brooks goldmann publishing

SSWW Welcomes Betty Webb, Author of Many Mysteries

April 27, 2019 by Patricia Brooks

SCOTTSDALE SOCIETY OF WOMEN WRITERS

Welcomes Betty Webb, Author

The Lena Jones mysteries and the Gunn Zoo mysteries

WHAT: Monthly Speaker/Dinner Meeting

WHEN: Wed – MAY 29^th,2019 5:30 pm

See PayPal info below*

WHERE: Starfire Golf Club, 11500 N. Hayden Rd., Scottsdale, AZ 85260

WHY: Mission: The Scottsdale Society of Women Writers gives members access to events of interest, a format for exchanging ideas, an opportunity to network with other women writers and authors, an alliance with professionals relating to writing, publishing, and marketing of books, and camaraderie and support.

_____________________________________________________________________

SPEAKERS 6:45: Betty Webb is the author of 10 Lena Jones mysteries

(DESERT REDEMPTION, DESERT WIVES, etc.) and 5 Gunn Zoo mysteries

(THE OTTER OF DEATH, THE PUFFIN OF DEATH, etc.).

For 20 years Betty was a journalist, interviewing everyone from U.S. presidents, astronauts who walked on the moon, and polygamy runaways. A nationally-syndicated literary critic whose reviews ran on the New York Times wire for more than 30 years, she currently reviews for Mystery Scene Magazine.

Betty is a member of the National Federation of Press Women, Mystery Writers of America, and the Authors Guild. She is also well-known as a creative writing instructor and has taught creative writing at Phoenix College and held Masters’ Classes in Creative Writing at ASU. She is currently the Writer-in-Residence at the Tempe Library.

She will talk about the necessity for a writer to be flexible in today’s ever-changing market. For instance, after having the same editor and the same publisher for 20 years, her publisher just got gobbled up by one of the giants — and Betty with them. Her writing life will be changing, but at this point, she doesn’t know how.

She might call her talk “The Uncertainty of the Writing Life.”

Betty Webb, Author of DESERT REDEMPTION
Pub date March 12, 2019 www.bettywebb-mystery.com

MORE INFO BELOW

RSVP before NOON the Friday morning before the meeting The Starfire Golf Club needs to order food a week in advance, and I must give a guarantee to them at that time. That is the confirmed deadline for an RSVP! Thank you for appreciating our contract with the Starfire Golf Club.

*Please PAY IN ADVANCE with PAYPAL on this website only – see home page www.brooksgoldmannpublishing.com NOTE upper right corner for the link. Please fill out the form and pay with your credit card before NOON the FRIDAY before the meeting! Meeting information on the left of the main page. Thank you!

PRICING: $30 for members and guests. We no longer take checks or cash at the door, except for payment of Annual Dues. Thank you for moving forward with SSWW.

CHECK-IN: Please check-in between 5:15 and 5:45 pm. The buffet is available by 5:45 Themeeting starts promptly at 6:00.

All those attending the meeting must pay for the dinner/room/speaker. The cost is noted above. Pick up your name badge at the front table and ENJOY a wonderful night!

Guests pick up a membership signup sheet too.

AGENDA: The agendas will be on the dinner table with a lot of wonderful announcements for you, including the schedule of upcoming meeting speakers. Remember, the announcements are reviewed at 6:00 with dinner. The member introductions follow at 30 seconds each.

DIRECTIONS: From the 101 Freeway, exit Shea Blvd and go West to Hayden Road and then North a quarter mile, the club is on the West side (Left) of the street. From the South, cross Shea Blvd going north on Hayden Road, again, it is on the West side (Left) of the street. 11500 North Hayden Road, Scottsdale.

