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
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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/,
APW Book Club 1/25/25 – Karen Lateiner
The APW book group will not be meeting in December. Our next meeting will be Saturday, January 25, 2025 via ZOOM at 10 am. We will discuss Timeless Dance: A Story of Change and Loss by Karen Shiffman Lateiner, M.Ed.
Date: Saturday, January 25, 2025
Time: 10 a.m. AZ
Zoom: to be sent out in mid-January
Timeless Dance was the first book our group reviewed on October 24, 2020. In light of current controversies regarding transgender issues, and since we have many new members, it is timely to discuss it again.
TIMELESS DANCE: A Story of Change and Loss, is just that — a compelling memoir about life, death, gender change, acceptance, advocacy, and coping within the family, the community, and the world. It is a well told story of generational challenges and reflections on life altering events; a skillfully woven mix of narrative, prose, poetry, and letters. A page turner by many accounts, Timeless Dance illuminates issues not often contemplated, especially those related to transgender and gender non-conforming individuals.
About the Author
Karen Shiffman Lateiner holds an M.Ed. in Educational Psychology. Throughout her personal life, and her professional career as a developmental psychologist and mental health clinician, she has actively advocated for safe and nurturing school and home environments for all children, especially for those at-risk for marginalization and bullying.
A native of New Jersey, she moved to New York City, where she met and married her husband Roger. After spending a year living on a kibbutz in Israel in 1972-73, they returned to New York,before ultimately settling in Montclair, New Jersey, where they raised their two children. Upon retirement, she and her husband traveled the country in a motorhome for two years before making Arizona their new home. Combining her love of writing and the Sonoran Desert, Karen created a Hike and Write program to encourage others to write as a means of expressing their thoughts and telling their own unique stories. Currently, she is a member of her HOA Board of Directors and a member of Arizona Professional Writers.
APW Book Club 10-26-24 – Elaine Auerbach
October APW Book Club Meeting: Fairy Tales for Women Who Have Been Through the Mill by Elaine Auerbach
Karen Lateiner is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: APW Book Club with Elaine Auerbach
Date: Saturday, October 26, 2024
Time: 10:00 AM Arizona
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82967883848?pwd=VayyLNzOLOaICytw57eDUQoanKZoje.1
Meeting ID: 829 6788 3848
Passcode: 117047
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kb42elaHXk
About Elaine: Elaine started writing poetry at eight and has been writing ever since. As an adult, after a brief stint on as a city newspaper journalist, I joined Reader’s Digest, where I served as an editor for thirteen years. After returning to school for her MBA, she put her new skills to work for corporate America, working for PepsiCo, Inc. for about 30 years doing all aspects of corporate communications. Since retirement, she writes for the joy of it. Fairy Tales is her third book, plus her work has appeared in anthologies.
About the book: Fairy Tales for Women Who Have Been Through the Mill presents new and original fairy tales for today–with lovers who can’t commit, husbands who cheat or tune out and women who somehow end up with all the burdens and none of the benefits. Gone is the trite “and they lived happily ever after” ending. Yet, there are happy endings as each tale leads the reader to self-awareness and empowerment that can be translated into personal growth.
APW Book Club selections 2024-25
APW BOOK GROUP SCHEDULE
Meeting via Zoom fourth Saturday of every month at 10 AM
Contact: Karen Shiffman Lateiner, kslateiner @ gmail.com, 973-997-7204
Mission: To support each other as authors (and authors in progress) by reading each other’s books, reviewing them on Amazon and/or Goodreads, and discussing them at our meeting.
2024-25 Calendar
February 24, 2024 First Encounter by Connie Cockrell
April 27, 204 The Downtrodden by Connie Cockrell
May 25, 2024 Candy, Cigarettes, and Murder by Brenda Whiteside
June 22, 2024 Leaning into Curves: Trusting the Wild Intuitive Way of Love
by Linda Sandel Pettit
July August No Meeting
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Sept 28, 2024 MacKenzie Chronicles, Secrets of The Ravine by Brenda Whiteside
Oct. 26, 2024 Fairy Tales for Women Who Have Been Through the Mill by Elaine Auerbach
Nov. 23, 2024 Hidden Dragons by Kathleen Osbourne
December NO BOOK GROUP – Happy Holidays
Jan. 25, 2025 Timeless Dance: A Story of Change and Loss – an update by Karen Shiffman Lateiner
Feb. 22, 2025 California Missions Sketchbook by Robert Hershberger and Sandy Carver
Mar. 22, 2025 Finding Zachariah in a Community Garden by Nancy Marshall
April 26, 2025 The Guatemala Reader by Mark Walker
May 24, 2025 Title TBD by Kathleen Kelly
June 28, 2025 Southern Women by Kathleen Parrish
Books previously read and reviewed
- October 24, 2020 Timeless Dance: A Story of Change and Loss by Karen Shiffman Lateiner
- November 28, 2020 Surrender by Marylee MacDonald
- December 26, 2020 Children with Special Needs: Angels on my Shoulder by Jody Sharpe
- January 23, 2021 Everything by Susan Anderson
- February 27, 2021 Skirting Traditions: Arizona Women Writer and Journalists 1912-2012.
