Archive by Author | calamityjaimie
May 21, 2025  

Winners At-Large Communications Contest!

Congratulations to APW members who won awards in the At-Large Division of the NFPW Communications Contest this year! Arizona Professional Writers no longer has it’s own contest, but instead competes against entries from 20-some state affiliates that also do not have their own contest. Winning and placing is quite an honor! First place winners go on to compete at the national level contest. Winners of the national contest will be announced in June.

Carol Baxter
First place in Public Relations materials for “Day Tripping”

Chrisann Dawson
First place in Writing novels for adult readers for Congo Ebola

Jody Sharpe
First place in Novellas for adult readers for The Dog Who Came For Christmas

Nancy Marshall
Second Place in Writing novels for adult readers for Finding Zachariah in a Community Garden

Susan Anderson
Honorable mention in writing fiction children’s books for Cool, Cool Cactus Critters

May 20, 2025  

Photos from 5/17/25 State Conference

We had an excellent turnout at our 2025 APW State Conference. The speakers were excellent and we had fun playing Communication Bingo! Lunch was delicious too. Barbara Lacy, along with three of her four daughters, was guest of honor. Barbara is Artist of the Year for Paradise Valley and a number of her paintings were on display. Paradise Valley Town Hall was an excellent venue.

Kudos! These two ladies made this year’s conference a special event. Our president, Carol Baxter planned and led the event, adding Communication Bingo – a great way to get to know our fellow attendees – and several prizes including a raffle for a fabulous Mystery Box, making it even more fun this year. Vice President Bobbie Bennett searched out venues, choosing Paradise Valley Town Hall where one of our former presidents and Central Chapter chairperson, Barbara Lacy, had many paintings on display. She also ordered an amazing lunch from Panera Bread.

Speakers – Our speakers were excellent. Michele Nelson spoke on her podcasting journey. Darlene Ziebell surprised us with the multitude of ways AI helps her market and can be used by writers and authors. “Rock,” her AI Assistant, put together her presentation based on her instructions. And, Roger Naylor entertained us with his stories of how he came to Arizona and to be a writer and the importance of location.

Recognizing and honoring past president and artist, Barbara Lacy

Other officers and chapter chairpersons in attendance

Other photos

April 30, 2025  

APW Book Club 5/24/25 with Dr. Dawn Filos

Notes from Karen Lateiner, Book Club Chair

Turns out our author for our May Book Group is not ready, however one of our new members, Dr. Dawn Filos agreed to present her book, Saturday, May 24 at 10 am via Zoom.

Reminder: APW Annual State Conference will be held Saturday, May 17th. Information and registration can be found on the APW website http://www.arizonaprofessionalwriters.org. I hope to see you all there.

Our Purpose: The purpose of our book group is to hear wonderful presentations, read amazing books by members, and support each other by writing reviews on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Please take some time to acknowledge our authors.

Karen Lateiner is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Tales of A Pet Vet with Dr. Dawn Filos
Date: May 24, 2025
Time: 10:00 AM Arizona
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84792846640?pwd=Qaf9qsoOeZ5xbbIQ95IubMz3zbPq2O.1

Meeting ID: 847 9284 6640
Passcode: 208050
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kjLmLAAh9

All are invited to attend.

Tales of A Pet Vet: Stories from the Clinic and House Calls by Dr. Dawn Filos (pen name)

Dr. Dawn Filos’s own menagerie of pets, including Willie the woolly monkey, primed her for a career as a veterinarian. With emotional honesty, Dr. Dawn shares her heartfelt, and often hilarious journey, from nervous novice to seasoned, self-assured doctor. This modern-day James Herriot finds her niche as a house-call vet, with unique, intimate access into the homes and lives of her beloved patients and their human families. She understands with all of her heart that no visit or emergency is too trivial to a pet parent. After reading Tales of a Pet Vet you will never see your own vet the same way.

BIO

Dr. Dawn Filos grew up in New Jersey, in a family of eccentric animal lovers, preparing her for a lifelong career spent with like-minded pet people. She spent most of her career in Pennsylvania (Philadelphia and Bucks County), where she remained after veterinary school for most of the last 32 years. She now splits her time between Scottsdale, Arizona and East Hampton, New York.

