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.
BOOK CLUB
Save the date! Saturday, September 28 at 10 am via Zoom.
MacKenzie Chronicles, Secrets of The Ravine by Brenda Whiteside
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?
Book Club Call for Authors: The APW book group was established to provide an opportunity for members to read, discuss, and post reviews of one another's books. We generally meet via Zoom on the fourth Saturday of every month at 10 am, September through June. It's a great way to support our journeys as authors and get to know each other.
Some people attend regularly, others not so much, or only a few times, and that's okay. We are currently looking for APW members who would like to join our group, and potentially present their book for our reviews.
RIM COUNTRY CHAPTER NEWS
Monthly hybrid chapter meeting: 1 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month in the chapel at Majestic Rim or attend via Zoom by contacting Rim Chapter President Connie Cockrell before the meeting.
Save the dates: September 18 and October 16. Speakers will be announced later via email.
Brenda Whiteside will be spotlighting her newest Cozy Mystery release,
Cornbread, Ribs, and Murder
(A Chocolate Martini Sisters Mystery).
September 14, 2024
1:00-3:00 pm
Noley’s Books, Art & Whatnot
103 AZ-260 Payson
A chocolate martini birthday with a dollop of murder…
Twice a year, Emma and Nicole spend a relaxing weekend at the storied Dulce Inn in Wyatt, Arizona celebrating their birthdays with a chocolate martini. But there is always more than martinis on the menu for the sisters. Mayhem dwells while murder lurks giving the amateur sleuths plenty of opportunities to use their knowledge of all things mystery to solve the crime.
Read it here: Angela's Desk at WritersWeekly.com
Thanks to former Rim Chapter President Connie Cockrell for sharing!
DICTATION
Are you using Dictation on your smartphone or in Microsoft Word?
"Full stop." for a period.
"Open quotes" and "Close quotes."
"New paragraph."
I have been experimenting for a few months and I can "write" faster which is nice when my thoughts are flowing, but it is not second nature and requires more editing time than I'd like. I replace lots of "new paragraph" with a blank space.
Once you get used to composing your thoughts this way, you might like it.
When you click on the Dictate arrow, Transcribe pops up. You can upload a recording, and then choose how you want it translated - by speakers and with or without time stamps. It comes in handy after interviews when I cannot read my own handwritten notes!