- March 27, 2021 On Traigh Lar Beach by Dianne Beeaff
- April 24, 2021 Tessie’s Tales: Growing up Italian in New York City by Marie Fasano
- May 22, 2021 What’s the Growing in My Sour Cream by Brad Graber
- September 25, 2021 Miracle of the Salt River by Meredith Whiteley
- October 23, 2021 – Nanise: A Navajo Herbal: One Hundred Plants From the Navajo Reservation by Barbara Bayless Lacy and Vernon O. Mayes
- November 20, 2021 Joyous Lies by Margaret Spence
- January 22, 2022 Boca by Moonlight by Brad Graber
- February 26, 2022 Power’s Garden by Dianne Beeaff
- March 26, 2022 Voices of the ER by Kathleen Kelly
- April 23, 2022 Body Language by Marylee MacDonald
- May 28, 2022 20 Moon Road, An Angels Tale by Jody Sharpe
- June 25, 2022 No speaker due to technical difficulties
- July 23, 2022 NO BOOK GROUP – Payson Book festival
- August 27, 2022 A Rattler’s Tale by Nancy Hicks Marshall
- Sept. 23, 2022 Democrazy, Version 2020 by Elizabeth Graham
- October 22, 2022 Second Son: A Novel of the Deep South by Kathleen Parrish
- November 26, 2022 NO MEETING HAPPY THANKSGIVING
- December 24, 2022 NO MEETING HAPPY HOLIDAYS
- January 28, 2023 My Saddest Pleasures by Mark Walker
- February 25, 2023 Diary of an Alzheimer’s Caregiver.by Robert Hershberger
- March 25, 2023 Summer of Angels by Jody Sharpe
- April 22, 2023 Elizabeth Graham presentation
- May 27, 2023 Goodbye, Walter: A Reporter’s Notebook Ruthann Hogue
- June 24, 2023 A Dry Hate: Power vs The People by Nancy Marshall
- July August NO MEETINGS HAPPY SUMMER!
- Sept 23, 2023 Dirty Linen: How Women Sued The Readers Digest and Changed History by Elaine Auerbach
- Oct 28 , 2023 Both Sides of the Fire Line by Bobbie Scopa
APW Book Club 9/28 with Brenda Whiteside
Karen Lateiner is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. For our September selection, we will be reading MacKenzie Chronicles, Secrets of The Ravine by Brenda Whiteside.
Date: Saturday, September 28
Time: 10 a.m. AZ
Join Zoom Meeting:
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Meeting ID: 854 4905 6386
Passcode: 303855
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/keu2eIwstc
MacKenzie Chronicles, Secrets of The Ravine
Lies can haunt, but the truth will kill. Magpie MacKenzie doesn’t believe in coincidence. But when a ringer for her long-dead love walks into her life the same day skeletal remains are unearthed, she’s convinced the universe is sending her a message. Fearing her father will be accused of the crime, Magpie will do whatever it takes to find the truth. Even risk her heart on this familiar stranger who may hold critical clues to the unsolved mystery. While visiting purportedly haunted Joshua, Arizona lawyer Zac Peartree is instantly drawn to the free-wheeling shopkeeper. His attraction propels him on a collision course between past and present where digging up secrets could prove fatal. Using decades-old clues and Zac’s déjà vu moments, the couple embark on a treacherous race to prove her father’s innocence before Magpie becomes the next victim. Can they save her from a murderous fate, or will love be the final casualty?
