Treasurer's Report

Hi, my name is Donna Schlachter, and I am the 2009 Treasurer for HIS Writers, the Denver chapter of ACFW.

And before your eyes glaze over, forget your preconceptions that anyone dealing with money must be a boring bean counter. I assure you that is not me or my counterparts. It takes a lot of imagination and creativity to get those budgets to balance, to figure out ways to hide offshore assets and not have to pay taxes and to – oh wait, that's not me. That's a character in one of my upcoming mystery novels.

As Treasurer for the Denver chapter, I am responsible for keeping money in the bank account, reminding members of when their dues are due, checking for checks, and accounting for the accounting. Oh, and don't forget, depositing the deposits.

I told you accounting people are not boring.

I live in Denver, and have been married to Patrick for nine years. We actually met on the Internet, but that's a story for another time. We have two adult daughters and seven grandchildren who live in Kansas and Florida. We are owned by a cat named Sarah, who thankfully has not followed in the footsteps of her namesake and become the mother of nations.

I am currently writing two mystery series, and have taken the brave step (at least in my humble opinion) of asking complete strangers to read and review these yet-to-to-be-published novels. So far the reviews have been promising. They seem to want to read more – now if I could just get the time to write.

Besides writing mysteries, Patrick and I have two devotional books on the market. We also wear other occupational hats, since we all know how much writers earn! Patrick is a computer programmer, and I am a court reporter and legal transcriber. And an accountant, of course.

We attend New Life Church of Denver, a small non-denominational church in the Lakewood area, and are active on the worship team, and in the children's church. I act as the church's secretary/treasurer, and Patrick is the church's webmaster.

I am looking forward to serving the Denver chapter for this coming year as Treasurer. We have a lot of exciting events and speakers planned, and we hope to see you at some of our meetings. Feel free to contact me directly with any questions or comments.