Tag Archive | Carol Baxter
September 12, 2024  

President’s message September 2024

Greetings and salutations!

In the early Roman calendar, September was the seventh month. By that reckoning, I am ten months ahead instead of sprinting from two months behind, trying to catch up to a deadline.

I participated in a writing sprint contest last week with one prompt per round, then five minutes to write a story that left the reader wanting more. The genre was up to the participants. The host played electronic music in the background with a distracting beat – so much so to me that it infiltrated one of my stories. We had 90 seconds to read our stories to the group before a vote via Survey Monkey. Unused writing muscles flexed? Check. Challenge accepted. Endorphins triggered.

Participants seemed to be:

  • Extremely good at using dictation to process their authorly thoughts, or
  • Possessed nimble keyboarding skills well above 60wpm, or
  • Had programmed their AI services to write from prompts – we could/should have a discourse about AI, but I will leave that for another time.

I was the only participant who wrote a rhyme and the only one who took one of the prompts literally. Color me surprised that my rhyme-on-the-spot and taking ellipses at face value, dot dot dot, earned me unexpected entrance to the next round as a runner-up.

Whether you are sprinting to catch up to a deadline or sprinting to finish your writing project I hope you enjoy the journey and stretch a less oft’ used writing muscle along the way.

Carol Baxter, APW President

Email Carol

To read the remainder of the Typewriter, click here.

August 2, 2024  

President’s message August 2024

Arizona Professional Writers
Typerider Newsletter
August 2024

Have you taken to writing in the cooler hours of this neon-hot Arizona summer? I have! And I still seem to get more done pushed against a deadline.

The 9th Annual Payson Book Festival was a success although a bit quieter than in 2023. Rim Country Chapter President Connie Cockrell and her team put hundreds of hours into making the event worthwhile for authors and the public. Cue applause!

Next up: (Click here for pdf of flyer – White Mountain Book Festival 8-3-24

SURVEY RESULTS

To the 19 out of 75 members who responded to the survey, my humble THANKS!

I hope this information will assist our chapter presidents when they seek someone to speak at chapter meetings.

If have yet to respond, kindly look for it in your email (July 17th from carol@talesofalifetime.net) take a few moments out of your busy life to do so. What you want from APW matters to me.

This email and the survey are accomplished via MailChimp, the email services company I have used for more than a decade. I assure you Mail Chimp is a safe company.

Retreats and Online Workshops

“I think of a “writing retreat” as 2-7 days of mostly undistracted writing time at a lovely location that includes a few short writing classes, and optional interaction at other times. I think of a “writing workshop” as an interactive event with classes, writing prompts, panels, etc. These might not be your definitions, but please keep them in mind as you answer the next few questions. Are you interested in an overnight writing retreat in 2026?”

12 yes*, 8 no * Note that 14 people answered the next question!

To read the rest of Carol’s August message click here for the full message.

 

Carol Baxter, APW President.

August 1, 2024  

Rim Country Chapter hybrid meeting 8/21 with Carol Baxter

For anyone who plans to promote themselves and their skills or writing, this is a must-attend meeting! Our very talented APW president, Carol Baxter, who created the graphics the past two years for the Payson Book Festival will have plenty of live examples of what not to do and what to do to showcase your work! Plan to attend either in person in Payson or via Zoom.
Details:
Connie Cockrell is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. In person option at Majestic Rim Living retirement at 310 E. Tyler Parkway.
Topic: Rim Country Chapter Hybrid Zoom with Carol Baxter. Carol will share how to get good pictures, headshots and book covers for websites, marketing and social media.
Date: Wednesday, August 21, 2024
Time: 01:00 PM Arizona
Where: Majestic Rim Living retirement at 310 E. Tyler Parkway in the chapel off of the lobby. Or on Zoom.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82192534843?pwd=ImNUReBhkKcLqZlYcGoyAeIAYjuUOu.1

Meeting ID: 821 9253 4843
Passcode: 103077
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kklw37DIt

Bio:
Handmade quilts, home-baked rolls, and the meter of poetry filled my childhood and although it is a tossup as to whether the rolls or the poetry made the most impact, since 2005 I have made my living in print as a successful grant writer, marketing copywriter, editor, and award-winning features journalist. I am Carol Baxter and I have helped dozens of people write their memoirs, the truest family heirloom you can share with future generations. Isn’t it time to share yours?

