2013 IPPY Awards

Just taking a brief pause between stops in our travels to share some photos from the 2013 Independent Publisher Book Awards in NY, where I received a bronze medal for Mental Pause (Best Adult Fiction eBook category). It was a blast!

In the spotlight!

Meeting other medalists was the best! Here are co-authors of You Can't Eat Dirt, Vyola J. Ortner, Diana C. du Pont, which won a silver medal for Best Regional Non-Fiction-West Pacific 

Dick Wagner, Silver Medalist-autobiography/memoir for Not Only Women Bleed. This guy collaborated with Alice Cooper on the song Only Women Bleed and performed it at the awards. Cool!

Joining the other medalists in my category.

What do I know?

The excitement mounts as I prepare for my next stop on the virtual book tour this morning at Jeri Walker-Bickett's blog, What do I Know?... A Twisted Book Blog.

Come join us as we discuss life as a writer and self-published author and give away a couple copies of Mental Pause along the way!!!

I was also surprised and delighted to see another interview posted today on Expat Focus. Pop by and check it out and peruse the website for some great columns by expats from all over the world. I actually do a regular column on life in Thailand :)

I took a brief pause over the past couple of weeks but the momentum is gathering steam again so I'll be sharing more in the coming weeks. The champagne celebration in my last post was actually at the Moulin Rouge in Paris where I was with my mom-in-law. What a great place... and loads of inspiration for another novel I'm working on that will be set in Paris.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Mental Pause Wins Award!

Well, a couple months ago I decided, what the heck, I'll enter Mental Pause in the 2013 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) program. There were 2,500 entries so I really didn't think as a first time novelist I had a chance so I hit send and then basically forgot about it... until I got an email announcing the winners.

Time to celebrate!

I scrolled through the list and there, in the Best in Adult Fiction ebook category, in the bronze medalist position, was Mental Pause! I practically fell off my chair, until I noticed that the author's name wasn't mine. What! Could there have been two books of the same title entered in the same category? I held my breath and my excitement and fired off an email to the organizer. He replied almost immediately apologizing for the error, fixed it right away and congratulated me for my win!

I'm thrilled and just a bit incredulous but it's something like this that spurs a writer on to work even harder and produce more. I'd like to congratulate all the winners and happily share with you the announcement from Independent Publishers. There are some amazingly talented indie authors on this list and I'm humbled to be included among them. Have a look and see... you might find a couple of real gems to add to your collection!