See you there,
Karen
Secrets of the Ravine is available on Kindle Unlimited for free or in paperback. https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Ravine-MacKenzie-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B08GPRFJBT/ref=sr_1_1
APW Book Club 6/22 with Dr. Linda Sandel Pettit
Please join us for our next APW Book Group meeting scheduled for Saturday, June 22, 2024 at 10 am via Zoom. It should be most interesting.
Topic: APW Book Club 6/22 with Dr. Linda Sandel Pettit and Leaning into Curves: Trusting the Wild Intuitive Way of Love
Date: June 22, 2024
Zoom: Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85158772773?pwd=bji20TcP9wrDn393Wymaxp9h8eeF65.1
Meeting ID: 851 5877 2773
Passcode: 318479
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/ke2lnxYSP
International Speaker, author, and mentor, Dr. Linda Sandel Pettit has written a memoir, a compelling tale of an intuitive intelligence that guides us through life. This is a story of hope that our journeys through life can be sure-footed when we listen from and follow the way of the heart, the beingness of love. It is a life raft.- judgment and forgiveness;
- separation, and connection;
- desire and surrender,
- mystery and miracles,
- intuition and synchronicity,
- faith and love.
Dr. Linda Sandel Pettit is an author, writer, speaker, and personal consultant to intuitive creatives. She is an influencer at the boundaries of psychology and spirituality.APW Book Club 5/25 Candy, Cigarettes, and Murder – Brenda Whiteside
The May selection for the APW Book Club is Brenda Whiteside’s new release Candy, Cigarettes, and Murder. We will be discussing it on Saturday May 25 at 10 a.m. on Zoom
Karen Lateiner is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: APW Book Club 5/25 Candy, Cigarettes, and Murder – Brenda Whiteside
Date: Saturday, May 25, 2024
Time:10:00 AM Arizona
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85015210639?pwd=V0Z6UHE3bCtpR1RVdU8xZERuZHdZQT09
Meeting ID: 850 1521 0639
Passcode: 028932
Candy, Cigarettes, and Murder
It’s a birthday weekend with the gift of murder. Recently widowed, Emma Banefield looks forward to a getaway birthday weekend with her free-wheeling sister, Nicole Earp, sipping chocolate martinis at the peaceful, historic Dulce Inn. When a rude stranger, a nasty food critic, and a madhouse of temperamental artists greet them, all hope for a tranquil weekend evaporates faster than dew on a hot desert morning. Overlooking the riotous atmosphere is doubly hard after Em discovers the body of a hotel guest, and a second murder affects Nic personally. Now, entrenched in a caper that pits them against a surly detective, they cozy up to a hotel staff hiding dangerous secrets to uncover clues to the killer. Using their smarts and love of all-things mystery, will the Chocolate Martini Sisters solve the crime ahead of the obstinate Chief Detective or find themselves trapped in the middle of a third murder?
Amazon Series Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BQ9T7ZBX
Bio:
Brenda Whiteside is the award-winning author of romantic suspense, cozy mystery, and romance. She writes children’s books with her granddaughter under the names of Brenda Sue and Sadi Belle. She’s a born and bred Arizona native who sets her fictional stories in imaginary, but recognizable, Arizona locations. After marrying, she and her husband lived in six states and two countries, but a few years back they settled in Central Arizona. They admit to being gypsies at heart so won’t discount the possibility of another move. They share their home with a rescue dog named Amigo. While FDW fishes, Brenda writes.
APW Book Club 4/27/24 with Connie Cockrell
Topic: APW Book Club 4/27 with Connie Cockrell – Downtrodden
Date: Apr 27, 2024
Time: 10:00 AM Arizona
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87097024268?pwd=cktJODlqM0dLcERLV0xXaXJwbDRJQT09
Meeting ID: 870 9702 4268
Passcode: 210784
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kc94grNqxT
Get started reading now so you can contribute! The Downtrodden is book two in the
Book description:
Wary after escaping from the Children of God, Alyssa and Kyra stop to help another survivor community but it’s up to Kyra to save them all from a mad man’s plans before they’re trapped.
Hardship, hunger, and thirst plague Kyra and Alyssa after their escape from the Children of God. A lucky find allows them to re-arm and resupply. Now they’ve found another survivor community and after watching the place for two days they decide to risk introducing themselves. They’re greeted with enthusiasm at the door but by that evening, find they’re trapped again in a community teetering on the brink of desperation. The survivors beg Kyra to help them remove the community’s leader but her plan pushes her to her limits. Can she carry out the plan or will she and Alyssa join the ranks of the downtrodden?