Her blog DrDawnThePetVet.com was originally started to augment pet first aid classes, and pet CPR courses she taught for years. It began as more informational and evolved to focus on the benefits of the human-animal bond, a topic which interests her and features prominently and often throughout the book. She has contributed several Medical Mystery pieces to the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper, and hopes to pursue further writing in journals and other media, and is available for public speaking engagements.

dawnfmauro@gmail.com  Dawn Filos 267-994-2415 via Zoom.

 

April 30, 2025  

APW Typerider – May 2025

There is still time to buy your ticket to the APW Conference and mark your calendar for May 17th! Lunch is included.

I was touched by how many members reached out to me with words of encouragement and inspiration. Thank you!

I am looking forward to making and renewing connections at our Empowered Communication Conference, Saturday, May 17 at Paradise Valley Town Hall, 6401 E. Lincoln Blvd, Paradise Valley. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. and we’ll begin at 9:15 a.m.

  • view Barbara Lacy’s stunning art
  • glimpse Arizona through Roger Naylor’s eyes
  • learn about publishing in a niche market
  • find out from Darlene what you didn’t know you didn’t know about writing as a business
  • discover tips to help your writing business thrive
  • allow Michele to inspire you to begin a podcast
  • seek podcast guest opportunities for yourself
  • explore fresh ideas
  • play a game
  • win a prize
  • buy a raffle ticket for a chance at a mystery box
  • grab your s.w.a.g. bag
  • delight in a new friend
  • hug a friend you have not seen for a while

See you soon!

Carol

Carol Baxter, APW President

 

 

April 8, 2025  

APW Typerider Newsletter – April 2025

I’ve heard the word “authentic” bandied about the past decade, and in being authentic advice on the amount to share on social media.

Practical advice: If selling a book or class, the 80/20 rule applies. That is 20 percent sales, 40 percent behind the scenes of the book or class, and 40 percent fan and potential fan engagement.

For me, March was filled with the anticipation of a first grandbaby and the loss of a family member.

I was deep in the mists (pun intended) of writing a novel that began with a death and a life, but reality struck hard. My heart grew heavier than the novel I wanted to share with my readers, about a crone that lives in a forest in a house built on the legbones of a dragon and the pair of children that adopt her. Eyes tired from tears, I stepped back from my to-do list. I sought solace in time with my daughter, placed my hands on her belly, and told her son, “I can’t wait to meet you!” I called and had a wonderful conversation with a friend who I wished lived so much nearer than Michigan. I found mirth binge-watching “Nobody Wants This” on Netflix. I’ve kneaded bread dough, walked in the woods, and moved the island table in my office back about three inches – ah, breathing room … joy rediscovered in my one wild and precious life.

Those last four words belong to a quote by poet Mary Oliver (1935-2019)

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

This month, I will hold a grandson in my arms, write grants, finish designing the pages of a cookbook, swim, write the crone and those foundlings into the next scene, and the next, and the next.

In May I will stare at the Grand Canyon, laugh and soak in the sun from the deck of a pontoon, and celebrate being a wordsmith with professional writers.

How about you? Care to celebrate your gift?

Wishing you health and joy,

 

 

 

 

Read the rest of the newsletter to find out what is happening in each chapter. And it’s not too late to sign up for our State Conference to be held May 17.

April 3, 2025  

APW Book Club 4/26/25 with Mark D Walker

Karen Lateiner is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: The Guatemala Reader: Extraordinary Lives and Amazing Stories, by Mark D. Walker
Date: Saturday, April 26, 2025
Time: 10:00 AM Arizona
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83980882806?pwd=JfTPbbV9bAa6Og9kxQYOgZjxq1K9Qj.1

Meeting ID: 839 8088 2806
Passcode: 097427
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kppOG5Gzj

Book Overview
Guatemala draws up to 1.8 million tourists per year, whose visits start in the largest city in Central America with brief visits to ancient Mayan ruins and contemporary Maya villages, which provide a partial folkloric understanding of Guatemalan society. Over the last 50 years, Mark Walker has traveled to places most Guatemalans have never seen. He uses encounters with ordinary Guatemalans, profiles, and stories from local Mayan leaders, advocates, writers, and poets to bring a new appreciation and understanding of this country. Maps, graphs, facts sheets, and photos support 17 stories to provide insights into the inner workings of Guatemalan society.

