Humbled by award selection

This author had neither dreams or aspirations of being a novelist. He was content to research why some children and adults have dissociative identities, and the horrors they went through that caused those multiple personalities. But one day he made a connection that shattered his safe and comfortable world. Forever.

Wrestling with those issues posed a moral dilemma that lasted many dark months. He decided to write a non-fiction book addressing the facts uncovered. It was a book nobody would want to read, that few could stomach. That manuscript was pigeonholed, an exercise in futility.

But those truths, those pesky facts, needed to be made available to those who still have the capacity for compassion. But how? The idea of a novel was born.

The main character mirrors the struggles the author had with these most difficult subjects. Some of the other characters bring to life stories that he had heard from friends. And a few were just completely made up, to carry their own part of the overall story. And interspersed through it all are jokes, laughter, and love.

The hope was that one or two people would resonate and would in turn offer love and safety to an injured child, no matter their biological age.

Editors and a cover designer did their magic, all of them only after they had read the whole manuscript. The author did the typesetting. He was ready to release until he went to a conference in January, somewhere in Austin, TX. Brakes were hastily applied! (Thanks, Thomas!)

But the publisher had already submitted the nearly finalized manuscript for award consideration, and a few days ago, the author/publisher received an email with a link. And this is where it lead.

Thank you, Reader Views, for believing in Ai: Opening and honoring the difficult choice to listen to the children’s voices, both silenced and stilled, that speak on every page. And especial thanks to Chelsy Scherba, who wrote this poignant and very human review.

And thank you to this wonderful community for not only befriending this author, but also his young author friend who is overcoming a physical and emotional trauma through the children’s books he’s written. Your help is making his publishing excellence a reality.

Forever grateful,

George