Bio
Connie Cockrell
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 storytelling.
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.
APW Book Club 2/24/24 with Connie Cockrell
Save the date!
Connie Cockrell has graciously agreed to present her book for our review. If you are interested in presenting, send Karen an email and she will put you on the schedule.
APW Book Group with Connie Cockrell and First Encounter
Date: Saturday, February 24
Time: 10 am
Zoom link to follow
First Encounter: A SciFi, Young Adult, Post Apocalyptic Story by Connie Cockrell
Book Blurb:
It took a month of hard travel to find their first survivor community. After a cool welcome and a meager feast, Alyssa and Kyra find that the community has very restrictive roles they expect women to take. Imprisoned and starved, a young woman befriends them at great risk to herself. When the woman tells them the men of the community are bidding on Kyra to take to wife, they form a plan to escape. Weak, hungry and afraid, will Alyssa and Kyra have the strength to escape certain slavery?
Connie Cockrell Bio
Connie Cockrell
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 storytelling.
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 or on Facebook at: Facebook.com/ConniesRandomThoughts or on Amazon at Amazon.com/author/conniecockrell
You can purchase the book at Amazon on Kindle ($.99) or in paperback.
President’s Page – January 2004
I’m excited for this new year in the Arizona Professional Writers organization.
Our annual conference planning has begun. Mark your calendars. It’s going to be May 4th, which prompted us, obviously, to make the theme: May the 4th be with You. We had to. Really. We’re finalizing the location which allows us to set the price per ticket. We’ll keep you posted on that.
The conference also means it’s election time for the APW. We have some tentative candidates. For President – Carol Baxter, Nancy Marshall is volunteering for VP. We’re still looking for a candidate for Secretary. Our treasurer, Ruthann Hogue is staying on. Marie Fasano likes being our Membership Director but if you love reaching out to people, you can talk to Marie and see if the position might be a fit for you. Bobbie Bennett has graciously volunteered to stay on as our Conference planner.
The NFPW Communications contest is close to closing. Look over your published work for 2023 and enter the contest right away. There are so many categories, I’m sure you’ll find one that’s just right for you. You can check out the contest rules and enter the contest at https://www.nfpw.org/professional-contest, You do not need to be a member to enter. However, if you win, they do encourage you to become a member.
Also speaking of NFPW, their annual conference for 2024 will be in St. Louis. I attended the 2023 event and had a great time and learned so much! Just ask Jody Sharpe. She attended the last day and took the opportunity to attend the awards dinner. What a great time. You can look at the details for 2024 at https://www.nfpw.org/2024-conference-st-louis. We’d love to have more of our Arizona people attend as well.
My calendar has February 4th, 10am, as our next APW State Officer’s meeting. The meeting is open to all members, and it’s being held via Zoom. Contact me if you’d like to attend.
Speaking of meetings, the Rim Country chapter has started holding in-person meetings again. We are back at Majestic Rim Living, 1pm on the 3rd Wednesdays of the month, in their chapel meeting space. The next meeting is February 21st and I’ll be talking about how to write a bio. This piece of writing is used in so many different applications that you really need to have a good one. We’ll talk about what that means and do some practice writing one.
I will also be the featured author at the February 24th, 10am APW Book Group. I’ll be talking about my Young Adult, Post Apocalyptic, SciFi book First Encounter. If you’d like to join the conversation, contact Karen Lateiner, kslateiner@gmail.com, to get on the Zoom link list. One more benefit of being an APW member.
Take a look at our facebook page for APW. This is a great place to announce your newest book, magazine article, or speaking engagement. This is just one of the many perks you, as an APW member have, so take advantage! https://www.facebook.com/groups/ArizonaPressWomen
Almost the best for last, we have a new chapter forming in the Show Low area. The organizer is Kathleen Osborne. She’s a small publisher and author and has several people in the White Mountains area who want to join the group. Kathleen has been a Payson Book Festival author for quite some time. Welcome to her and all of her new group.
And, it’s membership renewal time. If you have already renewed, thank you! If you’ve renewed via the National Federation of Press Women, let us know to look for your renewal there. If you still need to renew, click on the “About” tab and then “Join.” Thank you everyone for your continued support of this historic organization.
That’s it for now. Everyone stay warm and hope to see you at the next meeting!
Arizona Professional Writers 