Breaking News!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Author Receives National Recognition
New York: The fifth annual BEVERLY HILLS INTERNATIONAL 2016 AWARDS® has recognized Veronica’s Grave: A Daughter’s Memoir by Barbara Bracht Donsky as a 2016 FINALIST in the category of memoir.
The competition, with thousands of entries, is judged by experts from all aspects of the book industry, including publishers, writers, editors, book cover designers and professional copywriters. They select the award winners based on overall excellence.
Synopsis: When young Barbara Bracht’s mother vanishes from her life—no one tells her that her mother has died—she leaves in her wake a confused child whose father is intent upon erasing any memory of her mother. There are no photographs of her mother around the house, nor does anyone in her large extended family ever mention her name.
Forced to keep the secret of her mother’s existence from her brother, the young girl struggles to keep from being crushed under the weight of family secrets. As she comes of age, she strives to educate herself despite her father’s stance against women’s education, thereby turning what for many is a rite of passage—that is, going to college—into a nail-biting triumph over adversity.
Told with a literary sensibility in a precocious, fiercely intelligent and compelling voice, Veronica’s Grave addresses the psychological cost of families who keep secrets, the importance of education for girls, and the need to hold fast to one’s dreams and passions.
"We are so proud to announce the winners in this, our fifth year," said awards sponsor Ellen Reid.
Hello, Guys and Gals:
The award was only part of the good news for Veronica's Grave arriving this week. The other was that the National Association of Memoir Writers gave me an opportunity to discuss the memoir with Linda Joy Myers, Ph.D., the president of the organization, followed by a Q&A. Spending an hour with Linda Joy, whose book, The Magic of Memoir: Inspiration for the Writing Journey, had been published last week, made for a delightful and enlightening afternoon. And if you have the time and would like to listen in on our conversation, click here to download the recording.
Writing and publishing a book, any book, is an arduous journey with a steep learning curve. Which is especially true for first-time authors. Notwithstanding the pitfalls and perils of publishing, many pleasures and perks have come my way thanks to publishing. None more so than the chance to meet, both online and in-person, many talented and hard-working authors.
In that category is my friend Marianne Canedo Bohr, the author of Gap Year Girl: A Baby Boomer's Adventure Across 21 Countries. Last summer, she and her husband Joe returned to Europe, stopping first in magical Iceland, an inspired choice, before heading to Paris. What follows is a blog post from that trip, A Veteran's Recipe for Paris, published in the Huffington Post. The choices made by these two veteran travelers are fun to read and highly recommended for those who either love off-the-beaten path adventures or are themselves experienced travelers.
Another pleasure this past year was being interviewed by Dorit Sasson. Let me ask you, are you considering publishing a book? More than 600,000 writers will do just that during the upcoming year. If you're in this group, or simply curious, you might want to tune in for a free seminar next week on what it takes to launch a book nowadays. The teleseminar will be given by Dorit, author of the extraordinary Accidental Soldier: A Memoir of Service and Sacrifice in the Israel Defense Forces.
And that's all for this week mes amis. Hope to see you next Sunday, when I'll have the coffee waiting. Think about it: If dipping a madeleine in a cup of Aunt Leonie's tea could conjure up all of Combray for Proust, what might sipping a cup of cafe au lait with me do for you? Until then, would you be so kind as to take a second to share this post? By doing so, you will be helping me share the good news about Veronica's Grave.
Merci mille fois... à très bientôt.