Hello Posse,
If you haven't already heard, last night I got some great news. I got an email informing me that my first book, Into the West: The Orphan Train is a finalist in the 2019 TopShelf Indie Book Awards. This means so much to me for many reasons.
First of all, this was the first book I tried to write for myself. It is very personal and has a lot of my own family stories woven into the fiction world I created. To have people appreciate that, just makes all my hard work and late nights even more worth it.
Second, this is the first contest in which I have ever entered any of my writing. To have it become a finalist in my first contest attempt makes me feel extremely validated as a writer. I'm having flashbacks to Sally Field winning her Oscar.
(Yes, I am that old and if you get that reference, so are you! If you don't get it, click here whippersnapper!)
Lastly, winning anything for this book will hopefully bring more attention to my entire serial and might increase my overall visibility as a writer and, hopefully translate into sales.
In this moment, I truly understand how people can say it is just an honor to be nominated. I hope like heck that I win at least one of the categories but just having my work recognized at all is a huge honor!
Now, I just have to wait patiently until December to find out what my book won. Those who know me personally, know how well I do with being patient for anything. Here is hoping I can stay sane until then!
Thanks for following my crazy world,
Stephen