In January I had that opportunity to speak at the monthly meeting of the North Brevard Historical Society. I was pleased and honored to address them at their monthly meeting held at the famous Dixie Crossroads Seafood Restaurant. While writing Jessie I spent a lot of time at the North Brevard Historical Society. They were a tremendous help in my research. In addition to gathering facts, I had the chance to sit and talk with some of the folks at the museum who’d been in Brevard county at the time the book is set. Hearing first-hand stories, flipping through old city directories, and reading old newspapers helped me get into the mindset of the era. I especially loved the grocery ads in the newspapers. It’s hard to believe bacon was $0.59 a package and five loaves of bread were $0.99.
At the end of January, I was thrilled to learn that Jessie won the Patrick D. Smith Literary Award.The Brevard Library Foundation created the award in honor of the great Florida author, Patrick D Smith.
“Patrick Smith is a 1999 inductee into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, which is the highest and most prestigious cultural honor that can be bestowed upon an individual by the state of Florida. Smith is the author of seven novels and has been nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize. His lifetime work was nominated for the 1985 Nobel Prize for Literature.”
It took two weeks for me to wrap my mind around the reality that I had won. I was interviewed by the Brevard Business Magazine and it published this week. Here is a link if you would like to read the full interview. It begins on page 11. http://www.brevardbusinessnews.com/ArchiveDocs/2015/2015-02-01/BBN-021615.pdf
Good things are happening, now if only I could convince Book Bub to accept one of my books!
Congrats on the award! So well deserved!!! Don’t give up on Book Bub. I don’t know who they are really, but I have always gotten further than most, by sheer dogma and persistence. LOL!!! You can do it!
Congratulations! Who needs Book Bub, anyway?
Congratulations on your award! Check out the books listed on the BookBub website. Most have well over 100 reviews. Jessie’s time will come. 😀
Congrats on the award! Did you see the sessions BookBub hosted a couple weeks back where they revealed some of what has them accept books? Nothing like straight from the horse’s mouth 🙂
The crazy part of it is, one of our books was accepted on the first submission. At that time I had no idea that was not the norm. I believe the problem lies in BB moving more into the trad books.
Congratulations on the award! Maybe if you forward the info to the managers at Book Bub, that will make a difference.
You have to keep persevering and maybe even switch up the category you’re submitting it in if it’s close…
I’m so excited about your award. It is well deserved. Jessie will go far because it is not only a lively read, but an important adjunct to the historical literature of those times.
Thanks, DiVoran. I’m looking forward to the event. I hope the weather is nice.