Goals of the Group

Value all the professional women writers seeking to share their expertise
Honor all genres and all forms of professional writing
Attend monthly meetings to move the group and its members forward
Learn and share in the experiences of monthly professional speakers
Grow the group to a membership of active and contributing women
Encourage participation by members as mentors, and volunteers
Support and challenge each other to always be writing
Help members to stretch as writers and reach lofty personal goals
Have fun, meet trustworthy women writers, share dreams

SSWW Features Member Indie Publishing Panelists

November 28, 2018 by pbrooks

SCOTTSDALE SOCIETY OF WOMEN WRITERS

Presents Member Indie Publishing Panelists

Caren Cantrell, Vickie Mullins and Ann Videan

And Patricia L. Brooks, Moderator

WHAT: Monthly Speaker/Dinner Meeting

WHEN: WED DEC 19^th, 2018, 5:30 pm

See PayPal info below*

WHERE: Starfire Golf Club, 11500 N. Hayden Rd., Scottsdale, AZ 85260

_____________________________________________________________________

SPEAKERS 6:45: SSWW INDIE PUBLISHING PANEL with members Vickie Mullins, Caren Cantrell and Ann Videan. Patricia L. Brooks will be your moderator. There will be questions for the panelists for 30 minutes. Then we will open it up to questions from you. I will call on as many of you as possible. Each panelist will display their books for sale. JOIN US and get the latest info on the everchanging world of independent publishing and speak to experts in the field!

**Vickie Mullins started Mullins Creative, an award-winning graphic design company, in 1991. Her company exceled in print design, with a specialty in multi-page documents … books, magazines, tabloids, directories, and company brand development and execution.

In 2006 she and a partner started a publishing company, Perfect Bound Marketing + Press after authoring a series of eight books. From the lessons she learned through the school of hard knocks, today she guides authors through the steps of becoming independent publishers where they maintain control of their books and their financial destiny. An expert on Special Market Sales, Vickie says she doesn’t care if she ever sells another single book … instead, she’d rather sell her books by the 1,000s.

www.mullinscreative.com or Contact her at 480-941-8202

**Caren Cantrell is the owner of 102^nd Place, LLC, a company that enables authors to bypass the uncertain and lengthy process of traditional publishing and get their books, and more importantly their message, to readers in a way that gives them ultimate control. She specializes in non-fiction and children’s books. Her services include everything from ghostwriting to editing to interior design and publication. Caren is an indie author herself, giving her unique knowledge of what makes an indie published book look like it came from a traditional publisher.

When Caren isn’t writing or helping others to get published, she travels around the country and overseas visiting her seven grandchildren. It’s one of the things she loves best about her job; she can work from anywhere and most often does!

www.102ndplace.com or Contact her at 480-575-3088

**As a book shepherd, Ann Videan guides peers through the writing, editing, publishing and word-of-mouth marketing of both fiction and nonfiction titles. A professional writer since 1981, she opened her own award-winning home-based marketing firm, vIDEAn Unlimited, LLC, in 1996, which supports young writers and artists.

Ann showed up in this world with a pen in her hand, a song in her heart, and the desire to share with you. She adores creativity of all types, and especially the people who live it. She gathers friends like flowers, including authors, musicians, artists, and her husband and two grown-up children. The Colorado native lives in Mesa, Arizona, along with numerous invisible friends including snarky mythical creatures and magical story characters.

Explore blog posts about writing, Ann’s books and music CD, and her writing community at ANVidean.com. Contact her at [email protected].

**Moderator: Patricia L. Brooks started Brooks Goldmann Publishing Company, LLC in 2005 with her author husband Earl L. Goldmann. As a publishing consultant, award-winning author of three memoirs, workshop facilitator and president/founder of Scottsdale Society of Women Writers she serves her fellow writers and authors in many ways.

Patricia ‘jump starts’ a writer’s manuscript by putting the team together necessary to make Independent Publishing an exciting journey. She helps potential authors through the maze of getting their book out to the world. For more information see www.brooksgoldmannpublishing.com or contact her at [email protected]

RSVP before NOON the Friday morning before the meeting The Starfire Golf Club needs to order food, and I must give a guarantee to them at that time. That is the confirmed deadline for an RSVP! Please do not use the PayPal after that time. Thank you for appreciating our contract with the Starfire Golf Club.

PRICING: $30 for members and guests. We no longer take checks or cash at the door, except for payment of Annual Dues. This is a workable and good system for all of us. Thank you for moving forward with SSWW.

CHECK-IN: Please check-in between 5:15 and 5:45 to begin the buffet that is available by 5:45 The meeting starts promptly at 6:00.

All those attending the meeting must pay for the dinner/room/speaker. The cost is noted above. Pick up your name badge at the front table and ENJOY a wonderful night!

