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Paradise Valley author hosts book signing

BY ANNIKA TOMLIN

Foothills Focus Staff Writer

After 25 years in the marketing and advertisement industry, Paradise Valley resident Ann W. Jarvie changed her career path to novelist.

She will celebrate the release of her second novel, “The Woods of Hitchcock,” with a book signing from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, at Barnes & Noble in Desert Ridge Marketplace.

“I’ve often said that when I was in marketing, I wrote very complex comprehensive marketing plans and advertising plans in my life but nothing is as hard as writing a novel,” said the Georgia native. “I’ll just be honest, however, it’s very rewarding.

“When you write the end, it’s an accomplishment and it does require a lot of perseverance. You have to come up with the concept, you have to write a copy that keeps people turning the page. You have to put on a marketing hat and sell it to a publisher and then you have to go out and sell it to the ultimate consumer and it requires a jack of all trades so to speak.”

Jarvie’s first novel, “The Soul Retrieval,” was in what she dubbed The Henrietta series.

“The first novel is an epic novel that was inspired by a true story in my family — a true murder mystery in my family,” Jarvie admitted.

“The story sort of haunted me and I just felt like I needed to find out how this guy died.

“My grandmother lived on this Native American reservation, and it was all very strange story and yet no one in my family knew how the guy died, or why he died.”

While researching what had happened, Jarvie decided to take the story into her own hands and fictionalize it resulting in her first novel.

“That literally took my 20 years probably to write it,” Jarvie said. “To be fair, I was working full time and I was raising my children, so it took me 20 to 25 years to write it, then when we moved to Arizona, I was like I’m going to finish this thing. I’m going to get it done and I did.”

Jarvie moved to the Valley with her husband, an Arizona native, 10 years ago and “retired, so to speak, even though I kept writing.”

“I just decided to finish the novel, ‘The Soul Retrieval,’ that I had been working on for a number of years,” Jarvie said.

“Then after that was finished, published and did well I started working on ‘The Woods of Hitchcock’ and here we are and now I am on a book tour.”

“The Woods of Hitchcock” was released in a “really creative, flexible way” in November, Jarvie said.

“We launched the book last November in Augusta, Georgia, where I am originally from and parts of the story take place in that area,” she said.

“Barnes & Noble, although they were willing to do a launch book signing then, they weren’t willing to do it in the store because of COVID guidelines. We did it in the mall right next to it and it turned out great.”

The next few stops on her books tour were private venues in South Carolina and Illinois. Along the way, Jarvie was craving to host an in-person event.

“I come back home, and I am talking to the folks at Barnes & Noble (at Desert Ridge) and they say, ‘We’re doing book signings in the store,’” she said.

“I am excited to have my first in-store event there, even though I have been on this book tour doing more flexible creative venues in order to launch a book. It’s been exciting to come back to Arizona that is open for business. That is one of the beautiful things here.”

The writing process for her second novel went far smoother and quicker than its predecessor.

“I wrote an outline, I developed my characters and sat down and wrote it,” Jarvie said. “It took me two years to write it and it took another year of sitting on it and editing it because it was during COVID.

“I decided to be productive and I spent the year in quarantine really polishing ‘The Woods of Hitchcock’ and presenting it to the publishing world. That itself took another year. It’s not a short process by any means.”

Jarvie is working on her third and final books of her Henrietta series while marketing her second piece.

“However, (each book does) stand completely on their own so you don’t have to have read the first one to enjoy the second or third,” according to Jarvie.

“The first novel is more of an epic novel. The second is a thriller and the third one my plan right now is that it will be more of a novel of suspense. The thriller is defined by a time period where such and such happens within a week, but that’s the nature of the thriller story. The novel of suspense is suspenseful, but I see that as a little of both — a novel of suspense with a thrill.”

Jarvie said she thinks she has “a lot of (books) in me somewhere” but is focused on finishing her series.

“Henrietta comes from the main character from ‘The Soul Retrieval,’” Jarvie said. “She plays a mentoring role in the second novel and she’ll play another role in the third.”

Jarvie is “thrilled” that Barnes & Noble will feature both of her books during the event.

“Although we do have to be flexible and respectable given what the world has experienced, I think the book signing event on Feb. 12 at Barnes & Noble and those like it are about people wanting to move forward in positive ways,” Jarvie said. “As an author, I can’t think of a more positive way to come together than under a banner of books and great stories.”

Ann W. Jarvie will be celebrating her second novel, “The Woods of Hitchcock” with a book signing on Saturday, Feb. 12 at Barnes & Nobel in Desert Ridge Marketplace. (Submitted photo)

THE FOOTHILLS FOCUS | THEFOOTHILLSFOCUS.COM | FEBRUARY 9, 2022

FEATURES 21 ••

Same event from different perspectives

CHURCH COMMUNITY CONNECTION Pastor Ed Delph

Foothills Focus Columnist

Have you ever noticed that two people can look at the same event and both see something completely different? Let me illustrate this idea with the diary of the wife and her husband about the same event.

Wife’s diary: “Tonight, I thought my husband was acting weird. We had made plans to meet at a nice restaurant for dinner. I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset that I was a bit late, but he made no comment about it. The conversation wasn’t flowing, so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet to talk.

