2021 At-Large Communications Contest winners
- Second place -Columns, general, Roaming the Rim Column – “WHO designates 2020 as Year of the Nurse and Midwife”
- Honorable mention -Feature story, Print based newspaper, “Homeless Give Back “
- Third Place- Autobiograpy or Memoir, Surrender
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Second Place-Collection of short stories written by entrant (published together in book form, including electronic books) Body Language
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Honorable Mention Nonfiction Book for Adult Readers – General Nonficton, The Big Book of Small Presses and Independent Publishers
APW Rim Country Meeting Wed. May 12, 1:00PM
Marie Fasano -winner of COA!
Congratulations to Marie Fasano! She was named Communicator of Achievement for Arizona for 2021 at our APW Virtual State Conference on April 17, 2021. Her entry is being considered by NFPW at the national level. Her writing and community involvement credentials are impressive. Here’s a very brief summary of Marie’s career. And the photos are of our new president, Connie Cockrell, presenting Marie with a certificate and the traditional Navajo Storyteller figurine for her achievement.
Marie A. Fasano from Arizona had a career in nursing and as a photojournalist. As a pilot, she volunteered flying to clinics in Mexico and writing travel articles. Marie has published books in the health field and a memoir, Tessie’s Tales. She edited two nationwide magazines and wrote articles for newspapers and magazines. Currently, she writes a column for the Payson Roundup, “Roaming the Rim.”
We should note that a Communicator of Achievement is not named every year. So it is quite an honor for Marie to be selected and well deserved!
April 14 – Find you inner poet!
April is National Poetry Month
APW Rim Country Chapter Virtual Meeting
Topic: Let poetry release your imagination-Open discussion
Date: Apr 14, 2021
Time: 1:00 PM Arizona
Zoom link: The meeting is open to all. Members have been sent the zoom link. Nonmembers should email Connie Cockrell, Rim Country Chairperson for the link.
Play with your inner poet! Connie will be leading the discussion as we write poetry based on the forms created by Stephanie Peterson Abney. It should be fun!
November 11 Virtual meeting with Connie Cockrell
This month APW Rim Country’s guest on Wednesday, November 11 at 1:00 p.m. is our own Connie Cockrell.
Topic: APW Meeting -How to conquer Amazon Ads with Connie Cockrell
Date: Wednesday, November 11, 2020
Time: 1:00 PM Arizona (MST)
Zoom: The link has been sent to members though all are welcome. If you did not receive the link and would like to attend, send an email to Marie Fasano. You’ll receive the link a day or so before the meeting.
How to conquer Amazon Ads
Connie Cockrell has just immersed herself in Amazon Ads. Think it’s too hard? Think again. Some tips and tricks to start small and, perhaps, gain much. Plus, some links to help you along the way.
Connie Cockrell Bio
A 20-year Air Force career, time as a manager at a computer operations company, wife, mother, sister and volunteer, provides a rich background for Connie Cockrell’s story-telling.
Cockrell grew up in upstate NY, just outside of Gloversville, NY before she joined the military at age 18. Having lived in Europe, Great Britain, and several places around the United States, she now lives in Payson, AZ with her husband: hiking, gardening, and playing bunko. She writes about whatever comes into her head so her books could be in any genre. She’s published twenty books so far, has been included in five different anthologies and been published on EveryDayStories.com and FrontierTales.com. Connie’s always on the lookout for a good story idea. Beware, you may be the next one.
She can be found at ConniesRandomThoughts.com, on Facebook, on Twitter or on Amazon.
Communicator of Achievement Award – Connie Cockrell
Connie Cockrell was named “Communicator of Achievement” for 2019, APWs highest award. Her certificate and original “storyteller” carving made by a Pueblo Native American were displayed at our virtual State Conference in May. Connie was also honored at the virtual awards NFPW Awards Ceremony. She will receive a stipend to attend the 2021 NFPW Awards Ceremony.
“Local writer wins Communicator Achievement Award,” written by Marie Fasano, tells more about Connie and the award and appeared in the 6/30/2020 issue of the Payson Roundup. Photo by Randy Cockrell.