Guests pick up a membership signup sheet too.

Goals of the Group

Value all the professional women writers seeking to share their expertise
Honor all genres and all forms of professional writing
Attend monthly meetings to move the group and its members forward
Learn and share in the experiences of monthly professional speakers
Grow the group to a membership of active and contributing women
Encourage participation by members as mentors, and volunteers
Support and challenge each other to always be writing
Help members to stretch as writers and reach lofty personal goals
Have fun, meet trustworthy women writers, share dreams

Scottsdale Society of Women Writers welcomes Dr. Lois Zachary

March 5, 2015 by Patricia Brooks

SCOTTSDALE SOCIETY OF WOMEN WRITERS

WHO: Scottsdale Society of Women Writers

WHAT: Monthly Speaker/Dinner Meeting

Camaraderie for writers and speaker/member book signings

WHEN: WED March 25^th 2015 at 5:30-7:30 pm

WHERE: Chaparral Suites Resort, 5001 N, Scottsdale Rd. NE corner

Enter off Chaparral Rd – 4^th Floor Grill entrance

HOW: Please – RSVP now to Patricia L. Brooks, president/founder

Cell 480-250-5556 or [email protected]

WHY: The Scottsdale Society of Women Writers gives members access to events of interest, a format for exchanging ideas, an opportunity to network with other women writers and authors, an alliance with businesses relating to writing, publishing, camaraderie and support.

SPEAKER: Dr. Lois Zachary

Mentoring: Sharing and Developing Ourselves as Writers

Do you want to learn more about honing our craft? Are you eager to improve and develop yourself? Or, are you at the point in your journey where you are thinking about how to give back? If these are your questions, then you will want to attend our March meeting. Dr. Lois Zachary, a local and international mentoring expert and author, will be joining us to talk about how you can make mentoring work for you. Whether you are a new, experienced or veteran writer you will walk away will practical tips, tools and strategies for mentoring success.

Lois Zachary’s first book on mentoring, The Mentor’s Guide has become the primary resource for organizations interested in mentoring and for mentors seeking to deepen their mentoring practice. With her other best-selling books Creating a Mentoring Culture (2005), The Mentee’s Guide (2009), and the 2012 revision of The Mentor’s Guide, five Mentoring Excellence Pocket Toolkits, and most recently published book, Starting Strong: A Mentoring Fable and over 100 published articles, Dr. Zachary has created a comprehensive set of resources for promoting mentoring excellence for individuals and organizations. In addition, Dr. Zachary published her collection of poetry and reflection, My Mother Has the Finest Eyes.

Dr. Zachary is president of Leadership Development Services, LLC, a Phoenix-based consulting firm that specializes in leadership and mentoring, and director of its Center for Mentoring Excellence

Dr. Lois Zachary

See notes below for dinner fees, meeting format and location directions. Thank you.

MENU: A light dinner – salad or sandwich and soup, dessert, beverage and roll with tax and gratuity included – make your choice the night of the meeting.

COST: Members $28 (effective Feb, 2015) and Guests $30

RSVP Please RSVP by noon Monday – prior to the meeting. Thank you.

CHECKS or cash: Please make your check payable to (SSWW) Scottsdale Society of Women Writers prior to coming to the meeting to save time at the check-in. Thank you.

CHECK-IN: Please check-in between 5:00 and 5:45. The meeting starts promptly at 6:00. All those attending the meeting must pay to attend the dinner/room/speaker – cost noted above. Pick up your name badge at the front table and ENJOY a wonderful night!

CANCELLATION: If you are unable to attend the meeting, please cancel by the Monday prior to the meeting – and by noon. Thank you.

AGENDA: The agendas will be on the dinner table – always a lot of good information for you and the schedule of the upcoming speakers.

DIRECTIONS: Located in Scottsdale Rd at Chaparral Rd just north of Old Town. Chaparral Rd has a light. Parking is to the rear – two large lots. Note: Best to enter from the side elevator at the 4^th Floor Grille – not the main lobby.

From the 101 freeway exit Chaparral Rd and go west. Just prior to Scottsdale Rd enter the side drive at the 4^th Floor Grille – take that elevator. Note awning marked 4^th Floor Grille on the Chaparral side. This is the easiest way – Not through the main lobby. Welcome!

