TOBY HEATHCOTTE, President

As president, I intend to expand west side workshops to supplement those on the east side, create liaisons with other writers groups in the region, do a needs assessment to make the organization as responsive as possible to its members’ needs, and lead a governing board in the creation of an ever more effective voice for Arizona’s literary life. I spent seven years as the AZ Authors Contest Coordinator and have been a member for about twenty of the thirty years of the organization’s existence.
As an author, I have self published two textbooks and a novel. Several of my plays have gone to performance. Four of my most recent novels are published by two different publishers. I taught high school speech, drama, and English for thirty years, as well as college writing for five years. Born in Indiana, I came to the valley in 1969.
 

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HERE

VIJAYA SCHARTZ, former President
Current WebMistress, editor of the AZ Literary Magazine & Published Authors Directory

During my seven-year presidency I created this website, instituted activities like our participation in the Phoenix Book Festival, book signings for our published authors, critique groups. We now have the Writers Roundup Conference, and our calendar and newsletter offer many opportunities to grow for writers at every level. We established a relationship with bookstores and the local media. We have quadrupled in membership since 1998, and our image has improved tremendously.
I gladly continue to maintain our website and edit the Literary Magazine,as well as the Published Authors Directory, but my writing career now takes precedence. With six novels published, five of which won awards, and a seventh novel scheduled for this year, as well as responsibilities in other writers groups (like heading the publicity committee for the Desert Dreams Conference 2006), my hands are full. But I owe much to this association and am thankful for the opportunity to serve.
 

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SCOTT JONES - Vice-President - Newsletter coordinator

By day, Scott is an Investment Representative for Edward Jones and has his own office in Pinnacle Peak. He also served for four years as a board member and Vice President of GPGLCC. Scott writes children’s books. Author of "Lilly, the Adventure Begins," he is currently working on the second book of the series. He recently met his literary agent at a membership meeting and loves to write for children. They are honest and ready to explore new worlds and ideas. “I personally feel that all adults have the responsibility to ensure that every child has the best possible opportunities in life. I hope to encourage young readers to dream, imagine, and feel great about their life.”
 

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GRETA MANVILLE - Arizona Literary Contest Coordinator

Greta Manville has won several awards for her fiction and poetry. She writes mystery/suspense novels and has published three. Her latest, Death Key, won first place in the Authorlink.com contest prior to publication. She recently concluded an extensive annotated critical bibliography of John Steinbeck, which is a project she undertook as a Steinbeck Fellow at San Jose State University three years ago. The bibliography will go online in the spring of 2006 through the University's Center for Steinbeck Studies.

Visit Greta's  website

HERE

A native of Arizona, Cleo Lorette earned a BS in journalism and taught Creative Writing at Glendale and Rio Salado Community Colleges. She won First Place for her co-authored novel, The Purgatory Trail, at the Southwest Writers Workshop, and First Place in the Arizona Literary Contest in Unpublished Novels Category. Cleo also published numerous magazine articles.

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KIKI SWANSON - Public Relations - Speakers Coordinator

Kiki grew up in Wheaton Illinois, close to her piano, books and church. She graduated from Smith College, married and taught high school English. In 1969, the family relocated in Scottsdale, Arizona. Her love of writing went on through a seminary Master’s Degree and leadership in Presbyterian Women and now in senior adult ministry. Family genealogy led to insights into earlier generations. At the Risk of Sounding Like Your Mother was a gift to her family. Her novel My Will Be Done is based on her grandmother’s motto as it controlled her Scot family in Illinois.
 

SANDRA E. BOWEN - Membership

Sandra E. Bowen, a retired college professor, raised in North Carolina, the background of her novels, received an undergraduate degree from A.& T. State Uni., Greeensboro, N.C., where she began college teaching. She earned post graduate degrees from NYU, N.Y.; attended Columbia Uni. & Yeshiva Uni.,NYC; Uni. of Pa.; and Lieden Uni., The Netherlands. She also taught at Hunter College and BMCC, NYC; ASU, Tempe; and SMCC, Phoenix. Her first novel THIS DAY'S MADNESS won second place in the AZ Authors Association 2003 Literary Contest. Her second novel THE CUL-LUD SCHOO-OO-L TEACH-UR is scheduled to be published in 2006, Seaburn Books, Astoria Queens,N.Y. Bowen has also contributed to text books and journals. Having traveled entensively in Africa, Europe, Russia, Middle East & China, including Tibet, Bowen lives in Phoenix with a host of animals and is writing a third book, IN SEARCH OF MAMMY.
 

MALI BERGER - Secretary

Mali, a writer and a teacher of writing, lives in Fountain Hills, Arizona. She is the author of a children's book Magalee's Diamonds; two novels Aine's Story and Steenie O'Shea; a memoir and fiction work Twisted Hair; and a collection of novellas and short stories Risk! Risk Anything! Before moving to Taos, New Mexico, with her husband in 1992, Mali taught American Literature in Michigan and Chinese Universities. She regularly speaks to gatherings about writing. She meets with book clubs, writing classes, and family history groups in homes, libraries and coffee shops. She was interviewed by Toby Heathcotte on one of her radio programs. In Fountain Hills, Mali interviews and writes biographies of early settlers for the River of Time Museum, and she leads two book clubs, one in her home and the other for elderly women at the Fountain View Village
 

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Bill and his wife Marju moved to Prescott from Ann Arbor, MI in the summer of 2004. Bill’s 34 years in Ann Arbor were spent getting a couple of degrees from Michigan (BA in Film/ Literature and a Master’s in Urban Planning) and a few decades in running his own business. Called SelectRide, it offered a number of passenger transportation services including large programs for the disabled and one for seniors. It is speculated that some of those seniors might have even been authors, so Bill is undoubtedly qualified to join the AZ authors. Currently, he is enrolled in a post-degree program in Accounting at ASU and is anxious to try his wares out on this association. In any free time that he has, Bill enjoys playing competitive softball, reading and hiking with his two dogs (Wolfy and Niklas).
 

JERI CASTRONOVA - High Country Liaison

Jeri Castronova, PhD, is a Psychologist who retired from Napa State Hospital in California three years ago and moved to Prescott. Her personal growth process and work with criminal and psychiatric patients led to the publication of a self-help spiritual book titled Paint the Sky and Dance: Women and the New Myths. The book, workbook and video are used in her workshops. To promote the package, she does radio and TV interviews, appears at psychology conferences, book fairs, book stores and community organizations. Her life-long passion for ancient Egypt, Biblical history, Archeology, and Psychology come together in her recently completed mystery about an Egyptologist who discovers a mysterious code which leads her on a whirlwind adventure. The title is Code of the King and she is presently looking for an agent. Jeri is President of the Professional Writers of Prescott. She loves to travel, paint, and play with her granddaughter.

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