Website: https://www.talesofalifetime.net/
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroljeanbaxter/

July 1, 2024  

President’s message July 2024

(For the full newsletter, click here.)
A few of you may recall me as an APW member when my last name was La Valley and I was a reporter at the Payson Roundup Newspaper (2006-2008). Carol and Bing Brown were my mentors back then, and she was fond of telling me, “The ultimate inspiration is the deadline.” It’s much cooler in my office now than it was this afternoon so here I am, writing this newsletter sliding up to 10 p.m. on the final day of June.
My sincere thanks to outbound APW President Connie Cockrell for her service, both to our country and to the organization this past four years. Connie, the board members, and other helpers (Brenda Whiteside, RuthAnn Hogue, Bobbie Bennett, Marie Fasano, Jaimie Bruzenak, Jodi Sharpe, Susan Anderson, Kathleen Osborn, and Karen Lateiner are) to be commended. Each made effective contributions, making a pivot to hold Zoom meetings through COVID, so members were able to keep in touch.
Going forward, it is important to me to have your input. Mid-month I will email you a survey. I want to know how, as a member of APW, you wish to explore and embrace the future.
For now, may your word counts multiply if you are in draft mode and decrease if you are in edit mode,
Carol Baxter
APW President
To read the rest of the newsletter about what’s happening at APW, click here.
June 23, 2024  

NFPW Communications Contest winners!

Congratulations to the winners from APW who won or placed in the NFPW Communications Contest! Each person had to win a first in their category in the At-Large contest before going onto the national contest. Again this year, APW had a great showing!
Carol Jean Baxter, At-Large – Arizona
· Honorable Mention — 52 – Brochure > Nonprofit, government or educational for “Authors & Artists Festival 2023 Brochure”
Bobbie Bennett, At-Large – Arizona
· 2nd Place — Publications Regularly Written by Entrant > Newsletter/other publication, nonprofit, government or educational for “Beaver Valley Estates Bulletins”
Nancy Marshall, At-Large – Arizona
· 1st Place — Writing > Fiction for Adult Readers > Novels for “A DRY HATE: Power Versus The People”
Janelle Molony, At-Large – Arizona
· 1st Place — Book Edited by Entrant for “The 1864 Diary of Mrs. Sarah Jane Rousseau”
Jody Sharpe, At-Large – Arizona
· Honorable Mention — Writing > Fiction for Adult Readers > Novellas for “Summer of Angels”
Jessica Votipka, At-Large – Arizona
· Honorable Mention — Specialty Articles > Social issues for “Tucson Unified offering its families emergency housing”
· 2nd Place — News Story > Print-based newspaper for “Gate at Tucson school needed repair 9 days before it fell, killing child”
· 2nd Place — Specialty Articles > Science or technology for “Students make prosthetic legs for developing countries”
APW winners (Not pictured Janelle Molony and Jessica Votipka)

 

May 6, 2024  

Photo recap – 2024 State Conference

The APW 2024 State Conference was held on the beautiful grounds of the Franciscan Renewal Center in Paradise Valley. Officers were elected. Winners in the At-large division of the NFPW Communication Contest were announced. The 1st place winners will be entered in the national contest and winners announced in June. We also awarded our $1000 scholarship to Grace Meinema, who won it last year as well. Our two excellent speakers were Kathleen Osbourne and Howard Gershkowitz. They provided excellent insights into our theme “May the 4th Be With You!” A docent, Ann, from the Renewal Center gave us a history of the Center.

Photo credits: Bobbie Bennett, photographer except for 3 with an * by Jaimie Bruzenak

Newer Posts »