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July 31, 2022  

APW August Virtual Meeting – 8/10/22 Dito Abbott

Connie Cockrell is inviting you to a meeting on Zoom.

Topic: APW Rim Country- Dito Abbott- When life Imitates Art
Date: Wednesday, August 10, 2022
Time: 1:00 PM Arizona
Zoom: Members have been sent the Zoom link. Nonmembers who would like to attend should contact Connie Cockrell at connie.cockrell @ gmail.com for the link.

DITO ABBOTT

“Adventure: When Art Imitates Life” is based on my experience in a wide range of creative disciplines, as well as incorporating my love for adventure.

In this presentation, I will talk about comfort zones and how they define our horizons, using examples from my artistic past, such as:

– Spending 3.5 years shooting a stop motion music video for my band, Too Many Drummers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T0ZCpfSaIA
– Drawing on my sailing experiences to write a novel
– The important role failure plays in creativity

Dito’s debut YA Fantasy novel, Debunked, draws on his love for adventure, googly-eyed slime beasts, and sarcastic swords of legend.

 

July 7, 2022  

President’s message – July 2022

Greetings!

I want to thank everyone who was able to for attending our 2022 Arizona Professional Writers conference. The venue was exceptional, and we had terrific speakers. We also held elections; many thanks to those who could stay on for another term. Thanks everyone as well for electing me as President. Many, many thanks to Bobbi Bennett, Marie Fasano, Jaimie Bruzenak, and everyone else who had a hand in organizing and putting on this wonderful event. I do hope you all can attend next year.

Treasurer needed: Most importantly, we are in need of a Treasurer. Our previous treasurer, Cheryl Kohout, has been an officer in the organization for decades now and has decided to step down. Of course the treasurer is a vital role in any organization and if you have some time, I promise you will not be overwhelmed with the role. You can contact me at connie.cockrell@gmail.com to talk about it.

June was the National Federation of Press Women annual conference. I had a great time in Fargo, N.D. It’s a lovely city and the venue was fantastic. Best of all, three of our APW members won or placed in the national Communication Contest. Let’s give hearty congratulations to Rebecca Goodrich who won a 1st place in her category, Jan Cleere who won a 2nd place, and Brad Graber with an Honorable Mention. I want to again honor the 9 members who won in the At-Large competitions, winning 15 awards total. These are stiffly competitive categories so all of our winners should receive a round of applause.

If you are thinking of attending next year’s NFPW Conference, it will be in Cincinnati, Ohio. The time spent with these fantastic, intelligent, and pretty darn witty women and men was a boon to my soul. The presentations were wonderful and one, on treating your customers as a non-profit treats their donors, was worth the price of the entire conference. Not saying the other presentations weren’t good, it’s just that that one had info that could be pressed into service that very minute. Don’t miss out on next year’s event.

July features the Payson Book Festival. It will be held July 23rd at the Mazatzal Hotel and Casino from 9am to 2:30pm. We have over 80 authors this year and an all-day, on-demand children’s program. In the Fireside room we have presentations by authors: Ditto Abbott, Jody Decker, Chrisann Dawson, Bryan Lee (aka Bullseye the Clown), and TJ Boyer. The topics range from poetry to bullying. I’m sure each one will be very interesting. I do hope you can make it to the Festival even if you aren’t a “seller.” It will be a great time to catch up!

Spread the word! Speaking of the Book Festival, we’re doing a lot of posting on our Facebook pages for both APW and the Book Festival. Take a look at those pages and share the posts. Lots of people sharing creates a big boost in the number of people who get to see each post. It’s an easy way for you to get to know the authors appearing and to help us drive attendance to the festival.

https://www.facebook.com/PaysonBookFestival and

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ArizonaPressWomen

That’s it for July. Everyone stay safe, enjoy the summer, and hope to see you at the book festival!

Connie Cockrell
APW President

June 15, 2022  

APW Book Group- 6/25/22- Elizabeth Graham

Karen Lateiner is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: APW Book Group -Elizabeth Graham Democrazy
Date: Saturday, June 25, 2022
Time: 10:00 AM Arizona
Zoom: The link will be sent to all members. It is also listed under the Members Only tab of the website. If you would like to attend and do not have the link, contact Karen.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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 gives 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.

