This is why I write
Choosing to Write
I write because I choose to. I choose to write because I believe (yes, this will sound ego-centric, I know) that it is a giftedness that I have been blessed with. Additionally, I write hoping for a sense of validation from each book or blog post. Being named an Eric Hoffer Book Award Finalist is one such recognition that will also motivate me.
Thus far, I have published four books. I am currently “working on” five more, three which I am now actively writing. That’s another story for another day. I have also written countless blog posts, well into the hundreds, and I continue to do so.
As I wrote my fourth book, Undone; A Grief Journey in Real Time, validation was the farthest thing from my mind. At that time, all I wanted was a sense of healing. Now, six months after its publication, validation came knocking at my door when I became an Eric Hoffer Book Award Finalist.
Undone was entered for an award from the Eric Hodder Book Award (see below). While it didn’t win the coveted Book of the Year Award, it did win the Category Finalist for the category it was in. This is both exciting and validating because;
- well over 5,000 books are submitted each year.
- Less than ten percent receive any mention at all.
- This is not a fly-by-night judging process made up to fluff authors egos.
Eric Hoffer Book Award
The Eric Hoffer Book Award has honored independent books for more than two decades in memory of its namesake. It offers a grand prize of $5,000 to one recipient each year. Additionally, winners receive worldwide media exposure and coverage in the US Review of Books. The award also gives category prizes and honors for the best presses, the most thought-provoking books, exceptional cover art, and more.
Becoming an Eric Hoffer Book Award Finalist is a significant achievement that I am proud of. I hope that you will check out that book here on this site. Then jump over to Amazon to buy it…not because I wrote it, and not because I’m poking you to buy it. I hope you’ll get it because you realize that the message it offers is not about me, but rather the process of the grief that arises out of the death of a close loved one. And that, my friends, is something we don’t study for. Perhaps this book will help you navigate this awful time in everyone’s life.