Persimmon Tree had been in existence for only two years then, but its mission was already clearly established: quoting Nan again, Persimmon Tree was to be “a place where our voices would be honored and heard, and although it would have high standards, any older woman could submit her work and be seriously considered whatever her publishing background. Most of all, its existence would be saying to the world: Yes, yes, we too exist, Look at our talent and imagination!”

For Marcia, ArtsMart would be yet another means to accomplish Persimmon Tree’s mission of giving talented older women visibility and voice, another medium through which older women writers and artists could disseminate their work:

ArtsMart continues that tradition today. It exists, first and foremost, as a service to the Persimmon Tree community. It serves Persimmon Tree’s contributors, the women whose writing and art is published in the magazine, by giving them a very reasonably priced platform for marketing their work. It serves Persimmon Tree’s readers by giving them access to books and artwork produced by women whose strength and acumen and experience grant them perspectives and a depth of vision available nowhere else.

It was Marcia’s hope, and it is that of the current editors as well, that you will spend some time browsing ArtsMart, even better that you will make most of your book purchases through ArtsMart. Not only because, in doing so, you support Persimmon Tree and its community of older women writers, artists and readers, but because here you will find, as you do throughout the virtual pages of Persimmon Tree, words and images that will speak to you as no others do.

The Secrets of the Old Post Cemetery

by award-winning, bestselling author Patricia Crisafulli

The long-awaited third novel in the Ohnita Harbor Mystery Series—a tale of love, betrayal, murder, and a chance for redemption.

The Secrets of the Old Post Cemetery reunites readers with Gabriela Domenici, the smalltown librarian whose accidental sleuthing puts her on the frontlines of death and danger. At the heart of the mystery is The Traitor’s Map, which is either a hoax or, just possibly, an artifact from the American Revolution. When Gabriela assigns the map as a research project to a group of college students, one of them is found murdered on the lakeshore—triggering a spiral of death and deceit that soon embroils Gabriela and the man she loves. Available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, or your favorite independent bookstore.

Find this and more in ArtsMart