Connie Cockrell, winner of the Communicator of Achievement Award
President’s page – June 2020
Our APW Annual meeting was a success. We had a quorum and were able to make some important decisions. If you were there, thank you, if you missed it, try again next year.
We honored our Arizona APW Communicator of Achievement, Connie Cockrell, and gave her a gift of the Native American Storyteller doll. Connie has done so much for the Rim Country chapter as Chapter Director and coordinating the Payson Book Festival for six years. She started writing novels in 2011 with a NaNoWriNo project and now has 20 to her name! Congratulations to Connie.
We purchased a ZOOM PRO virtual account that members can use for their own promotion. All you need to do is let me know when you want to schedule an event to promote yourself and your work. Since someone had to be the Administrator of the account, I got the job. This is an excellent perk for members. I am willing to schedule a one-on-one with any member if they want to learn the process. It worked really well for the APW Annual meeting with shared documents, a power point presentation and discussion among those present.
We have updated the Bylaws so they are consistent with our current goals. Go to the website to the member-only section. You will need the code to get in and can contact Jaimie Bruzenak, website coordinator, or me for the latest code.
We are promoting our book, Skirting Traditions. The book, written by APW members, has wonderful accounts of early women Arizona writers. It is available on Amazon and from other booksellers. In addition, members can purchase copies for personal use or for resale at a discounted price by contacting your Chapter Director or Marie Fasano. One idea to promote the book would be to give a copy to your local library.
With COVID-19 cases increasing and hospitals ICU’s filling up, please stay well, wash your hands, wear a mask and encourage others to do the same. A friend gave me a button that I wear. It says,” I wear my mask TO HONOR AND PROTECT YOU.”
Enjoy your summer and keep writing.
Marie A Fasano
President
Arizona Professional Writers
APW 2020 Virtual State Conference – June 20
Greetings all APW members,
The APW Board has decided to have a short virtual conference this year in June in place of the May one that was cancelled. We hope you are all well.
Date: Saturday June 20
Time: 10:00 am to about 12 noon.
Zoom information will be sent prior to the meeting.
Our agenda will include:
- Vote for new incoming officers (Ballots to be sent out shortly).
- Brief reports from Board Members and Chapter Chairs.
- Approval of the Revised Bylaws (Copies will be sent out for your review prior to the meeting.)
- Presentation to honor our APW 2020 Communicator of the Year, Connie Cockrell.
- Notification of winners of the At-large NFPW communications contest.
- Ceremony honoring our members who have passed.
We encourage all members to be present for this short meeting.
If you have any questions about the Zoom meeting, please contact me at mfasano.apw@gmail.com.
Marie Fasano, President
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
Summary of APW Central Chapter October, 2019
Connie Cockrell, Rim Country Director
At our October APW meeting, APW member Connie Cockrell told us how she can write multiple series at the same time without mixing up her characters in a lively meeting October 12, 2019, at the Shepherd of the Hills United Church of Christ, 5524 East Lafayette, Phoenix, AZ.
Connie has written over 20 books in series as diverse as cozy mysteries, science fiction, Westerns, young women and historical.
Want to try some of her techniques?
• Start with a story board.
• Put small notes on a wall of the locations of the story and mini-descriptions of your characters. Add a location or character, update your wall as you work.
• Connie prefers action scenes to descriptive paragraphs..
• Then, write!
New to novel writing? Here is how Connie started: November is Novel Writing Month! Her daughter challenged Connie to enter the contest with her by writing the required 1,667 words per day! So she did . . .and at the end of the month she had her novel . But alas, her daughter didn’t. So Connie is the novelist.
Here is the teaser for next month: Our own Jodi Weisberg will show her comedy stripes and give tips on using them in your writing.
Jodi Weisberg
Save the date: 10 a.m., Saturday, November 9, 2019, Shepard of the Hills, United Church of Christ, 5524 East Lafayette, Phoenix, AZ.
In December, we will hear from a new member who has written from China.
Arizona Professional Writers 