Meet a Member: Lynda Exley
When you get a chance, check out the outstanding Arizona Professional Writers newsletter. The publication is the effort of member Lynda Exley. She also shared her talents when Arizona hosted the NFPW conference in 2012. She is a professional communicator who volunteers her time to share her talents with others. Take a minute to learn more about this unique and unbelievable NFPW member.
Lynda Exley
Name: Lynda Exley
City and State: Sedona, Arizona
Affiliate and any leadership positions: Arizona Professional Writers Newsletter Chairperson
Years a member of NFPW: 19
Tell us a little about you.
Lynda Exley was recent awarded APW’s 2106 Communicator of Achievement, by Arizona Professional Writers, a.k.a. Arizona Press Women. Her writing career began when she left a successful career as an association executive for the Arizona Hotel and Motel Association to have her son. She decided it was her chance to answer the writing siren, and hasn’t looked back since. She is a former author, editor and publicity agent at Five Star Publications, and editor/writer for the SanTan Sun News, Arizona Parenting, Houston Parent, LA Parent, Ahwatukee Monthly, SWEAT magazine and many other publications.
Exley earned more than 50 national and state awards for editing and writing, and co-authored Arizona Way Out West & Wacky, Arizona Color Me Wacky and Arizona Way Out West & Witty: Library Edition, which won 2012 ONEBOOKAZ for kids. She is the recipient of Arizona Newspaper Association’s Best Entry Outstanding Writing award, a three-time National Federation of Press Women Communications Contest winner for writing and editing, and garnered more than a dozen first-place wins in the APW Communications Contests. She is also a Speakers In The Schools presenter for Arizona Humanities.
Lynda Exley shown at the Chandler Chuckwagon Cookoff with her traveling companion, Johnny Ringo, a puppet representing Arizona’s State Mammal.
Any career advice you would give?
If your writing career is just beginning, network with colleagues in organizations like NFPW, never say no to an assignment and never miss a deadline! AND, become the expert in AP style. In addition, don’t be afraid to expand from newspaper writing to PR, or visa-versa. The more you know about both sides of the fence, the more successful you will be. Read a lot of the type of writing you want to do yourself. Learn every type of technology you can get your hands on and wrap your head around. Technology is the future.
If you have enjoyed a writing career for some years like myself, give a hand up to deserving young writers. This is the time in your life when you should be paying forward for the mentoring you received or becoming the mentor you wish you had when you were just starting out — even if you never had a mentor yourself.
Which talent would you most like to have?
Ha! I wish I could carry a tune! I love to sing, but hate to offend others with it!
If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
In Sedona, Arizona where I already live.
When a fellow author fell ill at the last minute and couldn’t make her storytelling and book signing at the Children’s Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, Lynda Exley filled in by reading the other author’s book and playing Old MacDonald Had a Farm with visitors.
What book are you reading?
I am in the process of plowing through all of Joel Goldsmith’s books. So far, The Infinite Way is my favorite, but they are all excellent. I like fiction as well, and am getting ready to start All the Rage by Courtney Summers. I’m reading a lot of YA fiction because I am working on a YA novel myself. I’ve never written fiction before, so I am stretching myself.
What would people be surprised to learn about you?
That I completed the Tour de Tucson years back — a 110-mile bicycle race. People look at our older exteriors, and never guess at the young person lost inside.
Why is your affiliate and NFPW important to you?
Networking, the annual communications contest and the prestige of belonging to such a respected organization.
Way to follow you on a website, twitter, Facebook, etc.
http://www.Facebook/LyndaExley
http://www.Facebook/LyndaExleyBooks.
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Tags: Arizona Professional Writers, Lynda Exley, NFPW
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