Connie Bickman...author, photographer, traveler

Connie Bickman says writing and photography are in her blood, referring to 15 years of owning a portrait studio, and a 30-plus-year newspaper and photojournalism career. This includes an eleven year period where she was the co-owner/publisher/editor of Turtle River Press, a publication of spiritual and creative energy. 

Connie’s passion for travel has brought her to over 40 countries, mostly third world. She packed along her journals and camera as these photojournalist-based travels carried her to far corners of the earth in search of adventure and the opportunity to document native cultures, the environment and humanitarian issues.  During this time she came in contact with many spiritual and religious concepts, including shamanism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and other belief systems.

It was through these journeys that she realized misconceptions she had about the foundation of organized religion and how often people in other countries and cultures had much different perspectives on, not only Christianity and conflicting biblical translations, but also on the original concept of the Christ story itself.  This began years of research and scrutiny to satisfy her own uncertainties. These discoveries resulted in disclosing her findings by weaving them into  “The Touchstone Diary" trilogy.

Connie has been published internationally in books and magazines, and has won regional and international awards for her photography and writing. Her previous “Tribe of Women” book received the 1999 Jeanette Fair Tau State Minnesota Women’s Writer Award. 

After living in Minnesota for much of her life, Connie lived a few years in Woodstock, NY, and is currently settling her gypsy bones to write and photograph in Arizona.