Thankful for the Support of Hoosiers

Wells County selected WHERE AM I EATING? for their One Book One County community read program. Tomorrow night I’ll be speaking at the Main Library in Bluffton, Indiana, from 7-8 PM. Here are the details.

The event was made possible by the Indiana Humanities Novel Conversations program. Over the past year I’ve had the chance to interact with Indiana Humanities, The Indianapolis Public Library Foundation, and the Glick family, which supports both programs, and I’m so thankful for all the hard work all of them do.

Indiana Humanities

Indiana Humanities mission is to connect people, open minds and enrich lives by creating and facilitating programs that encourage Hoosiers to think, read and talk.

I can get behind that. If you are a hoosier, you should check out IH’s ALL-IN site that challenges Hoosiers to do all of the above by connecting with Indiana facts, art, books, events, and ways to be engaged as both a global and local citizen in Indiana.

Indianapolis Public Library Foundation

Earlier this year I was invited by the Indianapolis Public Library Foundation to speak at Providence Cristo Rey high school to celebrate the school’s inclusion in the Indianapolis Public Library system. The shelves of the school’s library were still pretty bare, but they were getting more books by the day, and the students could access any book in the entire system. But the change couldn’t been seen on the shelves, but on the faces of the students and the librarian who was almost moved to tears as she shared the story of the library and what it meant to the students.

Eugene & Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Award

And of course there is the Indiana Authors Awards which supports authors and libraries, and celebrates both at the annual award dinner. I’m blown away that I’ve been nominated a consecutive year for the Emerging Author Award alongside Jessica Brockmole, and Clifford Garstang. The winner will be announced at the Award Dinner on October 25th where Michael Shelden, the national award winner and Norbert Krafp the Regional award winner will speak.

You can get tickets for the fancy shindig here. Here’s the Reading Guide they created for EATING.

Annie and I enjoyed the event last year. They put up the winners and nominees in a fancy downtown hotel. We treated it like a mini-vacation. Besides being an awesome kidless-getaway, the best part of the event was meeting the other authors.

I recently wrote for the Authors Award blog about the gold nugget I carry in my pocket and how it represents the told and untold stories I carry. Without support from great organizations like Indiana Humanities, the Library Foundation, and the Authors Award, my stories wouldn’t reach nearly as many people. It’s nice to have people who will help you carry and share the burden and joy of stories.

 
18 comments

Let your voice be heard!

Leave a Reply to Anonymous Cancel reply