Story Behind the Cover
The photographer who took the picture of the girl on the cover of The Guatemala Reader, Cliff Nagel, managed to find her ten years after he took the photo (she was six) to show her the picture on the cover of my book. She was thrilled and hugged Cliff. Albina still lives in Santa Catarina Palopó on the shores of Lake Atitlan, the deepest lake in Central America.

 

Bio for Mark D. Walker, Million Mile Walker

Mark D. Walker was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala (1971-1973) and spent over forty years helping disadvantaged people in the developing world with international agencies. His book, Different Latitudes: My Life in the Peace Corps and Beyond, was recognized by the Arizona Authors Association. His second book, My Saddest Pleasures: 50 Years on the Road, won the Peace Corps Writers’ Award for Best Travel Book. His latest book, The Guatemala Reader: Extraordinary Lives and Amazing Stories, is a Best Seller and recipient of the BookFest Award for Nonfiction travel. All three books are part of the Yin & Yang of Travel Series. He’s a board member of the Arizona Authors Association, Advance Guatemala and SEEDS for a Future as well as an Advisory Board member of Peace Corps Worldwide. His wife and three children were born in Guatemala. To learn more about Mark, visit MillionMileWalker.com and (1) Mark D Walker | Substack as well as a recent interview on Voyage Phoenix Magazine Life & Work with Mark Walker of Scottsdale – VoyagePhoenix – Phoenix

March 11, 2025  

APW Book Club 3/22/25 with Fawzia Mai Tung

Karen Lateiner is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Mirror in the Sand by Fawzia Mai Tung
Date: Saturday, March 22, 2025
Time: 10:00 AM Arizona
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82608532051?pwd=RkNb8HPoPj2MnEeuia7xUfC3xqhsHY.1
Meeting ID: 826 0853 2051
Passcode: 855944
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcvUIUEdM7

Mirror in the Sand by Fawzia Mai Tung

About the Book
Why would a French-speaking Chinese/Taiwanese girl study medicine in Amman, Jordan in the 1970s? Why did she feel compelled to leave after 11 turbulent years? Amman, Jordan in the 1970s and early 1980s was mushrooming from a laid-back sleepy city into a modern metropolis. In her eleven years in the City of the Seven Hills, Fawzia too evolved from an accidental Chinese teenage immigrant into a journalist and a psychiatrist, mesmerized by its rose gold dust at sundown, its archaeological treasures littering the landscape, the generous hospitality of its people, yet also some of its harsher cultural baggage: male chauvinism, honor killing, and attitude toward psychiatric patients. Fired with youthful ardor for reform, she threw herself wholeheartedly into work, only to find herself burned once too many times.

About the Author
Fawzia Mai Tung is a retired psychiatrist, journalist, and educator. Born in a diplomatic family, she grew up internationally, eventually settling down in Arizona in 1995. Now a mother of seven and grandmother of ten, she has published a middle grade picture book, The Wonderful Tale of Donkey Skin, the first of a series of retold fairy tales. Mirror in the Sand is book 2 in her memoir series “Life of a Rooster”, now available in paperback (Amazon) and on Kindle.

February 27, 2025  

APW Central Chapter Zoom Meeting 3/8 – Virginia Mohler

Susan Anderson is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: “To Retire or Retread, That is the Question.”
Date: Saturday, March 8, 2025
Time: 10:00 AM Arizona
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81633563990?pwd=rGSwTTbQi414NCHk4nHbPzgs59rf25.1

Meeting ID: 816 3356 3990
Passcode: 415018 – You will need the passcode at sign in.
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcFBAgQFqq

To Retire or Retread, That is the Question

Author Virginia Mohler retired from teaching in June of 2020 after over 50 years in the classroom. She presently writes children’s books that inspire and encourage young minds, as well as history and humor for adults. Virginia writes a weekly blog on her website to inform and entertain. These funny stories and little-known historical facts are meant to encourage and uplift those of any age.

 

February 11, 2025  

Takeaways from Betsy Love’s talk

Betsy Love spoke on Zoom to the Central Chapter of APW on Saturday 2/8/25. Betsy is a prolific writer. She has 33 published titles with two more that are close to completing. Her website is https://betsylove.com. Besides writing, she provides editing services and speaks at writers conferences. She agreed to share some of the resources she mentioned.