Goals of the Group

Value all the professional women writers seeking to share their expertise

Honor all genres and all forms of professional writing
Attend monthly meetings to move the group and its members forward
Learn and share in the experiences of monthly professional speakers
Grow the group to a membership of active and contributing women
Encourage participation by members as presenters, mentors, judges and volunteers
Support and challenge each other to always be writing
Help members to stretch as writers and reach lofty personal goals
Have fun, meet trustworthy women writers, share dreams

Celebrate My Sister’s Birthday – FREE EBOOK Gifts of Sisterhood-journey from grief to gratitude

January 13, 2012 by Patricia Brooks

Title: Gifts of Sisterhood-journey from grief to gratitude

Publication: December, 2011

Contact: Patricia L. Brooks, author

Address: 7970 E. Camelback Rd., 710, Scottsdale, AZ 85251

Cell (480-250-5556)

Email: [email protected]

Publisher: Brooks Goldmann Publishing, LLC

www.brooksgoldmannpublishing.com

Scottsdale Author/Publishing Consultant
Launches FREE EBOOK to Celebrate Sister’s Birthday Jan 14-16! Gifts of Sisterhood – the gifts that keep on giving!

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona, January 11, 2012 – To find hope in her
grief and to celebrate her sister’s life is God’s plan for this author. This past
month, Scottsdale author Patricia L. Brooks www.amazon.com/author/patricialbrooks
as Brooks Goldmann Publishing Company, LLC of Scottsdale, AZ enhanced her book Gifts of Sisterhood with updates in an Ebook now available to you
FREE for three days – Jan. 14-16 in celebration of her sister’s birthday. This new Ebook supports the importance of family relationships and the journey of grief when a loved one is lost. www.amazon.com/giftsofsisterhood.

In today’s firestorm of spiritual doubt, this book is a collection of heartwarming stories that should not be overlooked. Brooks gathered the stories from true
accounts of her relationship with her sister and their growing up in the upper
peninsula of Michigan. They experienced the unusual, the synchronistic, the amazing.

She tells them in her own words with her sister’s permission. Each one is a small miracle, often a life-changing experience that will touch your heart.

In addition to reducing the mystery of life, death and grief in her book, Gifts of Sisterhood, Brooks asserts life’s challenges occur all the time and change our lives forever; many times for the better.

Brooks, who represents not only her writing but her spirituality here, serves the community in many ways. She teaches and works within natural
approaches to the grief journey and offers her workshop outline in this revised
Ebook. Readers who sample this beautiful Ebook will become open to the possibility of achieving greater well-being and peace with life’s many challenges. Her Stop Smoking Sister campaign is introduced as well.

Patricia is the president/founder of the Scottsdale Society of Women Writers; building the group to 60 members since 2007 with monthly speaker/dinner meetings, critique groups and other outside book event activities.

The Brooks Goldmann Publishing, LLC website www.brooksgoldmannpublishing.com
provides information on their publishing services. As a published author and Scottsdale business woman, Patricia L. Brooks performs the duties of publishing consultant/book shepherd for the independent writer/author seeking information in the self-publishing maze. Patricia confirms her new Ebook is thought provoking and genuine and fits the other authors she has helped in the memoir, self-help and non-fiction arena.
Patricia can help you travel the writing and publishing maze. Feel free to visit her many posts on writing and publishing on their blog http://brooksgoldmannpublishing.com

We give and receive gifts, but the gifts that keep on giving – Faith, Courage, Love, Friendship, Happiness and Acceptance – are the gifts her youngest sister gave so freely. Too often it takes a life changing experience to recognize what we already have, affirm what we already know, welcome what is given to us and share it with others.

Patricia is a “sibling survivor” of the #2 killer of women today. While rejoicing in her sister’s memory she preserves her story and important legacy. Through emotional healing Patricia takes you on a journey of love and friendship, grief and acceptance as she gives her sister’s spirit back to their “roots” in County Tipperary, Ireland.

You will learn to awaken the compassion within you, forgive yourself when facing life’s challenges, find the hidden gift of hope in your life and have faith that nothing happens in God’s world by mistake.

Patricia reveals her upbeat and insightful personal story of the relationship she had with her youngest sister – her friend, her confidante, her soul mate. Their lives constantly intertwined, both growing up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and living 2,500 miles apart as adults.

