Last night at the Civic Center Library in Scottsdale, AZ, Joan Clark (pictured with me, top right), Director of the Arizona State Library, presented all three authors with certificates. We also took part in a panel discussion about how we create our books, our general writing process, and the difficulties and rewards of being self-published.
While Bruce and the Road to Courage received other awards in the past, I prize this one more than the rest. The judges reviewed all eligible submissions based on quality, creativity, originality, style, grammar, and whether they felt the content would be enjoyed by a wide range of Arizona readers. Winning authors must reside in Arizona.
The goals of the ONEBOOKAZ program are to encourage writing, reading and thoughtful interaction with literature in digital formats. To this end, they are providing copies of our books free of charge to all Arizona residents via their website (www.onebookas.org) through the month of April. Books may be read on the computer or downloaded to digital e-reading devices.
They are also providing an honorarium allowing me to travel to nine different Arizona cities during the months of April and early May. The goal is to have communities across the State of Arizona read the same books at the same time and participate in discussions and programs centered around those books.
Beyond that, they created a wonderful teacher’s guide for Courage that will make it easier for teachers to incorporate it into their curriculum. I had begun work on such a project myself a few months before, but their help turned my guide into something extraordinary—truly a great tool and a wonderful gift for me as I strive to reach out to more schools and students.
Finally, they are in process of creating an audio version of Courage for the visually or physically impaired to enjoy as well. I’m excited to hear what a professional reader will make of the voices of Bruce and his friends.
My first stop on the tour will be Yuma on April 15, followed by Prescott, Sedona, and Cottonwood from the 16th through 18th. If you have friends or relatives in those areas who might wish to attend, the details can be found on my website calendar.
By the way – I’m still writing while all of this is transpiring. Don’t give up hope that I’ll turn out another book one of these days. I was very busy for a number of months working on the novels of others (see the Two Cats Press website to learn more about these great books), but I’m back to working on The Rift, my Young Adult book series, which is going very well! (Bruce and the Road to Freedom is on hold until I can get book one of The Rift finished.)