 

June 10, 2022  

Webinar: Avoiding publishing scams 6-15-22

One of our APW authors received an invitation to this webinar by Archway Publishing’s Author Learning Center.

“We’ve become aware of widespread scams and misrepresentations targeting self-published authors. These fraud attempts come in different shapes and sizes—and are continuously evolving, becoming more sophisticated every day.”

ALC President Keith Ogorek discusses the recent increase in publishing-related scams, and how to tell the difference between a legitimate opportunity and fraud.

The webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, June 15, 2022 10:30-11:30 Arizona time.

Read more and sign up for the webinar here.

June 3, 2022  

APW June Virtual Meeting 6/11/22

Susan Anderson is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: APW Central: An introduction to Rebecca Goodrich and her memoir, Saving My Soul From Scientology, plus some high points on improving your books.
Date: Saturday, June 11, 2022
Time: 10:00 AM Arizona
Zoom: The link has been sent to all members. If you did not receive it or would like to attend as a guest, contact Susan Anderson for the link at Susan.APW@hotmail.com.

About Rebecca Goodrich:

Rebecca Goodrich

Raised in the family inventing business, Rebecca Goodrich left the glitter of California–and the deadly cult of Scientology–to build a houseboat in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. There, in the future home of the Deadliest Catch, Goodrich fought to protect her children from the cult they grew up in and introduced them to the elemental beauty and freedom of Dutch Harbor and its surprising community.

Rebecca started writing poetry at the age of 8. She learned business writing in the family inventing business. She was published at an early age in local publications and even in Reader’s Digest. Over the next 30 years, she worked in bookstores, published articles, and did editing. She won several awards for her writing and started a book project.

In 1994, she left her marriage, cult, and California for Dutch Harbor, Alaska. There she went back to college and worked for newspaper and radio. In 1998 she moved to Anchorage. She edited more and continued to win awards for her writing. She encouraged her editing clients to enter the NFPW Communications Contest and several won first place. She began writing Saving My Soul From Scientology in bits and pieces, fits and starts due to health issues from chemical injuries.

In October 2019, Rebecca moved to Arizona to visit family and friends for a couple of years but Covid froze her in place for months. Now she is finally ready to move back to Alaska and finish editing her manuscript.

Rebecca was a first place winner in this year’s At-large division of the NFPW Communications Contest for a chapter in her memoir.

Rebecca A. Goodrich (She/her/hers. Ally.)
Now in Sun City, Arizona
GHOSTWRITERS
Manuscripts, Editing, Publishing
Ideas rendered with clarity and strength.
home/ofc cell 480-682-7520
scribing@hotmail.com

May 23, 2022  

APW Book Group 5/28/22 Jody Sharpe

Karen Lateiner is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: APW Book Group -Jody Sharpe – 20 Moon Road, An Angels Tale
Date: Saturday, May 28, 2022
Time: 10:00 AM Arizona
Zoom: The link to the Zoom meeting has been sent to APW members. If you did not receive it or would like to attend as a guest, contact Karen at kslateiner@gmail.com. The link is also in the Members Only tab.

Hello all,
20 Moon Rd An Angel’s Tale is the 5th in the Mystic Bay Series. It can be read alone without reading the others. It’s a novella and pieces together all the themes and storylines of the other 4 books. It’s on Kindle Unlimited. See Jody’s YouTube Channel – Jody Sharpe. Her website is JodySharpe.com

About the author: Jody won NFPW awards for Town of Angels Christmas and for Special Needs Children The Angels On My Shoulder;.

TheAuthorsShow.com awarded her a place in “50 Writers You Should Be Reading.” The interview will be on TheAuthorsShow.com on May 9th for her first book, The Angel’s Daughter. Miracles still happen, in the town of Mystic Bay, California. Angels live as humans there. Angel Ken, a former football coach, is surprised when his late best friend, the indomitable psychic, Madam Norma, appears in spirit form and asks him to write the story of her life through her memories she will send him. Surprising to Angel Ken, Madam Norma saw thousands of angels since her childhood. This story is a tale like no other, an angel’s tale.