Now God takes you on the Journey from Grief to Gratitude to a place of inspiration and acceptance. The faith Patricia has her sister’s life was not in vain calls her to share her gifts with you. By embracing her sister’s wit,
charm and beauty she weaves together a meaningful story of love and courage you can reflect upon as you travel your own life’s path.

A portion of the proceeds of this book goes to the Vital Care Hospice of the Straits of Mackinac County Michigan in memory of my sister. Thank you.

MAKING MEMORABLE MEMOIRS MAGICAL – Visit me in the Red Rocks of Sedona Sept. 18th, 2010

August 22, 2010 by Patricia Brooks

Making Memorable

Memoirs Magical

Write Compelling Memoir

THE WELL RED COYOTE BOOKSTORE

www.wellredcoyote.com

Sept 18th, 2010

HWY 89A West – Sedona, AZ – RSVP

Patricia L. Brooks, Author, Speaker

Publishing Consultant, Educator

Brooks Goldmann Publishing, LLC

www.brooksgoldmannpublishing.com and www.plbrooks.com

Getting from Point A to Point B to Point C

Desire to Struggle to Realization

· Give us the Emotion and Drama

o Face your issues directly

· Give us your Revelations and your Regrets

o Show us pain and suffering – your overcoming adversity

· Give us the Vulnerable Moments

o Demonstrate your authentic self in intimate details

· Make it Relevant and Essential to our lives

o Take us on an adventure or spiritual quest

· Take Control of the story

o Voice your opinions and thoughts

· Dig Deep and Reveal yourself to us

o Illuminate your transformation and renewal

What did you want out of Your Life?

How did you Struggle?

How did you Realize your Dreams?

THANKS TO WRITERS DIGEST MAGAZINE for some of these ideas www.writersdigest.com

EDITING PATH TO PUBLISHING – Patricia L. Brooks, the author’s partner

April 20, 2010 by Patricia Brooks

? WRITE STUFF-Editing Path to Publishing

Patricia L. Brooks, MAOM-Speaker, Author, Publishing Consultant, Faculty

Brooks Goldmann Publishing Co. LLC

ERNEST HEMINGWAY

? “There is no friend as loyal as a book.”

? Why do you want to write?

? Why do you want to publish?

REVISIONS are the Charm!

? CHECK – Do you inform, entertain or engage?

? CHECK – Do allow your voice to shine?

? CHECK – Is there flow to your work with a story line?

STAGES OF EDITING or Bust!

? Developmental stage – Organization and Structure

? Content Stage – Shape it up – needs/purpose

? Copy Stage – proof – grammar – punctuation

? “Book Shepherd” – collaborator – Ghostwriter – peer reviewer?

EDITORS make great partners!

? Bring the “eagle eye” to MATURE the work

? Honor compelling, CLEAR copy

? Cultivate a MUST read book

? Craft your copy to stand as ART

The “HOTTEST” Selling Point

? TITLE – Succinct to Sell – 7 to 10 words – SIZZLE

? Dress it up – CLEAR and Curious – 6 feet away

? Make it Count – be Memorable – COLORS

? What is your book about? HOOK

? The BACK Cover is Tops!