What do you do to jump start your writing if stalled? One inspiration for Betsy is the book The Elephant and the Ant: Leadership for the Self by Vincent Poscente. Poscente likens the dynamic between the conscious and subconscious minds to an ant and an elephant: “Our minds are separated into two distinct functions: the conscious and subconscious elements. Our ant is the intentional part of the brain, but our elephant is the instinctual, impulsive part of the brain that houses emotions and memories and even guides the body to perform vital functions. While we tend to know our conscious minds—our ants —rather well, we often overlook the power of our elephantine subconscious minds. When we do, unfortunately, we squander a wellspring of human potential.” Recognizing this makes a world of difference.

Betsy also shared the 5-count method for switching gears. If you are procrastinating, for instance, on working on a piece, then switch to that tab or program and count backwards aloud from 5 to 1 and start. The counting acts like a switch in your brain and helps you get out of that feeling of procrastination. Mel Robbins, author of The Let Them and other works, explains how it works on this podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRzWRZahOVU Betsy also finds this podcast on the 5 things you do before you go to bed here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFFsYZhn8Rg

Setting goals is also important. The Kanban Board developed by Sarra Cannon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3TN_CsT7Dc&t=585s – helps layout your quarterly goals which more workable than monthly or yearly goals. You get a bigger picture but not as overwhelming as looking at a whole year. With it you visually track your progress, current tasks and successes. Betsy posts it on her bedroom door so she passes it many times a day.

One example she gave from her writing life was deciding to write 12 books last year. She listed four on the first quarter that she was working on. She broke down her tasks. Most satisfying is when she could move a task to the completed section. She wrote 11! She admitted she’d never have written that many without having set a lofty goal.

If you get the opportunity to hear Betsy speak, take it. And go to her website for inspiration.

 

February 10, 2025  

APW Book Club Saturday, 2/22/25- Nancy Marshall

Karen Lateiner is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Finding Zachariah by Nancy Marshall
Date: Saturday, February 22, 2025
Time: 10:00 AM Arizona
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83806126638?pwd=2rgd2bPPxpcWotx6mTM9Q15rN9Pweb.1

Meeting ID: 838 0612 6638
Passcode: 020331 (You will need the passcode to enter)

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdAovOpBQ2

FINDING ZACHARIAH Synopsis
A feral cat finds a homeless human on an abandoned couch in an abandoned lot. Who knew that Sebastian, the cat, would become Zachariah’s best friend and help set this wounded warrior, a vet with PTSD, on the path to recovery and healing—and reconciliation with his estranged wife and two children? When Zorro, CeCe and their mom, Otoña, arrive at the community garden, little do they know what and who they will find. Meanwhile, Big Joe, a community garden activist, brings many things to the garden—volunteers, gardening science, and second chances for all who participate. FINDING ZACHARIAH in a Community Garden has layers of meaning and holds out hope for all of us who have faced hardship.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nancy Marshall

Nancy Hicks Marshall, a Long Island native and Arizona resident since 1975, brings a wealth of experience and passion to her writing. She is deeply influenced by her early life and love for gardening. Her father tended an organic vegetable garden, from his first “Victory Garden” during World War II through his retirement years. Nancy’s early exposure to gardening planted the seeds of her lifelong interest in cultivating both plants and ideas.

Arriving in Phoenix in 1975, Nancy encountered the unique challenges of gardening in a hot, dry climate. She quickly adapted her approach, learning to plant in the fall and winter while dealing with the scarcity of natural decomposition. As both a home gardener and a volunteer at two community gardens in South Phoenix, Nancy has gained insights into the science and art of gardening in challenging conditions.

Nancy’s journey through gardening has shown her the powerful impact of community collaboration. She has seen first hand how these gardens provide healthy food for families and foster essential skills and productivity among volunteers—from all walks of life. Her experience underscores the importance of resilience and innovation in nurturing both gardens and communities.

Through her work, Nancy aims to share the spirit of possibility and growth she has discovered. She hopes that FINDING ZACHARIAH inspires readers to explore the benefits of community gardening and apply the lessons learned to their own lives.

Contact the author
cell: 602-708-4614; email: nanmar4009@gmail.com; web: http://www.nuggetpress.com.
Get your copy of FINDING ZACHARIAH at: https://www.amazon.com/ or https://www.ingramcontent.com/,

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