Readers are poorer for the lack of her voice in new works, but we will always have the multitude of books and articles she left behind. — written by former APW member Bunny Badertscher
Jane joined APW in 1979 and was Chairman of the Southern Chapter. You can also read a little about her background and how she came to Arizona at Desert Silhouettes.
Central Chapter Meeting, November 2019
November comes with a smile, a chuckle and many laughs!
Jodi Weisberg
Jodi Weisberg will show her comedy stripes and give tips on using humor in your writing at Central Chapter’s November meeting on Saturday, November 9, 2019.
Long time member and friend of APW, Jodi has a great background for humor. She is a retired attorney, worked as a journalist and as a stand-up comic. She is a former Bureau Chief and legal reporter for the Arizona Journal and has published about 1000 articles.
Jodi speaks on elder law and mental health issues … and of course, humor. She recently became a certified yoga instructor and a pet sitter.
Date: Saturday, November 9, 2019
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Place: Shepherd of the Hills, United Church of Christ, 5524 East Lafayette, Phoenix, AZ.
Lunch: A $15 lunch will be served. In your RSVP, let Barbara know if you are a vegetarian.
RSVP: Please RSVP to: Barbara Lacy.
Next meeting: Saturday, December 14, 2019. We will hear from a new member who will talk about writing from China.
Arizona Professional Writers 