? Short testimonials – NO Bragging

? GENRE – Price – 10 Seconds to Sell

? Benefits – BUY on emotion – advocacy

? Your photo and Message – READ

? INTERIOR Design and Layout

? Creatively ENHANCE your work

? Deliver a DELIGHT to Read

? Photos and illustrations – HARMONY

? Play by the RULES – Guidelines

? PRINTING Particulars

? Digital Printing vs. Offset Printing

? Physical vs. Electronic books – or both

? Size, page count, paper weight, colors

? Soft cover or hard cover or both

? MARKETING – You and Your Book – The Plan

? Social networking – Facebook, Twitter, Linked In

? Websites and blogs, online articles and media

? Bookmarks – Biz cards – Fact sheet

? Posters and Banners for events – General Media

? BOOK LAUNCH – You and Them

? Warehousing and storage – wholesale to retail

? Distributors – to the wholesaler or bookstores

? Homework -Reputation – Strategy – Cost effective

? Catalogs – online – your inventory

? TRADITIONAL – Publishing Plan

? Book Proposals for niche markets

? Agents to the publisher – Prestige – Some advances

? Marketing and media control – Author’s Platform

? Rights – contracts – attorney

? SELF-PUBLISHING – Independent Perspective

? In Control – keep RIGHTS

? Make MORE per book – your expenses

? Process much Quicker – out to market timely

? COSTS for book production/marketing

? CHOICES – Physical – Electronic or Both

? FAD or profound change? Unique Opportunities

? COMBINATION – print and electronic – FUTURE

? EMOTION – comfort – target new realities

? FREE – e-book trends – Marketing shifts in the industry

? To E-BOOK or not to E-book

? GAME changing force – book store closings

? Direct-to-Customer MODEL

? MORE good and bad books get published

? SPLITS – for author/publisher partnerships

? Suggested Favorite READING for Writers

? Writing Down the Bones – Natalie Goldberg

? Your Life as Story – Tristine Rainer

? The Power to Write – Caroline Joy Adams

? The Right to Write – Julia Cameron

? Lessons of a Lifetime of Writing – David Morrell

This coupon offers you one FREE hour of independent-publishing consultation and a “coffee break” on us at the coffee house of your choice – now or before the end of 2010.

Please call to make your date at 480-250-5556 or email [email protected] for more information see our blog or website

?www.brooksgoldmannpublishing.com https://brooksgoldmannpublishing.com

?Patricia L. Brooks, President Earl L. Goldmann, Manager

PUBLISH YOURSELF AS THE EXPERT – Business Women’s Boot Camp

February 10, 2010 by Patricia Brooks

} PUBLISH YOURSELF AS THE EXPERT!

} Patricia L. Brooks, MAOM – www.BrooksGoldmannPublishing.com

} ENTREPRENEURIAL WOMEN’S BUSINESS BOOT CAMP – FEB 6th, 2010

} Chaparral Suites – Scottsdale, AZ 10:00-3:00 p.m.

} www.businesswomensbootcamp.com

} Understand What Moves You

? Don’t think about the READER as you write

? Don’t think about your past SUCCESSES

? Envision what you want the BOOK to be

} Understand What Moves Them

? Remember it’s not what they HEAR in your work

? Remember it’s what they are EXPERIENCING

? Remember they want a passionate TEACHER

} Develop a Book Proposal/Outline

? Get out of your COMFORT zone

? Learn to deserve your AUTHORITY

? Make it VIABLE

} Honor for Whom you Need to be a VOICE

? Evaluate your ideas in terms of your AUDIENCE

? Note how they will be impacted in a POSITIVE Way

? Show your PERSONALITY, let them get to know You

} A Winning Writing Plan – THE DO’S

? Remember the opening is the immediate HOOK

? Begin in the right place with the BEST material

? Give them good stories – include your EXPERTISE

} A Winning Writing Plan – THE DON’TS

? Don’t open with anything but the TRUTH

? Don’t bore us – get to the POINT

? Don’t push HUMOR, let it flow naturally

} A Winning Writing Plan – THE BRAIDING

? Do an element of SURPRISE for the reader

? Use THREE topics or approaches in Braiding

? Allow for “NATURAL” organization in your structure

} Five W’s of Good Reporting – the Five P’s for SUCCESS

? Who, What, When, Where, Why

? Patience, persistence, perseverance, perception, perspective

} GOALS – steps to consider

? Write a book that is VISUALLY appealing

? Produce a GOOD Product then GOOD Marketing

? LISTEN to advice you hear over and over again

} OBJECTIVES – destinations to seek

? Develop a STRONG Author’s Platform

? Connect to your readers with HEART and SOUL

? Think commercially and KEEP them

} STRATEGIES – action plan ideas to ponder

? Consider a co-author for COLLABORATION

? Be both analytical and emotional – LEFT/RIGHT

? Keep a distinct TONE and PACE

} Research for YOU

? Look to the Future – and observe TRENDS

? Seek RISKS – but stay true to your voice

? Press Ahead – yet MONITOR your plans

} Develop a Pre-marketing PLAN

? Get a “BRAND” – situate your work

? Get a business “MINDSET” – make comparisons

? Be “CREATIVE” – where is the hole in the market?

