I’m so excited to share this. While I was not a winner in the AWA Young Adult Fiction category (that honor goes to Debbie Schrack and her book Saving Sophie), I am absolutely delighted to tell you that I placed as a finalist in the category.

This was a complete surprise to me. I had entered Son of the Siren in other contests where I didn’t place, and I’m currently waiting to see if I got a grant for my writing (and I had to submit my most recent work, which was Son of the Siren)…so I haven’t felt very hopeful about my endeavors. I’m used to losing, or the kind of rejection where you never hear from anyone ever again.

I had found out about the American Writing Awards through ads on Facebook and Threads. I sought them out to buy an editorial review (no different than paying Kirkus or Booklife, aka Publishers Weekly, for reviews) because their pricing was extremely reasonable (I got it while it was on sale, not the price it is now), and I thought I needed more blurbs for Son of the Siren. If you pay for a review, which you can read mine here (it’s a good one!), you can be entered in the actual American Writing Awards competition. I figured, sure, why not, and left it at that.

Fast forward some months and the AWA’s Facebook profile shares that the finalists and contest winners were just announced. Because the AWA has a considerable amount of categories spanning a wide variety of genres and subgenres, they made a booklet. For kicks, I downloaded the file, and searched by my last name. What a shock!

Yep. There it is. Tenth on the list, and I highlighted it. I’m still dumbfounded.

I let my publisher know about this once I found out, and we’re trying to see what we can do for the listing on Amazon to share this news. I got a snazzy graphic for me to place on digital images of my book, and I’m going to look into seeing if they have physical stickers, too (there are two bookstores in my area that might be able to stock my books since the largest one won’t, and there’s a possibility these stickers will help sell the books).

Being a finalist in a competitive contest has really given me an ego boost. I flit back and forth between self-doubt and pride–“Am I a good writer? Am I a bad writer?” and having something like this happen makes me feel good…like maybe I’m better than I think I am. Like maybe I really do have a shot of making writing my life.

The last thing I’m waiting on is to see if I got a writing grant from the Ohio Arts Council. I won’t know until around January 28, 2026 and…I have some doubts. But being a finalist for the AWAs has shown me that it is possible to make some waves in a competitive world out there, so maybe I shouldn’t totally abandon hope.

I’ll be riding this high for a while. Because…look how pretty this looks!

I want to thank my publisher, Oliver Heber Books, and Tanya Anne Crosby, Kim Ostrom, and Rick Lewis for being willing to take on a dark yet whimsical fairy tale with some taboos tossed in. No book is guaranteed success, and Son of the Siren has been the “little engine that could” …still chugging along up the hill.

I also want to thank my family and friends for their support as I wrote this book, and have been on (still on) the rollercoaster that is publishing. They’ve listened to my ups and downs over the years and I appreciate everyone so much.

I hope this accolade will put more of a spotlight on Son of the Siren and bring more readers to it. It was challenging to write, but I love it. I hope you give it some love, too.

Thank you, readers, for your support!