Sending with Light from the Angels, Jody Sharpe

Jody is looking forward to seeing you on Zoom. She would appreciate honest reviews – one sentence and stars of your choice.

May 18, 2022  

Rebecca Goodrich – and yet another winner!

And congratulations to APW member Rebecca Goodrich, our third winner of First Place in her category in the 2021 NFPW Communications Contest in the At-Large division!

“Saving My Soul from Scientology” won first in the Chapter in a Book category. Her story appeared in Cirque: A Literary Journal for the North Pacific Rim, Vol 11, No. 2.

Rebecca’s story 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.

Good luck at the national level, Rebecca!

May 15, 2022  

2022 State Conference is a wrap!

Our 2022 State Conference is over. It was special getting to see old friends in person; some we had only ever met on a Zoom call. We also had several guests plus our speakers and our 2022 scholarship winner and her father and brother.

President Connie Cockrell called the meeting to order. We accepted the slate of officers, welcoming Jody Sharpe to the Board and passed the budget. The winners of the At-large division of the NFPW Communications Contest who were in attendance were introduced.

Our morning speaker was Dr. Karen Bryson who spoke on “The Top Ten Reasons your Book Isn’t Selling And What To Do About It.” Everyone authoring a book should take these into account.  Find help at Karen’s newest Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/motivatethemuse.

During lunch, Marie Fasano and Jody Sharpe presented our 2022 Scholarship winner, Elena Morrison, with a certificate and a check for $1000 to pursue a career in journalism. Elena is a student at Coconino Community College in Flagstaff.

Brad Graber spoke after lunch on “The Stories We Tell Ourselves: The Importance of Shifting Our Mindset.” Using personal stories and humor, Brad shared how we can limit ourselves. His website is BradGraber.com.

The last activity was a tour of the wonderful Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West. Their collection of all things Western is second to none. Put it on your list to visit if you never have. https://scottsdalemuseumwest.org

May 6, 2022  

APW May Virtual Meeting – 5/11/22

Connie Cockrell and Susan Anderson are inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Arizona Inspiration with Roger Naylor
Date: Wednesday, May 11, 2022
Time: 01:00 PM Arizona
Zoom: Members have been sent the Zoom link. If you are a guest or need it, contact Susan Anderson at Susan.APW@hotmail.com. Members can also find the link in the Members Only section.

Arizona Inspiration with Roger Naylor

Arizona is the focus of almost all my books, from travel to history. Yet even my book of fiction uses Arizona as its unifying theme. Crazy for the Heat: Arizona Tales of Ghosts, Gumshoes, and Bigfoot is a collection of humorous short stories, all based in Arizona locations, utilizing the state’s history and legends. Cactus and roadrunners and red rocks and border towns and blazing sunsets and the perfume of rain and sun that screams are all woven into the fabric of the stories. I’m not sure I even know how to write anymore if Arizona is not involved.”

Roger will discuss a little of his process and encourage others to explore more of Arizona for their own inspiration.

Roger Naylor is one of Arizona’s premier travel writers. In 2018, he was inducted into the Arizona Tourism Hall of Fame. His most recent book, Arizona’s Scenic Roads and Hikes, was selected as Best Arizona Travel Book at the 2021 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards. It also won as Best Arizona Book. His previous book, Arizona State Parks, also won in 2020 as best Arizona Travel Book.

Naylor is the narrator of Verde Canyon Railroad. His work appears most weeks in the Arizona Republic. He has also written for The Guardian, USA Today, The Week, Country Magazine, Arizona Highways, and dozens more. He is the author of several other books including The Amazing Kolb Brothers of Grand Canyon, Arizona Kicks on Route 66, and Boots and Burgers: An Arizona Handbook for Hungry Hikers. For more information, visit RogerNaylor.com.

April 11, 2022  

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!

 

 

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