} The FINAL Analysis

? Why are you the EXPERT – the authority?

? What is your EXPERTISE – the topic?

? Are you willing to be AUTHENTIC to create “buzz”?

My Offer ONE FREE HOUR of consultation on publishing or writing or editing

? Patricia L. Brooks, MAOM CELL – 480-250-5556

? EMAIL – [email protected]

? www.blog.brooksgoldmannpublishing.com

Book Review – Remnants/ready for new life by our author Kiki Swanson – congrats Kiki

December 9, 2009 by Patricia Brooks

BOOK REVIEW

Remnants – Ready for New Life

Kiki Swanson (Brooks Goldmann, $19.95)

This captivating volume will appeal to lovers of warm climates, active retirement communities, volunteerism, paying it forward and living life to the fullest in retirement.

In early 2004, Daisy Mac Duff moved into the active and well-appointed retirement community of La Ventura located in Scottsdale, AZ. She left behind many friends over the years when she moved with her husband on many transfers, eventually moving to the desert of AZ.

Her children also live in AZ and, on occasion, keep her busy with their lives. But Daisy needs the camaraderie of “soul” mates, friends her age who share happy memories of her past and her current pursuit of happiness.

Her grief for her husband had consumed several years of her life and now it is time to share her future with friends, new and old. She seeks the companionship of her women friends from all parts of the country by writing and asking them to join her in Scottsdale.

Soon a strong and steady flow of letters begin to appear in her mailbox. Both the flamboyant red-head pianist Clarissa and the demure preacher’s wife Beth write immediately. Others come in as quickly as you can say “out west”, such as Martha, the one seeking a new AA recovery group.

Daisy accumulates the letters, which often stretch into reminiscing of old places that bring back memories, such as with Mary Ann, Martha’s sister. While some were meant to just read and smile or listen to what was really being said. Beth is one of those with her quiet tone and gentle way.

From the window of Daisy’s retirement life at La Ventura you sense her yearning for the friendships she knew in the past with each of these women responding. You will visualize Daisy with her friends enjoying their later years being productive in community while dealing with what life gives out. Practicing her mother’s philosophy, Daisy learns again how to accept life without losing her own character as some say yes and some say no to her suggestion to community life with her and the others.

You imagine the startling effects of a group of women coming together by one woman’s will to make them a family. This joining of creative, active, senior women together in a new life with a fresh start from a divorce or widowhood, retirement alone or loneliness of any kind, gives them “wind at their backs”. They go into the unknown of “later in life” friendships in a commune environment. With Daisy behind them, pushing them with a force in the direction of giving back, serving God and enjoying every moment as if it were their destiny is their new life.

This is the story of a community formed and developed by a bunch of well educated, interesting, creative and productive caring women who with no real plans for their later years take a “leap of faith” and let a long time friend bring them together. Because of this, they later will write their recipes for success, their ideas for mentoring, their last wishes, their obituaries and their insights and feelings about things they hold dear in their Tuesdays at Three writing group.

Some still have strong feelings and reservations about the success of the idea, such as the couple of men Daisy befriends early in the story. But at the onset, the five of nine women who say yes “let’s just do it” are more than happy to reach out to others and not isolate elsewhere. The men in turn become vital to the women’s friendships.

Here you will learn about many things, from loss and grief (incurred by all of them) to alcoholism (the elements of AA) to the medical issues too familiar to all of us. The spring writing group for life’s philosophies gives many insights into all of them, and surely in to you too.

It is a satisfying and rewarding read and you get the feeling they are having a really wonderful time living out their lives together in a “village.” Being grateful for everyday, their mantra is to rise above the past, adjust to change and hear the music. If humor and good taste can be a contradiction in terms, Remnants defies the idea and makes you smile as you look for the sunshine in life.

Kiki Swanson is fearless as she addresses real issues for all seniors (Baby Boomer types too) such as divorce, widowhood, alcoholism, dating, health restraints and life’s disappointments while believing resiliency is the key. There is a lot of good old fashioned fun here that anyone considering a retirement community or living in one now can relate to on many levels. Maybe the putting of these things in writing, including their last wishes, is more entertainment than any part of sadness and is what endears them to us.