“I asked him what was wrong, and he said nothing. I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset. He said he wasn’t upset and that it had nothing to do with me and not to worry about it. On the way home, I told him that I loved him. He smiled slightly and kept driving. I can’t explain his behavior. I don’t know why he didn’t say, ‘I love you, too.’

“When we arrived home, I felt I had lost him completely. He just sat there quietly and watched TV. Finally, with silence all around us, I decided to go to bed. About 15 minutes later, he came to bed. But I still felt that he was distracted and his thoughts were somewhere else. He fell asleep. I cried. I didn’t know what to do. My life is a disaster.”

Husband’s diary: “A 2-foot putt! Who the H-E-double-hockey-sticks misses a 2-foot putt?”

I thought this story would be appropriate for Phoenicians for this week’s Phoenix Open golf tournament. Can you imagine what a professional golfer’s spouse goes through?

Here is a story that Carl George told many years ago at a conference I attended. It takes us beyond the tyranny of the urgent or the tyranny of raw emotions into real, tangible and lasting solutions. So often, jumping into feelings and conclusions without logic is like jumping off a cliff. The outcome for you and others can be devastating.

“Go with me to a country just hit by a devastating earthquake, where 45,000 people are injured or dead. Two medical teams, each headed by a doctor, are being airlifted to the heart of the disaster area.

“The physician leading the first crew steps out of the helicopter and is immediately overwhelmed by all the carnage he sees. There, barely 10 paces away, workers pull a mangled living body from under the rubble. Moved by compassion, the doctor rushes over and calculates the personnel, equipment and facilities needed to help this victim. He assigns half his medical team and half their supplies to work on this one person.

“A handful of survivors, sensing the availability to help, bring the physician another case. This victim is in even worse condition. The doctor assigns the rest of his medical team and resources to care for this person.

“Now the doctor faces a worse dilemma than when his helicopter touched down. He would like to treat 44,998 more people but has already expended all his resources on the first two bodies presented to him. He decides that the only solution is to make himself even more available. He resolves that he and his staff will push themselves harder. They will be on call 20 hours a day, seven days a week, to treat as many individuals as possible.

“Unfortunately, this well-intentioned medic returned home a few weeks later. His body has not kept pace with his desire to help. With his resistance lowered, he caught one of the diseases rampant in the disaster area. The care he and his exhausted team provided came to a standstill until replacements arrived.

“Meanwhile, what is the second medical team doing? Their preliminary assessment, likewise, takes only a matter of moments. They also are deeply shocked and moved with compassion toward the massive death and pain evident in every direction.

“The second team’s head physician quickly concludes that her small group by itself is inadequate. So, instead of scooping up the first person in sight and immediately beginning treatment, this doctor opts for a different plan. She calculates a strategy that will touch a maximum number of people in the least amount of time, using the scarce resources available.

“The doctor announces to her team, ‘Let’s train some people as life-support engineers. One group will make sure safe drinking water is available; another will deal with shelter issues and food. Yet another group will work on waste control and public health by repairing the city-

��� DELPH ���� 23

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wide sewer system to take the fecal matter off the street before it mixes into the water supply or spreads into homes.’

“This relief and preventative care, multiplied throughout the disaster area, retarded the growth of the infection and allowed the medical intervention to have a significant impact. The team acknowledged the reality but saw the best remedy for the situation. Which of the medical teams was more caring? Both teams had equally strong feelings of love and compassion. However, they differed on how they showed their concern. The initial response of most people is to plunge into immediate action focusing on the immediate needs.”

What struck me most about this illustration is Jesus did the same thing the second doctor did most of the time. He was led by the Holy Spirit, not fleshly impulses or the tyranny of the urgent. His leadership impacted 12 leaders who paved the way to a higher level of long-range care and living. Jesus was sent to save the whole world. He did it efficiently and effectively.

Our panic attack or plan of attack takeaway for today is, “When you can’t control what’s happening, challenge yourself to control the way you respond to what happening. That’s where true power is” (Karen Salmansohn). In other words, when problems then assumptions come, please don’t go with them.

Ed Delph is a noted author of 10 books, as well as a pastor, teacher, former business owner and speaker. Ed has traveled extensively, having been to more than 100 countries. He is president of NationStrategy, a nonprofit organization involved in uplifting and transforming communities worldwide. For more information, see nationstrategy.com. Ed may be contacted at nationstrategy@cs.com.

Learn how to cut down on landscape maintenance

BY FOOTHILLS FOCUS STAFF

Those wanting an attractive garden but are tired of investing their time and money are invited to listen to Noelle Johnson, also known as “AZ Plant Lady,” on Saturday, Feb. 12.

Landscapes aren’t always designed with maintenance in mind. As a result, the landscaping is overpruned and underwhelming, not reflective of the original design.

“Improper plant selection, watering and other avoidable factors compound the higher demand for maintenance,” Johnson said.

The horticulturist pens the garden blog Ramblings from a Desert Garden.

She earned a degree in urban horticulture and is an instructor at Desert Botanical and Tucson Botanical Gardens. Johnson also created the online course Desert Gardening 101, during which time she explains how to get away with less maintenance in a garden.

The program, usually including a plant raffle, will begin at 9:30 a.m. and run until about noon outside in the Sanderson Lincoln Pavilion in the Carefree Desert Gardens.

A $5 — or more — donation is suggested to support the programs. This is the second of four programs of the 2022 Carefree Desert Gardens seminar series. For more information, call 480-488-3686.

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