I am beyond thrilled to announce that THE GHOST CHRONICLES won the 2016 Golden Leaf Award for Best First Book this past Friday night! This was a dream come true for me. When I attended my first New Jersey Romance Writers Conference back in 2008, I remember being at the award ceremony and thinking, someday I want to be up there. And now it’s happened. I am officially an award-winning author. With my very first book too. I am one happy writer right now. Congratulations to all my fellow Golden Leaf Winners!
And I am so grateful to everyone who helped me achieve this wonderful goal. First, much love and thanks go to my family: my husband, Chris, my sons, Michael and Andrew, and to my Mom, Dad, sister and brother for their unwavering support and faith in me. To my dear friend Beth-Ann Kerber, who first heard my crazy idea to write a book and didn’t tell me I was crazy. To all my writing friends, but especially to Brynn Chapman, Dan Krippene, Natalie Zaman, Charlotte Bennardo, KT Hanna, Jami Nord, Veronica Blade, Katia Raina, and Robin Haseltine for reading, critiquing and generally sharing your knowledge. To Amy Deluca, who sent me the most encouraging email about this manuscript at the exact moment I needed it most.
To all of my early beta-readers, but especially to my friends, Andy Morris, Laura Lee Morris, and Ellen Armstrong for their keen insights and fierce loyalty. To my fabulous cover designer, Sean P. McConnell, for his incredible talent and patience. To Carol Van Den Hende, for lending her opinions and additional expertise on my cover. To all the fantastic writing organizations and groups that have brought me so much knowledge and comradery over the years, New Jersey Romance Writers, Romance Writers of America, NJ-Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, TeenLitAuthors, WritingGIAM, and WritingYoungAdult. And last but certainly not least, to Ronald and Theresa Stanton, owners of The Angel of the Sea, for their friendship and for allowing me to use the name and image of their ‘beautiful angel’ in THE GHOST CHRONICLES.
More wonderful announcements about this series to come along shortly 🙂