One of my favorite parts of the story is the thread that weaves their leader Daisy and her perseverance in making things happen, sharing conversation with her dog Curly and learning late in life of her husband’s “secret life” and her son’s need for “care and understanding.” The mystery and unveiling is part of the intrigue.

Remnants-ready for new life acknowledges that it is not above the fray of recognizing the human frailty in all of us. Everyone has moments of despair and sadness, coupled with anger. Realizing in this read that it is in fact the ride of taking us “home” to our friends and faith in our “golden years” that sustains us, Kiki Swanson shows us it is possible to succeed to the end.

We have all spiraled out of the darkness of grief and divorce or alcoholism or life’s disappointments and up into something beautiful because someone listened. We have all known love because someone cared, someone was there when we prayed about it and God answered.

Surely Remnants-ready for new life will be that kind of eye opening, heartwarming book you want with the memory of your life. This work and these stories will help you put the past right where it belongs and your life ready for the surprises that lay ahead.

Respectfully submitted,

Patricia L. Brooks, MAOM

Publishing Consultant, Author, Speaker

BROOKS GOLDMANN PUBLISHING, LLC

www.blog.brooksgoldmannpublishing.com

Cell 480-250-5556

[email protected] or www.kikiswansonbooks.com for more information or books

BROOKS GOLDMANN PUBLISHING features their author Rev. Cay Randall May, PhD

November 24, 2009 by Patricia Brooks

New Book De-Mystifies Natural Healing

Brooks Goldmann Publishing, LLC and

Scottsdale Society of Women Writers

features:

Author Rev. Cay Randall May, PhD presenting a read/sign

at the Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, AZ

at 7:00 pm Dec 3rd with her book

Healing and the Creative Response.

In today’s political firestorm over health care alternative forms of medicine are overlooked. Brooks Goldmann Publishing, LLC announces a new book and CD by Rev. Cay Randall-May, Ph.D., Healing and the Creative Response: Four Key Steps Shared by Healers and Artists which explains how to use prayer, laying-on-of-hands, Therapeutic Touch, Reiki and Energy Medicine to promote well-being. In addition to reducing the emotional and physical distress of illness and injury, Randall-May asserts that applying the steps in her book can enhance self-expression through a process she calls the Creative Response.

Randall-May, who represents prayer healing and medical intuition on the national Council for Healing and serves on the American Board of Scientific Medical Intuition, is a faculty member of the Energy Medicine University where she teaches natural approaches to healing. She shares examples of natural healing from her more than 30- year career as well as from the experiences of many other healers and artists. Readers who sample this richly illustrated book and CD online by visiting www.HealingCreativeResponse.com will be opened to the possibility of achieving greater well-being while engaging more than the usual senses.

CHANGING HANDS BOOKSTORE: Tempe, AZ – located at the corner of Guadalupe Rd., and McClintock in the Trader Joe’s Shopping Center. Please RSVP: www.changinghands.com

BROOKS GOLDMANN PUBLISHING CO., LLC: For more information or a free hour of consultation contact Patricia at 480-250-5556 or see their blog www.blog.brooksgoldmannpublishing.com

ART FEST OF SCOTTSDALE – BOOK STREET – Nov 21-22

November 18, 2009 by Patricia Brooks

ART FEST of Scottsdale

BOOK STREET

BROOKS GOLDMANN PUBLISHING, LLC – features their authors:

· Kebba Buckley Button – book signing: Sat. 10-12 noon

o Discover the Secret Energized You

· Cay Randall May – book signing: Sat. 1-3 p.m.

o Healing and the Creative Response

· Michael J. Lyding – book signing: Sun. 10-12 noon

o Gratitude a Verb

· Mia Pratt – book signing: Sun 1-3 p.m.

o The 100 Golden Keys

SATURDAY and SUNDAY

NOV. 21^ST and 22^ND

Scottsdale Civic Center Mall, 7380 E. 2^nd St. and Civic Center Blvd., Old Town Scottsdale

(South of Indian School Rd.) 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily – FREE to the public

For more information on the event: www.bookstreetaz.com

FREE – ONE HOUR CONSULTATION w/attendance at this event – just pick up a card from Patricia L. Brooks.

For more information about publishing consultation and book shepherds see: www.brooksgoldmannpublishing.com

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