National Indie Excellence Awards

Plus I'm Now a Travel Columnist at Womancake

I’m trying to figure out a better opener for you than “what a week it’s been,” but “What a week it’s been!” I will start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.

Last Friday I submitted a new essay to a very cool anthology down in San Diego, which was exciting for me. An earlier different anthology call for submissions had gotten me thinking about my experiences in and on the water, but the essay evolved as I wrote it, and ended up being about my mom, and swimming, and all of my life. It may come out in this anthology or it may find a home elsewhere, we’ll see.

I’ve been doing #1000WordsofSummer, the brainchild of author

Jami Attenberg

who writes

CRAFT TALK

and I got some seriously focused writing done (didn’t hit 1000 words on too many days, but it was a great encouragement and incentive). I love Jami’s Substack and highly recommend her new writing book, 1000Words (I reviewed it here months ago) and the annual summer write-a-thon was a big help to me in writing and revising the final draft of Honeymoon at Sea in the summers of 2021 and 2022. This year’s #1000WordsofSummer ends today, so I’m writing my final 800 words right now.

We took Saturday afternoon off to attend the R2AK (Race to Alaska) pre-race Ruckus (big party) and took in the Women Adventurers Panel which was quite inspiring. We are both following the race on our phones now, and rooting for Roscoe Pickle Train the team we met here in the Boat Haven Boatyard, as well as Jolyn of Team Forget-Me-Knot, a solo sailor on a Hobie Tandem, who is vying to become the first solo woman to finish the race. Check out more about the race, Roscoe Pickle Train and Jo right here. I also spotted my book in the Northwest Maritime Center’s new-and-improved welcome center and gift shop, where it is in very good company.

Monday was a drizzly day so we put a coat of paint on our colorful waterline stripe then took a rented car to Silverdale for some shopping and various appointments. I always enjoy the bucolic farmland scenery on the drive down and it was longer and even prettier due to the current Highway 104 detour. We got to “the city” in time to have delicious sushi rolls at a tiny new-to-us place called Origami Sushi. We’ll be back.

Wednesday, my first travel column for

Womancake Magazine

was published, which was a big thrill for me, and the new writing gig is not even the best part of discovering that new outlet—that would be my friendship with the mag’s EIC,

Alicia Dara

. Check out my first column right here, and subscribe to Womancake while you’re there. I predict that you will be glad you did. Alicia’s definitely a force to be reckoned with.

Then, Thursday morning, I got an unexpected, “You’re a winner” email from the National Indie Excellence Awards or NIEA. I’ll post it below. Of course, it is always cool to win an award, no matter what/where it is, but this particular award is a real joy for me to receive, because the NIEA celebrates only independently published books.

In the publishing biz, an indie publisher is one that is not affiliated with the Big Five publishing houses—Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, or Simon & Schuster. Oddly enough, some big, buzzy publishers are still considered indies, like the many Amazon imprints. Also included are hybrid publishers like

Brooke Warner

of She Writes Press, which just garnered a couple of NIEAs. My publisher is Re:books of Toronto, a woman-owned small press that is totally indie.

My book won in the category of Latinx nonfiction, which makes me as happy as the award itself. Not only am I proud to be Mexican-American, but my book is about beautiful Baja California, and our experience of exploring Mexico and getting to know the warmth and hospitality of our neighbors to the south—and, let’s face it, the Mexican people are not getting the best treatment in the media. So Viva La Raza!

Here’s Honeymoon at Sea beside the Latinx fiction winner, which I now want to read.

Yesterday I helped Russel work on the boat and then took off early to get ready for a Zoom meeting with

Alicia Dara

and the uber-talented Celia Chavez, a music creator, producer and teacher. I’m honored to be working with these two badass women, and exploring a new direction in my writing. I always dreamed of being a journalist, and now Substack is helping me realize that dream. Stay tuned for more on that subject.

hasta pronto!