It's a Gold!

Greetings after a little book hiatus. After finding out that my medal was indeed a sole Gold IPPY awarded in the inspirational/spiritual category of the Independent Book Publishers awards (the category with the most number of entrants), I returned to New York with my friends Jeanne and Dawn (team Anne we called ourselves) to attend the spectacular IPPY awards event. What fun to meet other IPPY recipients and learn of the fabulous books that independent publishers produce each year. I was proud to be in such fine company and compliment the event organizers and judges who commit so much time and attention to recognizing our efforts. And I must admit the gold sticker looks pretty darn good on my book.

Since then I've been enjoying some quiet time at my cottage on Pleasant Lake as I plan for the next phase of introducing Stay For Lunch to the world-at-large. Stay tuned for more info on that front. And it was my pleasure to chat with a Pleasant Lake Book Club in the 1920's one room lake cottage that belonged to my mother-in-law, Kathryn Goodwin who was a dear friend, inspiration and first fan of my writing attempts. We had a lovely discussion centered around my 'Francina's Calling' bookmarks. People actually told me the experience was life changing for them. Francina would have been thrilled to hear that her simple messages are still making ripples and shining light on peoples' lives. This is fun.

Y'IPPY!!!!

May is turning out to be an incredibly exciting month around the Goodwin household. We are off to NYC to witness our 18 year-old son, Rob's, performance in the Essentially Ellington Jazz Festival at Jazz at Lincoln Center under the tutelage of the famed and revered Wynton Marsalis.
Next for me it is a mini book tour from Virginia to North Carolina (watch out, if you say it out loud it might come true!) and then the icing on the cake is a return trip to NYC to receive either a bronze, silver or gold (they all look bright and shiny to me) medal in the Independent Book Publishers' award, otherwise known as an IPPY, in the Inspirational/Spiritual category. What fun. The real pleasure is thinking of Francina and the opportunities unfolding ahead that are allowing me to share the 'life lesson' gifts she not only bestowed upon me but insisted that I continue to pass on. As she put it, "We have alot of work to do girls' and this is a challenge that I am honored to fulfill.