Gold/1st Place Feathered Quill Book Award

Oh, this is big!

When we were working on our book, I really cared about our cover design. I wanted people to read our book and I knew that I had a lot to overcome.

I was a first-time writer, it was poetry, and it was about death. These are fairly huge hurdles in the book world!

I needed the cover to convey that the book was actually about hope and beauty and resilience.

I also had an important public health message about the symptoms and risks of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and I wanted my story to help others.

But people had to FIND it - in a world filled with a zillion great books and other distractions.

All that meant it had to be extra special. So we worked on it - A LOT.

I can be easy-going about many things, but I was not about our cover.

I figured I might only ever write one book. And it had to reflect me because I was going to have to step out of my comfort zone to promote it. So I had to LOVE it.

It also had to honor my sister who had spent much of her life in publishing and cared deeply about the power of books. (I have no doubt that she’s up there chuckling that I’m an author.)

I think you only do a project like this because you are so compelled that you really feel you have no choice. And since I had no choice, I wanted it to be as good as it could be.

A huge thank you to everyone involved. It was a talented, patient, and creative team that ensured that we got it just right.

Thank you so much Feathered Quill for the recognition. We are thrilled!!!